National Signing Day: TU Football Welcomes New Players

The University of Tulsa welcomed 20 new Golden Hurricane players to its roster on National Signing Day. The young men will now be heading to TU to begin their careers as collegiate athletes. Below, we've broken down the signees by position and featured head coach Philip Montgomery's thoughts on some of his new players.

Quarterback

Chad President- quarterback, Temple, Texas, 6'3”, 195 lbs

-Rivals: 4-star, No. 28 quarterback

-Scout: 3-star, No. 34 quarterback

-ESPN: 4-star, No. 32 quarterback

Quarterback

Will Hefley- Quarterback, Little Rock, Arkansas, 6'5”, 205 lbs

-Rivals: 2-star, NR

-Scout: 2-star, NR

-ESPN: 2-star, No. 64 quarterback

Montgomery on Hefley: “[He won a 6A State Championship and was the MVP of that. [He's] a high-character kid, very intelligent about what he does, has really worked hard on what he's got from a skills standpoint. [I'm] excited about what he's going to bring to the table at the quarterback position. [He] has great leadership skills. He's going to be able to operate our offense in the way it should be.”

Running Back

Javon Thomas- Running back, Texarkana, Texas, 6'2”, 215 lbs

-Rivals: 2-star, NR

-Scout: 2-star, NR

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 161 running back

Defensive End

Trevis Gipson- Defensive End, Cedar Hill, Texas, 6'5”, 210 lbs

-Rivals: 2-star, NR

-Scout: 3-star, No. 112 offensive linebacker

-ESPN: NR

Montgomery on Gipson: “He's a diamond in the rough. He's a guy that's really raw, but he's got great potential. [He's] got a lot of length to him; he's 6'4”, 210 right now… [He] just won a state championship with his football team… He's a kid that is explosive. He's going to be able to play defensive end, also be able to play that will-backer force in certain situations. He's got great length to him, can get around, [and] physical at the point of attack.”

Defensive End

Michael Anderson- Defensive End, Owasso, Oklahoma, 6'3”, 235 lbs

-Rivals: 3-star, No. 12 defensive end

-Scout: 2-star, NR

-ESPN: NR

Montgomery on Anderson: “[I'm] Excited about what he's going to bring to the table. He's a guy that comes off the edge. He's great with his hands, [and has] great mobility, can really bend as he's coming around the edge. [He's] a physical player with a lot of quickness.”

Defensive End

Austin Grotts- Defensive End, Bixby, Oklahoma, 6'3” 250 lbs

-Rivals: 2-star, NR

-Scout: 2-star, NR

-ESPN: NR

Montgomery on Grotts: “[He] does a great job, has a great motor, is great with his hands, uses leverage, physical at the point of attack, plays with great intensity, [and] very competitive about what he does.”

Tight End/ Fullback

Chris Minter- Tight End/Fullback, Temple, Texas, 6'3”, 230 lbs

-Rivals: 2-star, NR

-Scout: N/A

-ESPN: NR

Montgomery on Minter: “[He's] very physical, does a great job on the blocking side of it, but is athletic enough to split him out, be a versatile receiver in that sense. Chris Played for a state championship [and] was all district at Temple High School… [He] has great length, got big hands, very physical, [and] does a great job in the weight room. [He's] going to bring a nastiness to us on the field.”

Linebacker

Khari Harding- Linebacker, Edmond, Oklahoma, 6'2”, 220 lbs

-Rivals: 3-star, No. 11 safety

-Scout: 3-star, No. 43 safety

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 21 safety

Montgomery on Harding: “[He was] the number three player coming out of the state of Oklahoma in 2013, [and is] transferring back here from Auburn. [Harding] was a safety, so you know he has cover skills, can be able to flip his hips and run, but his body's taken him to be a linebacker… [He] will come downhill and hit you, [and] does great fitting [and] using his hands.”

