University of Houston Athletics
Football Recruiting Class Has In-State Emphasis
2/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Signing Day Press Conference Quotes in PDF Format 
2009 Signee List in PDF Format | Kevin Sumlin Press Conference 
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HOUSTON --- With an emphasis on the state of Texas-particularly the Greater-Houston area-University of Houston head coach Kevin Sumlin on Wednesday announced the 2009 football recruiting class. The Cougars signed 20 high school seniors, as well as two junior-college transfers for a total of 22 incoming student-athletes. Of this total, 20 list Texas as their home state, while 15 hail from Greater Houston.
"There is great football in the Greater Houston area, (and) there is great football in this state," Sumlin said, "and there is a reason why other schools come down here and recruit. We should know more about the players in our area than anyone else in the country. In our evaluation process, we were able to get the players we were targeting from this area.
"We had to replace some people and bring our talent level up. I think the addition of the five JC players not only brings experience, but also some maturity at those positions, particularly the two offensive linemen (Jarve Dean and Roy Watts) that are already on campus, as well as the two defensive backs and a wide receiver that is a bigger, more experienced player than some of the smaller guys we've been playing with.
"We needed to bring some more experience and attitude to those positions, and we have some really good young players (that) we've brought in, particularly on defense, that I would look for five or six of those guys to step in and play right away."
A.J. Dugat, a wide receiver from Dayton High School, highlights this year's class. Named a Parade All-America, Dugat registered 1,755 receiving yards and scored 28 touchdowns on his way to being named First-Team, All-State.
Joining Dugat at the skill positions are tight end Tyler Chambers (San Antonio MacArthur HS), wide receiver James Cleveland (Trinity Valley CC), quarterbacks Drew Hollingshead (Rockwall Heath HS) and Broderick Thomas, Jr. (Houston Madison HS), running back Charles Sims (Houston Westbury HS) and athletes Jeffery Lewis (Houston Madison HS) and Jared Pickett (Fort Bend Marshall HS).
Sumlin and his staff also added depth to the offensive and defensive lines with the addition of Ty Cloud (Flower Mound Marcus HS), Keenan Flax (Cypress Ridge HS), Kevin Forsch (Klein Oak HS) and Ralph Oragwu (Fort Bend Marshall HS) on offense, and Tyrone Campbell (Channelview HS), Zeke Riser (LaVernia HS), Radermon Scypion (Port Arthur Memorial HS) and DeAnthony Sims (Houston Westbury HS) on defense.
As for linebackers and secondary, the Cougars inked six in these two areas, including junior-college transfer Devin Mays, a cornerback from San Francisco City College who originally signed with Oregon out of high school. He is joined in the defensive backfield by Thomas Bates (Baytown Lee HS).
Three local high-school standouts and one Metroplex prep star headline the 2009 corps of linebackers. Kelvin King III (Alief Taylor HS), Steven Robertson (Cleveland HS), Phillip Steward (Fort Bend Hightower HS), and George Bamfo (Rockwall Heath HS) will look to break into the linebacker rotation.
These 22 future Cougars are joined by three junior-college transfers who are already enrolled at Houston. Safety Jacky Candy (Coffeyville CC) and offensive linemen Jarve Dean (Coffeyville CC) and Roy Watts (Navarro JC) were mid-year signees in December.
The Cougars finished 8-5 last season, capping off Sumlin's first season with a 34-28 win over Air Force in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl while snapping a 28-year drought in bowl game wins in the process. Houston won seven of its last nine contests to make Sumlin the winningest first-year head coach in UH football history.
Spring practice begins for the Cougars on Tuesday, March 24, and runs through Saturday, April 18, culminating in the annual Red-White Game at Robertson Stadium.
