By John Dell, JOURNAL REPORTER
Coach Kermit Blount of Winston-Salem State didn’t have to think too long when asked which of his latest recruits might make the biggest impact.
“It has to be kicker Matthew Mitchell,” Blount said. “That’s the first guy I’m going to look for when we report for camp, because I want to make sure he’s here.”
Chad Oakley, the only kicker the Rams had by the end of last season, exhausted his eligibility, so that made the signing of Mitchell - an all-conference kicker from Belmont South Point - critical. The fact that Mitchell made a season-best 53-yard field goal last fall was a bonus.
Oakley was a triple threat, handling kickoffs, punts and place-kicks. He’s the school’s all-time leader in career punting average (43 yards), and he was 5 for 6 on field-goal attempts last season, with a career-best 43-yarder.
“Special-teams play is such a big part of any game, so we’ll need a lot of production from Matt,” Blount said.
Blount signed 14 players, but defensive end William Wall is academically ineligible. Wall, a transfer from Virginia Tech, dominated WSSU’s spring game. He is expected to stay in school, and if he does well in the classroom could play next season.
Despite the loss of Wall, Blount is pleased with the class as a whole.
“Realistically we can think what we might get out of them, but we won’t know until they get into camp,” Blount said. “It’s going to depend how good a shape they are in and how quickly they pick up on what we are trying to do.
“We’ve got some good, quality kids, but it’s going to take some time.”
In addition to Mitchell, Blount said that two other recruits could make immediate impacts - offensive lineman Nazir LeVine, a 6-4, 290-pound Shrine Bowl selection from Rocky Mount, and Nic Cooper, a 6-0, 220-pound running back from Clinton.
“If we can find Nic some carries, I think he can help us right away,” Blount said.
The backfield, however, will be pretty crowded with Jed Bines, Brandon McRae and Rod Fluellen returning.
Cooper rushed for more than 2,000 yards and scored 26 touchdowns as a junior and had a 270-yard game last fall as a senior.
Monte Purvis, a fifth-year senior, will be the Rams’ starting quarterback, but Jarrett Dunston is a player to keep an eye on. Dunston, a 6-3, 220-pounder from Raleigh, played at Temple last season, then transferred to WSSU in the spring and went through spring practice.
Dunston can also play wide receiver and running back. At Hargrave Military in 2005, he completed 101 of 198 passes for 1,437 yards and 17 touchdowns, with five interceptions, and ran for 374 yards.
The Rams increased their scholarships from 36 to 51 this year and will most likely add to that total by next season. And with more scholarships available for teams in the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA), Blount said that it’s important to add as much depth as possible.
“I am pleased,” Blount said of this class. “It was a pretty good recruiting year for us, and it’s going to just get better in future years. We are a young football team, but we do have some veterans.
“I’m just excited about these new guys coming in to hopefully add to what we already have.”
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WSSU (14)
Player Ht. Wt. Hometown
Nic Cooper 6-0 220 Clinton
Jarrett Dunston# 6-3 220 Raleigh
Montez Ham 5-11 180 Pikeville
Matt Mitchell@ 6-0 190 Belmont
Lavelle Tucker 6-1 190 South Boston, Va.
Chris West@ 6-1 185 Chapel Hill
Linemen and linebackers
Player Ht. Wt. Hometown
Jamaule Glover 6-4 300 St. Andrews, S.C.
Julian Gray 6-4 275 College Port, Ga.
John Haynes 6-0 210 St. Andrews, S.C.
Lamarcius Jenkins 6-4 235 Ahoskie
Nazir LeVine 6-4 290 Rocky Mount
Tramain Melvin 6-2 280 Conway, S.C.
William Wall# 6-3 243 Washington, D.C.
Justin Battle# 6-1 240 unavailable
# - major-college transfer; @ - kicker
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