The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Unveil 2009 Signees
2/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Feb. 4, 2009
• 2009 UAB Signees 
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- UAB head football coach Neil Callaway announced Wednesday the signing of 23 players to National Letters of Intent for the 2009-10 academic year.
Included in Callaway's third Blazer recruiting class are 13 high school standouts, nine junior college transfers and one prep school student-athlete.
Of the nine JUCO recruits, seven of them have already enrolled at UAB.
Callaway and his coaching staff recruited heavily on the defensive side of the ball with 14 members of the incoming class listed as defensive players. Six of the signees are defensive ends or defensive tackles.
The seven student-athletes already enrolled at UAB who are scheduled to participate in spring practice, which starts March 18, are: WR Nick Adams, SAF Hiram Atwater, RB Daniel Borne, DE Derrick Slaughter, DT Justin Wells, LB Danny White and LB Darrion Wilson.
"I think this is by far, on paper, the best class since I've been here," said Callaway. "We went heavy on the defensive side of the football out of necessity. I think if you study our roster, that was something we needed to do. At the same time, we were able to maintain some type of balance, which I think is awfully important in signing a class."
UAB Blazers 2009 Signees
| Name | Pos. | Ht | Wt | Hometown | High School or JC |
| *Nick Adams | WR | 6-2 | 195 | Walterboro, S.C. | Ft. Scott, Kan., CC |
| *Hiram Atwater | SAF | 6-0 | 200 | Decatur, Ga. | Garden City, Kan., CC |
| Patrick Bastien | LB | 6-3 | 200 | Immokalee, Fla. | Immokalee HS |
| *Daniel Borne | RB | 5-11 | 205 | Avondale, La. | Jones County, Miss., JC |
| Reginald Bryant | RB | 5-11 | 205 | Cairo, Ga. | Cairo HS |
| Marvin Burdette | LB | 5-11 | 225 | Batesville, Miss. | South Panola HS |
| David Conner | SAF | 5-11 | 200 | Batesville, Miss. | South Panola HS |
| Amos Draper | DE | 6-3 | 245 | Tanner, Ala. | Tanner HS |
| Joei Fiegler | QB | 6-3 | 200 | Alcoa, Tenn. | Georgia Military College |
| Chris Hubbard | OL | 6-3 | 240 | Columbus, Ga. | Carver HS |
| Kaycee Ike | OL | 6-5 | 245 | Lawrenceville, Ga. | Central Gwinnett HS |
| Greg Irvin | LB | 5-10 | 195 | Demopolis, Ala. | Demopolis HS |
| Caleb Lester | CB | 5-10 | 170 | Atlanta, Ga. | Douglass HS |
| Andrew Mahan | DE | 6-4 | 225 | Selma, Ala. | Dallas County HS |
| Elliott McGaskin | SAF | 6-1 | 200 | Mobile, Ala. | Jones County, Miss., JC |
| Freddie Moore | WR | 6-3 | 190 | Decatur, Ala. | Austin HS |
| Ed Pruitt | TE | 6-3 | 230 | Theodore, Ala. | Theodore HS |
| Cornelius Richards | CB | 6-2 | 185 | Northport, Ala. | Tuscaloosa County HS |
| *Derrick Slaughter | DE | 6-2 | 245 | Jonesboro, Ga. | Coffeyville, Kan. CC |
| *Justin Wells | DT | 6-4 | 285 | Madison, Ala. | Highland, Kan., CC |
| *Danny White | LB | 6-2 | 220 | Apopka, Fla. | Hargrave Military |
| *Darrion Wilson | LB | 6-3 | 215 | Crawfordville, Fla. | Jones County, Miss., JC |
| Rashad Wynes | RB | 6-1 | 214 | Warner Robins, Ga. | Warner Robins HS |
* - Early enrollee
Callaway Press Conference Transcript
Opening thoughts
"It's by far the most bizarre recruiting process I've been through. Normally a week or so before signing day, things pretty much shape up, and you have an idea of 99 percent of what's going to happen. But even as of 9 o'clock last night, I got a call that someone wasn't coming to us, and then I got a call at 12:30 this morning that somebody was coming to us, so it's kind of a sign of the times and where we're at in the recruiting business right now.
"I know we don't play the games on paper, but I think this is by far, on paper, the best class since I've been here. We went heavy on the defensive side of the football out of necessity. I think if you study our roster, that was something we needed to do. At the same time, we were able to maintain some type of balance, which I think is awfully important in signing a class. I do think it's a very good class on paper, but what we do with them when they get here will be equally important."
On looking for physical running backs
"All of these backs are bigger than the guys we're playing with right now except for Justin Brooks, and I think that's something we're conscious of is that we want to be more physical in the back end."
On whether recruiting speed was a bigger emphasis this year
"I think speed is one of the first things you look for whenever you're recruiting someone. Obviously, you want them to be good football players. But I'd rather take a guy that is a little undersized (with speed). The speed factor is always important because, obviously, the faster you can get there, the more you can make happen, whether you're on offense or defense. Speed is an area we're always looking to upgrade and one that I think is very important."
On the top positions in this class
"Without a doubt, linebacker and safety. We did a good job there of signing five linebackers and three safeties, and I think all of them are excellent football players, and all of them should have a chance to come in and help us this year."
On the number of players from this class that can make an immediate impact
"All the junior college guys we obviously think will come in and compete to start, or we wouldn't have signed them. Any time you're going to sign a junior college guy, I think that's what your expectations are. Of the 13 or so high school guys we've signed, I'm sure some of them will help us right away. Exactly how many, time will tell, but if I had to guess, I'd say about half of them will probably be in our playing rotation next year."
On the key to signing this successful class
"I think just the hard work that our staff put in was a main factor. I think it was a factor that we've made some headway with facilities. Our weight room, training room and academic center have been very helpful in our recruiting process. And then I think the city of Birmingham and the school itself do a good job of selling themselves."
