By Bryan Bloodworth
NORMAL- Illinois State football coach Brock Spack termed this year’s recruiting class another strong one.
Spack announced the signing of 22 players, including one mid-year transfer and one walk-on, Wednesday, the first day high school seniors could officially sign letters of intent.
“Things went well. We’re pretty happy the way things worked out,” said Spack. “I really like the group. I think we’ve really upgraded our team in speed and length. We’re really excited about our young players.”
The emphasis in this year’s class was linemen and the Redbirds landed six, including Bloomington High School’s John Ridgeway III. In all, ISU signed six offensive linemen, four wide receivers, three defensive backs, three defensive linemen, two linebackers, one quarterback and one tight end.
The class also includes one recruit that has already gained national attention.
Kobe Buffalomeat, a 6-foot-7, 285-pound offensive lineman from Lawrence, Kan., has been contacted by producers of the Jimmy Kimmel Show about appearing live on the show Thursday night.
“I want to make sure I’m very clear that we recruited him because of his character, his grades, his athleticism, his length and his potential,” said Spack. “He comes from a really good family and he’s a good kid. He just happens to have a unique name. I’ve been stunned by the attention he has gotten, but that wasn’t our attention. It was about his ability to play football, go to school and be a good kid. He has a real upside.”
The class includes one mid-year transfer from TCU in linebacker Tyree Horton and the current No. 2 60-meter hurdler in the country in Kentre Patterson.
“I think it’s a pretty balanced, long class,” said Spack. “We have some great speed guys. The only position we didn’t really address much was running back because we didn’t have to. It’s an exciting class and now we can’t wait to get them here and in the program and start developing them.”
2017 RECRUITING CLASS
Offensive linemen – John Ames (6-5, 260); Drew Bones (6-4, 305); Kobe Buffalomeat (6-7, 285); Evan Day (6-6, 290); John Ridgeway (6-6, 285); Spencer Stachyra (6-4, 290); Daniel Witherspoon (6-7, 320 walk-on)
Wide receivers – Andrew Edgar (6-0, 175); Emmauel Osuchukwu (6-3, 180); Kentre Patterson (6-1, 175); Brandon Price (6-5, 205)
Defensive backs – Peyton Jones (6-1, 185); Ricky Rollerson (5-11, 175); Eric Scott (6-2, 190)
Defensive linemen-linebackers – Jason Lewan (6-6, 205); Jacob Powell (6-1, 250); Jalen Sutton (6-2, 215)
Linebackers – Zeke Vandenburgh (6-3, 210); Rashaun Woods (6-1, 200); Tyree Horton (6-0, 230 mid-year transfer)
Quarterback – Trenton Hatfield (6-2, 190)
Tight end – Tanner Taula (6-6, 220)
Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at [email protected]
