Tulsa Welcomes Five Football Signees

The University of Tulsa football team announced five newcomers to the team as the spring semester began Monday.

Head Coach Bill Blankenship said Three 2011 letter-of-intent signees who gray-shirted last season along with one junior college transfer and one high school senior began classes Monday at Tulsa.

Dane Evans completed his high school work early and began classes at TU while Davis Walton transferred to the Golden Hurricane team after two years at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M.

The three players from last year's recruiting class include running back Michael Sorrels, offensive lineman James Floyd and defensive tackle Nick Hall.

Evans is a true freshman out of Sanger high school who committed to Tulsa last summer. Evans completed 200-of-310 passes for 3,265 yards and 36 touchdowns as a senior and rushed for 337 yards and five touchdowns in leading his team to a 9-2 record. He finished his career with 9,074 passing yards and 94 TDs. He finished his career as No. 15 on Texas' all-time career passing list.

"We're really excited about Dane. He has some really unique abilities. He's an incredible passer and understands the game. Dane combines the cerebral part of the game and the skill set that can make him very successful," said Blankenship.

Walton started both seasons at NEO A&M and earned second-team all conference honors this season. He was a three-year letterwinner as a starting tight end at Tulsa's Bishop Kelley High School.

"One of the things we like about Davis is he's not a freshman. We think he has the ability to come in this year and compete for a spot, but we still have the ability to red-shirt him. He brings us everything that a high school kid does, plus two years of maturity," said Blankenship.

Sorrels was a three-year letterwinner at McCallum High School in Texas where he played running back and returned kickoffs and punts. He rushed for 1,629 yards and 24 touchdowns, while catching six passes for 64 yards and one TD his senior season. He earned first-team all-district accolades as a junior and senior and was a second-team Class 4A all-state selection his senior season.

Floyd was a two-year letter winner an starter at Paschal High School in Texas. He played both offensive guard and tackle during his high school career. Floyd was named first-team District 4-5A as a senior and earned honorable mention all-district 3-5A merits his junior season.

Local signee, Nick Hall, who is from Broken Arrow, signed to play for Tulsa last February, but did not enroll for the fall semester. He totaled 83 tackles, 50 solos and blocked two kicks from his defensive line position as a senior in 2010. He was also named to the OCA all-state Class 6A team as a senior.

"For James Floyd and Nick Hall the gray-shirt semester provides them little more physical maturity that will really benefit them playing in the offensive and defensive lines., respectively. Their upside is tremendous and it gave them another semester to mature physically," said Blankenship. "Michael Sorrells has the same skill-set as Willie Carter and Charles Clay. We're really excited to have him on campus and looking forward to his development."