Murray State University Athletics
Racers Add To Talent On National Signing Day
2/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Defending Ohio Valley Conference co-champion Murray State added to the future of its football program by signing 13 student-athletes to national letters of intent on Wednesday, the first day of the spring signing period.
Racer head coach Joe Pannunzio is expecting more signees to ink with the Racers throughout the day and over the next week.
MSU's 2003 class offers a mixture of talent for the future, as well several players who could contribute right away. Overall, 10 signees are still in high school and three are coming from junior colleges. Pannunzio added four transfers in January, bringing the total of newcomers to 17.
“I'm really excited about this class and I think we've really taken a step forward as a football program by what we did in this recruiting period,” said Pannunzio. “I'm especially pleased because we signed three local players. Anytime you're building a program, you need to have a foundation of local kids and we've done that this year and in years past.”
Murray State, which went 7-5 a year ago and won the school's sixth OVC title, lost 17 seniors who played major roles in securing a trip to the Division I-AA Playoffs. The biggest holes on the roster due to graduation were on the offensive line, defensive line and secondary.
“We lost our entire offensive line so we had to bring in kids who could play right away and we did that,” said Pannunzio, who signed one lineman early Wednesday and expected to add several more in the days ahead. “We lost both cornerbacks from last year's team and we signed five players to help us in that area. On the defensive line, we'll sign three young kids and one junior college player who will help immediately.”
Even though the Racers return two of its top three rushers from last season, Pannunzio said that the running back position might be the most talented area of this recruiting class. MSU landed three tailbacks on signing day, in addition to two players who played running back in high school but are listed as “athletes” by Pannunzio.
“I'm really excited about what we brought in as far as running backs,” said Pannunzio. “Even though we are still talented at that position, we felt we needed a bigger tailback to make up for the loss of (senior) Billy Blanchard. Most of the running backs we signed are over 200 pounds, which means they could play a number of positions for us in the future.”
Murray State signed four players in the early period in January, allowing them to participate in spring football in March.
Koji Farrington, a 6-2, 185-pound defensive back from Hargrave Military; James Gaither, a junior punter who transferred from the University of Memphis, Zack Spavital, a 5-11, 200 pound defensive back from Northeastern Oklahoma Community College; and Pete Zachary, a 6-4, 315-pound defensive tackle from Bakersfield (Calif.) Community College all signed with MSU in January.
“Overall, it's as good a class as we've signed,” said Pannunzio. “Again, I like the fact the we went and got a lot of talented local kids.”
Local signees include: Letiz Arnold, a 5-11, 175-pound running back from Ballard High School in LaCenter; Jay Burgett, a 6-1, 205 linebacker from Mayfield High School; Jerome Sexton, a 6-3, 205 wide receiver from Mayfield High School; and Nathan Williams, a 6-2, 200 athlete from Murray High School.
2003 Murray State Football Signees
Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Class Hometown (Previous School)
Letiz Arnold ATH 5-11 175 Fr. LaCenter, Ky. (Ballard Memorial HS)
Aaron Bischofberger OL 6-4 280 Jr. El Cajon, Calif. (Air Force Academy)
Jay Burgett LB 6-1 205 Fr. Mayfield, Ky. (Mayfield HS)
Landon Cobbs DB 5-11 200 Jr. Tunica, Miss. (Coahoma JC)
Dontae Collins DB 5-11 175 Fr. Ft. Myers, Fla. (Lehigh Senior HS)
Chad Cook RB 6-1 220 Fr. New Orleans, La. (West Monroe HS)
Koji Farrington * DB 6-2 185 Fr. Chapel Hill, N.C. (Hargrave Military)
James Gaither * P 6-1 220 Jr. Grayson, Ky. (Univ. of Memphis)
Terry Godfrey DE 6-3 220 Fr. Monroe, La. (Carroll HS)
Larry Grant ATH 6-3 217 Fr. Norcross, Ga. (Norcross HS)
Jonathan Harris DE 6-3 220 Fr. Bradenton, Fla. (Bayshore HS)
Justin Holmes DB 6-0 175 Fr. Memphis, Tenn. (Fairley HS)
Laquentin Irvin OL 6-2 280 Jr. Greenwood, S.C. (Georgia Military)
Paul Johnson DT 6-3 285 Fr. Parkersburg, W.V. (Parkersburg HS)
Ryne Salyer QB 6-1 195 Fr. Ashland, Ky. (Paul Blazer HS)
Jerome Sexton WR 6-3 205 Fr. Mayfield, Ky. (Mayfield, HS)
Zack Spavital * DB 5-11 200 Jr. Tulsa, Okla. (NE Oklahoma)
Oscar Walker RB 6-3 210 Fr. Naples, Fla. (Barron Collier HS)
Nehemiah Warrick WR 6-1 195 Fr. Bradenton, Fla. (Bayshore HS)
Nathan Williams ATH 6-2 200 Fr. Murray, Ky. (Murray HS)
Corey Young RB 6-1 210 Jr. Atlanta, Ga. (Itawamba CC)
Pete Zachary * DL 6-4 315 Jr. Atlanta, Ga. (Bakersfield [Calif.] CC)
* = Signed in January, currently enrolled at MSU.
