WKU Football: Recruiting Notebook - Tops Land Seven Verbal Commitments As Summer Comes to Close
To close out July and open August, the Tops garnered commitments from seven players, six from the high school level. Lets see what they're all about.
The last couple of weeks for the Hilltoppers have been a busy one on the recruiting trail.
Since July 28, the Tops have garnered (at least by my count) seven verbal commitments, six of which are from high schoolers that are helping to keep the Tops’ southeast pipelines in Florida and Georgia strong.
There’s a lot to like about the guys who have given their name to the Hilltoppers over the last couple of weeks. Here’s a quick breakdown.
Dallen Ponder, WR, Ocala (Fla.)
Kicking off the committment-paloza over the last couple of weeks was Florida’s Dallen Ponder, an unranked receiving prospect.
WKU won out for Ponder’s services over the likes of FAU and Ohio. According to his profile on 247Sports, Ponder caught 27 balls for 361 yards and five touchdowns as a junior last year.
He also posts a 11.23 in the 100-meter dash as a track athlete.
In an interview with WKU recruiting guru Drew Toennies, Hilltopper head coach told Ponder that he reminds him of Malachi Corely and says running backs coach Andre Crenshaw can see using him in the running game as well. Committing at 5’9”, 150 pounds, perhaps putting some muscle on and being put in the backfield as a ball catching running back could mean future success for Ponder.
If Corley is the YAC King, perhaps there’s a place for Ponder to be his heir as the YAC Prince, assuming he stays a receiver in college. His speed is legit, whether he’s breaking through to the second and third levels on a deep pass or is getting the ball in the flat and leaving defenders in the dust. While I haven’t seen film of literally every WKU recruit in my days of covering the team, I’ve seen quite a lot, and Ponder has to be at the top of the list of speedsters I’ve seen.
Rodney Tisdale Jr, QB, Jacksonville (Fla.)
Well well well, what do we have here? A high school QB committing to the Hilltoppers?
Jacksonville’s Rodney Tisdale Jr. pledged his services to the Tops to end last month, with the Tops beating out peer Sun Belt programs Georgia Southern and Troy, as well as FAU, for him.
Tisdale Jr. threw for just shy of 2,000 yards a year ago as a junior, completing 146 of his 230 pass attempts. 18 passes went for touchdowns while 12 were picked off.
While watching his highlights, “zip” is the first word that immediately comes to mind. Whether he’s getting hitting a receiver over the top from five yards away or is attempting to hit a receiver deep, the ball feels like it only has one speed out of his hand.
It isn’t prevalent in every play, but - at least as an incoming senior - his 6’2”, 183 pound string-bean frame comes into play, as it looks like he has to put his whole body into some throws to get them to receivers 25-30 yards down the field. He also has a pocket-passer mentality: He appears to have the ability to be mobile, but very much the Brandon Doughty style of mobility where the thought process seem to be “I’ll get out of danger but I am not tucking and running.”
While I like what could become of Tisdale Jr., I’m not holding my breath that we’ll ever see him take meaningful snaps for the Hilltoppers with Helton’s propensity to opt for a collegiately experienced portal QB option when one is available.
Cameron Flowers, WR, Warner Robins (Ga.)
Warner Robins’ Cameron Flowers committed to the Hilltoppers on July 29, with the Tops’ beating out the likes of Eastern Carolina, Liberty and Louisville for him.
247Sports ranks Flowers a three-star WR prospect and as the 144th best prospect in the talent-rich state of Georgia, as well as the 171st-best WR prospect of the 2024 class.
A three-sport athlete (basketball and track), Flowers played two ways at tradition-rich Warner Robins, catching 31 balls for 684 yards and 10 touchdowns as a receiver.
While not as fast as future teammate Ponder, Flowers plays a bit bigger than his 5’11”, 173 pound frame would suggest. He’s a much better “wide receiver” than Ponder, running better routes and using his body to try and shake defenders off before the ball finds him.
The Hilltoppers have no shortage of notable wide receivers in its FBS history and Flowers has the makings of someone who could be the next to make a name on the Hill.
Gabriel Arnold, DT, Merritt Island (Fla.)
WKU added to their front four last week, getting a commitment from Merritt Island’s Gabriel Arnold.
Ahead of his senior year, Arnold comes in at 6’6”, 290 pounds and is ready to wreck some front sevens. Lining up primarily as part of a three-man front at Merritt Island, Arnold is elusive off the ball and is able to bull down ball carriers in the backfield even if he still has an arm engaged with the center.
I’m not much of a defensive lineman tape guru so that’s about the extent of my analysis, but there’s reason to get excited - he’s mobile so if there’s a clog on the D-line in the future, maybe the Tops could experiment with Arnold coming off the edge or even throwing him as a stuffer in the second level.
Arnold’s commitment was one of the more competitive that WKU won, with Charlotte, Marshall and USF among the 10 schools who 247Sports reported as having offered.
Jaylen Hampton, WR, Bloomingdale (Ga.)
Yet another wide receiver committed to the Hilltoppers last week in Bloomingdale (near Savannah), Georgia’s Jaylen Hampton.
Unranked by 247Sports, the 6’2”, 190 pound wideout committed to the tops over App State, Georgia Southern, James Madison, Liberty and Tulsa (along with not one but three Ivy League schools - Dartmouth, Penn and Princeton).
As a junior, Hampton hauled in 48 catches for 712 and 10 touchdowns. His tape tells the tale of another Corley-type YAC King receiver, taking screens to the house with ease, but he’s also got the speed to get by defenders in the second and third levels and can even be used in an end-around situation.
It may seem odd to compare his skillset to two guys we’ve never seen play as a Hilltopper before, but watching Hampton makes me think he’s the perfect hybrid between Ponder and Flowers: He’s got the former’s speed and slot presence while also having the ability to run more traditional routes and use his 6’2” frame to his benefit to win balls and out-physical defensive backs, if need be.
Jakyre Horton, ATH, Ellenwood (Ga.)
The third Peach State commit for the Hilltoppers over the last couple of weeks, WKU won out another competitive commitment process, earning the services of Cedar Grove High School’s Jakyre Horton over the likes of Boston College, Colorado, Georgia Southern, Houston, JMU, Memphis and UAB, just to name a few.
Horton is a ball hawk who can play both man and zone from the safety position - a position he’ll most likely start his WKU - it’s easy to see why so many schools were after his services. Physicality is not his topline feature, it’s in the profile, though he’ll make his living off of jumping rounds and staying step for step with receivers.
Jaleel Trevon Walker, WR, Allan Hancock College (Calif.)
The lone non-high school commit to round us out, the Tops landed a verbal committment from JUCO wideout Jaleel Walker - who, by the way, might just have the best Twitter handle I’ve seen from a WKU commit ever.
Listed as 6’3”, 195 pounds on his AHC bio, I’d expect Walker to be able to plug and play immediately upon his arrival to the Hill.
He fits the mold of everything the WKU staff appears to be looking for in a receiver: Speedy enough to be used in the flat on screens but with the speed to get past defenders in the second and third level. He’s also tough to bring down: He doesn’t necessarily initiate contact but, if you’re going to attempt to tackle him, he’s not going down without a fight.
According to 247Sports, the Tops now have 11 hard commits to the 2024 class (Rivals notes 16 total commits, for what it’s worth). While I don’t take the same amount of stock in an overall conference rating for CUSA in the same way I would a power conference, 247Sports ranks WKU has the fourth (out of six) best classes in the conference for 2024 so far.
Overall, this is a healthy batch of players the Tops were able to get verbal’s from. If they’re able to ink them all, the 2024 signing class could become one of the most exciting ones to watch.