By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
HATTIESBURG – Although he was able to uncover some gems, Will Hall’s first recruiting class last year was something of a rush job, with Signing Day coming shortly after his hiring as head football coach at Southern Miss.
Given a full year to recruit players to fit the vision he has for Golden Eagle football, Hall signed 21 players for the 2022 recruiting class Wednesday on the first day of the early signing period.
Hall introduced his fist group of signees at Signing Day celebration for Golden Eagle fans, then spoke to the media for more than 10 minutes in a give-and-take provided over a YouTube video by USM Sports Information.
“I love recruiting,” Hall said. “It’s a lot of fun getting to know these kids and their families.
“Most of these kids were committed to us during the summer, so we were able to develop a family atmosphere. We had some good battles for some of them down the stretch, because they’re all talented, highly-recruited players.”
Of the 21 players signed Wednesday, 10 are either junior college players or transfers, who are expected to arrive on campus in January.
“All of the kids that are coming in January will be given an early start,” said Hall. “Obviously, we lost a lot of D-linemen, so they have to play right away. We just don’t have enough numbers there.”
In all, USM signed five defensive linemen, including three junior college transfers, Jordyn Mahaffey and Brodarius Lewis, from Jones College, and Demeco Roland, from Hutchinson (Kan.).
Also coming on the defensive line are D.J. Burgess of Lafayette, the Class 5A Mr. Football, and Iliyas Fuavai, from Pensacola (Fla.) Catholic.
“I really like all five of them,” Hall said. “I think they all have a chance to be special. We have three of them enrolling early, and I think they’ll all bring a lot of value being older guys who can step in and play.
“And the two young guys are just tenacious. They’re right in line with what we’ve won a lot of game with here before.”
In his short time at USM, Hall has soaked up the Nasty Bunch tradition on all sides of the ball, and he plainly enjoys selling that tradition to young players.
“We’re trying to get this program back where it’s supposed to be,” Hall said. “One thing about Southern Miss is we’ve got a lot to sell, and we’re in a society where you have to sell, or you’ll get left behind.
“And I say this all the time. What’s not to like about Southern Miss? We have a great school, great facilities, great history and tradition, with an administration that supports us, and a great fan base.”
Hall said he still has six spots left to get the Golden Eagles back to their maximum allotment of 85 scholarships, and he hopes to fill those spots before classes begin in January.
“With those six spots, we’d like to add guys who can enroll in January,” said Hall. “We would like to add some beef on the D-line and O-line, then we would like to add some really good players no matter where they play.
“But we do need to add some more in the trenches, and I’d look for that to happen over the next few weeks as the (transfer) portal heats back up after bowl season.”
Southern Miss picked up three players Wednesday from the transfer portal, Jalil Clemons, a linebacker from the University of Memphis, Janari Dean, a running back from Mississippi State, and linebacker Jaylen Gill, who comes from Ole Miss after a stint at Jones.
Also coming in January is Latreal Jones, who was the No. 1-rated junior college wide receiver in the nation out of Pearl River. He rejoins Golden Eagle freshman quarterback Ty Keyes, with whom he played at Taylorsville High.
“Speed,” Hall said when asked about Jones. “He can really, really run. He has great ball skills, and he can make you miss. When you sign the No. 1 junior college player in America at any position, it is a big deal for a Group of 5 school.”
At the quarterback position, USM signed Hernando’s Zach Wilcke, who passed for 2,498 yards and 14 touchdown passes, with only six interceptions, and ran for 800 yards and eight more scores on the ground this past season.
At 6-foot-3, Wilcke has the size and athleticism to step in right away and compete with Keyes for the starting job for the 2022 season.
“They’re high-quality kids who have played at a high level,” said Hall. “For us, the two non-negotiables at quarterback are accuracy and toughness, both mental and physical, and Zach has that.
“He’s a tall kid with a strong arm, plus he’s got really good elusiveness and can run. He’s also a great basketball player in DeSoto County and he’s played AAU ball in Memphis. And everyone knows how (well) they play basketball in the City of Memphis.”
And Hall said he has at least three players who can fit the mold of the Superback, a variation of the wildcat formation that he used – by necessity – to great effect late in the recently-completed 2021 season.
“Kenyon Clay, Ty Mims and Janori Dean all have some quarterback in their background, so we’ll just add them to the stable,” Hall said. “We love versatile people who can score when they get the ball, so we’re excited about those guys.”
Hall said his recruiting strategy was to stack, or layer, his signees so he has a rotation of younger players moving up each year as other players move out of the program, either through graduation or transfer.
“When you look at your roster, you want every position room to be stacked, some seniors, some juniors, some sophomores and some freshmen,” said Hall.
“If you look at our DBs (for example), Michael Caraway (from PRCC) has three years remaining, Markel McLaurin (from Jones) has two years left and Cameron Knox (from New Albany) is a freshman and he’ll have four years.”
While the 2021 recruiting class was a rush to get as close to 85 scholarship players as possible, this year, Hall was able to pinpoint position needs and work to address those needs.
“We’re still going to be young and talented next year, but we will be at 85 scholarship players,” Hall said. “But we will be young; there won’t be a lot of seniors playing.
“I like to tell everyone, in 2023, you’d better strap it on tight, because all of those kids will be back for another year.”
Although Hall likes what he and his staff accomplished Wednesday, he said this is just another group of building blocks for where he wants the Southern Miss program to be.
“We’re building it back, and we’re doing it the right way each day,” Hall said. “This is a great class, one of the top classes in school history and it’s only going to get better. Once we add the last few pieces over the next few weeks, it is really going to add the icing to the cake.”
2022 Southern Miss Football Signing Class
Name Pos Ht. Wt. Hometown (Previous Schools)
Kamron Barnes OL 6-5 300 Natchez (Adams County Christian)
Kyron Barnes OL 6-5 300 Natchez (Adams County Christian)
DJ Burgess DL 6-3 250 Oxford (Lafayette)
Michael Caraway, Jr. DB 6-3 185 Bassfield (Jeff Davis County/Pearl River CC)
Kenyon Clay RB 6-1 215 Union (Union)
Jalil Clemons LB 6-3 240 Starkville (Starkville/Memphis)
Davis Dalton WR 6-3 200 Madison (Madison-Ridgeland)
Janari Dean RB 5-11 195 Batesville (South Panola/Mississippi State)
Iliyas Fuavai DL 6-3 245 Pensacola, Fla. (Pensacola Catholic HS)
Daylen Gill LB 5-11 225 Louisville (Louisville/Jones College/Ole Miss)
Latreal Jones WR 6-2 195 Taylorsville (Taylorsville/Pearl River CC)
Cameron Knox DB 6-0 185 New Albany (New Albany)
Brodarius Lewis DL 6-2 295 Prattville, Ala. (Prattville/Jones College)
Bryce Lofton PK/P 6-3 225 Sand Hill (Pisgah/Copiah-Lincoln CC)
Jordyn Mahaffey DL 6-3 250 Foxworth (West Marion/Jones College)
Markel McLaurin DB 5-11 195 Collins (Collins/USM/Jones College)
Tiaquelin Mims ATH 5-9 170 Bay Minette, Ala. (Baldwin County)
Demeco Roland DL 6-3 340 Broken Arrow, Okla. (Broken Arrow/Hutch. CC)
Wil Saxton OL 6-3 322 Benton (Benton Academy)
Mario Wilbourn LB 6-0 220 Oxford (Lafayette HS)
Zach Wilcke QB 6-3 185 Hernando (Hernando HS)
Photos courtesy of Jesse Johnson
