Blue Raiders ink 25 players on signing day

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee Head Coach Andy McCollum signed 25 players to scholarship agreements on Wednesday. The 2005 class marks the seventh under McCollum and the I-A era.

"This was a very important day at Middle Tennessee," said McCollum. "It has been quite a struggle the past 24 hours, but everything worked out and we have what I believe to be a very special class. Our coaching staff did a great job of bringing in some highly-regarded players and they deserve a lot of credit. This is always a fun day, but now we have to start focusing on the 2005 season."

Once again, Georgia was the dominant state as 10 players hail from the Peach state. The Blue Raiders also signed six from the state of Florida to give them 15 from the sunshine state the past two years. The Blue Raiders also inked four from Tennessee, two from Alabama, two from California and one from Mississippi. McCollum and his assistants inked a total of 21 high school athletes and four junior college players. There are 12 high school players who earned all-state honors, five who earned player of the year awards, and 20 were rated two stars or better by Rivals.com and five earned three stars by various recruiting outlets.

The program will now prepare for Blue Dawn, the team's off-season conditioning session which begins on Feb. 15, and spring drills that are scheduled to get underway on March 15.

The 2005 season opener is scheduled for Sept. 3 at SEC foe Alabama.

Class Notes:
WR Eddie Brown is also a standout basketball player for Arlington Country Day and he will be playing against South Gwinnett on ESPN2 Thursday night at 6:30 PM with hopes of announcing his signing during pregame or halftime ... LB Coy Williamson owns a Black Belt in Karate ... DL Brandon Perry's NLI was the first one to arrive this morning as it was received at 6:05 AM CST ... LB Chance Dunleavy is a first team JUCO All-American by Gridwire.com ... WR Dale Galvin was the MVP of the Florida Shrine Bowl ... DB Craig Harris played quarterback, defensive back, and returned punts and kickoffs in high school ... S Bryant House's Camden County High School team went 28-1 over his last two years ... DL Nick Mobley was the 2004 Heart of Georgia Co-Player of the Year and rated among the top linemen in the South ... DL Brandon Perry was considered the top defensive line prospect in the South and one of the top 25 players in Georgia ... CB Joey Moultry's high school coach was Hugh Fountain, brother of current offensive line coach Scott Fountain ... LB Ralpheal Ousley was the first four-year starter and lettermen in the history of Fort Walton Beach High School ... RB Alex Suber rushed for over 3,400 yard during his junior and senior seasons ... LB Coy Williamson owns a Black Belt in Karate ... Alex Suber and Jordan Wilson are both from Tampa, FL and have played against each other every year since Pop Warner football and are now teammates for the first time.

Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Cl.	Hometown (Prev. School)
Eddie Brown	WR	6-2	218	Fr.	Jacksonville, FL (Arlington Country Day)
· First Team All-State
Chris Burnett	WR/CB	5-9	175	Fr.	Covington, TN (Covington)
· All-State, 7-3A Offensive Player of Year
Michael Cannon	WR	5-10	170	Fr.	Memphis, TN (Whitehaven)
· Named 3-star recruit by Max Emfinger
Lonnie Clemons III	FS	6-2	210	r-Fr.	Milledgeville, GA (Baldwin)
· Named 70th best prospect in Georgia coming out of HS
Reggie Doucet	CB	6-0	195	Jr.	Prunedale, CA (North Monteray County)
· Offered by Arizona & Wash. St. out of HS
Franklin Dunbar	OL	6-5	366	r-Fr.	Waycross, GA (Ware County)
· 4A All-State selection
Chance Dunleavy	LB	6-2	231	Jr.	West Covina, CA (South Hills)
· First team All-American by Gridwire.com
Dale Galvin	WR	6-2	185	Fr.	Bunnell, FL (Flagler Palm Coast)
· MVP of Florida Shrine Bowl
Craig Harris	DB	6-0	175	Fr.	Brownsville, TN (Haywood)
· All-State, Region Player of Year
Bryant House	S	6-1	195	Fr.	Kingsland, GA (Camden County)
· Class 5A All-State
Trevor Jenkins	DL	6-2	270	Fr.	Macon, GA (Stratford)
· Rated a 2-star recruit by Rivals.com
David Johnson	DL	6-4	254	Fr.	Swainsboro, GA (Swainsboro)
· Rated a 2-star recruit by Rivals.com
Derek Mason	OL	6-4	270	Jr.	Starkville, MS (Starkville)
· All-State, All-North Division
Chris McCoy	DL	6-5	250	Fr.	Villa Rica, GA (Villa Rica)
· Recruited heavily by SEC & Big 10 schools
Nick Mobley	DL	6-3	315	Fr.	Dublin, GA (Dublin)
· 2004 Heart of Georgia Co-Player of Year
Joey Moultry	CB	6-0	175	Fr.	Troy, AL (Charles Henderson)
· All-State as a DB and Athlete
Ralpheal Ousley	LB	6-2	245	Fr.	Fort Walton Beach, FL (Fort Walton Beach)
· School's career leader in tackles with 403
Brandon Perry	DL	6-3	285	Fr.	Hawkinsville, GA (Hawkinsville)
· Listed top DT prospect in South by Insiders.com
Jay Robinson	WR	6-4	200	Fr.	Wetumpka, AL (Wetumpka)
· Passed for 1,100 yards, rushed for 500 as a senior
J.K. Sabb	LB	5-11	230	Jr.	Augusta, GA (Lucy Laney)
· JUCO All-American ... 3-star recruit
Alton Sanders	RB	6-1	190	Fr.	Warner Robins, GA (Warner Robins)
· Rushed for school record 2,101 yards and 29 TDs
Alex Suber	RB	5-9	175	Fr.	Tampa, FL (Thomas Jefferson)
· Rushed for 1,592 yards and 16 TDs in '04
Mark Thompson	OL	6-4	290	Fr.	Old Hickory, TN (DCA)
· Won 2004 Class A Mr. Football Lineman award
Coy Williamson	LB	6-1	225	Fr.	Niceville, FL (Niceville)
· First Team All-State, Owns Black Belt in Karate
Jordan Wilson	ATH	5-10	185	Fr.	Tampa, FL (Chamberlain)
· Rushed for 1,175 yards in only 7 games

Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter @MTAthletics for continued updates.