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The Georgia Southern Eagles hauled in a new crop of gridiron stars on National Signing Day, drawing the John Hancock of 22 new players.
Most of the signees I've already written about so I'll direct you first to previous posts:
- Recruit Highlights Part 1
- Recruit Highlights Part 2
- Recruit Highlights Part 3
- Top-Rated Kicker Commits to Georgia Southern
By the way, of those four stories, guess which one got the most traffic? If you said ,"the one about the kicker," you'd be correct. That post has more Facebook shares than almost anything I've ever written for this site. Clearly Eagle Nation is pumped about some field goals! I digress.
Here's a brief rundown of the players not already highlighted:
Obe Fortune
The three-star wide receiver is an especially sweet pickup because he flipped from App State.
J.B. Kouassi
Another three-star recruit out of Norcross. The weakside defensive end had interest from App State, Middle Tennessee, Georgia State and others.
Curtis Rainey
A two-star offensive guard out of Jacksonville, he should help shore up an offensive line seeing lots of attrition from graduating seniors.
J.L. Banks
An outside linebacker from Bogart, Georgia's North Oconee High School. Banks is 6-3, 225 pounds and had an offer from Furman.
Kevin Ackerman
At 6-5, 235 pounds he should be a great blocker. Not that Ackerman can't move with the ball in his hands.
Markeis Hallback
Another Florida product, promising running back was a late addition to the class.
Naquan Howard
A two-star prospect out of Gainesville, Florida, Howard should be very familiar with Georgia Southern's success in recent seasons. He's signed on as an athlete.
It's not all Snooky's gravy though as a few fish escaped the net at the last minute. Alex Davis bolted for Nebraska, Tae Crowder flipped to Georgia and Montre Hardage left for Northwestern in the final days before NSD. Dexter Carter Jr. technically could still sign as of this writing but his heart seems set on UNC.
Confession time: While I'm doing my best to act like I know what I'm talking about, this is the first year I've followed recruiting closely. I'm guessing the last-minute switcheroos are a normal part of the process, especially at the mid-major level where things may need to settle in the power conferences before they do here.
Nonetheless, as I've heard several people say: If you're going to lose recruits, those are the kinds of schools you want to lose them to. On the other side, Georgia Southern signee Christian Matthew flipped from Wake Forest and the aforementioned Fortune switched from App State. It goes both ways in other words.
With 22 players signed, up to four more could still join the class. A big target to watch for is Matt Colburn, whose scholarship to Louisville was yanked at the last minute. Two of his teammates, Lane Ecton and Tyler Bass (the kicker), already signed for Georgia Southern. He'll visit GSU and Wake Forest this weekend.
The other three, I guess we'll see how that plays out.