Decorated student-athletes sign with UTSA during early signing period

(Dec. 20, 2017) -- The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) head football coach Frank Wilson announced today that 19 highly-decorated student-athletes have signed National Letters of Intent during the early signing period to join his program beginning with the 2018 season.

2018 UTSA Football Signees (Early Signing Period):

Trumane Bell - Dallas,Texas (Lake Highlands HS)
Spencer Burford - San Antonio,Texas (Wagner HS)
Lorenzo Dantzler- Starkville, Miss. (East Miss. CC)
Jalyn Galmore - Batesville, Miss. (Itawamba CC)
Zachary Gilson - Sachse, Texas (Sachse HS)
Peter Gray - Tupelo, Miss. (Tupelo HS)
Terrell Haynes - Arlington, Texas (Seguin HS)
Sheldon Jones - New Orleans, La. (Warren Easton HS)
T.J. King - Irving, Texas (Fort Scott CC)
Brandon Matterson - San Antonio, Texas (Brandeis HS)
Corey Mayfield Jr.- Forney, Texas (North Forney HS)
Andrew McGowan - Sinton, Texas (Sinton HS)
Kevin Nelson - Fort Worth, Texas (Arlington Heights HS)
Kelechi Nwachuku - McAllen, Texas (Memorial HS)
Tykee Ogle-Kellogg - Alcoa, Tenn. (Alcoa HS)
Jarrett Preston - Missouri City, Texas (Ridge Point HS)
Treyvion Shannon - Clarksdale, Miss. (Miss. Gulf Coast CC)
La'thaniel Washington - Del Valle, Texas (Del Valle HS)
Jordan Weeks - Wimberley, Texas (Wimberley HS)

"We're very fortunate to have these young men as part of our program now," Wilson said. "They all have the ability to come in and contribute to this team in the short term. Six of these young men will be here in January to start their path to contributing to this program and working toward their degree."

UTSA's group of 19 signees boasts a near-even breakdown between players on each side of the ball, with 10 pegged as defensive players, eight projected to contribute on offense and one who is listed on both sides of the line.

"This class shows great balance between offense and defense and also in managing our roster," Wilson said. "When you look at our need positions, I thought they were met with this class."

Fifteen of the signees come from the high school ranks, while four are joining the Roadrunners from junior colleges.

The class includes 13 players from the state of Texas, four from Mississippi and one each from Louisiana and Tennessee.

Among the players from the Lone Star State, six hail from the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and a pair each are from the San Antonio and Austin metro areas. UTSA also signed a player each from the Greater Houston Area, Coastal Bend and Rio Grande Valley.

"When you look at where we recruited, 13 of the signees are from the great state of Texas," Wilson said. "It's important to us to recruit well in our city and in our state. We like the geographical areas where these young men come from. We think it bodes well for our university and our program in championing these young men who are deserving of an opportunity to play Division I football at a high level."

Today marked the first day of the brand-new early signing period, which ends on Friday, Dec. 22.

"Usually you're working in January and early February to solidify your verbal commits for National Signing Day, so this has been unique in that we're able to put most of that to bed with the early signing period and get them focused on the things they need to do this spring to be the best students they can be," Wilson said. "We have continued to be aggressive in our early identification process, which we do every year in the month of January, performing academic evaluations on these young men after already having watched them play their sophomore or junior year. We have an idea of who they are as a player on the football field, but that allows us to get into the schools and talk to their coaches and administrators in order to get a sense of who they are as a person. That's been rewarding.

"We're going to take advantage of it and finish this class strong and at the same time, turn our attention to the 2019 class with the exception of the need positions that we still have. We have four scholarships available and we intend to sign the maximum in February."

UTSA will announce its complete 2018 signing class on Wednesday, Feb. 7.

"We got up early this morning and we called each and every one of the prospects' parents and coaches and thanked them for their hard work and diligence and for allowing us into their homes and schools," Wilson said. "For me, I reached out to the wives of our coaching staff who have sacrificed so much, as their husbands have been put on the road to do a monumental task with this early signing period.

"There are so many people to thank for helping this class come together. All of their hard work has come to fruition today."

— UTSA Athletics

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