General
Charles Kelly’s first full recruiting class as Jax State’s head coach features plenty of familiar in-state faces.
Jax State announced its full list of February signees on Wednesday as part of National Signing Day, with five of those coming from the state of Alabama.
The group of 12 players will be joined by 11 transfer portal signees and nine December signees, who were all previously announced.
Kelly praised his coaching staff for the job done in recruiting over the last month, especially with the recent timing of his hire as Jax State’s coach.
“It takes a village to recruit a player,” he said. “Throughout our building, whether it be the personnel department, whether it be the recruiting department, whether it be operations, all the things that go in and make it work to be able to show off what we have to offer here at Jax State. I give our staff a ton of credit for being able to do it.”
Among the in-state talent recruited include Houston Academy wide receiver Gabe Glover, Pisgah athlete Luke Gilbert (signed as a tight end), Pleasant Grove linebacker Ian Mitchell and Etowah athlete Jameson Scissum.
Kelly also saw a flip on National Signing Day, with JQ Brooks of Hueytown changing his commitment from UAB to Jax State and signing on Wednesday.
Alexandria High kicker Cleat Forrest and Houston Academy quarterback Kadyn Mitchell both announced their commitments to Jax State, but have not officially been announced by the program.
“Local recruiting is very important to me because there are a lot of good football players around this area, and there are a lot of good football coaches that do a good job of developing players,” Kelly said. “We would be crazy not to start and work out instead to go out and work in.”
The four December signees were all signed by Rich Rodriguez, now at West Virginia, and elected to stay with the program under Kelly and his staff; those include Jackson offensive lineman Markevian Blake, Briarwood Christian defender Luke Reynolds and Montgomery Academy athletes/safety DJ Vinson.
“We were on a time crunch just because of when I came on the job, and we had to balance portal recruiting along with high school recruiting,” Kelly said. “What, I don’t think, a lot of people realize, even the guys that signed early in December, they had the opportunity to go somewhere else if they chose to do so. So, we basically had to re-recruit those guys and create relationships with those young men and their families.
“That was a big part of this process, and we’re glad we were able to keep all those guys with us.”
Jax State added three quarterbacks, with Kentucky transfer Gavin Wimsatt and Memphis transfer Cade Cunningham joining the program. The Gamecocks also signed quarterback Jack Moran, who earned New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year honors after a standout season at The Hun School.
The three will join a quarterback group that includes former Fairhope star Caden Creel.
Kelly said he had to put a strong emphasis on the quarterback room and the group of cornerbacks, with both positions depleted after graduation and others left via the transfer portal.
“Really, when I got settled in, there was one quarterback on scholarship and basically one corner, so we had to work on that,” Kelly said. “As of today we’ve got four quarterbacks on scholarship, and we’ve got another guy that will be here that I can’t talk about, just because of NCAA rules, but we feel like we’re going to have five quarterbacks on campus that will be able to compete.”
February signees (10):
Khari Bendolph
Linebacker, Naples HS, Naples, Fla.
JQ Brooks
Cornerback, Hueytown HS, Hueytown, Ala.
Gabe Glover
Wide Receiver, Houston Academy, Dothan, Ala.
Luke Gilbert
Tight End, Pisgah HS, Pisgah, Ala.
Quay Hood
Defensive Line, Decatur HS, Decatur, Ga.
Ian Mitchell
Linebacker, Pleasant Grove HS, Pleasant Grove, Ala.
Jack Moran
Quarterback, The Hun School, Hillsborough, N.J.
Wes Ryan
Tight End, Shorecrest Prep, St. Petersburg, Fla.
Jameson Scissum
Athlete, Etowah HS, Attalla, Ala.
Timothy Taylor Jr.
Defensive Line, Williston HS, Starke, Fla.
Early enrollees (2):
Temarion Foster
Defensive Back, Inlet Grove HS, Riviera Beach, Fla.
RJ Rainer
Defensive Back, William A. Hough HS, Cornelius, N.C.
Transfer portal signees (11):
Myles Butler
Linebacker, Campbellsville University, Carrollton, Ga.
Cam Cook
Running Back, Texas Christian University, Round Rock, Texas
Jacob Cruz
Defensive Line, Georgia Tech, Acworth, Ga.
Cade Cunningham
Quarterback, University of Memphis, Wake Forest, N.C.
Rod Elston
Safety, Auburn University, Anniston, Ala.
Harison Hamsley
Tight End, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Ga.
Deondre Johnson
Wide Receiver, Rutgers University, Newburgh, N.Y.
Khurtiss Perry
Defensive Line, Virginia Tech, Montgomery, Ala.
Larry Preston
Defensive Back, Murray State University, Apopka, Fla.
Tyrin Taylor
Defensive Back, University of Memphis, Huntersville, N.C.
Gavin Wimsatt
Quarterback, University of Kentucky, Owensboro, Ky.
December signees (9):
Markevian Blake
Offensive Line, Jackson HS, Gainestown, Ala.
Lucas Farrington
Running Back, Walton HS, Atlanta, Ga.
Lance Johnson
Offensive Line, Ramsay HS, Birmingham, Ala.
Luke Reynolds
Linebacker/Safety, Briarwood Christian HS, Birmingham, Ala.
Mac Sanders
Linebacker, Ola HS, McDonough, Ga.
DJ Vinson
Athlete/Safety, Montgomery Academy, Montgomery, Ala.
Blake Wallace
Wide Receiver, Spanish River HS, Boca Raton, Fla.
Manny Watkins
Safety, Temple HS, Temple, Ga.
McCade Wright
Defensive Line, Southside HS, Gadsden, Ala.
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