2016 South Alabama football recruiting class highlight video
Joey Jones press conference video
2016 South Alabama football recruiting class capsules

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama football program added to its 2016 recruiting class Wednesday when 11 individuals signed National Letters-of-Intent, with nearly half the group receiving three stars from at least one of the four national recruiting services.

In all, the Jaguars' incoming class features a total of 20 student-athletes, including seven who signed in December and a pair of spring semester enrollees.

"We feel like we have some really great character student-athletes who we are bringing in, and they all fit what we were looking for; we worked very hard to get the type of player we wanted at each position," Jaguar head coach Joey Jones commented.  "We felt like we needed some help on defense — the numbers over there were lower so we had more scholarships to give out — and when you have a need at certain positions you want to fill that with an experienced player, plus we were finding some really good football players who can come here and help us win.

"These guys are going to be able to fill some roles for us; we are looking forward to having them here as Jaguars."

A pair of teammates from Hinds (Miss.) C.C. will be joining the team in the fall, offensive lineman D'Tavieus Taylor (Pearl, Miss.) and wide receiver Jahmmir Taylor (Fairburn, Ga.).  The former was an honorable mention All-American selection — as well as first-team Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges all-state and all-region recognition — while the latter posted 31 catches for 559 yards and six touchdowns as the Eagles received votes in the final national poll.

Jalin Buie (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Riley Cole (Oneonta, Ala.) both earned three stars from Rivals.com, Scout.com, ESPN.com and 247Sports.com, with Sean Brown (Pleasant Grove, Ala.) receiving three stars from Scout.com and 247Sports.com, Chris Henderson (Hampton, Ga.) collecting three stars from Scout.com and ESPN.com, and Jay Woods (Pinson, Ala.) a three-star recruit according to Rivals.com.

Buie rushed for 723 yards and nine touchdowns in the fall to help lead an undefeated Trinity Christian Academy squad to the state 3A championship, finishing his five-year prep career with more than 4,000 all-purpose yards.  Cole, who guided Oneonta High to a berth in the state 4A playoffs as a senior, was ranked as high as the third-best outside linebacker in the state by Scout.com.  Brown received second-team all-state recognition as a center his senior year as Pleasant Grove HS won its first-round state 5A playoff contest, but is expected to play on the defensive line for the Jaguars where he will be joined by Henderson, whose Lovejoy High team qualified for the state AAAAAA playoffs after finishing second in the region last season.  In three years as a starting defensive back at Pinson Valley HS, Woods recorded 110 stops, intercepted 15 passes and broke up another 20.

The Jaguar recruiting class also included a pair of defenders from Alabama — Nick Fields (Dothan) and Bobby Flott (Mobile) — as well as tight end Zac Crosby (Jacksonville, Fla.) and linebacker Taji Stewart (Marietta, Ga.).

Stewart collected 79 total tackles and a pair of fumble recoveries in two years as a starter, helping Walton High advance to the state AAAAAA playoffs as a senior.  Flott, a cornerback from Mobile's Baker HS, was ranked among the top 100 recruits in the state by 247Sports.com, while Fields — a defensive lineman — participated in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic following his senior season at Dothan High.  Crosby earned first-team all-state honors last year after catching 30 passes for 750 yards and seven touchdowns, helping The Bolles School go 9-3 after advancing to the second round of the state 4A playoffs.

Six individuals signed NLIs with the program following the season last semester, including Zach Befort (Wichita, Kan.), Andrew Reinkemeyer (Overland Park, Kan.), Romello Riley (Ocean Springs, Miss.), Neiko Robinson (Century, Fla.), Darrell Songy (New Orleans, La.) and Diantae Thomas (Dothan, Ala.), while Konnor Houston (Buford, Ga.) attended Army Prep in the fall.  Clay Burt (Bixby, Okla.) and Jared Stewart (Birmingham, Ala.) began classes last month after coming from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M and Fultondale High, respectively.

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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