ASU stays locked in for needs

Arkansas State Coach Blake Anderson had a large portion of his first full recruiting class in hand before he had even coached a game for the Red Wolves.

That didn’t mean his work was finished in August.

Anderson unveiled his first full signing class during a news conference Wednesday afternoon, a group of 24 players that he said he hopes will address immediate needs at defensive line and safety as well as depth concerns at just about every other position.

Of the 17 high school players who signed national letters of intent Wednesday — seven junior-college transfers signed in December — 14 were committed by the Aug. 31 season opener. Anderson said he was pleased at the time, but in the five months since he’s had to try to keep other schools from convincing the players to renege on

their nonbinding oral commitments.

ASU had two players — offensive lineman Branquavious Bussey of Lanett, Ala., and defensive tackle Fred Brown of Boutte, La. — flip to other schools in the past two weeks, but Anderson said his all-in strategy of recruiting kept it together for the most part.

“You have to work every day as a group,” Anderson said. “There’s not one guy in the class that was recruited by one person on the staff. Everybody has relationships with everybody. We truly had to group recruit every person.”

It went down to the final moments, too.

Anderson said linebacker Justin Clifton was being courted by Colorado, Vanderbilt and Illinois in the final days. Defensive end T.J. Harris was being pursued by Fresno State, and running back Jamal Jones was receiving calls from Louisville and Memphis.

“I’m not sure who all called in the end,” Anderson said. “We just know the stories we heard. I don’t know about the ones we didn’t, and we don’t need to hear either.”

Another player who might be considered a steal for ASU also tested Anderson’s nerves.

Wide receiver Omar Bayless was offered by ASU last spring, but Anderson said he thought the Laurel, Miss., native would get bombarded with offers from SEC, Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 schools. None came until after Bayless had committed to ASU last Saturday, but Anderson and his staff kept him on board after a late push by Mississippi State.

Bayless, Anderson said, is an outside receiver comparable to ASU sophomore Dijon Paschal.

“Here at the end, a spot appeared on our roster and he slipped through the SEC cracks,” Anderson said. “That’s when things heated up.”

ASU’s class was ranked No. 1 in the Sun Belt Conference by Rivals.com and No. 2 by Scout. com and 247sports.com. It was ranked No. 79 nationally by Rivals, No. 84 by 247sports and No. 89 by Scout.

“We know rankings are set early and there’s a lot of development left, so I don’t put a tremendous amount of stock [in them],” Anderson said. “But I’m a lot better coach when I’ve got good players.

“The more good players we bring in, the better we’re going to be.”