HOUSTON – HBU head football coach
Vic Shealy announced the signing of 11 student-athletes who signed National Letters of Intent with the Huskies at a press conference on campus Wednesday.
"We felt the big emphasis on this recruiting class was to bring in some older student-athletes with college experience, so we looked at some junior college transfers," Shealy said. "We met most of our needs and will continue to work on some of our remaining targets to shore up our roster."
Seven of the signees are out of high school, while four are junior college transfers. Nine members of the class are from Texas, while the other two are from California. Links to full bios of each signee, which includes highlight videos, are available following this story.
"The positions where we wanted to add some experience, particularly at linebacker, wide receiver and offensive line, we helped ourselves," Shealy said. "Each of those positions represent guys that were top targets on our board, so we feel very lucky to be able to sign guys we considered to be at the top of our list."
The Huskies' 2015 class consists of six student-athletes on offensive – three offensive linemen, two wide receivers and a tight end – and five on defense – two linebackers, two defensive linemen, and a cornerback.
"This is a really athletic and talented bunch of young men, who are great academically and will be a good fit for HBU," Shealy said. "Beyond their physical skills, they have competitiveness, heart and character, and will help continue to build up the chemistry we've developed within our program."
The National Signing Day class joins mid-year transfer quarterback Max Staver and linebacker Dorrin Turner, who have already enrolled at HBU for the spring semester and will participate in spring workouts.
HBU begins spring practice on Friday, Feb. 27 with a 4:30 p.m. workout and the Huskies will open the 2015 season at home against Bethany College on Sept. 5 at Husky Stadium, the first of seven scheduled home contests.
2015 HBU Football SigneesRico Barnett - WR - 6-5 - 198 - Houston, Texas (Dekaney/Trinity Valley CC)
Michael French - DL - 6-4 - 230 - Wst Columbia, Texas (Columbia)
Aaron Gonzalez - OL - 6-3 - 281 - Wichita Falls, Texas (Wichita Falls)
Kendrick Johnson - DL - 6-3 - 260 - Fort Worth, Texas (Crowley/Navarro JC)
Tyler Kelly - TE - 6-4 - 230 - Fort Worth, Texas (Arlington Heights)
Terrance Manderville - LB - 6-2 - 215 - La Puente, Calif. (Nogales/Citrus College)
David Racine - WR - 6-3 - 205 - Round Rock, Texas (Cedar Ridge)
Nicholas Smith - CB - 6-2 - 180 - Gilmer, Texas (Gilmer)
Mason Thompson - OL - 6-4 - 295 - Seabrook, Texas (Clear Falls)
Tyler Wilemon - OL - 6-5 - 315 - Laguna Niguel, Calif. (Dana Hills/Saddleback JC/Northern Colorado)
Avery Wright - LB - 6-1 - 200 - Rowlett, Texas (Rowlett)
