The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Announces 2004 Football Recruiting Class
2/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- UAB head football coach Watson Brown says he and his coaching staff feel good about filling specific position needs with the addition of the 2004 Blazer recruiting class.
Brown and his staff focused largely on the areas of the offensive line, defensive secondary and at linebacker in putting together this year's class. Of that number, five -- four junior college transfers (Tommie Keyes, Reggie Lindsey, Clarence Respress and Chad Wilmott) and a transfer from East Tennessee State (Tony Haynes-Dalton) -- have already enrolled at UAB and will participate in spring practice.
"It was a year that we wanted to fill specific needs," said Brown, "no doubt about it. The first thing we had to address was offensive linemen and we felt like we needed to get some experienced linemen. We signed four linemen. Three of them are junior college players and one of them is a sophomore (Julius Wilson) even though he came out of junior college."
The class of 21 includes eight players from the state of Alabama and six from Georgia. Other new Blazers hail from Florida (2), Mississippi (2), Kansas (1), Tennessee (1) and Texas (1).
"We thought we needed to bring in a quarterback to go with what we have," said Brown. "Our numbers were down there. Chad Wilmott, we feel like is going to be an outstanding player." Wilmott, a 6-4, 215-pound product of Wichita, Kan., was a first-team All-America signal-caller last season as he led Butler County (Kan.) to the NJCAA national championship.
"I thought we needed to look at linebackers and cornerbacks not so much for next year but for two years from now," Brown said. "Both starting corners and all three linebackers are seniors next season, so we took care of that.
"I thought it was a need class and I thought we hit every area we needed to address," said Brown. "This class started out as a need class and there are a few more junior college guys in the group than we have taking in here because of that situation. Next year will be a lot heavier on the freshmen. Overall, I think we got what we needed to fill some needs and I am excited about the class as a whole."
2004 UAB Football Signees
| Name | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Hometown (High School/Junior College) |
| Brandon Alexander | RB | 5-10 | 190 | Birmingham, Ala. (Carver HS) |
| Nick Benton | OL | 6-3 | 310 | Port Arthur, Texas (Trinity Valley, Texas CC) |
| Eric Bogan | DB | 5-11 | 190 | Alabaster, Ala. (Thompson HS) |
| Richard Carter | DE | 6-6 | 230 | Lovejoy, Ga. (Lovejoy HS) |
| Will Dunbar | DB | 6-1 | 195 | Atlanta, Ga. (Lakeside HS) |
| Kris Guyton | LB | 6-3 | 215 | Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Hillcrest HS) |
| Jeff Hamby | SN | 6-1 | 205 | Vestavia Hills, Ala. (Vestavia Hills HS) |
| Tony Haynes-Dalton | DL | 6-4 | 280 | Franklin, Tenn. (East Tennessee State Univ.) |
| Joe Henderson | LB | 6-2 | 200 | Birmingham, Ala. (John Carroll HS) |
| Vernard Hoover | WR | 6-4 | 195 | Lovejoy, Ga. (Lovejoy HS) |
| Nolan Hughey | FB | 6-0 | 210 | Vestavia Hills, Ala. (Vestavia Hills HS) |
| Tommie Keyes | OL | 6-0 | 295 | Louin, Miss. (Jones County, Miss. CC) |
| Marcus Lampton | OL | 6-5 | 315 | Columbia, Miss. (Pearl River, Miss. CC) |
| Reggie Lindsey | WR | 5-10 | 185 | Pensacola, Fla. (SW Mississippi JC) |
| Clarence Respress | DT | 6-1 | 305 | Barnesville, Ga. (Butler County, Kan. CC) |
| Kevin Sanders | DB | 5-11 | 175 | Pell City, Ala. (Pell City HS) |
| Jerrickus Speights | DE | 6-5 | 233 | Gardendale, Ala. (Gardendale HS) |
| Todd Tate | DB | 5-11 | 175 | Marietta, Ga. (Wheeler HS) |
| Shun Williams | DE | 6-2 | 225 | Buford, Ga. (Buford HS) |
| Chad Wilmott | QB | 6-4 | 215 | Wichita, Kan. (Butler County, Kan. CC) |
| Julius Wilson | OT | 6-5 | 310 | Bradenton, Fla. (SW Mississippi JC) |
