MOBILE, Ala. – A quartet of junior-college transfers, including a pair who were named first-team National Junior College Athletic Association All-Americans this fall, signed National Letter-of-Intents on Wednesday and will join the University of South Alabama football program.  The announcement was made by Jaguar head coach Joey Jones.

Braedon Bowman, Jimmie Gipson III, Nigel Green and Demarius Rancifer will all enroll in school prior to the start of the spring semester and have two years of eligibility remaining.  Three come from programs that ended the 2013 season in the top 10 of the final NJCAA poll, highlighted by a newcomer from junior-college national champion East Mississippi C.C.

Bowman was named first-team All-American — as well as first-team all-Western States Football League and all-Arizona Community College Athletic Conference — after helping Scottsdale (Ariz.) C.C. to a 10-1 mark and a final ranking of fourth in the NJCAA poll.  Bowman recorded team-high totals with 66 receptions for 1,030 yards, 13 touchdowns and 78 points as the Fighting Artichokes won the WSFL title as well as the Valley of the Sun Bowl after dropping their initial contest of the season.  The 6-foot-4, 210-pound tight end from Mesa, Ariz., caught a season-best nine passes for 142 yards in win over Snow (Utah) J.C., going on to match that reception total in the WSFL championship contest against Mesa (Ariz.) C.C., and he had three other contests with at least 100 yards receiving.

He had 24 receptions for 317 yards his freshman year, ranking third on the team in catches, with a season-high eight for 113 yards against Glendale (Ariz.) C.C.

Gipson III was also chosen first-team All-American after leading the NJCAA with 17 sacks and helping EMCC to the national title; the Lions defeated previously top-ranked Georgia Military J.C. 52-32 in the Mississippi Bowl to conclude the year 12-0.  A first-team all-region selection as well, the 6-foot, 255-pound native of Coldwater, Miss., totaled 65 stops overall with 24 of those were behind the line of scrimmage.  Gipson III, a defensive end/outside linebacker, was named the Lions' Defensive MVP in the national championship — recording four sacks among his eight tackles — and was named the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) North Division Defensive Line MVP.

As a high school senior, he was part of an Olive Branch (Miss.) High team that went 15-0 on its way to the state 6A championship.

A 6-foot-1, 160-pound safety, Green was credited with 83 tackles in two seasons at Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C. as the Bulldogs went 17-4 during that span — in addition to finishing ninth in the final NJCAA poll with an 8-2 record this fall, the program was ranked sixth at the end of the 2012 season after going 9-2.  Green, who hails from Flowood, Miss., posted 41 total tackles as a sophomore, highlighted by a career-high 10 in a seven-point victory over Hinds (Miss.) C.C.; he also collected eight stops in each of the Bulldogs' first two games of the year, wins over Coahoma (Miss.) C.C. and Holmes (Miss.) C.C.

Green recorded 42 stops his freshman season, adding two interceptions and two other passes broken up.  That included a season-high eight tackles in a victory over Hinds C.C. — he also had an interception and broke up a pass in that game — matching that total the following week against Jones County (Miss.) J.C.

Rancifer had a team-high 66 tackles, which included eight behind the line of scrimmage, last season at Pearl River (Miss.) C.C., earning first-team all-state South Division accolades at the end of the year.  The 6-foot-4, 205-pound inside linebacker from Pensacola, Fla., had back-to-back outings in the middle of the year with a double-figure stop total, posting 13 against nationally-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C. one week before he had a season-high 14 — with two for loss — in a match-up with Copiah-Lincoln (Miss.) C.C.  Rancifer had a stretch of four straight games with at least one tackle for loss in September, highlighted by an outing with nine total stops against Jones County J.C.

He spent two years at Kentucky, sitting out as a redshirt before appearing in 11 contests for the Wildcats in 2012.  Rancifer prepped at Pensacola Catholic High, posting 301 stops his final two years while helping the Crusaders advance to the state 2B semifinals each fall.

"As we neared the end of the season, we realized we needed some individuals to replace our outside linebacker/defensive line players," stated Jones.  "We always need to recruit really good guys in the secondary, they are very hard to find, and we needed another tight end because Wes [Saxton] is going to be a senior and we wanted someone to come in and help with two tight-end sets who will also be back the following year."

The four will be joining a Jag program that was eligible to participate in a postseason bowl game following its first season at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, as USA concluded the 2013 campaign with a 6-6 mark.  After the Jaguars tied for third in the Sun Belt Conference standings, Jones was named the league's coach of the year, and 10 individuals earned all-league recognition as well.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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