WKU Recruiting: Four Thoughts After A Busy Weekend For #ThePursuit19

It was a successful weekend on the recruiting trail for Mike Sanford and the WKU football program. Coming into this past Thursday, the Tops…

It was a successful weekend on the recruiting trail for Mike Sanford and the WKU football program. Coming into this past Thursday, the Tops had two members of the class — Clayton Bush and Joshua Black.

Now, as it stands, the Tops class stands at eight strong, with Stephone Atkinson, Daylen Powell, Cory Munson, Terrell Jennings, Mitchell Harralson and Jordan Flack joining Bush and Black. Prior to the weekend, the Tops sat seventh in the conference and 95th overall (via 247Sports), but now WKU is sitting pretty, with the 78th overall class in the country and has the number two class in the conference (behind only Louisiana Tech).

It’s a good start to what’ll hopefully be another good class for Sanford, after he brought in the #78 overall and #3 class in 2018. Before we continue to look ahead, lets look at the present and talk about the eight the Tops have verbals from right now.

Size Matters

This class is huge. Literally.

Atkinson, Powell, Black and Flack (that sounds like an injury compensation law firm that you’ll find ads for in the middle of Jerry Springer or Maury) are all either 6'3" or 6'4" and are all, sans Atkinson, over 270 pounds (Atkinson comes in at 220), and they all look it. In each of their Hudl tape, they look like the biggest guy on the field and they look ready to take on collegiate competition.

It’s All About Protection

One of the most pressing needs, of course, is the offensive line, and the Tops have seemed to zero in on that. Of the eight verbals so far, three are offensive lineman — Powell, Black and Flack — and all of them have the size you want in an incoming OL commit. Who knows if they’re going to plug-and-play come 2019, but with those guys in the pipe, it won’t be long until that offensive line is no longer a worry.

Something Old, Something New

This class, so far, is a combination of tried and true methods the Tops have used to find playmakers as well as new strategies of getting players.

WKU is no stranger to recruiting the overlooked athletes in the Bluegrass (hometown kid Bush and Harralson are Kentucky born and bred) nor the Peach State (Munson is ‘repping Warner Robins, in Middle Georgia while Black is coming from the Atlanta-metro), and they have some early verbals from both.

Florida is also no stranger to the Tops’ recruiting strategy, and they hit a double whammy with Jennings — not just a Florida prospect, but also a running back who is a top 170 RB in the country. Atkinson, who i think I’m most excited to see on the field from this class so far, also hails from the Sunshine State.

But, the Tops are also tapping into relatively new, or even brand new, territory. Flack is coming to the Hill from Alabama; not something that’s never done, but it isn’t KY, FL or even GA in terms of roster representation.

Powell is coming via South Carolina, something that Steven Duncan’s father pointed out wasn’t too common, if even ever a thing, before Duncan’s commitment.

While sticking to what you know has proven it can work, it also doesn’t hurt to expand your reach.

Where do we go from here?

The Tops have a ton of offers out to a bunch of different people. To view a full list, click here.