USF Athletics

Bulls Add Two To No. 2 Ranked Class In The American

February 07, 2018

2018 USF SIGNING CLASS ROSTER

2018 Signing Class Size: 26        Offense: 11; Defense: 14; Special Teams: 1
Ranking: No. 2 in American Conference (Rivals & 247Sports)

TAMPA, FEB. 7, 2018 – USF Football's 2018 signing class swelled to 26 members on Wednesday as the NCAA Late Signing Period began with head coach Charlie Strong adding two more student-athletes to the Bulls' roster.
 
The Bulls added a pair of three-star rated defensive linemen on Wednesday to the 24 members of the 2018 class that joined USF during the NCAA Early Signing Period in December. The Bulls' 24 early period signees ranked as the second-most nationally and helped catapult Strong's first full-cycle recruiting class at USF to the No. 2 ranking in the American Athletic Conference by Rivals and 247Sports. Four Bulls signees hail from the Bay Area, including two from Tampa and two from St. Petersburg.
 
On Wednesday, the Bulls added Bay Area defensive tackle John Waller (St. Petersburg) and defensive tackle Tyrone Barber (Venice), who helped lead Venice High School to the 2017 Florida Class 7A state title.
 
The addition of two defensive linemen to the 2018 class gives the Bulls 14 signees on the defensive side of the ball, 11 on offense and one punter. Twenty-four of USF's 26 signees were rated a three-star recruit and one drew a four-star ranking from ESPN.
 
On the defensive side of the ball, the Bulls addressed the departure of three senior starters on the defensive line by signing eight defensive linemen, including four defensive ends and four defensive tackles. Joining the two players added in the late period were early signees at defensive end Dwayne Boyles (Miami), Stacy Kirby (Orlando), Trey Laing (Tallahassee) and Rashawn Yates (Port St. Lucie), and defensive tackles Devin Leacock (Port Charlotte) and Armon Williams (Snellville, Ga.). The Bulls also added a pair of athletes at linebacker in Randal Copeland (Pensacola) and Antonio Grier (Atlanta), hard-hitting safeties in JuJuan Cherry (Okeechobee) and Keyon Helton (Pensacola) and teammates Vincent Davis (Jacksonville) and Eugene Bowman (Jacksonville) that shined in the secondary at Robert E. Lee High School.
 
On the offensive side of the ball, the Bulls added two dual-threat quarterbacks in the early period. Tampa native Jordan McCloud (Plant HS) and Georgia quarterback Octavious Battle (Atlanta) joined the Bulls. McCloud led Plant High School to a 12-2 record, passing for 2,426 yards and 26 touchdowns and running for 389 yards and six touchdowns. Battle led Carver High School to the Georgia Class 5A state semifinal, passing for 3,221 yards and 23 touchdowns and running for 713 yards and two touchdowns.
 
The Bulls also added a pair of wide receivers, including local ESPN four-star recruit Zion Roland (St. Petersburg) out of Admiral Farragut High School in St. Petersburg. He was joined by playmaking wide receiver Terrence Horne (Miramar).
 
The Bulls added two running backs in bruising 6-2, 220-pounder Brian Norris (Chiefland) and 5-8 speedster Johnny Ford (Miami), as well as a tight end in Chris Carter (Homestead). USF also got four offensive linemen in Brad Cecil (Jacksonville), Tampa-product Donovan Jennings (Tampa), Sebastian Sainterling (Hollywood) and Ethan Watson (Pensacola).
 
USF addressed a need at punter by landing 27-year old Sydney, Australia native Trent Schneider, who averaged 38.6 yards per punt in one season at Santa Barbara City College. Schneider joined Boyles, Grier, Kirby, Norris and Roland as early enrollees joining the Bulls on campus in January.

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