Indiana Hoosiers sign 22 for football
From Indiana Athletics
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana head football coach Kevin Wilson announced Wednesday the signing of 22 student-athletes to National Letters of Intent to play for the Hoosiers in 2013.
We executed our plan very well and are excited about this class, Wilson said. We are very fortunate to have a good amount of returning starters, but we backed that up with, what on paper, is a very, very strong class, which is critical in building our program. There is potential to help on the defensive side, up front, at linebacker and on the perimeter. Offensively, we have 14 returning linemen and three quarterbacks. With those returners, we were able to concentrate on some other positions, including running back, wide receiver, tight end and the defense.
IU signed 13 defensive players, five offensive players and four athletes. The Hoosiers added six defensive linemen, four linebackers and three defensive backs on defense and two tight ends, two wide receivers and one running back on offense.
The class features players from eight different states, including five from Indiana, five from Florida, four from Georgia, four from Ohio, one from Illinois, one from Louisiana, one from Nebraska and one from New York.
We recruit as a team, Wilson said. There was not one lead recruiter on any one student-athlete. We had multiple coaches going to schools over and over, whether it be the areacoach, the assistant coach, the position coach, the coordinator or me. We also had tremendous behind the scenes administrative help and support. It was a great team effort that put together what is a very strong class.
Here is a list of Indiana’s 2013 signees:
Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/Previous School
Antonio Allen DB 5-10 205 Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis H.S.
Daryl Chestnut RB 5-10 190 Miami, Fla./Christopher Columbus H.S.
Christopher Cormier DL 6-2 315 New Iberia, La./Arizona Western C.C.
Patrick Dougherty DL 6-5 260 Aurora, Ohio/Aurora H.S.
Chase Dutra ATH 6-1 205 Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg H.S.
Rashard Fant DB 5-10 165 Atlanta, Ga./Our Lady of Mercy H.S.
Danny Friend TE 6-5 240 Morris, Ill./Morris Community H.S.
Steven Funderburk LB 6-3 231 Port St. Lucie, Fla./Iowa Western C.C.
Myles Graham ATH 6-0 215 Miami, Fla./Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory
Isaac Griffith WR 6-0 180 Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead H.S.
Jordan Heiderman DL 6-3 280 Norfolk, Neb./Iowa Western C.C.
Evan Jansen TE 6-4 245 Mason, Ohio/Moeller H.S.
David Kenney DL 6-2 250 Indianapolis, Ind./Pike H.S.
Darius Latham DL 6-5 291 Indianapolis, Ind./North Central H.S.
Clyde Newton ATH 6-1 215 Punta Gorda, Fla./Charlotte H.S.
Marcus Oliver LB 6-1 220 Hamilton, Ohio/Hamilton H.S.
Noel Padmore DB 5-11 175 Flowery Branch, Ga./Flowery Branch H.S.
T.J. Simmons LB 6-0 230 Lakeland, Fla./Lakeland H.S.
Kris Smith LB 6-2 215 Flowery Branch, Ga./Flowery Branch H.S.
Laray Smith ATH 6-0 185 Staten Island, N.Y./Xaverian H.S.
Maurice Swain DL 6-5 305 LaGrange, Ga./Troup H.S.
Anthony Young WR 6-1 175 Lakewood, Ohio/St. Edward H.S.
Notes on the class for the Hoosiers:
* Steven Funderburk, Jordan Heiderman and T.J. Simmons are currently enrolled in classes for thespring semester and will participate in spring practice.
* Four of the top 10 players in Indiana are in the class: Darius Latham (No. 3), Antonio Allen (No. 5), David Kenney (No. 6) and Chase Dutra (No. 9).
* Allen is the first Hoosier to ever participate in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. He is ranked the No. 19 safety nationally by ESPN.com and the No. 231 prospect overall by Rivals.com. Allen was a high school teammate of IUˆredshirt freshman wide receiver Caleb Cornett.
* Kenney is the No. 11 weak-side defensive end nationally and the No. 244 prospect overall by Rivals.com.
* Latham is the No. 14 defensive tackle nationally and the No. 239 prospect overall by Rivals.com.
* Rashard Fant is rated the No. 14 athlete nationally, the No. 16 prospect in Georgia and the No. 147 prospect overall by ESPN.com. He also played in the 2013 Offense-Defense All-American Bowl, along with Kenney.
* Anthony Young is an All-American sprinter in four events and owns 10 state championships in thestate of Ohio.
* Laray Smith currently holds the fastest indoor 300m time nationally and the second-fastest indoor200m and 400m time nationally.
* Funderburk and Heiderman played together at Iowa Western Community College, where the teamwent 12-0 and won the 2012 National Junior College Athletic Association national championship. Noel Padmore and Kris Smith were teammates at Flowery Branch High School.
* Clyde Newton’s brother, Leonard Bryant, played defensive back and lettered at IUˆfrom 2002-04.
* Isaac Griffith was the first commitment to the 2012 signing class and Allen was the first to turn in his NLIˆthis morning.
