Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

2/1/2012 at 6:20pm

Image by Rhonda Sharp

Pulaski Academy quarterback Fredi Knighten, a Parade All-American, was one of 13 instate players signed as part of Gus Malzahn's first recruiting class at Arkansas State.

JONESBORO — The buzz surrounding Gus Malzahn’s first recruiting class at Arkansas State was spelled out by the large crowd streaming into the Fowler Center late Wednesday afternoon. Fans arrived on campus anxious to hear Malzahn’s assessment of his 27-player haul on national signing day.

Last year, with fans excited about new head coach Hugh Freeze, about 600 booster club members with free admission overflowed the Cooper Alumni Center. This year, Red Wolf Club director and ASU associate athletic director Doug Doggett said, a ticket was required for admission as the event moved into the more spacious Fowler Center, which can seat more than 900 people. ASU already had sold 750 tickets by Wednesday, according to Doggett.

The excitement among the fans and school officials was in contrast to that of the new head coach, who kept his enthusiasm somewhat contained while discussing the signing class with the media gathered in the A-State football complex Wednesday afternoon.

Malzahn, the Fort Smith native who left the Auburn offensive coordinator job after three seasons to fill Freeze’s vacated spot as ASU’s head coach in December, rapidly rattled off the names and highlights. Several recruits received his “sky’s the limit” description.

But he also said that 6-foot center Bryce Giddens out of Moultrie, Ga., was the best center he’d ever seen. And 6-foot-3, 235-pound junior college linebacker Eddie Porter, a Blinn College product whose offer list included Big 12 and SEC teams, “might be the top defensive player we signed.”

Several players, such as juco defensive back Tres Houston, had been on Auburn’s recruiting board, Malzahn noted. For folks who dote on the “star system” of the Internet recruiting services, 18 of the 27 signees were “3 stars,” he said, “and the others that weren’t probably should have been.”

About every other player mentioned fell into the “could help now” category, and Malzahn said all positions were open and the 27 newcomers would have a chance to contribute next fall. “Every one of these guys can play and has a chance to play immediately.”

ASU gained a mid-year signee in Lawrence Cayou, a 6-4 defensive end from New Orleans via Highland (Kan.) Community College. Plus, two more names on the signing list, stretching it to 30 players, included Auburn transfer Michael Dyer, an All-SEC running back last year and MVP of the 2011 BCS Championship Game, and Travis Bodenstein, a transfer offensive lineman from Kansas. As transfers, both can practice this spring but would have to sit out next fall unless the NCAA grants an eligibility waiver.

Looking in the faces and the beaming eyes of ASU assistant coaches such as offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee, running backs coach David Gunn and offensive line coach J.B. Grimes told more than even Malzahn let on.

“I know [defensive coordinator Keith] Patterson was saying, some of the defensive players we signed, he’d have been very happy to have them at Pitt or Tulsa,” Lashlee said. Patterson joined Malzahn’s staff from Pittsburgh, where he spent one season after eight years at Tulsa.

“We got some real players,” said Grimes, who’s back in Arkansas for the first time in 19 years, when he was on the Arkansas Razorback staff in Fayetteville. Most recently, Grimes was at Kansas after spending six years at Mississippi State.

Gunn, who has been with the ASU football program for 11 years and under three head coaches, said he thought this ASU class was the best he’d seen. Gunn helped keep the class together during the transition from Freeze, who moved to Ole Miss as head coach, to Malzahn, and he also served as interim coach in ASU’s appearance in the GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Ala., on Jan. 9.

“This is a very talented class, probably more ‘3 star’ athletes … you never know what a young man’s going to develop into. The most successful athletes have been those guys coming out of high school that didn’t even have a star,” Gunn said. “But the level of athlete we’re recruiting and pursuing has certainly increased and that will continue to be the case. This class is going to rank up there with the best we’ve signed ... The final answer won’t be known until four years from now, but we like what we see on paper.”

Malzahn coached in Auburn’s Chick-fil-A Bowl win over Virginia on Dec. 31. His new staff had barely three-and-a-half weeks of recruiting time to fill in the gaps and address the most pressing needs: both immediate help and depth in the offensive and defensive lines and at cornerback.

When Malzahn arrived, Gunn said, he and the head coach went through the ASU recruiting board, then looked at how to enlarge it to meet the team’s most pressing needs. Malzahn leaned on his staff’s prior relationships — Lashlee was coaching at Samford (in Birmingham) before joining the ASU staff — in their most familiar areas.

But time was of the essence.

“We were able to pull from a larger pool, and the results are on that board,” Gunn said, pointing at the 4-foot-by-6-foot chart that listed all the signees for the media.

Malzahn’s connection to Blinn College — having recruited 2010 Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton from there — opened the door to Eddie Porter, juco All-American defensive end John Gandy and 6-6 defensive end Ishmail Hayes.

Gandy, in a radio interview with Jonesboro’s “The Game,” a local radio station, said it was easy to take notice of what was happening at ASU when Malzahn was hired and Dyer transferred in from Auburn. Tevin Bryson, a 6-4, 285-pound defensive lineman from Humbolt, Tenn., echoed those thoughts.

Eleven signees were Arkansans. “When they’re even, we're going with the Arkansas guy,” said Malzahn, who added that landing Pulaski Academy quarterback Fredi Knighten was big for the class. "He's a lot like [Michigan quarteback] Denard Robinson and I think he throws the ball better than Robinson." Malzahn said both Knighten and Searcy's Dezmond Stegall will start out at quarterback. They have time to develop with senior Ryan Aplin back.

Lashlee said, “Coach Malzahn intends to recruit this state very hard. There are a lot of good athletes in Arkansas.”

The momentum garnered from last year’s 10-3 season and Malzahn’s entrance as coach never wavered. By Wednesday morning, ASU was still tussling with a few other schools for two players to complete the class, and Malzahn said his staff won those battles as well. One of those, defensive back Chris Humes out of Birmingham, Ala., had interest from several SEC schools, including Arkansas. Kicker Luke Ferguson of Jonesboro, who had committed to Central Arkansas, accepted an offer as an invited walk-on.

And by Wednesday night, a booster base that has been asked to more than quadruple the financial support of the football program in coaches salaries (mainly Malzahn’s) and other areas, was caught up in the excitement of what many were calling the school’s best recruiting class ever. It’s conceded by the so-called experts as the best in the Sun Belt Conference. Considering Arkansas State went 8-0 in moving to the top of the league last fall, outrecruiting its rivals should help keep the Red Wolves there.

Award-winning columnist Jim Harris can remember to good ol' days of Bennie Ellender coaching ASU and winning championships at long-gone Kays Stadium, and he's covered sports throughout the state since 1976. Email him at jharris@abpg.com or follow him on Twitter @jimharris360

Tagged: Eddie Porter, John Gandy, Lawrence Cayou, Gus Malzahn, Sun Belt Conference, Michael Dyer, Travis Bodenstein, Fredi Knighten, Ryan Aplin, Dezmond Stegall