UConn lands 22 recruits on national signing day
Randy Edsall woke up Wednesday morning a confident man.
The UConn football coach said he had no concerns of falling short of receiving the expected 22 signed letters of intent on national signing day.
After Virginia quarterback Casey Turner's letter came through around seven in the morning, the rest followed shortly, in hand two hours later.
"I'm very pleased with this group," Edsall said, while calling the day "uneventful" at the team's press conference at Rentschler Field. "This group of young men not only have the talent, but when we went out and talked to all their high school coaches, they have the work ethic, they have the leadership qualities that we're looking for and they have the academic qualities that we were looking for."
According to Edsall, there are three requirements a recruit must possess besides the talent to play on the Football Bowl Subdivision level. They most have the desire to graduate, exhibit the work ethic to succeed and have a high level of character. Five of the new Huskies are honor roll students with another a member of the National Honor Society.
A big reason for Edsall's ease was that all of the players were in the fold two-and-a half weeks ago.
The Huskies spread their paws into 13 states and Canada for the latest batch of recruits, including two from Connecticut, offensive lineman Erik Kuraczea of Ansonia and Trevardo Williams of Bridgeport. Williams is expected to attend prep school next season.
Possibly the most promising newcomer is offensive lineman Jimmy Bennett of Alexandria, Va. Bennett received the full-court press from schools such as Penn State and Virginia Tech, but he ultimately decided that Storrs was the right place for him. The 6-foot-8, 280-pound Bennett, who also played basketball , was an all-state selection and did not allow a sack in his career.
"He's a tremendous athlete and a tremendous person," Edsall said. "There were a lot of people who were on him. It's just a matter of was he the right fit. We felt he was the right fit for us, he thought we were the right fit for him. It was just a very good marriage for both parties."
With the transfer of wide receiver Terence Jeffers, the opportunity is present for any of the incoming three wide receivers to make an immediate impact. Joining the receiving corps are Brian Parker (Sarasota, Fla.), Gerrard Sheppard (Owings Mills, Md.) and Michael Smith (Houston, Texas).
Sheppard was a two-sport standout, playing basketball as well. He gave up football in high school until he had the urge to play again before his senior season. He was an all-state selection and named to the Baltimore Sun's All-Metro team.
"I realized how the coaches look out for the players, not only on the field, but off the field as well," Sheppard said. "They care about how you're performing and work ethic, but off the field and in the classroom as well. It really opened my eyes about the whole athletic program at UConn. I like that coach cares about the caliber of players off the field."
UConn expected its class to have been one member bigger, but some bad weather and last-minute attention from other schools cost the Huskies Ohio linebacker Zach Domicone. Domicone was slated to visit UConn in December, but inclement weather forced him to postpone his trip. The following weekend, Domicone went to Nebraska before his hometown Ohio State Buckeyes caught wind of him and offered him a scholarship a day later.
Edsall noted that when the Huskies were interested in Domicone, he was rated as a two-star prospect. Once Ohio State entered the picture, he moved up to four-stars. While none of the Huskies recruits are considered can't-miss prospects, Edsall used the press conference as an opportunity to blast so-called talent evaluators, saying that if they were so good at their "propaganda," they would be general managers in the National Football League.
One linebacker the Huskies didn't miss out on is Apex, N.C.'s Sio Moore. At 6-foot-1, 215 pounds, Moore is an aggressive and hard hitter. Moore had the chance to watch the Huskies play in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in December. Seeing the success the Huskies had this season only made him more anxious to sign his name on the dotted line.
"Sometimes I just dream about making that hit on a running back or something like that., being able to put myself out there as one of the hardest hitters," he said. " I'm like, 'Wow, I'm going to be playing big-time football.' It's a dream come true."
Reach Joe Perez at 425-4257 or jperez@norwichbulletin.com
Name Position Height Weight Hometown/School
Bennett, Jimmy OL 6-8 280 Alexandria, Va. / West Potomac
Delahunt, John TE 6-3 245 Ottawa, Ont. / Holy Trinity
Edwards, Matt DB 6-0 190 Holliston, Mass. / Holliston
Gratz, Dwayne DB 6-0 180 Piscataway, N.J. / Piscataway
Griffin, Ryan TE 6-5 225 Londonderry, N.H. / Londonderry
Jennings, Ted DE 6-5 212 Dayton, Ohio / Chaminade-Julienne
Johnson, Jory OLB 6-1 220 Mobile, Ala. / St. Paul's / The Hun School
Junior, Jerome DB 6-1.5 210 Baltimore, Md. / Archbishop Curley
Kuraczea, Erik OL 6-1 305 Ansonia, Conn. / Ansonia
Manning, Corey TE 6-4 238 Tyrone, Ga. / Woodward Academy
Masters, Adam OL 6-5 275 Bethesda, Md. / Walt Whitman
Moore, Sio LB 6-1 215 Apex, N.C. / Apex
Parker, Brian WR 6-4 205 Sarasota, Fla. / Bradenton Prep
Portee, A.J. DE 6-4 215 Austell, Ga. / Mays
Sheppard, Gerrard WR 6-2 195 Owings Mills, Md. / McDonogh School
Smith, Michael WR 6-0 185 Houston, Texas / Westside
Todman, Jordan RB 5-10 180 North Dartmouth, Mass. / Dartmouth
Turner, Casey QB 6-4 230 Chesapeake, Va. / Great Bridge
Williams, Jerome LB 6-1 225 Burlington Township, N.J. / Holy Cross
Williams, Trevardo DE 6-2 215 Bridgeport, Conn. / Bridgeport Central
Wirth, Ryan DT 6-2 275 Medford, N.J. / Cheshire (Conn.) Acad.