WKU’s 2018 Recruiting Class So Far

As of late June, the Tops have five commitments for the 2018 season. While they’re in better shape than some of the other G5 schools, their class for next year is still seventh in Conference USA according to 247 Sports’ rankings. Within this group, WKU has continued their streak of commitments from the state of Georgia with three more (so far), plus one each from Tennessee and Florida.

In the 2017 class, there were 12 players from Georgia that committed to Mike Sanford’s new home. There’s six other players from the peach state on WKU’s roster for the upcoming year including senior defensive lineman Trae Jones.

The latest group of players to commit to a college career in Bowling Green is far from complete, but it’s a nice start.

Spencer Gaddis - 3-Star Receiver

The Georgia wideout had 38 catches with 464 receiving yards and four touchdowns last season with Alpharetta High School. He also had offers on the table from Florida Atlantic, Arkansas State, Tulane, and Utah. His high school team used him primarily in the slot last year and gave him the ball quite a bit over the middle on short/middle distance passes and on screens. His highlight real shows he’s not a bad blocker either.

Sam Stovall - 3-Star Offensive Tackle

At 6’4” and 285 pounds, Stovall has been a pretty impressive two way lineman up to this point in his high school career. The Chattanooga, Tennessee product was part of an offense at Notre Dame High School that totaled 2,396 rushing yards and 1,436 rushing yards in 2016. He’s a play to the whistle kind of guy and it’ll be interesting to see how he develops. His other offers included App State, Coastal Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Memphis, Mercer, Richmond, Middle Tennessee, and UTSA.

Tre Leslie - 2-Star Linebacker

This Tucker, Georgia linebacker was certainly productive in his junior season totaling 82 tackles, three sacks, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. He’s six feet tall, 210 pounds, and picked WKU over offers from App State, Georgia Southern, Chattanooga, and Middle Tennessee. He’s quick for an inside backer so he’ll fit well with what Tops fans are used to seeing out of the position.

Maurquel Dillard - 2-Star Athlete

Dillard played a bit of everything for Stranahan High School in Fort Lauderdale last season. He’s got great speed which allowed him to excel as a deep threat receiver and as an option quarterback. As a member of the track team, he reportedly ran a 10.94 in the 100-meter and 22.43 in the 200-meter. He also put in some time as a DB for the Stranahan Mighty Dragons. If I had to put money on it, I’d say he plays receiver in his college career. He actually reminds me a bit of current Tops’ receiver Lucky Jackson both in size (6’1”, about 195) and in play style. Dillard also reportedly had offers from Purdue, Georgia State, FIU, Illinois, USM, Pitt, Toledo, Colorado State, UCF, Bowling Green, App State, North Carolina State, and FAU.

Jayden Patterson - 2-Star Corner

The six foot tall, 182 pounder from Mountain View High School in Lawrenceville, Georgia broke up 10 passes with one interception and 23 tackles in his junior campaign. From watching film on him, he’s not afraid to jam receivers at the line and he’s got decent tackling form. Mike Sanford’s description of him as a “lockdown corner” seems pretty accurate. His offer list included The Citadel, Georgia Southern, Army, Ball State, and Elon.