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On Monday morning, Western Kentucky head coach Mike Sanford Jr. tweeted that his staff had secured another commitment for the 2018 class.
This man will hit you! Another from the Sunshine State! #WaveThatTowel pic.twitter.com/CIpOHpMqZy
— Coach Mike Sanford (@CoachSanfordWKU) July 10, 2017
The following morning, Malik Occiur, a two-star linebacker from the Fort Lauderdale area, tweeted his verbal commitment to WKU.
Proud to announce that I've committed to Western Kentucky University. #ThePursuit18 #GoTops pic.twitter.com/ete1yZ6idD
— ♀️Malik (@Meek100x10) July 11, 2017
The safety/linebacker hybrid also had reported offers from FAU, Idaho, Appalachian State, Samford, and Kentucky. Occiur had previously verbally committed to Florida Atlantic back in the fall of 2016, but reopened his recruitment in February.
Occiur measures just under six feet tall and weighs 189 currently. 247 Sports ranks Occiur as the #183 safety nationally and the #299 recruit in the state of Florida. Occiur also becomes the seventh member of WKU’s 2018 class and the third of that group from the state of Florida. He seems comfortable pretty much anywhere on the defense and exhibits some impressive acceleration when in pursuit.
Considering WKU will lose at least five defensive backs and a linebacker to graduation after this season, it seems smart of Sanford’s staff to start loading up on defensive players. They also have 2018 commitments from two-star linebacker Tre Leslie and two-star corner Jayden Patterson.