National Signing Day 2024 is right around the corner, and you would be hard-pressed to find another HBCU program that’s riding a higher wave in recruiting than the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats are at this moment.

It’s quite amazing when you consider that at this time last year, BCU was the only Division One program in the country who entered National Signing Day without a head coach in place. One full rotation around the sun and Head Coach Raymond Woodie is absolutely crushing it with his first recruiting class.

Coach Woodie has addressed every checkbox on a recruiter’s wish list – from injecting speed into the squad to locking up players with significant size, college playing experience, and winning high school pedigrees. The Wildcats have successfully landed talented players from the transfer portal, JUCO, and high school ranks, some of whom boast impressive star ratings for those who appreciate such metrics. On top of this, Coach Woodie and staff have done an amazing job of recruiting their current roster and have had very few key players from last year’s squad jump in the portal.

Ahead of National Signing Day, let’s take a closer look at the promising 2024 recruiting class. The list below is unofficial and based on information gathered from various official and unofficial sources.

The Wildcats are expected to land 28 new arrivals on Signing Day – 14 Transfer/JUCO players and 14 high schoolers. 14 of the new additions also hold star ratings from national recruiting services – 4-four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, 7-three stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️, and 3-two stars ⭐️⭐️.

The positional breakdown is as follows: thirteen (13) defensive players (6 defensive backs, 5 defensive linemen/edge, 2 linebackers); and fifteen (15) offensive players (8 offensive linemen, 1 quarterback, 3 running backs, 3 wide receivers).  

Immediate Impact Signees

Here is our best guess at the guys who will have the greatest opportunity to see the field next year.

Defensive Backs

The Wildcats graduate three of their starting defensive backs from a season ago leaving a huge hole on the backend of their defense. The most glaring loss is that of 3-time All-SWAC First Team cornerback, Omari Hill-Robinson. We expect Ray Woodie III, Shawn Russ, and Terrance Alexander to compete for playing time immediately in the secondary. Woodie, as I am sure you know, is the son of the head coach bearing the same name. The 6’0”, 200-pound safety transfers to BCU from Cal-Berkley. Woodie was a 4-star recruit out of high school and originally signed with Florida State and has made starts for both the Seminoles and Cal Bears. Woodie has proven to be both an active run defender and viable in pass defense in his 44 collegiate games played.

Shawn Russ transfers in from Arizona State after one year with the Sun Devils. While he doesn’t have as many collegiate snaps as Ray Woodie, his upside is tremendous. Russ is another 4-star addition to BCU’s defense and was one of the top defensive players in the State of Florida as a prep player at Dunbar High School. He checks all of the boxes athletically and can be a big playmaker much like the aforementioned Omari Hill-Robinson.

Joshua Thornhill, Nick Rawls II, Johnny Harris III, and Steven Sparrow return to bolster the BCU secondary, and all have started in multiple contests for BCU. Add Anthony Alonzo into the mix as a returning player who showed promise last season.

Matthew McKenzie from The Benjamin School in Palm Beach Gardens is 6’3”, 200 pounds and can play corner and safety. His size and athleticism will allow him to compete physically from day one. Rather he finds his way onto the field as a freshman is yet to be seen but the lack of physicality won’t be an issue in that decision.

Linebackers

Dearis Thomas was the leading tackler on the squad last year and was flanked by Shelton Quarles Jr. at the other linebacker position in Robert Wimberly’s 4-2-5 scheme. Both Thomas and Quarles return this season and will be joined at the position by new arrivals Trey Paster from Colorado State and Kevin Washington Jr. from Fresno City College. Paster and Washington add much needed size to the linebacker core for Bethune; yet both have shown on film they are athletic enough to make plays in space. Both Paster and Washington play violently, and we mean that in the best football way possible.

Defensive Line

The defensive line was objectively BCU’s best positional group on either side of the ball in 2023; yet it is highly possible that that unit may be even better in the 2024 campaign. Amarie Jones, Adrian Hall, Ejike Brown, Ebenezer Dibula, Jeffson Lafontant, Payton Doucet, and Jeremy Graves all return along the defensive front. Four-star Edge defenders Orin Patu (Arizona) and Dallaz Corbitt (UCF); along with three-star defensive lineman Dario Melendez will look to elevate and already stout defensive front. Melendez is a “twitchy” interior lineman who possess the skillsets you look for in a 3 technique. Patu and Corbitt are explosive Edge players with the requisite athleticism to run down backs and quarterbacks.

Running Back/Receivers

Explosive plays were scarce to nonexistent for Bethune last season, and as a result, the Wildcats ranked near the bottom of the SWAC in most significant offensive categories. The good news is BCU return 4 starting offensive linemen as well as their top 4 signal callers.

Maleek Huggins transfers in from Gardner-Webb and immediately provides BCU with a big play option. Huggins is a legitimate 4.4 guy and can stretch the field vertically or take a dump off, make a guy miss, and flip the field for you. Courtney Reese is a similar type option at the running back position. Reese, a three-star transfer from UNLV, demonstrated his big play ability when he rushed for 142 yards on 11 carries against Notre Dame in 2022. One of Reese carries was a 74-yard burst that setup the Running Rebels first score against the Fighting Irish.

Kenny Jackson is another incoming freshman who was highly recruited and possess the physical qualities necessary to compete for snaps immediately. Jackson is a 6-foot, 190 pound three-star athlete  who holds offers from San Jose State and Fresno State. When you put his game film on, you can’t help but think of Deebo Samuels. No, we are not saying Jackson will be a NFL Pro Bowler, however, his size and playing style are very reminiscent of the 49er’s superstar.

Offensive Line/Quarterback

As mentioned earlier, Bethune returns 4 starters along the offensive line and its top 4 quarterbacks from a season ago. This year’s signing class seems to focus on building depth at the offensive line position and securing their quarterback for the future in Nahseem Deas.

Deas picked up All-State honors in the State of New York and chose BCU over several MAC schools including Bowling Green and Toledo.

Isaiah Maumaianga and Surafel Seyfu join the Wildcats from the JUCO ranks and have the best chance of making an immediate impact in the trenches.

Did we miss someone? Are you eyeing another potential immediate impact guy? Are you still unsure about this signing class? We would love to hear from you. Feel free to contact us via our socials. You are also welcome to join us on @HailWildcat Spaces this upcoming Monday night, February 5^th at 7:30pm to discuss this year’s signing class in more detail.

Hail Wildcats!