EIU Football Recruits For the 2013 Season

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois head coach Dino Babers addressed several positions with the 2013 Eastern Illinois football class with some players filling immediate needs while others will help fill gaps in the future. The class includes five wide receivers, four offensive linemen, four defensive linemen, two quarterbacks, two linebackers, one running back, one defensive back, one long snapper and one athlete.

“I feel that we have recruited a very diverse class this season with some players who are bigger, stronger and faster,” Babers said.  “The junior college players and four-year transfers are guys who need to be able to step in and compete for starting jobs, especially the defensive line where we lost a number of senior players.  If one of the freshmen is athletically able to step in and contribute then they will compete for playing time, but our expectation is for them to be able to help us 2, 3, 4 years down the road.”

EIU completed the 2012 season with a 7-5 record winning the Ohio Valley Conference regular season title with a 6-1 record.  EIU made its 14th FCS playoff appearance.  EIU’s high-powered, fast-paced offense featured two players that finished in the top ten in the voting for the Walter Payton Award in junior wide receiver Erik Lora (4th) and junior quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (10th).  Head coach Dino Babers was third in voting for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year after winning OVC and AFCA Region 3 Coach of the Year honors.

        EIU will open the 2013 season at San Diego State on Saturday, August 31.

HIGH SCHOOL CLASS

NAME                    POSITION                HT      WT      HOMETOWN                H.S.

Addison Bounds  Quarterback             6-4     195     Fairbury, Ill.          Prairie Central HS

Kurtis Brummerstedt     Offensive Line          6-7     315     Yorkville, Ill.         Yorkville HS

Daniel Chism            Defensive Line          6-2     260     Warrenville, Ill.               Wheaton-Warrenville South HS

Matt Christensen        Wide Receiver           6-3     175     Racine, Wis.            Wilmot Union HS

Austin Green            Quarterback             6-3     200     Rochester, Ill.         Rochester HS

AJ Hantak               Long Snapper            6-4     200     Fenton, Mo.             Rockwood Summit HS

Malik Harrison          Athlete                 6-1     185     Springfield, Ill.               Springfield HS

Kashmiere Hughes        Wide Receiver           6-5     215     Peoria, Ill.            Peoria Manual HS

Xzavier McAllister      Offensive Tackle        6-5     325     Canton, Ohio            Canton McKinley HS

Seth McDonald           Linebacker              6-1     210     Sandwich, Ill.          Sandwich HS

Tray Mitchell           Wide Receiver           5-11    175     Wentzville, Mo.         Holt HS

Daviante Sayles Running Back            5-10    180     Vista, Calif.           Rancho Buena Vista HS

Max Sidney              Offensive Tackle        6-7     290     Chesterfield, Mo.       Marquette HS

Vince Speller           Safety                  6-1     195     Chicago, Ill.           Chicago Mt. Carmel HS

JUNIOR COLLEGE CLASS (Denotes year they will be at EIU in fall 2013)

NAME            POS     HT      WT      YR              HOMETOWN (HIGH SCHOOL/JC/LAST)

Adolphus Barnes OT      6-4     270     JR              (St. Petersburg, Fla/Hillsborough HS/Merced College)

Laquesse Taylor DT      6-2     305     JR              (Fresno, Calif./Edison HS/College of the Sequoias)

Marques White   DL      6-3     265     R-JR            (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago HS/Saddleback College)

Jarell Wright   DT      6-3     300     JR              (Long Beach, Calif./Jordan HS/LA Harbor College)

MID-YEAR TRANSFERS (Denotes year they will be at EIU in fall 2013)

NAME            POS     HT      WT      YR              HOMETOWN (HIGH SCHOOL/JC/LAST)

Devante Davis   LB      6-2     205     R-SO            Dallas, Texas (Lincoln HS / Baylor University)

Jeff LePak      WR      6-6     215     R-JR            Belton, Texas (Belton HS / Baylor University)

Nico Shepherd   WR      6-2     205     R-FR            Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (St. Thomas Aquinas HS / FIU)