Saluki Football unveils signing class
02/07/2018 | 1:24:00 | Football
Signing Day Reception Details | 2018 Signing Class
Southern Illinois football head coach Nick Hill unveiled a 27-man signing class on Wednesday. Hill and the football program are hosting a signing day reception Wednesday evening in the Stadium Club at Saluki Stadium. Doors open at 5 p.m. and Coach Hill will give remarks on the entire signing class at 5:30. Click HERE for details.
On Wednesday, SIU signed five additional student-athletes in addition to the 16 that signed on December 20 and the six mid-year transfers that were announced on January 16.Â
Today's signees were WR Je'Quan Burton, K Griffin Cerra, CB D.J. Johnson, LB Eric Owens, and QB Javon Williams. Head coach Nick Hill held a press conference to discuss each of today's signees. Below is a transcript:Â
OPENING STATEMENT
We're excited again. It's a little bit different. Like we said in December, we get two signing days now. It feels different in February this time from when this was the only (signing day). We signed five guys today to finish up our recruiting class. After the December signing period, we knew we didn't have a ton of work to do, but we had our eyes on some guys to finish up with. We were able to do that, and we feel great about the five guys we were able to sign today. It was another great day. National Signing Day is one of those dates that you really look forward to. You can really celebrate adding some names that you're going to hear about, and, especially if you're a fan, you can get excited about. Today was a special day for Saluki Football.
Je'Quan Burton
We have four current players -- Vince Martin is leaving or he would be a fifth -- from Jones High School. They had 24 players today sign college scholarships, from NAIA all the way to Division I. There are 12 Division I players from Jones High School. We have one of the 12 with Je'Quan. We have a great track record in Central Florida. It's where I coached high school. Je'Quan is the highest-rated player in the Central Florida Super60Â since I've been the head coach here. He's been committed here for a long time. He came up to a game with his grandpa. he didn't sign in December. He had some FBS schools that were trying to get him to come on visits. He waited it out, but he's been committed to us for a long time. He was a special one to sign.Â
Griffin Cerra
We got on him at the end of December, right before Christmas. He was still out there. He had some other offers. Kyle Daugherty, who played here (at SIU) and will probably be a Hall of Famer, actually coached against (Cerra) and signed off on him. I wanted some guys who had seen him in person. He comes from a great family and a great high school program in Cardinal Gibbons. I was really excited once I got down there. I went to a soccer match. He's a competitor. He's probably one of the best, if not the best, kicker in the state of Florida. He has to get a little stronger and put some weight on, but he's excited. He's always been a two-sport guy, playing soccer and football, and now he can concentrate, get a little stronger, and put some weight on, and I think his best days are in front of him.
Damaney Johnson
He tore his ACL this past year. We feel that he's an FBS talent, but he wasn't able to show that in his senior year. This is a guy that we've seen three times in person. He's probably as good of an athlete as we've seen, but then he tore his ACL. He had surgury, and he's on pace to be back. He's a guy we will take our time with, but he has five years left. We felt good enough in him, talking to the doctors, that we want to bring him in. We'll give that thing time to heal, but when he's at his best, he's a superb athlete.
Eric Owens
We have become -- and we want to be known as -- the town that East St. Louis kids want to come to. They're talented. Oliver McDowell is here already; we signed him in December. Eric was the Belleville (News-Democrat) Defensive Player of the Year.
JAVON WILLIAMS JR.
Javon Williams is from right here in southern Illinois. I've really gotten to know Javon. He's a great kid, first and foremost. It's hard to get Javon on a visit because he does everything. He has a busy schedule. We had to find a weekend when he didn't have a Saturday game. He had a Friday night game. It was actually the weekend there was a bunch of weather. (Centralia) played the Thursday night game over in Marion, and we were able to get him and his dad over here. We went to a basketball game. I said this in my tweet earlier, but he's probably one of the better high school athletes to come out of southern Illinois as far as the accolades he was able to do in football and he's a 1,000-point scorer in basketball. He's been to the Super Sectional in basketball. They have a really good team this year; they have a chance to go further. I went and watched him play basketball; he's a great player. I heard a coach say they think he's the best basketball player in southern Illinois as far as all the things he can do. He's an athletic kid. He weighs 240 pounds. He's a quarterback who is just a competitor. We're excited to get him, especially since he's right here in our back yard.
