UMass football coach Charley Molnar (center) talks with UMass faculty members and season ticketholders Melinda Novak and Jerry Meyer (husband and wife) of Amherst during an event for teamsupporters at the Amherst Brewing Company to announce the 2012 signing class.

http://w w w .masslive.com/umassfootball/index.ssf/2012/02/umass_football_inks_24_recruit.html May 14, 2012

UMass football inks 24 recruits on National Signing Day

View full sizeThe Republican | DonTreeger

AMHERST - They came, they saw andthey signed.

University of Massachusetts footballcoach Charley Molnar announced his firstrecruiting class on Wednesday, with 24players having signed National Letters ofIntent to play football for UMass.

Molnar, hired in December to lead theMinutemen as they move from theFootball Championship Subdivision to theBowl Subdivision and into the Mid-American Conference, said he had "zero

disappointments'' in who they signed or did not sign.

"We brought a total of 22 official visitors to campus and at this time 21 have committed and we'rewaiting on the commitment of the 22nd and hopefully tomorrow we can announce him,'' Molnar saidWednesday from the team's offices on University Drive.

When hired, Molnar said he wanted to make big inroads into the recruiting of Massachusetts andNew England and believes he did so with four recruits from the Commonwealth and six overall fromNew England.

Nineteen are from the Northeast, which Molnar defines from Maine to northern Virginia, and 22 arefrom the East coast. The other two, offensive lineman Cameron Mock of New Mexico and offensivelineman Matt Sparks of Hawaii, signed based on relationships with new coaches Ron Hudson andNick Rolovich.

Molnar said he had a couple of areas he targeted, but in general he was looking for the best playershe could sign.

"It was really the best athletes on the board is what we tried to do, knowing we needed to scorethree or four offensive linemen and a minimum of two wide receivers, or wide receivers/DBs, guyswho had multiple ability,'' Molnar said.

Timing was an issue since Molnar and his staff got off to a late start. He said it began with himselfand recruiting coordinator Shane Waldron and as staff were hired the momentum grew.

"We really got ourselves some football players that at the beginning I wasn't certain we would beable to attract players of such high quality just because they wouldn't be available,'' he said. "But wemanaged to get some turned when they were committed to other schools and once they saw whatwe were doing at UMass they decided to join in.''

A handful of the recruits, such as Catholic Memorial quarterback A.J. Doyle, running back/defensiveback Stacey Bedell (Mastic Beach, N.Y.) and defensive end Bernardo Nunez (Hoboken, N.J.),

chose UMass over BCS programs.

Molnar, standing at a podium positioned between life-sized wall decals of UMass football alumniJames Ihedigbo and Victor Cruz, said the success of those two players who will face off in theSuper Bowl on Sunday did not hurt the recruiting process. But the direction of the program was thebiggest draw.

"There's been a great buzz around UMass football because of these two fine football players, but alot of these guys made their decision independent of the success of these two great players,''Molnar said. "They looked at UMass, looked at the institution and the academic side of it, a greatplace to go to school, has a national reputation academically and they love the idea of a chance toget in on the ground floor of a growing football program.''

Molnar signed six wide receivers. Khary Bailey-Smith (Weymouth) will also compete on the UMasstrack squad with a high-jump mark of 6-feet, 10-inches. Bernard Davis (Lake Worth, Fla.) is a first-team all-conference selection who is also on his high school debate team.

Dereck Beck is already enrolled at UMass and will compete in the spring. At 6-4 he is the tallestreceiver. Rodney Mills (Gainesville, Fla.) is also enrolled.

The offensive line should be well reinforced with the signing of Mock, Sparks, Michael Boland(Rockville, Md.) and Tyrell Smith (Lanoka Harbor, N.J.). Sparks is the smallest at 6-4, 275.

On defense, Robert Kitching (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Kassan Messiah (Orange, N.J.) will shore up theline, Leo Krizanovic (Clifton, N.J.) and Vondell Langston (Everett) look strong at linebacker andJulian Kaminoff (New Hope, Pa.) is very impressive at safety.

2012 UMass football recruiting class:

Khary Bailey Smith, WR, Weymouth, Mass.Dereck Beck, WR, North Bridgton, Me.Stacey Bedell, RB/CB, Mastic Beach, N.Y.Michael Boland, OL, Rockville, Md.Byron Cooper, LB, Philadelphia, Pa.Nevin Cyr, TE, Pelham, NHBernard Davis, WR, Lake Worth, Fla.A.J. Doyle, QB, Lakeville, Mass.Trey Dudley-Giles, WR/DB Dade City, Fla.Jaurice Jones, WR, Linden, N.J.Julian Kaminoff, S, New Hope, Pa.Robert Kitching, DL, Brooklyn, N.Y.Leo Krizanovic, LB, Clifton, N.J.Vondell Langston, LB, Everett, Mass.Kassan Messiah, DE, Orange, N.J.Rodney Mills, WR, Gainesville, Fla.Cameron Mock, OL, Clayton, N.M.Bernardo Nunez, DL, Hoboken, N.J.John Robinson, LB, Springfield, Mass.Jovan Santos-Knox, LB, Middletown, Conn.Tajae Sharpe, WR, Piscataway, N.J.Matt Sparks, OL, Milalani, HID'Metrius Williams, DB, Virginia Beach, Va.