MAC Football







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UCF

Overview:                   UCF welcomes 21 players from six states, and two players from Canada.  This class has fourteen linemen, nine on offense, five on defense, and eleven players from Florida.  While not having the show-stoppers, speed, and high-profile players of the previous two classes, this group of players in new coach George O’Leary’s 1st class represents what he is looking for, more physical players in the trenches.  With new offensive line coach Joe Gilbert coming over from the same position at Toledo where he had the MAC’s best offensive lines the past few seasons, O’Leary is paving the way to a new offensive philosophy built on a better running game.  Considering that UCF has only eight players right now on their spring roster for the offensive line, bringing in so many recruits in this area is a very good thing.  The highlight player in this class though is Keith Shologan, a 6-2 275-pound DT from Edmonton.  He was rated the #1 prospect in Canada and is a four-time Canadian heavyweight-wrestling champ.

 

Highlights:

  • The offensive line bulk begins with players like LJ Anderson (6-4, 300); Eric Hodge (6-6, 308); Dominic Ignelzi (6-4, 310); Ryan Karhut (6-4, 280); Mike Lavoie (6-5, 293); Frank Reina (6-5, 275); Carlo Rossi (6-6, 285); Kyle Smith (6-3, 295) & Kyle Storey (6-6, 280).  This is the most offensive line prospects one class has ever signed during my five years of covering MAC football recruiting.
  • The top player in this entire class is QB Kyle Israel.  A big 6-3 230-pounder from Orlando, he decided to stay at home and play for UCF rather than to take an offer from Florida State.  A top-25 QB prospect in the nation, he accounted for over 3,000 total yards and 30 TDs as a senior.
  • UCF added some nice players for the defensive line.  Along with Keith Shologan, the Golden Knights added Leger Douzable from Tampa, Emeka Okammor, a 6-1 300-pound spark plug from Louisiana, Josh Sitton, a top-100 player in Florida, and Russell Phillips from Georgia.
  • While not the focus of the class, UCF quietly brought in some solid talent at RB and DB.  Curtis Francis is an underrated RB while Augustus Ashley, Johnell Neal, Jacob Venson & Sha’reff Rashad are talented defensive back prospects who can run and hit.

 

Final Thoughts:

The past two seasons UCF had classes that many publications listed as top-50 nationally, and this publication hailed as the MAC’s best each time as well.  Certainly this years class of UCF recruits are coming in with much less fanfare, and that is a good thing.  Instead of an abundance of speed, this class is bulky and much more physical. This class rates as VERY GOOD compared to other MAC schools this year, but certainly, O’Leary is making his mark early of what kind of team and program he wants to have in Orlando.

 

 

L.J. Anderson           OL      6-4     300     Sumter, S.C./Sumter HS

Augustus Ashley         DB      5-11    190     Jacksonville, Fla./First Coast HS

Leger Douzable          DL      6-5     270     Tampa, Fla./Alonso HS

Curtis Francis          RB      6-0     185     Green Cove Springs, Fla./Clay HS

Eric Hodge              OL      6-6     308     St. Petersburg, Fla./Northeast HS

Dominic Ignelzi         OL      6-4     310     Port St. Lucie, Fla./West Centennial HS

Kyle Israel             QB      6-3     230     Orlando, Fla./University HS

Ryan Karhut             OL      6-4     280     Spruce Grove, Alberta/ Spruce Grove Composite

Mike Lavoie             OL      6-5     293     Sanford, Fla./Seminole HS

Johnell Neal            DB      5-10    180     Baton Rouge, La./ Redemptionist HS

Emeka Okammor           DL      6-1     300     Baton Rouge, La./Southern Lab HS

Russell Phillips        DL      6-3     245     Douglasville, Ga./Frederick Douglass HS

Sha'reff Rashad         DB      6-1     180     Jacksonville, Fla./Episcopal HS

Frank Reina             OL      6-5     275     Miami, Fla./Palmetto HS

Carlo Rossi             OL      6-6     285     Lakeland, Fla./George Jenkins HS

Keith Shologan          DL      6-2     275     Edmonton, Alberta/Spring Grove Composite

Josh Sitton             DL      6-5     295     Pensacola, Fla./Pensacola Catholic HS

Kyle Smith              OL      6-3     295     Brockway, Pa./Brockway HS

Kyle Storey             OL      6-6     280     Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS

Jason Venson            DB      5-11    195     Marietta, Ga./Marietta HS

Keith Williams          DB      5-11    190     Austell, Ga./South Cobb HS