Will Javon start out at quarterback or somewhere else?
Quarterback. To be honest with you, he reminds me of Mark Iannotti. He can do a lot of the same things that Mark did. First and foremost, there's no better way to learn the system, if he were to go to another position, than to sit in the quarterback room. We've always been known to run the quarterback. Physically, he's ready to come play college football right now. He's a grown man. He'll start at quarterback, and we're excited about that. He's an athlete, a big, strong, physical athlete. He's a competitor. That's what gets me the most excited about him. I get excited watching him compete on the basketball court. Whatever he's doing, he's competing at a high level. He'll do the same thing when he gets here.Â
The people of Centralia should be excited. On his visit, I talked about Matt Shaw. We were neighbors for two years when we lived here and went to school together. We were teammates when I was on the basketball team. The town of Centralia came here and rallied behind Matt Shaw. People got excited. They were here every game. I don't see any difference. People will show up and support (Javon). I know the town of Centralia and all of southern Illinois will be excited about him.Â
Will there be any of these freshman that you will use next year, or will they all be redshirted?
There's no way to know this early. I tell all freshmen, 'You have to compete like you want to play, and at the end of training camp we will decide.' Obviously, redshirting is a great thing, if you can redshirt guys and develop them. Right now, if you go to the weight room and see the guys that redshirted, when they come back for the second semester, they just look different. They have a different feel to them. Everyone who went to college knows that first semester can be tough, and football is different from any other sport because you're playing right away. You're actually here before the rest of the students. If you're playing as a true freshman, at some point, you're going to hit a wall. If you can redshirt them, you can be like (Freshmen All-Americans) Anthony Knighton and Jordan Berner -- you're a freshman on the field, but you've been here a year and you feel more comfortable.
Â
Southern Illinois football head coach Nick Hill unveiled a 27-man signing class on Wednesday. Hill and the football program are hosting a signing day reception Wednesday evening in the Stadium Club at Saluki Stadium. Doors open at 5 p.m. and Coach Hill will give remarks on the entire signing class at 5:30. Click HERE for details.
On Wednesday, SIU signed five additional student-athletes in addition to the 16 that signed on December 20 and the six mid-year transfers that were announced on January 16.Â
Today's signees were WR Je'Quan Burton, K Griffin Cerra, CB D.J. Johnson, LB Eric Owens, and QB Javon Williams. Head coach Nick Hill held a press conference to discuss each of today's signees. Below is a transcript:Â
OPENING STATEMENT
We're excited again. It's a little bit different. Like we said in December, we get two signing days now. It feels different in February this time from when this was the only (signing day). We signed five guys today to finish up our recruiting class. After the December signing period, we knew we didn't have a ton of work to do, but we had our eyes on some guys to finish up with. We were able to do that, and we feel great about the five guys we were able to sign today. It was another great day. National Signing Day is one of those dates that you really look forward to. You can really celebrate adding some names that you're going to hear about, and, especially if you're a fan, you can get excited about. Today was a special day for Saluki Football.
Je'Quan Burton
We have four current players -- Vince Martin is leaving or he would be a fifth -- from Jones High School. They had 24 players today sign college scholarships, from NAIA all the way to Division I. There are 12 Division I players from Jones High School. We have one of the 12 with Je'Quan. We have a great track record in Central Florida. It's where I coached high school. Je'Quan is the highest-rated player in the Central Florida Super60Â since I've been the head coach here. He's been committed here for a long time. He came up to a game with his grandpa. he didn't sign in December. He had some FBS schools that were trying to get him to come on visits. He waited it out, but he's been committed to us for a long time. He was a special one to sign.Â
Griffin Cerra
We got on him at the end of December, right before Christmas. He was still out there. He had some other offers. Kyle Daugherty, who played here (at SIU) and will probably be a Hall of Famer, actually coached against (Cerra) and signed off on him. I wanted some guys who had seen him in person. He comes from a great family and a great high school program in Cardinal Gibbons. I was really excited once I got down there. I went to a soccer match. He's a competitor. He's probably one of the best, if not the best, kicker in the state of Florida. He has to get a little stronger and put some weight on, but he's excited. He's always been a two-sport guy, playing soccer and football, and now he can concentrate, get a little stronger, and put some weight on, and I think his best days are in front of him.
