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2008 Kent State Football Recruiting

Overview
Kent State signed 22 players from nine different states; including six from Ohio and three each from Georgia, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington DC. Defensive backs were targeted most in this class as seven players are listed as either a DB, S or Athlete. Overall ten players are listed as offense and ten are defense, with two specials.

Top Players

• Josh Pleasant, DB, 5-10 185 Germantown, MD/Hargrave Academy – Rated by Rivals.com as the #20 prep school prospect in the country and a four-star prospect; recorded 6 INTs at Hargrave Military Academy in 2007; also a terrific kick retuner. Received offers from SEC & ACC schools.
• Sal Battles, ATH/QB, 5-10, 221, Youngstown (East) OH – Rated the #19 prospect in Ohio by Ohio High; Division II Offensive Player of the Year; accumulated over 3,000 career yards both rushing and an additional 3,000 yards passing accounting for 74 TDs.
• Jharron Armstrong, S, 6-2, 187, Washington, D.C (Dunbar) – Washington DC area Player of the Year; listed as the #56 ranked “athlete” nationally by Rivals.com; received several reported offers from Big East, ACC and MAC schools.
• Kent Cleveland, OL, 6-4, 285, Atlanta (St. Pius X) GA – First team All-State; heavily recruited by Vanderbilt and the service academies.
• Leon Green, S, 5-11, 203, Monroeville (Gateway) PA – Pittsburgh Post Gazette Fab 22; rated the #54 ‘athlete’ by ESPN.com; excelled on both sides of the ball.

Sleeper

• Justin Thompson, TE, 6-1, 225, Gahanna (St. Francis DeSales) OH – Honorable mention all-state; chose KSU over EMU; reported 4.6/40 speed.

Final Analysis
Coach Doug Martin continues to amaze me on how is able to recruit so much talent when Kent State has virtually no football history and very limited fan support compared to other MAC schools. This class rates as OUTSTANDING compared to other conference schools and may end up being remembered as the very best KSU class signed. So much talent has been brought in along the defensive backfield and players like Pleasant, Battles, Armstrong and Green probably should be at major BCS schools. I’ve been tracking this class since mid-December thinking some of these players would fall off at the end but they never did. This is a huge coup for the Golden Flashes program and they rank as the #1 class according to this publication in 2008.

Of Note:

Rontez Miles originally was listed in the 2007 class year…Jharron Armstrong played at the same high school (Washington D.C. Dunbar) as former Kent State great Josh Cribbs…Kent Cleveland played for coach Duval Braxton in high school; Braxton was a KSU player in the late 1990s…Chris Gilbert is one of the top track athletes in North Carolina…Leon Green has two sisters – Ebony & Ivory…Ryan Jude’s twin brother Cameron, signed with Michigan State.

Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School/Previous School

Jharron Armstrong S 6-2 187 Washington, D.C./Dunbar

Sal Battles ATH/QB 5-10 221 Youngstown, Ohio/East

Kent Cleveland OL 6-4 285 Atlanta, Ga./St. Pius X

Seamus Garvey OL 6-6 270 Blacklick, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln

Chris Gilbert WR 6-0 184 Huntersville, N.C./Hopewell

Leon Green S 5-11 203 Monroeville, Pa./Gateway

Ryan Hidalgo LB/LS 6-1 215 Fayetteville, Ga./Whitewater

Matthew Hurdle QB 6-3 190 Richmond, Va./Highland Springs

Ryan Jude DL 6-2 255 Chesterfield, Va./Manchester

Abdul Kanneh S 6-0 185 Woodbridge, Va./ Potomac

Josh Kline OL 6-4 270 Mason, Ohio/Mason

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

Alex Napper WR 6-1 185 Norcross, Ga./Norcross

Josh Pleasant DB 5-10 185 Germantown, Md./Watkins Mill/ Hargrave Academy

Matt Rinehart P 5-9 160 Dover, Ohio/ Dover

Mike Roder OL 6-4 310 Ahwatukee, Ariz./Desert Vista/Scottsdale C.C.

Sidney Saulter DB 6-0 165 Miami, Fla./ North Miami

Joshua Stover LB 6-4 223 Washington, D.C./Howard D. Woodson

Jacquise Terry RB 6-0 180 Phenix City, Ala./Pacelli ( Ga.)

Justin Thompson TE 6-1 225 Gahanna, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales

Ike Washington DL 6-2 288 Dayton, Ohio/Trotwood Madison

T.J. Williams WR 6-0 185 West Mifflin, Pa./ West Mifflin

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