App State football welcomed 22 new student athletes at Wednesday’s National Signing Day event.
The list of 22 includes four student athletes who were already enrolled at the university as well as 18 who signed national letters of intent to attend the university next fall.
The slate of incoming players spans eight states with Georgia sending the most prospects to Boone with five. Four players come from North Carolina as well as four from South Carolina.
Four of App State’s incoming players were rated as three-star prospects by recruiting websites such as Scout.com, Rivals.com and 247 Sports. The other 18 were all rated as two-star prospects.
Head coach Scott Satterfield said the program addressed key areas of concern with this recruiting class.
“Overall, we’re excited for our class,” Satterfied said. “We addressed the needs we felt we needed to address, in particular offensive line and the secondary.”
App State signed four offensive linemen and three defensive backs- the two most addressed positions.
The Mountaineers inked two quarterbacks, as well, including Daniel David from Hoschton, Georgia, who was rated as the nation’s No. 30 dual-threat quarterback by Rivals.com.
In high school, App State’s other new quarterback, Jake Easter, was a two-time all-Northwest Region selection by the Winston-Salem Journal.
“You [can] look at Ohio State who won the National championship with their third string quarterback,” Satterfield said. “You better have guys that can come in and get it done at that position. We feel like we got a couple really good players at that position.”
Recruiting coordinator Scot Sloan said the program often ran into Georgia Southern and other Sun Belt foes in the recruiting process. The difference, he said, was the excitement the team generated with their late-season surge.
“The momentum of winning six in a row definitely helped,” Sloan said. “To be able to sit down with a kid and say we finished 6-2 in the conference, 7-5 overall and really should have been a bowl team – I think that does at least catch their attention.”
The Mountaineers were aided in the recruiting process by new wide receivers coach, Justin Watts, who said signing day culminates a long, involved process.
“You have to do something every day in recruiting to build relationships with high school coaches and players,” Boyd said.
Satterfield said the process begins again immediately. As for the newly signed players, he said they will have plenty of chances to make names for themselves when they suit up in the fall.
“We will start tomorrow on the next class,” Satterfield said. “We feel like we have a great class that can come in and compete with the guys we have here. We have 20 starters returning next year but these guys will come right in and start competing.”
Story: Cory Spiers, Sports Editor