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2007 MAC Football Recruiting - Kent Golden Flashes

Overview
The Golden Flashes signed 25 players from eight different states with a heavy emphasis on linemen and speed. Thirteen players as listed on the offensive with eleven listed for defense while one prospect is listed as an ‘athlete.’ KSU hit Ohio, Pennsylvania and Georgia hard for quality players with seven, five and five coming from those states respectively. Three players are from North Carolina, two from Virginia and one each from California, Tennessee and Washington DC.

Below is a list of Kent football recruits with their listed position, height, weight, hometown and high school.

Josiah Andrews WR 5-10 175 Greenville, N.C./J. H. Rose

Chris Anzevino DL 6-2 308 Warren, Ohio/Warren G. Harding

Markus Burton LB 6-3 200 Columbus, Ohio/Beechcroft

Darrius Carter DL 6-5 245 Inglewood, Calif./Westchester/El Camino College

Chris Favazzo DL/OL 6-5 250 Blacklick, Ohio/St. Charles Prep

Michael Fay OL 6-4 265 Allentown, Pa./Parkland

Andre Flowers RB 5-11 200 Ridgely, Tenn./Dyer County

Vondre Griffin DB 5-10 175 Swissvale, Pa./Woodland Hills

Sam Kirkland DB 6-1 188 Chesapeake, Va./Deep Creek

Ishmaa’ily Kitchen DL 6-3 316 Youngstown, Ohio/Cardinal Mooney

Charles Lester OL 6-7 320 Mableton, Ga./South Cobb

Rontez Miles S 6-1 190 Swissvale, Pa./Woodland Hills

Giorgio Morgan QB 6-4 200 East Pointe, Ga./Tri-Cities

Chase Morris OL 6-2 260 Raleigh, N.C./Wakefi eld

Michael Page, Jr. OL 6-4 285 Trotwood, Ohio/Trotwood Madison

Ryan Randolph WR 6-3 190 Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy

Aaron Robinson WR 5-10 175 Ellenwood, Ga./Martin Luther King, Jr.

Monte Simmons DE 6-3 220 Swissvale, Pa./Woodland Hills

Jon Simpson TE 6-5 225 Chatham, Va./Nansemond River/Hargrave Academy

Paul Stefanik LB 6-1 225 Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford

Dwan Thornton RB 5-7 175 Washington, D.C./Ballou

Rashad Tukes WR 6-3 181 Riverdale, Ga./Riverdale

Byron Tyson LB 5-11 207 Greenville, N.C./J. H. Rose

Alan Vanderink ATH 5-10 185 Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood

Dorian Wood LB 6-1 224 Austell, Ga./South Cobb

Quarterbacks
Giorgio Morgan is a big kid with a lively arm at 6-4 200-pounds. He was a top-50 rated player in Georgia this year. He accounted for more than 2,200 total yards and 17 TDs as a senior.

Receivers
Kent State needed to add more receivers to their roster and they did just that adding four in this class, along with one TE. Josiah Andrews is one of three North Carolina recruits in this class and is a real playmaker who can also return kicks. Ryan Randolph brings good size to the WR position at 6-3 190, he was a late bloomer from the Columbus (OH) area and has been selected to play in Ohio’s annual North/South classic. Aaron Robinson from Georgia is more of a possession receiver who has good hands. Rashad Tukes is another Georgia recruit who is a big time playmaker that scored 31 TDs during his prep career. He received reported offers from Conference USA programs. Alan Vanderlink is listed as an ‘athlete’ and is an incredible talent from nearby Hiram-Mantua (OH). He is a speedy do-it-all player from a very small rural school. Jon Simpson is from Virginia and played at the Hargrave Military Academy last year. Coming out of high school he was a top-30 ranked player in Virginia as a LB/DE.

Offensive Line
Michael Fay was a 2 nd team all-state player from Allentown (PA), picked KSU over Temple and drew interest from Rutgers. Charles Laster is a huge prospect from Mableton (GA) and could end up to be the real gem in this class. He is huge and mobile at 6-7 320. Michael Page is from the Dayton (OH) area and drew recruiting interests from several MAC schools. Chris Favazzo is a bit of an unknown commodity and could end up on either offensive or defense. Chase Morris participated in the North Carolina All-Star game.

Defensive Line
Kent State signed two talented and huge DT prospects – both could play as true freshmen. Both Chris Anzevino (6-2, 308) and Ishmaa’ily Kitchen (6-3, 316) have major DI-A size and each earned all-state honors from Warren Harding (OH) and Youngstown Cardinal Mooney (OH). Both are considered top-80 prospects in Ohio. Each received a lot of mid-level DI-A offers. DE Darrius Carter is the lone JUCO prospect and should play right away after a successful stint at El Camino CC in California. DE Monte Simmons is one of three prospects in this class from Pittsburgh Woodland Hills High.

Linebackers
Columbus (OH) native Markus Burton brings a lot of speed to an OLB position. He also has a knack for forcing turnovers. Paul Stefanik is a super playmaker at the MLB position and will participate in the annual Big-33 game between Ohio and Pennsylvania all-stars. The Irwin (PA) native was highly recruited. Dorian Wood was a high school teammate of Charles Lester at Mableton (GA) and was heavily recruited by C-USA and Sun Belt schools. Byron Tyson is an OLB/SS prospect from North Carolina.

Defensive Backs
The strength of this class may lie here in the DB area. Vondre Griffin and Rontez Miles may have different names but they are brothers from Pittsburgh Woodland Hills High. Both have tremendous speed and playmaking abilities and both were highly recruited. In the end, both picked KSU over Toledo, Temple, BG, Akron and Cincinnati. Sam Kirkland earned all-region honors in Virginia and brings 4.45/40 speed and size (6-1, 188) to the CB position.

Specialists
There were no specialists listed in this class.

Final Analysis
I’ve been doing detailed MAC football recruiting reports since 1999 and this is by far the best Kent State class I have seen. Not long ago former head coach Dean Pees could not get quality NE Ohio or western Pennsylvania kids to buy into the Golden Flashes football program and they were forced to go to Maryland and Virginia to fill their scholarships. Those days seem to be over with Doug Martin cashing in on this year’s break through season that saw them club Toledo and finish 5-3 in MAC play. KSU went head to head against Akron, BG and Toledo and won recruiting battles for quality players. They have also reestablished themselves well throughout the fertile recruiting grounds of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Overall this class rates as VERY GOOD compared to other conference schools but by KSU’s standards – this class was outstanding.

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