Coastal Carolina football brings 2023 recruiting class to 26 | Myrtle Beach Sports

CONWAY — After gaining six signers in the early signing phase, Coastal Carolina Football has completed its 2023 recruiting class.

First-year CCU head coach Tim Beck all but completed his first recruiting class with the Chanticleers on National Signing Day on February 1, adding 20 more to his ranks for a total of 26.

“We have a good mix of high school players, we have a good mix of local players, we have a good mix of grad transfer (and) portal guys,” Beck said. “I think we had a chance to get and address a lot of the needs, create depth (and gain) some experience. (We have) everything you could ask for in one class in about a month.”

Beck said a few more players the school is fighting recruitment battles with will soon make their decisions.

Three players to watch out for in this class are running back Ja’Vin Simpkins from Norland High School in Miami, Fla., wide receiver Bryson Graves from West Florence High School and quarterback Blake Boda from Cocoa High School in Cocoa , Fla.

Simpkins, an Under Armor All-American, is the highest-ranking signee in the program’s history, according to 247Sports.

Graves only played football during his senior year at West Florence, but his sophomore year resulted in more than 800 yards and 10 touchdowns on 40 catches. He also had more than 1,000 all-purpose yards and helped lead the Knights to the third round of the AAAA playoffs before losing to archrival and eventual champion South Florence.

Boda helped lead Cocoa High School to a 2022 Florida Class 2S state title and was named the 2022 Class 2S Florida Dairy Farmers Player of the Year.

The 3-star signal caller was originally signed to UNLV but was disbanded by the Rebels and signed to CCU after former UNLV head coach Bobby Petrino, who hadn’t even been at the helm long enough to coach a game, went on the offensive was a coordinator at Texas A&M under Jimbo Fisher.

After quarterback Bryce Archie moved from CCU to USF, CCU’s future at the position (after Grayson McCall’s last season in 2023) looked a bit bleak, but Boda’s addition to the team should give Chants fans optimism.

Of the players in CCU’s 2023 Recruitment Class, three are Horry County natives (Scott Saylor, Nathan Thompson, and Evan Jumper) and two of them are natives of nearby Florence (Graves and Micheal Mason).

West Florence running back Darren Lloyd is also signed to CCU but hasn’t officially signed yet.

“You always want to start at home, especially when home base has some really good football players,” said Travis Trickett, newly hired CCU offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. “That’s also what I love about a place like Coastal Carolina: we’re here and we can really assess high school football players that might be overlooked. … This spring we can go into every high school in the state and really try to lockdown this state and make sure the best players don’t go.”

Of the 26 players currently in CCU’s 2023 class, seven are defenders and five are defenders. CCU is losing a lot of talent at these positions in the 2023 season.

On the defensive line, nose tackle Jerrod Clark declared for the NFL draft and bandit Josaiah Stewart, who holds the school’s single-season sack record, switched to Michigan, and in the defensive backs division, both Lance Boykin and D ‘Jordan Strong for the NFL draft.

“Getting depth on the defensive line, getting depth on the cornerback position, building completion through that…that’s going to be tremendous where these young men that are currently on the roster develop and grow this spring,” the newly hired CCU said defense coordinator Craig Naivar. “Adding some new faces, bringing guys in this summer to add competition and depth to all those positions was key.”

Below is a list of the 2023 CCU class. The top six names signed during the early signing phase and an asterisk denotes a transfer.

Name/position/height/weight/hometown/high school or previous school

Wyatt Gedeon LB 6-1 235 Avon Lake, Ohio St Edwards HS

Spencer Kishbaugh LB 6-3 Berwick, Pa. Berwick Area HS

Derrick Maxey III DB 5-11 180 Atlanta, Ga. Hapeville Charter Career Academy

Dairo Melendez Jr. DL 6-0 280 Miami, Fla. Immaculata-La Salle HS

Matt Scicchitano DL 6-4 280 Mount Carmel, Pa. Mount Carmel Area HS

*Laurence Sullivan Jr. DB 5-10 185 Vicksburg, Mississippi East Mississippi CC

*Abraham Temoney III DB 6-4 190 Sumter Erskine

*Cane Berrong TE 6-4 245 Hartwell, Georgia Notre Dame

*Legend Doggett DB 6-1 180 McDonough, Ga. Iowa Western CC

*Evan Jumper OL 6-4 280 Myrtle Beach Furman

*Kendall Karr TE 6-3 250 Belmont, NC

*Trelon Slade DB 6-2 180 Powdersville Fork Union Military Academy

*Clinton Anokuru DL 6-4 260 Richmond, Texas Kansas/Louisiana/Independence CC

Blake Boda QB 6-4 175 Cocoa, Fla. Cocoa HS

Michael Cogoni OL 6-3 285 Hopewell Junction, NY Archbishop Stepinac HS

Marlon Corey II OL 6-5 285 Loganville, Ga. Grayson HS

Bryson Graves WR 6-1 185 Florence West Florence HS

Joseph Hanson OL 6-5 290 Niceville, Fla. Niceville HS

* Carlos Hatcher DL 6-3 Carolton, Texas, Tulane

*Micheal Mason DL 6-3 270 Florence Wofford

Scott Saylor QB 6-1 195 Myrtle Beach Carolina Forest HS

Ja’Vin Simpkins RB 5-9 185 Miami, Fla. Norland HS

*Bryson Summers OL 6-5 310 El Dorado Hills, California Sierra College

Farradj Titikpina DL 6-4 300 Bochum Maria Sibylla Merian Comprehensive School

Nathan Thompson OL 6-5 325 Conway Conway HS

*Will Whitson DL 6-5 270 Cincinnati, Ohio Independence CC