North Carolina Central, one of five teams to tie for the MEAC conference championship last year, was tabbed by Boxtorow as producing the top recruiting class heading into the 2015 season.
The MEAC-heavy list features South Carolina State, Florida A&M, Bethune-Cookman, Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T and Hampton.
North Carolina Central
In his second season as the head football coach at North Carolina Central, Jerry Mack and his staff signed 19 players to National Letters of Intent. Of the 19, 15 are high school players. Eight are from the State of North Carolina. The eight represents a much lower number than the 13 signed last year, but there is no doubt about the quality. The biggest signing in the class is that of three-star running back William Cameron from Southern Durham, who was rated the 33rd best player in the state. He also received an offer from West Virginia. Cameron could have an immediate impact with the graduation of running back Andre Clarke. The Eagles did some recruiting in the high school football rich State of Florida and found more offensive weapons in wide receiver Jack Reed from North Marion in Citra (two-star Rivals, three-star 247Sports) and another Rivals two-star player in running back Torri Cotton from Panama City’s Arnold. Reed had offers from Mississippi, Cincinnati and Kentucky. Despite the bulk of its offensive line returning, the Eagles were thinking future by adding five offensive linemen including Jaylin Barrington from Riverdale, Ga., a two-time first team All-Region 4-AAAA selection and JUCO transfer Tyler Brooks, a two-year starter who won a JUCO national championship and was national championship runner-up in 2014 at Iowa Western. The sleeper in this class is another addition for quarterback Malcolm Bell in wide receiver Jalen Wilkes from Greenville High School in South Carolina. At 6-2, 190, Wilkes has the size and put up some great numbers as a senior catching 82 passes for 1,330 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Reigning SBN Sports Black College Football National Championship winners Alcorn State and SWAC West champion Southern were the only SWAC schools to be included on the 10-school list.
