WKU Recruiting: Early Signing Day Live Blog
Today is the first day of the early signing period. This is now year three of there being two signing days in football. The majority of prospects now sign in December as few now wait for the traditional February signing day. WKU loses 13 seniors and has had 7 more players in the transfer portal since the start of the 2019 season. Look for the Hilltoppers to add between 18 and 20 players today.
The class is a mix of high school prospects that have mainly been in the fold since the summer/fall and Junior College transfers (6–7) that Helton and staff have put a priority on during the past week. With that in mind here is the rundown of players to keep an eye on and should sign today. We’ll update the signees as they come in…
2:00 PM CT Update
WKU Emailed out the official commitment list
2020 Signing Class — Early Signing Period Roster (Listed Alphabetically)
Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown High School
1. Talique Allen* S 6–1 200 Fort Valley, Ga. Peach County HS
2. John Blunt, Jr. CB 6–1 185 Arlington, Texas Cisco College / Mansfield Timberview HS
3. Craig Burt, Jr. WR 6–4 190 Columbus, Ohio Hutchinson CC / Centennial HS
4. Travis Collier CB 6–1 190 Douglasville, Ga. Douglas County HS
5. Nicholas Days* LB 6–3 220 Miami, Fla. Independence CC / North Miami HS
6. Mark Goode OL 6–6 270 Hodgenville, Ky. LaRue County HS
7. Wesley Horton OL 6–3 250 Atlanta, Ga. North Atlanta HS
8. Colt Jackson* OL 6–3 280 Bowling Green, Ky. South Warren HS
9. David Ndukwe* DT 6–6 250 Lithonia, Ga. Arabia Mountain HS
10. Spencer Owens* TE 6–4 250 Lakewood, Calif. Fullerton College / Lakewood HS
11. Dezmion Roberson* LB 6–2 200 Elba, Ala. Elba HS
12. Grady Robison QB 6–1 190 Sammamish, Wash. Eastlake HS
13. Darius Shipp* DT 6–1 290 Olive Branch, Miss. Northeast Mississippi CC / Lewisburg HS
14. Mitchell Tinsley* WR 6–1 185 Lee’s Summit, Mo. Hutchinson CC / Lee’s Summit HS
15. Noah Whittington* RB 5–10 195 Fort Valley, Ga. Peach County HS
* indicates signee is anticipated to enroll early and join WKU in the spring
See some thoughts on each below. It is interesting to see who will be participating in spring ball. Whittington will get an opportunity early to get into the Running Back rotation with Appleberry and Samuel both transferring.
12:35 PM CT Update
Tyson Helton spoke to local media to discuss the class:
Here are a few key takeaways from what he said:
- Will finish with 15 signees today, 9 of them should be here for Spring Practice
- 9 High School Players & 6 Junior College Players from 10 states
- 8 Offensive Players and 7 Seven Defensive players in Class
- Looking to add two more players in January (I’d guess Juco players)
- 2 more scholarships left for February signing period
- Georgia important to program
- Have a lot of guys going to be seniors next year so they added Juco’s to fill in gaps in sophomore and junior classes
- Thinks Craig Burt and Mitchell Tinsley will compete for spots at receiver with Lucky Jackson’s and Quin Jernighan’s departures
- Signed a good young quarterback out of Washington(more below)
- Look for Mark Goode to play offensive tackle
- We’ll always recruit our state hard
- May add another player or two from Kentucky in the spring
- South Warren and Bowling Green are good programs
- Cole Jackson helped recruit and bring guys in
Here’s WKU’s last commitment in the 2019 early signing class:
The 6'1 180 pound Sammamish, Washington native was committed to Montana State until today. He is a three-star (247 Sports) dual-threat prospect that led East Lake to a 9–2 record in 2019. While not highly regarded he did have the following write up from the Seattle Times:
Grady Robison, Eastlake
All-purpose, 6–2, 185, sr.
He was the Lamar Jackson of 4A KingCo. A rocket arm (completed 148 of 259 passes for 2071 yards and 19 TDs) and a district-champion sprinter, the Montana State commit ran for 1,053 yards and 12 TDs on 162 carries.
After seeing how Helton did with a Mobile quarterback in Ty Storey, it’s not surprising to see him take a flier on an underrated prospect from the Pacific Northwest.
Signing Update as of 11:30 AM CT
Owens is another physical specimen at 6'5 250 pounds, He should be able to come in and be used as a 2nd or 3rd tight end with Kyle Fourtenbary and Josh Simon and also help WKU in goal-line situations. He had only 7 catches for 77 yards at Fullerton College. He is a three-star prospect according to 247 Sports that also held offers from San Diego State and UTEP. I’d suspect that Helton and staff probably became familiar with Owens during his time on the west coast while at USC.
Signing Update as of 10:30 AM CT
Shipp is a former Austin Peay signee that emerged as a three-star defensive tackle in Juco. Shipp is 6'1 290 pounds and should provide depth on the defensive line for departing seniors Jaylon George and Carson Jordan. WKU held off a late rally by East Carolina to secure Shipp’s services.
Signed as of 8:20 AM CT
The Hodgenville native is a physical specimen at 6–6 270 pounds. He played Tight End in High School but with that frame he projects to be a offensive lineman at the next level.