Linebacker

Diamon Cannon- Linebacker, Killeen, Texas, 6'2”, Texas

-Rivals: 2-star, NR

-Scout: 2-star, NR

-ESPN: NR

Defensive Back

J.R. Reed- Defensive back, Frisco, Texas, 6'1”, 185 lbs

-Rivals: 2-star, NR

-Scout: N/A

-ESPN: NR

Defensive Back

Reggie Robinson- Defensive back, Cleburne, Texas, 6'1”, 185 lbs

-Rivals: 2-star, NR

-Scout: 3-star, No. 119 cornerback

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 140 athlete

Montgomery on Robinson: “Reggie brings a lot of size and length to the back secondary, can play all three, all four positions really, back there. [He has] tremendous speed [and] tremendous length… [He] brings a lot of things to our program, excited that he's chosen Tulsa to be his home.”

Defensive Back

David Richardson II- Defensive back, Rockwall, Texas, 5'11”, 170 lbs

-Rivals: 2-star, NR

-Scout: 2-star, NR

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 134 cornerback

Offensive Line

Alex Pagonis- Offensive line, Fort Scott, Kansas, 6'5”, 320 lbs

-Rivals: NR

-Scout: NR

-ESPN: NR

Offensive Line

Christopher Ivy- Offensive line, Wichita, Kansas, 6'4”, 295 lbs

-Rivals: 2-star, NR

-Scout: NR

-ESPN: NR

Offensive Line

Tristan Wyatt- Offensive line, Shawnee, Oklahoma, 6'5”, 290 lbs

-Rivals: 2-star, NR

-Scout: 2-star, NR

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 161 offensive tackle

Offensive Line

Blake Browning- Offensive line, Pflugerville, Texas, 6'0”, 290 lbs

-Rivals: 2-star, NR

-Scout: 2-star, NR

-ESPN: NR

Wide Receiver

Jarion Anderson- Wide receiver, Texarkana, Texas, 5'9”, 167 lbs

-Rivals: 2-star, NR

-Scout: 2-star, NR

-ESPN: 2-star, No. 222 wide receiver

Defensive Back

Cristian Williams- Defensive back, Dallas, Texas, 6'0”, 170 lbs

-Rivals: 2-star, NR

-Scout: 2-star, NR

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 106 cornerback

Defensive Back

McKinley Whitfield- defensive back, Spiro, Oklahoma, 6'3”, 194 lbs

-Rivals: 3-star, No. 11 athlete

-Scout: 3-star, No. 69 offensive linebacker

-ESPN: 3-star, No. 141 safety

Defensive Back

Keidrien Wadley- Defensive back, Irving, Texas, 5'11”, 170 lbs

-Rivals: 2-star, NR

-Scout: N/A

-ESPN: NR 

Montgomery talks about his new team.

During his interview with the media, Montgomery stated:

“We looked at our roster when I first got here and we were looking at areas of concern. We had some depth issues in some certain spots and as you can tell in our signing class we tried to address those, especially in the back seven defensively.

You see several secondary guys on there trying to provide depth, length, [and] speed back there. Also, at the linebacker spot, again, just trying to add some athleticism to it and some depth. We feel like we addressed those needs. Again, we did it in a hurry, but excited about those additions that we have added and up front offensive line-wise. In whatever league you're in, especially in this one, you're going to win games up front. The battle of the trenches is always going to be a major key in the win/loss column, so we added some punch defensive line-wise and offensive line-wise.

Everybody likes to talk about you know, the quarterbacks, the receivers, the DBs are those guys up front. They're a main stay of what we've got to get done. Then, you know, when you start talking about the two quarterbacks that we added, you got a great All-American in there, [and] you got the number nine dual threat quarterback. Both of those guys coming on campus, as well as, you know, a receiver, a running back, a tight end guy, things that address our needs, things that are gonna be dynamic players in our system, so we feel like we attacked and saw some issues.

[I'm] excited about them getting on campus and excited about spring ball and fall camp.”