Indiana head football coach Tom Allen announced on Wednesday the signing of 23 student-athletes to National Letters of Intent to play for the Hoosiers in 2017.
IU signed 12 defensive players, nine offensive players, one athlete and one punter. The Hoosiers added five defensive linemen, four defensive backs and three linebackers on defense, and three offensive linemen, two running backs, two wide receivers, one quarterback and one tight end on offense.
The class features players from Australia and eight different states, including nine from Florida, six from Indiana, two from Georgia and one each from Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin.
Linebacker Thomas Allen (Tampa, Fla./Plant H.S.), defensive lineman Juan Harris (Janesville, Wis./Parker H.S.), offensive lineman Tyler Knight (Clearwater, Fla./ Northside Christian School), linebacker Mike McGinnis (Allentown, N.J./Allentown H.S./ASA (N.Y.) College) and punter Haydon Whitehead (Melbourne, Australia/ McKinnon Secondary College/Swinburne University of Technology) enrolled in classes this semester and will participate in spring practice.
“We are very excited about our 2017 signing class,” Allen said. “It is full of young men of high character, high academic focus and tremendous on-field talent that we believe will be the catalysts to help us break through.
“Offensively, we were really looking to shore up our offensive line and we are very excited about the group that we brought in. They are young and talented and can be developed. We were also looking for a couple of running backs that could give us the burst that we were looking for and receivers that can stretch the field and change the game. Ultimately, we needed to get a quarterback in here that can compete right away and to be a guy that we will look to be a future leader of our program. We feel that we accomplished that.
“Defensively, we had a heavy emphasis on the defensive line and linebacker play. We are really excited about the size and length of the guys that we were able to attract. They will be able to develop into a very formidable defensive unit in those two core areas upfront. In the secondary, we addressed our needs at corner. We added some length and athleticism both at the corner and safety positions. There will be some playmakers back there. They did a great job of making plays all through high school and we know they will continue to do the same here at Indiana.”
Here is a list of Indiana’s 2017 signees:
Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School/Last School
- Thomas Allen LB 6-3 235 Tampa, Fla./Plant H.S.
- Britt Beery DL 6-6 270 Carmel, Ind./Carmel H.S.
- Lance Bryant DL 6-2 245 Fresno, Texas/Manvel H.S.
- Juwan Burgess DB 6-1 185 Tampa, Fla./Plant H.S.
- De’Morreal “Mo” Burnam LB 6-2 215 Conyers, Ga./Salem H.S.
- Harry Crider OL 6-4 270 Columbus, Ind./Columbus East H.S.
- Morgan Ellison RB 6-1 227 Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central H.S.
- Bryant Fitzgerald DB 6-0 200 Indianapolis, Ind./Avon H.S.
- Ty Fryfogle WR 6-2 205 Lucedale, Miss./George County H.S.
- Juan Harris DL 6-3 370 Janesville, Wis./Parker H.S.
- Peyton Hendershot TE 6-4 227 North Salem, Ind./Tri-West H.S.
- LaDamion Hunt DB 6-0 180 Carrollton, Ga./Carrollton H.S.
- Caleb Jones OL 6-8 370 Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North H.S.
- Tyler Knight OL 6-4 275 Clearwater, Fla./Northside Christian School
- Raheem Layne DB 6-1 185 Deland, Fla./Sebastian River H.S.
- Mike McGinnis LB 6-2 235 Allentown, N.J./Allentown H.S./ASA (N.Y.) College
- LeShaun Minor, Jr. DL 6-3 285 Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis H.S.
- Craig Nelson RB 5-10 185 Miami, Fla./Booker T. Washington H.S.
- De’Angelo “Whop” Philyor WR 5-11 185 Tampa, Fla./Plant H.S.
- Tramar Reece DL 6-4 220 Clearwater, Fla./Clearwater H.S.
- Nick Tronti QB 6-2 215 Ponte Vedra, Fla./Ponte Vedra H.S.
- Haydon Whitehead P 6-2 195 Melbourne, Australia/McKinnon Secondary College/Swinburne University of Technology
- Michael Ziemba ATH 6-3 260 Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary H.S.