An off the radar prospect until yesterday (when 247 Sports had him listed as a commit), the 6–3 Horton is listed as an offensive line prospect despite Rivals and 247 Sports having him at defensive tackle which neither has him ranked yet. He held offers from FBS schools Charlotte, Georgia Southern and Georgia State so he’s go some talent and great experience playing in the competitive metro Atlanta high school scene.. Look for Horton to redshirt and then work his way into the offensive line rotation.
Ndukwe is WKU’s highest rated signing according to 247 Sports. The 6–6 250 pound specimen is expected to play Defensive Tackle at the next level. WKU held off a late offer from Syracuse and kept the Metro Atlanta native in the fold.
Burt Jr. is one of several junior college recruits that committed last weekend. The 6'4 190 pound Columbus, Ohio native played in the highly competitive Kansas Junior College circuit for Hutchinson Community College. While his production wasn’t great (7 catches for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns), his size should give WKU the big receiver its looking for as Quin Jernighan is set to graduate. Burt Jr. is WKU’s second highest rated prospect according to 247 Sports.
One of WKU’s earliest commitments stuck with the Toppers throughout the process. The 6'1 200 pound Safety is a three star prospect according to 247 Sports. He played in the highly competitive Georgia High School Football circuit helping Peach County finish 11–2. He is WKU’s third highest rated prospect according to 247 Sports.
Jackson was WKU’s first commitment way back in June. The Bowling Green native starred for South Warren High School earning All-State honors for the Spartans. He should add depth at offensive line moving forward and probably will redshirt in 2020.
Allen’s teammate on Peach County is WKU’s primary running back signee thus far. The 5'10 195 pound Whittington was very productive in 2019 rushing for 824 yards on 80 carries for 18 touchdowns and catching 11 passes for 256 yards and three more scores. Whittington is a 2-star prospect according to 247 Sports.
Tinsley is Burt’s more productive teammate at Hutchinson Community College. The 6'1 186 pound Wide receiver led Hutchinson in catches (47) & yards (556). Four of those catches resulted in touchdowns for the 10–2 Blue Dragons. Look for him to compete for snaps immediately with the graduations of Lucky Jackson and Quin Jernighan.
Collier has been in the fold since June as he was WKU third commitment overall. Another prospect from the talent rich Peach State, Collier has good size for a corner and should compete for snaps once rising seniors Roger Cray, Dionte Ruffin and Trae Meadows graduate after 2020. Collier is a three star prospect according to 247 Sports.
The first real surprise of the morning is the 6'3 Miami native that played at Independence Community College (formerly Last Chance U). Days is a linebacker that visited WKU and Marshall over the weekend and ultimately chose the Tops on signing day. He finished with 43 tackles and 1.5 sacks for the Pirates who improved to 8–2 after Jason Brown’s dismissal. Days is a three star prospect according to 247 Sports and should help with depth at the linebacker position.
Roberson committed to WKU back in July and stuck with the Tops throughout the process. He is very athletic and should grow into his 6'2 185 pound frame and play outside linebacker. Look for him to redshirt and add weight, he is set to enroll in January and participate in spring practice for the Tops. Elba, Alabama is a very small community that could have caused Roberson to be overlooked. WKU could have gotten a diamond in the rough as he is rated a 3-star prospect according to 247 Sports.
Blunt was a junior college All-American this season at Cisco who finished with 4 interceptions (2 returned for touchdowns), 3 forced fumbles and 25 tackles on the year. At 6'1 he has good size for a corner and should be able to compete for snaps in the nickel spot that Tacorian Darden vacates with his graduation.
Other Commits that didn’t sign
Worthy is a 6'2 210 pound 2-star running back out of North Carolina that committed on twitter a few weeks back. I haven’t seen him listed on 247 or Rivals commitment lists so it will be interesting to see if he comes into the fold today.
Bradshaw committed last night but didn’t sign today. I’d expect him to still be added by January.
Previous Commits
- Shamar Sandgren- Wide Receiver- Bluffton (SC)
- Jalen “JayJay” Williams- Cornerback- Minneola (FL)
- Darius Ocean- Quarterback- Hough (NC)
- Aaron Key- Linebacker- Tucker (GA)
- Chase Jones- Defensive Tackle- Glasgow (KY) (Expected Preferred Walk-On)
All of these players could sign in the spring, be grayshirted and announced next December, or could be off WKU’s board completely due to no longer being recruited, grades or looking to go elsewhere.
Former Commitments Off the Board
Higgs had been committed to WKU since the fourth of July. He must have seen the writing on the wall as WKU now has added two junior college DB’s to go along with Collier and Allen. We’ll continue to monitor where he ends up.
Miller had been committed to WKU since late July but recently switched his commitment to Georgia Southern over the past week. Miller has a massive frame (6'5) but was slated to take some time to develop. WKU has two other lineman committed so they’ll be OK for now.
Update 10:30 AM CT. Miller has signed with Georgia Southern
Amos decomitted back in November after getting offers from Boise State & South Carolina. Amos has since committed to the Gamecocks. Helton was on him early but the allure of the P5 proved to be too much to overcome.
Update as of 10:30 AM CT. Amos has signed with South Carolina
Robinson had been committed since late July but stealthily re-opened his recruitment on September 28th. No idea if the staff stopped recruiting him or there were other factors. We’ll keep him on radar for now.
Stay tuned for tons of recruiting coverage throughout the day and beyond. We’ll be providing updates on twitter as they come in and a recap on the final class when it’s announced later today. Helton had a great debut season, hopefully he can build on it on the recruiting trail and set WKU for 2020 and beyond.
