Chattanooga football coach Russ Huesman was checking his email a few weeks ago when he came across one that grabbed him.
The message was from the father of Brentwood Academy wide receiver Al Thompson, a three-star recruit who had originally committed to Arizona State. But after ASU fired coach Dennis Erickson last November, Thompson reopened his recruitment.
In his email, Thompson’s father included video, which Huesman eagerly watched. It didn’t take him long to decide the 6-2, 184-pound Thompson, a two-time all-state selection, was impressive, which is why it pained Huesman to have to write the elder Thompson back.
“I answered his email immediately,” Huesman said on Wednesday, when he met the media to discuss UTC’s 15-player recruiting class. “I said Al was a really good player, but that we’d made commitments to three receivers already and had another one coming in for a visit. But I told him if something changed, we’d be back in touch.”
Something did change and Huesman was true to his word. He invited Thompson — whose sister attends UTC — for a visit.
“He liked it,” Huesman said. “His family was pretty excited we came back into the picture with him. And we were excited, too. He’s a great player, good student, good kid and comes from a good family.”
Thompson topped off a solid group of three receivers, all of whom, as Huesman said, “have gotta be ready to compete and play.”
Joining Thompson, who grabbed 47 passes for 685 yards and six touchdowns last season, are 6-2, 175-pound C.J. Board from West Creek High School in Clarksville and Tray James, a 6-4, 185-pounder from Banneker High School in College Park, Ga.
Board, like Thompson an all-state selection, is as adept in the classroom as he is on the field.
“He’s a phenomenal student and excellent football player,” Huesman said. “We had him in our camp and absolutely loved him. He’s a big, tall guy who we think is going to be really good for us.”
James caught 25 passes for 350 yards and five scores last season despite being sidelined for four games with a high ankle sprain.
“He kind of reminds me of (UTC’s) Marlon Anthony,” Huesman said. “Very fluid. Tray committed to us during the season. He had a couple offers from Marshall and Georgia State, but he hung with us.”
In assessing his recruiting class, Huesman wasn’t sure which of the freshmen would redshirt and which ones might get on the field next fall. But he’s got a pretty good idea all three receivers will get a chance to play.
“The need at receiver is glaring,” Huesman said. “And normally, wide receivers, skill kids, can play way earlier than everybody else. They can come in at 165 pounds and kind of survive.”
Chattanooga signed eight players on defense and seven on offense. Huesman’s staff raided Georgia for 10 players, got three more from Tennessee and another from Alabama — 6-2, 240-pound linebacker D’Eddric Williams from Hillcrest High in Tuscaloosa. Williams is already enrolled in school.
Two Chattanooga-area players—defensive end Keionta Davis of Red Bank and linebacker Alex Kirby from Calhoun (Ga.) High School, are part of the class.
“I think it’s a good recruiting class,” he said. “We’re not beating (SoCon power Appalachian State) on every player we’re recruiting, or Georgia Southern. But we’re battling. What I’ve noticed is that there’s a lot of guys that have a lot of interest in Chattanooga. There are a lot of reasons for that. It’s the city, the university, the stadium … I mean, there are a lot of reasons to like us.
“You can see now as we progress, we’re getting involved with a lot of players. And we won some battles against (App State and Georgia Southern). When you lose some battles at the end, it hurts. You try to figure out how we can start winning more of them. The bottom line is we’ll start winning them when we start winning championships.
“(Other schools) are selling rings and tradition, those types of things. That’s the biggest advantage that they’ve got — recent football tradition and success at this level.”
2012 UTC recruiting class
C.J. Board — WR, 6-2, 175, Clarksville, Tenn. (West Creek HS)
Keionta Davis — DE, 6-4, 230, Chattanooga, Tenn. (Red Bank HS)
Robert Hill — OL, 6-2, 280, Buford, Ga. (Buford HS)
Tray James — WR, 6-4, 185, College Park, Ga. (Banneker HS)
Will Johnson — DB, 5-11, 185, Alpharetta, Ga. (Chattahoochee HS)
Alex Kirby — LB, 6-0, 210, Calhoun, Ga. (Calhoun HS)
Nakevion Leslie — DB, 5-11, 205, Powder Springs, Ga. (Hillgrove HS)
Corey Levin — OL, 6-5, 250, Dacula, Ga. (Dacula HS)
Vantrell McMillan — DE, 6-2, 220, Albany, Ga. (Monroe HS)
Kevin Niethammer — TE, 6-3, 215, Maryville, Tenn. (Maryville HS)
Cedric Nettles — DB, 6-0, 180, Morrow, Ga. (Jonesboro HS)
Tolerance Shepherd — RB, 5-10, 180, Fitzgerald, Ga. (Fitzgerald HS)
Al Thompson — WR, 6-2, 184, Nashville, Tenn. (Brentwood Academy)
Javaris “Dee” Virgin — DB, 5-10, 180, Donalsonville, Ga. (Seminole County HS)
D’Eddric Williams — LB, 6-2, 240, Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Hillcrest HS)
