Courtesy of Eastern Kentucky Athletics
RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky University head football coach Dean Hood announced today that 21 student-athletes will join the Colonel program beginning this spring and next fall. Eight of those student-athletes come from the Commonwealth of Kentucky while six other student-athletes joined the EKU program this past January. The class includes six offensive linemen, three running backs, three defensive backs, two quarterbacks, two linebackers, two defensive linemen, one kicker, one tight end, and one long snapper.
“Every one of these players can be productive for us and help us in our goal to win a championship,†Hood said. “We recruited this year just like we have in the past – we started close to campus and worked our way out. This was a really good year for football in Kentucky and we’re thrilled to get eight players from the Commonwealth.â€
The eight incoming players from Kentucky are kicker Austin Delpont (Hazard High), defensive lineman Allan Fugate (Hazard High), linebacker Tyrelle Johnson (Henry Clay High), offensive lineman Dylan Kupper (Trinity High), quarterback Jacob Russell (Anderson County High), running back Eric Shaw (Lafayette High), running back Caleb Watkins (Corbin High), and offensive lineman Andrew Wolter (Henry Clay High).
Delpont was a first team all-state kicker who was rated the ninth best kicker in the nation by www.prokicker.com. Fugate, a high school teammate of Delpont, was the district player of the year and named first team all-state by the Louisville Courier-Journal. Johnson posted 50 tackles and seven sacks this past fall as a team captain for Henry Clay. Kupper’s Trinity squad earned three state titles while he was on the roster.
Russell, a three-sport star at Anderson County, threw for more than 6,700 yards in his high school career and also became the school’s all-time scoring leader on the basketball court. Shaw recently played in the Kentucky vs. Tennessee all-star football game after compiling 2,000 all-purpose yards and 14 touchdowns in 2009. Watkins was a three-time all-district selection after playing both running back and linebacker for Corbin. Finally, Wolter made 22 consecutive starts on the Henry Clay offensive line while allowing just one sack the last two years.
Four of the six mid-year additions to the Colonel roster are offensive lineman. Derek Moore was a two-year starter for Hofstra and earned third team all-conference accolades this past fall. Kevin Brown played for two years at Hofstra as well. Joe Arnason and Bo Faauaa each played the last two years at Eastern Arizona College in Thatcher, Ariz. The duo helped the Gila Monsters finish 8-3 in both seasons at EAC.
“We felt our biggest area of immediate concern was at the offensive line position,†Hood said. “We wanted to get some experience at that position and we felt we were able to accomplish that goal with our mid-year additions. We also thought we needed to get stronger at the running back position. Two of our three running back signees could play at other positions as well. As for quarterback, we brought in two players with different styles, but they were the top-two rated quarterbacks on our board.â€
The EKU football team concluded the 2009 season 5-6 overall while finishing in second place in the Ohio Valley Conference with a record of 5-3.
2010 Eastern Kentucky University Football Recruits
Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown High School
Danny Adams LS na na Fort Lauderdale, Fla. St. Thomas Aquinas
Joe Arnason* OL 6-4 288 Sierra Vista, Ariz. Buena
Jordan Black DL 6-4 255 Valdosta, Ga. Lowndes
Kevin Brown* OL 6-2 282 Brooklyn, N.Y. Canarsie
LaGreg Burns RB 6-0 200 Fort Oglethorpe, Ga. Lakeview
Alex Conley QB 6-3 200 McRae, Ga. Telfair County
Austin Delpont K na na Hazard, Ky. Hazard
Bo Faauaa* OL 6-5 330 Bennett, Colo. Bennett
Allan Fugate DL 6-2 260 Hazard, Ky. Hazard
Tyrelle Johnson LB 6-0 220 Lexington, Ky. Henry Clay
Jalan Jones LB 6-3 220 Muscle Shoals, Ala. Muscle Shoals
Dylan Kupper OL 6-5 250 Louisville, Ky. Trinity
Matt Lengel* TE 6-7 220 Mechanicsburg, Pa. Cumberland Valley
Derek Moore* OL 6-2 285 Granville, Ohio Newark Catholic
Junior Petit-Jean* DB 6-0 200 Naples, Fla. Naples
Jacob Russell QB 6-4 220 Lawrenceburg, Ky. Anderson County
Eric Shaw RB 5-10 180 Lexington, Ky. Lafayette
Aldrickious Shumake DB 5-10 170 Lithonia, Ga. Martin Luther King
Brandon Stanley DB 6-1 200 Suwanee, Ga. Peachtree Ridge
Caleb Watkins RB/LB 6-1 215 Corbin, Ky. Corbin
Andrew Wolter OL 6-3 260 Lexington, Ky. Henry Clay
Asterisk (*) denotes 2009-10 mid-year additions