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2006 MAC Football Recruiting - Kent Golden Flashes

Overview
The Golden Flashes welcome sixteen new members to the KSU football program representing five states. Ten of the sixteen are from Ohio while coach Doug Martin also tapped Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Virginia for talent. The class is balanced with six offensive players, eight defensive players and two kicking specialists. Skilled positions of RB, WR and DB were the main focus with this class as they only signed two players slated for the trenches.

Position	Name	Height	Weight	School
QB	Darren Rogers	6-0	205	Ambridge (PA) Quaker Valley
RB	Quinton Rainey	5-11	220	Virginia Beach (VA) Landstown
RB	Christen Haywood	5-7	185	Hilliard (OH) Davidson
RB	Tony Howard	6-0	210	Garfield Hts (OH) - Michigan St.
WR	Curtis Eaton	6-1	190	Akron (OH) Buchtel
WR	Phil Garner	5-11	175	Coral Springs (FL) St. Thomas Aquinas
WR	Leneric Muldrow	5-8	170	Greenville (NC) Rose
OL	Pat Reedy	6-4	268	Youngstown (OH) Austintown Fitch
DL	Kevin Hogan	6-3	210	Chardon (OH)
LB	Anthony Mirando	6-2	232	Jefferson (OH)
DB	Ja’Darrin Bell	6-1	180	Ellenwood (GA) Decatur
DB	Dan Hartman	6-2	200	Leavittsburg (OH) LaBrae
DB	Kurt Belgrave	6-1	195	Norfolk (VA) Granby
DB	Brian Lainhart	6-1	185	Cincinnati (OH) Colerain
P	Jake Kilroy	5-10	215	Millersburg (OH) West Holmes
K	Nathan Reed	6-0	179	Wadsworth (OH)

Quarterbacks
Rogers accounted for over 3,000 all-purpose yards in his career and could play on either side of the ball for the Flashes. He earned all state honors and all conference honors as a QB, WR and DB during his high school career. This 4.5/40 ‘athlete’ picked Kent over BGSU and several I-AA offers.

Running Backs
Rainey is a big back and a terrific catch for KSU, certainly the highest rated recruit in the Doug Martin era; Rainey is the #27 rated prospect in VA and picked the Golden Flashes over reported offers from Maryland, North Carolina and Marshall. He could end up playing LB at KSU after posting consecutive 100-tackle seasons during his junior and senior seasons. Haywood is the #10 rated RB prospect in state by Ohio Varsity - rushed for 1,684 yards and scored 15 touchdowns his senior year even after missing three games with a knee injury. Haywood’s career stats are 4,946 rushing yards with 61 touchdowns - he was selected to participate in the Big 33 Classic in June. Howard was a top-100 recruit in the Midwest last year and began his career at Michigan State before transferring to Kent State in the fall.

Receivers
Garner earned all-conference honors in south Florida and was coached by former NFL great Chris Carter. He picked KSU over other MAC offers. Eaton has 4.5/40 speed and excelled on both sides of the ball, earning all-state honors.

Offensive Line
Reedy is the lone offensive line prospect. Reedy earned 2nd team all-state honors as a senior and played at a solid high school program in NE Ohio winning the top offensive linemen award from two local counties.

Defensive Line
Hogan is an undersized defensive end prospect with good speed. Hogan recorded 27 tackles for loss during his senior year and also excelled as a wrestler, picking Kent State over Navy.

Linebackers
Mirando earned the county defensive POY award and honorable mention all-state honors. He has been selected to play in the state’s North/South football classic after recording 133 tackles including 21 for losses during his senior year. Mirando picked Kent State over an offer from Colorado State.

Read VanDelay's interview with Anthony Mirando

Defensive Backs
Lainhart played for a nationally ranked high school program and recorded 62 passes with 4 INTs as a senior DB; picked KSU over BG. Bell is a safety prospect from Georgia who chose Kent over interest from Arkansas and several other southern schools. Bell runs a reported 4.4/40 and he hits like a linebacker, totaled 16 INTs & 193 tackles during his high school career. Belgrave earned all-district honors as both a DB and a WR/RB during his senior year. He generated interest from several ACC schools. Hartman earned 2nd team all-state honors as a senior.

Specialists
Reed is a solid K prospect who also excelled as a DB and WR as a senior, earned 2nd team all-state honors as a senior. Reed kicked a career long 43-yard FG and recorded 25 touchbacks. Kilroy earned all-district honors after averaging 42-yards per punt as a senior.

Final Analysis
Kent State actually signed fourteen players with Howard and Muldrow being added into the mix. KSU added some much needed speed as 11 of the 16 players run a reported 4.5/40 or better. The Golden Flashes needed more speed and playmakers and certainly looked to have added it with this class. The strength of these recruits lie in the RB and DB areas with Rainey, Bell and the transfer of Howard, being total steal for this program. Doug Martin is doing a much better job at recruiting Ohio than previous Kent coaches did over the past 15-20 years. Overall this class rates as VERY GOOD compared to most other MAC schools this year and while being small in numbers, this group is quite large in talent from previous KSU classes.

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