Appalachian State has never been shy when it came to recruiting players from Georgia.

Of the 19 players who signed letters of intent to play football, 10 are from Georgia. Appalachian State signed eight plays on offense and 11 on defense. It's a defensive class that has plenty of players holding at least two-star ratings from http://rivals.com .

“I've never been a guy that get on his high horse and say, ‘Boy, this is a great recruiting class,' and all that stuff, because you never really know,” Mountaineers head coach Jerry Moore said. “Those kids get here and they start going through drills and start dealing with the homesickness and all that stuff that plays into it. But with that said, this might be the very best defensive class that we're brought in here in a long, long time. That doesn't mean that it overshadows the Dexter Coakleys and the Matt Stevenses and the D.J. Smiths. I'm saying as a group, as a total group, those 10 players — I don't think we've ever recruited 10 guys we felt that way about all 10 of them.”

Appalachian State had to face the obstacle of recruiting for nearly a month without a full group of assistant coaches. Former recruiting coordinator Mark Speir took the Western Carolina head coach position, and took assistant coaches Trey Elder, Brad Glenn and John Holt with.

Moore said current recruiting coordinator Scot Sloan took over and the Mountaineers “didn't miss a beat,” according to Moore. Appalachian State used some graduate assistants to help in the recruiting process to make up for the lack of assistant coaches.

Moore said that Sloan worked with Speir when Speir was still at Appalachian State, which helped make for a smooth transition.

“They were like Siamese twins,” Moore said. “I'm kind of an early bird and kind of a late guy up here also and Scot did a marvelous, marvelous job. We didn't miss a glitch. From the day Mark went to Western — we were tickled to death for him. That's a great thing for Mark and those guys who were here, but Scot took over and we didn't miss a lick.”

Moore also said that the team did not lose any players because ASU

“I don't know if we worked any harder and maybe the circumstances we were in were the driving force behind it,” Moore said. “I would leave here at night and Scot would still be on that computer looking at kids from all over the Southeast.”

Sloan said the Mountaineers filled their quota of available 63 scholarships, so they won't be signing any more. Some walk-ons could be added in the fall, but the Mountaineers have few roster positions open since they are near their desired 115 cap.

Moore was pleased with the group coming in, saying the program did not have to settle to sign a player who might have been a second choice.

“If you're not very careful, you're going to compromise,” Moore said. “If you're going shopping and I was going to buy three shirts and there are two that I really like. Then I grab another one and say ‘I've got my three shirts.' We did a good job of not getting a third shirt. We're satisfied with who we've recruited and we think they're pretty good football players.”

Late arrival, John Law is one of four linebackers that signed with the Mountaineers. Olawale Dada (Columbus, Ga.), Greg Hall (Bogart, Ga.), and Tashion Singleton (Charlotte, West Mecklenburg) also signed with the Mountaineers.

Appalachian State also signed three-star defensive back Dante Blackmon from Covington, Ga.

 

Defensive backs Alex Gray (Suwanne, Ga.), Aaron Krah (Durham Hillside) and Kevin Walton (Greensboro Grimsley) also inked with the Mountaineers.

Closing out Appalachian State's defensive players are defensive linemen Darian Small (Hampton, Ga.) and Greg Milhouse (Garner).

Offensively, the only quarterback ASU signed was Paul Magloire, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound product of Lynbrook, N.Y.

The Mountaineers landed early signee Tysean Holloway from Asheville, who enrolled in January and will participate in spring practice. Another early signee, Quartterrio Morgan, transferred to ASU from Western Kentucky.

Appalachian State also landed offensive linemen Jamie Collmar (Gastonia Forestview), Matthew Privette from Forest Hills and Tyson Fernandez from Fuquay-Varina.

Receivers Chris Starkes (Lithonia, Ga.) and Malachi Jones (Rosewell, Ga.) signed. So did tight end Barrett Burns (Woodstock, Ga.).

Moore said offensive line was one of the positions the Mountaineers wanted to specifically improve. Appalachian State used three freshmen during the season last year, including offensive tackle Kendall Lamm, who was dismissed from the team for disciplinary reasons.

Lamm was reinstated to the team and will practice this spring.

“Throughout the years, we've been successful in finding 230-pound or 240-pound linemen who could run,” Moore said. “They'd come in at 230 or 240 pounds and then get up to 260 or 270 pounds. The smallest lineman we signed weighs 278 pounds. That showed up two years ago against Villanova. We brought in some bigger guys and we didn't compromise.”

Appalachian State recruit list

Player  position           Height Weight                        Hometown       High school/college

Dante Blackmon          DB      5-11     185      Covington, Ga.            Eastside

Barrett Burns   TE       6-4       220      Woodstock, Ga.          Etowah

Jamie Collmar OL       6-2       280      Gastonia          Forestview

Olawale Dada  LB       6-0       210      Columbus, Ga.            Shaw

Tyson Fernandez         OL       6-2       315      Fuquay-Varina            Fuqua-Varina

Alex Gray        DB      6-3       210      Suwanne, Ga.  Peachtree Ridge

Greg Hall        LB       6-3       235      Bogart, Ga.      North Oconee

Tysean Holloway*      RB       6-1       190      Asheville          Asheville

Malachi Jones WR     6-1       180      Roswell, Ga.    Central Gwinnett

Aaron Krah     DB      5-11     175      Durham           Hillside

John Law         LB       6-0       225      Atlanta             Grady

Paul Magloire  QB      6-2       210      Lynbrook, N.Y.           Milford Academy

Greg Milhouse            DL       6-3       275      Garner Garner

Quartterrio Morgan*   RB       5-10     180      Jonesboro, Ga.                        Western Kentucky

Matthew Privette          OL       6-4       280      Marshville       Forest Hills

Tashion Singleton       LB       6-3       245      Charlotte          West Mecklenburg

Darian Small   DL       6-2 285            Hampton, Ga.  Dutchtown

Chris Starks    WR     6-1       170      Lithonia, Ga.    Miller Grove

Kevin Walton  DB      6-1       190      Greensboro     Grimsley

*enrolled at ASU at beginning of spring semester.