Bearcats add 22 student-athletes to football roster on Signing Day

CINCINNATI - Tommy Tuberville made his first real mark on the University of Cincinnati Wednesday, the first day of the NCAA signing period, when the first-year head coach announced 22 student-athletes signed to play football for the Bearcats.

Five of the athletes included in that group of athletes enrolled in January and will participate in spring football, according to Tuberville.

“Our coaches did an outstanding job of catching up,” Tuberville told GoBearcats.com . “We are bringing guys in who can help the team win. I don’t want to give offers and scholarships out just to give them out. We have immediate needs at starters and backups so there is no better way than doing that than bringing in some junior college players. The players we have signed will be able to help the team in the near future and we are looking forward to getting started this spring.”

The class includes five defensive backs, three tight ends, four defensive linemen, three “athletes” (their positions have not been determined), two offensive linemen, two running backs, a pair of wide receivers and a quarterback.

The recruits are made up of even junior-college athletes along with 15 high school student-athletes.

Tuberville told GoBearcats.com that adding speed to the roster was his primary area of concern.

“I feel good about the qualities for the players we signed,” Tubervile said in his interview with GoBearcats.com. “Speed is one of the main ingredients of the class. We felt it was something that needed to improve as a whole. I don’t look at size as much as much speed and quickness of the players.”

The Bearcats are scheduled to begin spring ball on March 5, 2013 with the 15-practice session closing out on April 13.

Below is an in-depth breakdown of the list of recruits who signed to play with the Bearcats on Wednesday provided by the University of Cincinnati Sports Information Department:

• DB Darren Doston (Daytona Beach, Fla./Seabreeze/College of the Sequoias), DB Zach Edwards (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown), ATH Javon Harrison (Dayton, Ohio/Huber Hts. Wayne), DL Jerrell Jordan (Alta Vista, Va./Alta Vista/Copiah-Lincoln CC) and OL Kyle Williamson (Madiera, Ohio/Madiera) made up the early enrollees. Edwards, Harrison and Williamson have freshman eligibility while Doston and Jordan enter with junior eligibility and two seasons to play.
• Five are Ohio natives with four, Edwards, OL Ben Flick (Hamilton, Ohio/Hamilton), LB Rasheen Jones (Cincinnati, Ohio/Northwest) and Williamson coming from the greater Cincinnati area.
• TE Travis Johnson (Tampa, Fla./Jesuit) is the No. 162 player in the ESPN 300 and he is listed as the nation’s sixth-best tight end and the No. 33 player in the State of Florida.
• RB Rodriguez Moore was ranked as the No. 1 junior college running back by 247Sports.com and RB Hosey Williams (Miami, Fla./Southridge/ASA College) was an NJCAA First-Team All-American in 2012. Totaling their individual statistics, the pair combined to rush for 3,687 yards and score 36 touchdowns at the junior college level.
• QB Brent Stockstill (Murfreesboro, Tenn./Siegel), a left hander, threw for 2,690 yards and 32 touchdowns while rushing for 653 yards and 10 scores as a senior. His father Rick is the head coach at Middle Tennessee State University and a former All-American QB at Florida State.
• DL Terrell Hartsfield (Wake Forest, N.C./Rolesville/Copiah-Lincoln CC) a four-star recruit, was a teammate of Jordan at Copiah-Lincoln CC. The duo combined for 105 tackles and 12.5 sacks as freshmen. They were part of a Wolfpack team that won their first MACJC State Championship since 1985 this past season.
• Tshumbi Johnson (Immokalee, Fla./Immokalee) totaled 6,468 yards passing for 57 touchdowns and 2,111 yards rushing for 41 TDs as a prep. Immokalee was the 2012 Class 5A State Runner-up, Region 3 Champions and District 5A-12 Champions with Johnson earned Associated Press Honorable Mention Class 5A All-State honors.