South Alabama put what you might refer to as a “soft cap” on its 2023 recruiting class on Wednesday, adding a pair of prospects on the first day of the late signing period.

Running back PJ Martin of De La Salle High School in New Orleans and cornerback La’Dareyen Craig of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College officially became Jaguars. Craig is a Baker High School graduate who also spent time at South Alabama.

Martin and Craig join 12 high school and junior college players who signed in December, four Division I transfers who enrolled in school in January in the Jaguars’ 2023 class. Head coach Kane Wommack also anticipates adding more Division I transfers once the NCAA portal re-opens in May.

“We use the term ‘finish up’ very lightly; we’re certainly not done,” Wommack said. “But this was another great staple. We kind of went into January recruiting with the idea of, we’re going to add value to our team. So if there was a player that we could add value, we were certainly going to do that.”

Martin (5-foot-10, 200 pounds) was a first-team Class 4A all-state pick in Louisiana in 2022, when he set a school record with 2,248 yards and 35 touchdowns (33 rushing) for a De La Salle team that went 10-1 and won its district championship. He joins a South Alabama running back group that returns leading rusher La’Damian Webb, top backup Braylon McReynolds and short-yardage specialist Marco Lee from last year’s team, and also signed Mississippi high schooler Jarvis Durr in December and added Ole Miss transfer Kentrel Bullock in January.

“We felt like we hit a home run with PJ Martin,” Wommack said. “There are going to be more PJ Martins out there, who developed his senior year, grew an inch, had a great senior season, and a lot of teams were already on other running backs. And typically you only take maybe one or two of those a year. There are not a lot of spots out there.

“We were really fortunate to stay very patient and to find a guy like him. I think in some ways we’re out-recruiting people and in other ways we’re out-evaluating people. And he was certainly an evaluation take that I think is going to pay off huge.”

Craig (6-2, 175) totaled 50 tackles and an interception in 10 games as a redshirt freshman this past season at Gulf Coast, and is rated a 3-star prospect by 247 Sports. He signed with South Carolina out of Baker in 2021 and played in two games for the Gamecocks before transferring to junior college.

Craig — nicknamed “Hollywood” — helps fill a position of need for South Alabama, which lost star cornerback Darrell Luter and fellow senior Jamar Richardson after last season. Fellow junior-college product Reggie Neely of East Mississippi signed with the Jaguars in December to compete with holdovers Ricky Fletcher, Marquise “Cuddie” Robinson and Jason Brooks for cornerback reps. “The other way that we want to recruit, is to bring the best players in Mobile back to play for South Alabama,” Wommack said. “La’Dareyen Craig went to South Carolina, played at Mississippi Gulf Coast, and is right here from Baker High School. So when you can do that, you can add value from the high school market, and then take some of the best players out of the transfer portal that are from this area, think that’s the recipe for sustained success on this program.”

Craig is among four local high school products in the Jaguars’ signing class so far, joining three December signees — UMS-Wright safety Cole Blaylock, McGill-Toolen wide receiver/kick returner Anthony Eager and Cottage Hill Christian tight end Trent Thomas. In addition, Memphis wide receiver transfer Javon Ivory is originally from Grove Hill, some 80 miles north of Mobile.

Wommack has made a concerted effort to recruit the talent-rich Coastal Alabama area since arriving at South Alabama, vowing to award at least five scholarships each year to players from Mobile and Baldwin Counties. He’ll need to add one more through the transfer portal — or give a scholarship to a local walk-on — to reach that “Mobile 5″ number this year.

South Alabama 2023 recruiting class

December signees (12)

Cole Blaylock, SAF, 6-0, 190, Mobile/UMS-Wright Prep

Josh Bledsoe, CB, 6-2, 170, LaFayette, Ala./LaFayette HS

Jarvis Durr, RB, 5-11, 193, Brandon, Miss./Brandon HS

Anthony Eager, WR/KR, 6-1, 170, Mobile/McGill-Toolen Catholic

Adrian Griffin, OL, 6-5, 260, Pleasant Grove, Ala./Pleasant Grove HS

Gio Lopez, QB, 6-1, 210, Madison, Ala./James Clemens HS

Reggie Neely, CB, 6-0, 170, Memphis, Tenn./East Mississippi CC

Jordan Norman, DE, 6-3, 230, Hoover, Ala./Hoover HS

Shamar Sandgren, WR, 6-2, 180, Savannah, Ga./Itawamba (Miss.) CC

Trent Thomas, TE, 6-6, 225, Mobile/Cottage Hill Christian

John Michael Ward, OL, 6-5, 280, Century, Fla./Northview HS

Karon Weary, SAF, 6-2, 180, Columbia, Miss./East Marion HS

Division I transfers (4)

Kentrel Bullock, RB, 5-10, 210, Columbia, Miss./Ole Miss

Reed Buys, OL, 6-4, 300, Vicksburg, Miss./Mississippi State

Jordan Davis, OL, 6-5, 300, Fairburn, Ga./South Carolina

Javon Ivory, WR, 6-1, 200, Grove Hill, Ala./Memphis

February signees (2)

La’Dareyen Craig, DB, 6-2, 175, Mobile (Baker HS)/Mississippi Gulf Coast CC

PJ Martin, RB, 5-10, 200, New Orleans/De La Salle HS