Tulsa Football signs 16 at start of 2020 Early Signing Period
Tulsa Football had 17 commitments as the early signing period began on December 18. The early period runs through December 20, and the regular signing period begins February 5, 2020.
Tulsa signed 16 of its 17 commitments on the first day of the early period. Bentonville (AR) West OL Jaden Muskrat turned in his letter of intent on Thursday, during the second day of the early period.
By 8 am, Tulsa had received eight letters of intent, including WR Malachai Jones (the first to sign), LB Deante Betts, TE Bayne Tryon, OL Dillon Wade, DB Damarco Williams, QB Roman Fuller, K Tyler Tipton and junior college OL James Middleton, who made an official visit to campus on December 6.
The next hour brought four more signees, including in-state prospects Gabe Cantu of Tulsa Union and Haydon Grant of Owasso. By 11 am, Tulsa had collected 16 of its signees.
Two other undecided prospects were possibilities for the Golden Hurricane during the early period. TU coaches offered Tyler JC safety Grid Isidore in early December and brought him in for an official visit on the weekend of December 6. He then visited Texas State, where five of his junior college teammates were committed, and he signed with the Bobcats on Wednesday morning.
Nassau Community College defensive end Henry Garrison was another one to watch this morning, as he earned a Tulsa offer on December 5 and visited the TU campus on December 13. The 6-7, 270 pound defensive lineman also snuck in a visit to East Carolina early this week and ended up signing with the Pirates on Wednesday morning
"We are really, really excited about this class," said TU head coach Philip Montgomery. "This is a class that we think is probably the best class that we've signed here from top to bottom. A lot of speed in it. A lot of length in it.
"As our conference continues to grow, we've got to continue to keep growing with it, and I think this class really accomplishes that."
Tulsa's two junior college signees -- Jones County JC offensive lineman James Middleton and Tyler JC tight end Jacob Kainer -- are mid-year transfers and will be at TU for spring practice. Decatur (TX) quarterback Roman Fuller is the only high school signee that is graduating early in order to enroll in January and go through spring ball.
Tulsa will have about six weeks to fill out its 2020 class before the regular signing period in February, and they will likely add another three to six recruits. Two Division-I transfers from Texas A&M have already committed to the Golden Hurricane -- a running back and a linebacker.
"We have the opportunity to keep adding on to this class," Montgomery explained. "We've got some transfer things that are happening right now, and we've got some guys out there that are continuing to go through the (recruiting) process, that we're going through the process with.
"I feel like we're going to be able to continue to add greatness to this class that has started off with such a bang."
As always, stay tuned to Inside Tulsa Sports as we provide continuous updates throughout the recruiting cycle.
LINK: TU commit/signee list
TULSA'S EARLY SIGNEES
Over the current recruiting cycle, Inside Tulsa Sports has provided details and inside information on every scholarship offer, every official visit and every commitment for Tulsa football, as well as interviews with recruits and commits, prospect highlight video and much more. Feel free to peruse our premium forum, Hurricane Alley, to discover all the content related to the 2020 class.
We are already covering the 2021 and 2022 classes in detail as well; however, there is still plenty to be done for Tulsa before February, when the Hurricane will finalize its 2020 recruiting class. So stay tuned!