Damaney Johnson
He tore his ACL this past year. We feel that he's an FBS talent, but he wasn't able to show that in his senior year. This is a guy that we've seen three times in person. He's probably as good of an athlete as we've seen, but then he tore his ACL. He had surgury, and he's on pace to be back. He's a guy we will take our time with, but he has five years left. We felt good enough in him, talking to the doctors, that we want to bring him in. We'll give that thing time to heal, but when he's at his best, he's a superb athlete.
Eric Owens
We have become -- and we want to be known as -- the town that East St. Louis kids want to come to. They're talented. Oliver McDowell is here already; we signed him in December. Eric was the Belleville (News-Democrat) Defensive Player of the Year.
JAVON WILLIAMS JR.
Javon Williams is from right here in southern Illinois. I've really gotten to know Javon. He's a great kid, first and foremost. It's hard to get Javon on a visit because he does everything. He has a busy schedule. We had to find a weekend when he didn't have a Saturday game. He had a Friday night game. It was actually the weekend there was a bunch of weather. (Centralia) played the Thursday night game over in Marion, and we were able to get him and his dad over here. We went to a basketball game. I said this in my tweet earlier, but he's probably one of the better high school athletes to come out of southern Illinois as far as the accolades he was able to do in football and he's a 1,000-point scorer in basketball. He's been to the Super Sectional in basketball. They have a really good team this year; they have a chance to go further. I went and watched him play basketball; he's a great player. I heard a coach say they think he's the best basketball player in southern Illinois as far as all the things he can do. He's an athletic kid. He weighs 240 pounds. He's a quarterback who is just a competitor. We're excited to get him, especially since he's right here in our back yard.
Will Javon start out at quarterback or somewhere else?
Quarterback. To be honest with you, he reminds me of Mark Iannotti. He can do a lot of the same things that Mark did. First and foremost, there's no better way to learn the system, if he were to go to another position, than to sit in the quarterback room. We've always been known to run the quarterback. Physically, he's ready to come play college football right now. He's a grown man. He'll start at quarterback, and we're excited about that. He's an athlete, a big, strong, physical athlete. He's a competitor. That's what gets me the most excited about him. I get excited watching him compete on the basketball court. Whatever he's doing, he's competing at a high level. He'll do the same thing when he gets here.Â
The people of Centralia should be excited. On his visit, I talked about Matt Shaw. We were neighbors for two years when we lived here and went to school together. We were teammates when I was on the basketball team. The town of Centralia came here and rallied behind Matt Shaw. People got excited. They were here every game. I don't see any difference. People will show up and support (Javon). I know the town of Centralia and all of southern Illinois will be excited about him.Â
Will there be any of these freshman that you will use next year, or will they all be redshirted?
There's no way to know this early. I tell all freshmen, 'You have to compete like you want to play, and at the end of training camp we will decide.' Obviously, redshirting is a great thing, if you can redshirt guys and develop them. Right now, if you go to the weight room and see the guys that redshirted, when they come back for the second semester, they just look different. They have a different feel to them. Everyone who went to college knows that first semester can be tough, and football is different from any other sport because you're playing right away. You're actually here before the rest of the students. If you're playing as a true freshman, at some point, you're going to hit a wall. If you can redshirt them, you can be like (Freshmen All-Americans) Anthony Knighton and Jordan Berner -- you're a freshman on the field, but you've been here a year and you feel more comfortable.
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Players Mentioned
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