During the football off-season, recruiting is something that can make or break a team for their upcoming season. The Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions just recently inked 22 newcomers to the squad and hope to add more as the off-season progresses.
The Lions added 11 new players on offense and defense. Four wide receivers, four offensive linemen, two quarterbacks and a tight end round out the offensive side of the ball.
Defensively, the Lions signed five defensive backs, four linebackers and four defensive linemen to help keep that side of the ball ranked number one in the Lone Star Conference.
“At this point, I think its good,” said A&M-Commerce football head coach Scotty Conley. “We added key players at certain spots.”
Nine of the 22 players to sign National Letters of Intent are high school seniors, while the other 13 are transfers from college.
The players are from all around representing six different states. 17 players that signed have earned either all state or all-conference at their previous school .
Conley will be heading into his fourth year as head coach. The Lions finished 5-5 in 2006 and had 11 players earn All-Lone Star Conference recognition.
While the defense finished at the top of the LSC; the offense finished 11th in the LSC averaging 250.8 yards per game and 12th in passing with only 67.7 yards per game.
Incoming quarterback Terry Mayo Jr. headlines the recruiting class coming in as one of the top ranked quarterbacks in the junior college.
The 6’4″, 265-pound quarterback was ranked number two in the nation by Collegefootballnews.com coming out of Reedley Junior College in California.
The quarterback position has been an issue over the past couple of years for the Lions.
“(Mayo) gives us a chance to do what we want to do offensively,” said Conley.
Recruiting has not stopped yet for the Lions, as additional players will be signed in the upcoming weeks.
The coaches will be trying to identify more players they need to fill certain positions by the time the fall rolls around.
If these players can produce, the Lions can get their record above .500 for the first time since 2001.
Recruiting class ’07
Sean Alexander 6-0, 215 Redshirt Junior Wide Receiver Chicago, Ill./Bloom Township HS/Joliet JC
Adorian Arthur 6-1, 182 Freshman Wide Receiver Palestine, Texas/Palestine HS
Brian Aubuchon 6-0, 190 Freshman Quarterback/Safety/Wide Receiver Frisco, Texas/Hebron HS
Arlando Bryant Jr. 5-10, 170 Sophomore Defensive Back Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Jordan HS/Cerritos CC
Ryan Dodgen 6-0, 215 Freshman Linebacker Wills Point, Texas/Wills Point HS
Courtney Edmond 6-1, 220 Junior Defensive Back LaMarque, Texas/Blinn College/LaMarque HS
Anthony Eustace 6-2, 260 Junior Tight End Sacramento, Calif./Foothill HS/City College of San Fran.
Shaun Gaddis 6-2, 325 Junior Offensive Line Southfield, Mich./Victory Valley College/
Andrew Gamboa 6-1, 225 Sophomore Linebacker Mesa, Ariz./Skyline HS/Mesa CC
William Green 5-11, 265 Junior Offensive/Defensive Line Dallas, Texas/Richardson HS/Kilgore JC
Jules Johnson 6-1, 190 Freshman Defensive Back Gilmer, Texas/Gilmer HS
Dean Laing 6-1, 200 Sophomore Defensive Back Bellflower, Calif./Bellflower HS/Cerritos CC
DeCarlas Lue 6-2, 240 Freshman Defensive End Carrolton, Texas/Hebron HS
Terry Mayo 6-4, 245 Junior Quarterback Greensboro, N.C./Reedley Junior College
Jarrod McCullar 6-2, 186 Sophomore Defensive Back Terrell, Texas/Terrell HS/New Mexico State Univ.
Chris Miller 6-4, 185 Freshman Wide Receiver/Defensive Back Carrollton, Texas/Hebron HS
Markus Mosley 6-4, 210 Sophomore Quarterback Tyler, Texas/Chapel Hill HS/Southeast Missouri State Univ.
Arsenial Richardson 6-0, 185 Linebacker Gilmer, Texas/Gilmer HS
Jeff Sanders 6-2, 270 Offensive Line Whitehouse, Texas/Whitehouse HS
Darron Sheppard 6-1, 285 Junior Offensive Line Longview, Texas/Longview HS/Kilgore JC
David Sudderth 6-4, 305 Offensive Line Leonard, Texas/Leonard HS
Chad Washington 5-11, 205 Redshirt Sophomore Linebacker Lancaster, Texas/Lancaster HS/Univ. of Missouri