17 players sign letters of intent to play football for the Spiders

New University of Richmond head football coach Latrell Scott hasn't even coached a practice yet, but he's already made his mark on Spider football for years to come.

Seventeen high school players declared their commitment to play football, starting next season, for Scott and the Spiders by signing a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday. Sophomore quarterback Aaron Corp, who transferred to Richmond from the University of Southern California in January, brings the total number of recruits to 18.

"When you're dealing with 17-year-olds, you're worried," Scott said. "But we wanted guys who wanted to be at Richmond. For the most part the guys who committed early are staying and the guys that we picked up later on in the process are kids who really, really wanted to be here."

The incoming class includes eight Virginians along with players from North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas, Maryland, California and New Jersey.

"We showed people that we could recruit nationally," Scott said. "We went to Texas. We went to California to get Aaron [Corp]. We went to Detroit.

"We want to recruit Richmond. We want to recruit the state of Virginia, but the thing that this program has done by winning some football games is assert itself as a national program."

Of the eight players from Virginia, three played high school football for Richmond high schools. Defensive tackle Rashad Winston and safety DeShawn Holmes played for Highland Springs High School and wide receiver Jerel Harrison played for Varina High School.

"If you look at the state playoffs year in and year out, Varina and Highland Springs are at the top of the heap," Scott said. "We got a dominant defensive lineman, and a safety that's as physical as any kid in the conference. ... [Harrison] gives us a receiver that will be able to step in and fill the shoes of [junior wide receiver Kevin] Grayson and [sophomore wide receiver Donte] Boston and [sophomore wide receiver Tre] Gray when they leave."

Scott said the staff had had concerns about positions such as quarterback, running back and offensive line, but the recruiting class bolstered the team's depth at those positions.

"We were able to hit a lot of different needs," Scott said. "I think, obviously, quarterback was a concern for us, so Aaron kind of fills a void there ... Running back was a concern. We were able to go down to Texas and get James McKinney who gives us another big, physical running back that gives us the ability to ... do some of the things that we did in the past here with Josh Vaughan and Tim Hightower."

Former coach Mike London, who is now the head coach at the University of Virginia, competed for some of Richmond's recruits, but Scott said the Spiders still signed the players they had hoped for.

"A lot of people gave Mike a lot of flak for this and that but Mike did what was best for him at the time," Scott said. "We're very happy with the guys we got and we got the guys who want to be at Richmond and want to help Richmond succeed."

Scott also said the staff had confidence in the recruits' academic abilities as well as their talents on the field.

"We don't deal with people that we don't feel can cut it at the University of Richmond," he said. "We know how the curriculum is. We know we have a great group of professors who really push these kids, so we really shy away from people we don't feel could make it at our place."

The Spiders may add one or two more recruits during the coming weeks, especially because last weekend's snowstorm made it difficult for some recruits to make visits to campus, Scott said.

Now that the bulk of recruiting is over, Scott said he was ready to get back to his duties on the field when the Spiders begin spring practice on March 16.

"I'll be excited to coach football again," he said. "We feel like as much as we've been here, we haven't had the opportunity to spend time around the guys that were here, the guys that really make this machine go. We had to go out and add guys to the mix to help fortify the future, but we're really looking forward to getting back to our actual team."

The full list of recruits is below:

Stephen Barnette, ath, Salem HS, Va.

Andrew Brown, LB, Jefferson Forest HS, Va.

Aaron Corp, QB, University of Southern California

Bryan Cosgrove, OL, Wallenpaupack HS, Pa.

Ben Edwards, WR, York HS, Pa.

Jarel Harrison, WR, Varina HS, Va.

DeShawn Holmes, S, Highland Spring HS, Va.

Evan Kelly, DL, Seton LaSalle Catholic HS, Pa.

Joey Landers, DT, Highland Park HS, Texas

James McKinney, RC, Round Rock HS, Texas

Wayne Pettus, DB, Melvindale HS, Mich.

Kurt Schmitz, OL, Don Bosco Prep, N.J.

Marcus Snipes, WR, Meade HS, Md.

Walt Sparks, LS/LB, Ragsdale HS, N.C.

Hunter Westfall, TE, Myers Park HS, N.C.

Montel White, QB, Surry County HS, Va.

Rashad Winston, DT, Highland Springs HS, Va.

Eric Wright, LB, Robert E. Lee HS, Va.

Contact staff writer Reilly Moore at reilly.moore@richmond.edu