Wednesday, December 15 is the first day Class of 2022 football prospects can make their intentions official as part of the early signing period. The Flames currently have 15 known commitments in the class. Here’s an update on where things currently stand and what to expect to see on Wednesday.
“To be honest, we are battling for our top guys right now with Power Five teams in many cases,” said Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze on Monday. “I think that means we are on the right players and that their view of us has changed. We’ve had some success, as you’ve seen, with some of the commitments, and hopefully we can get them across the finish line Wednesday. We’re right in the middle of it for some really good players. I think everyone that I’m speaking of right now, most every one of them, it’s either ACC or a Big Ten school that we are trying to get across the finish line a few guys. It’s definitely changed, the way we are perceived.”
TRANSFER COMMITS
Liberty picked up a commitment from JUCO transfer REGGIE YOUNG just following the 2021 regular season. Young is a 6’5″, 275 pound offensive lineman from Iowa Central Community College who is originally from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is a December grad and is expected to join the Flames for the spring semester at a position of need. He is rated by ESPN as a top 50 JUCO recruit nationally and has offers from a number of programs including UConn, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Louisiana tech, South Florida, UMass, Southern Miss, UAB, and Western Kentucky.
Young’s commitment was just the beginning of Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze and his staff dipping into the transfer portal. Over the past week, the Flames have picked up commitments from QB CHARLIER BREWER, RB DAE DAE HUNTER, WR CALEB SNEAD, and TE AUSTIN HENDERSON.
Brewer has one year of eligibility as he joins Liberty after beginning his career at Baylor before transferring prior to the 2021 season to Utah. The 6’1″, 208 pound veteran quarterback started 39 games for Baylor and ranks second on their career list for passing yards and passing touchdowns. He helped lead the Bears to the 2020 Sugar Bowl. With Liberty starting quarterback Malik Willis heading to the NFL, the Flames are relatively inexperienced in a quarterback room with Johnathan Bennett, Kaidon Salter, and Nate Hampton. Brewer will immediately add a veteran voice in the room that will compete for the starting quarterback spot this spring.
Hunter is a 5’10”, 200 pound running back from Hawaii who led the team in rushing this past season with 651 yards on 101 carries with three touchdowns, rushing for an average of 6.4 yards per carry while averaging just over 65 yards per game. He has three seasons of eligibility remaining and will factor into the running back depth chart next season alongside TJ Green and Shedro Louis.
Snead comes to Liberty by way of Campbell. The 6’4″, 215 pound receiver returns home for his final season of eligibility as he is originally from Lynchburg where he attended Heritage High School. During his time at Campbell, he amassed 2,439 receiving yards and 25 touchdowns. He had 1,067 yards and 10 touchdowns during the 2021 season a lone. The big body receiver will provide the Flames with something they didn’t have much of during this campaign. He had offers from Coastal Carolina, Western Kentucky, and James Madison.
The 6’6″, 245 pound Henderson will have four seasons of eligibility remaining. He saw playing time in just one game over the past two seasons at Minnesota. Henderson is originally from Nashville, Tennessee where he was a three-star recruit out of Ensworth High School. He finished his senior season with 21 receptions for 232 yards.
HIGH SCHOOL COMMITS
3-star WR MARKEL FORTENBERRY is one of the gems of the 2022 class. The 6’4″ 185 pound receiver is from Maryville High School and Maryville, Tennessee. He committed to the Flames back in the summer and has remained strong. He had a number of offers including Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, Middle Tennessee, Marshall, and Tulane.
Liberty also has a commitment from 3-star tight end TEIGAN MARTIN. Martin is a 6’7″ 215 pound prospect from Minnesota where he attends Mayer Luthern High School. He also had offers from Iowa State, North Dakota State, South Dakota State, and Western Illinois.
The Flames’ have three commitments from defensive line prospects. BRYCE DIXON is a 6’3″ 285 pound defensive tackle from Matthews, North Carolina and Butler High School. His offer list includes Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Duke, East Carolina, Georgia, Missouri, and Old Dominion. CLAUDEL BAZILE is a 6’2″ 220 pound defensive end who chose Liberty over offers from Army, Coastal Carolina, UConn, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Kansas, and Navy. MIYON CONAWAY is a 6’3″ 220 pound defensive end from Jeff Davis High School in Hazelhurst, Georgia. He also has offers from Mississippi State, Missouri, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, TCU, Troy, and Western Kentucky.
JORDAN NORWOOD is a 3-star linebacker commit from Littleton, Colorado and Valor Christian High School. He is one of the top prospects in the state and has offers from Colorado State, Nevada, North Texas, UNLV, Utah State, Oregon State, and Tulane.
Liberty has commitments from four defensive backs. BRYLAN GREEN has been recruited to play the hybrid safety/linebacker position. The Lafayette, Louisiana native intends to play both football and baseball in Lynchburg. He has offers from Louisiana Tech, Arkansas, Auburn, Washington State, and several others. AKHORI JONES is a 5’11” 180 pound athlete that is expected to play safety at Liberty. From Macon, Georgia, Jones had offers from Syracuse, Army, Buffalo, Coastal Carolina, Kansas State, Minnesota, UAB, and others.
DEXTER RICKS and ANTWON JACKSON are two commits at corner for the Flames. Ricks, from Milledgeville, Georgia, is 6’1″ and 175 pounds who has offers from Western Kentucky, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, and Kent State. Jackson is 6’0″ and 155 from Warner Robins, Georgia who had offers from Florida Atlantic and Pittsburgh.
OTHER NAMES TO WATCH
One of Liberty’s top targets that has yet to commit anywhere is JUCO transfer Isaiah Adams. The 6’6″, 320 pound offensive tackle who currently attends Garden City Community College and is originally from Canada, Adams has close to 20 offers including from UCF, Buffalo, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Syracuse, and West Virginia.
JUCO transfer wide receiver Kelly Akharaiyi visited campus this past weekend. The 6’1″, 190 pound prospect has offers from Liberty and UTSA. He currently attends Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas. He has not made his intentions public, but he is a name to keep an eye on this week.
The Flames have also had Syracuse transfer linebacker Geoff Cantin-Arku on campus for an official visit in early December. In his third season at Syracuse this past season, he has two seasons of eligibility remaining. Cantin-Arku racked up 104 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, and five sacks over the last two seasons. The 6’4″, 230 pound linebacker is originally from Canada. Cantin-Arku took a visit to Memphis this past weekend, a week after visiting the Flames. This weekend, he said that he would be announcing his commitment in the “next couple of days.”
5’11”, 175 pound defensive back Devyn Coles also took a visit to Liberty this past weekend. Originally from Highland Springs, Virginia, Coles has two seasons of eligibility remaining. He has played in 22 games over the past two years with Norfolk State where he has recorded 69 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 6 interceptions, and 19 passes defended.
Ryan Gunter, a 6’5″, 300 pound offensive lineman from Trussville, Alabama, decommitted from Liberty over the weekend. He had offers from Marshall and South Alabama before committing to the Flames in the summer.
With the current 15 commitments, the Flames have a number of openings in this year’s class. We could see a few added during this early period, but also look for the coaching staff to keep a number of those slots open and carry them over to February’s signing period.
Other names to watch include:
- UCLA transfer LB Myles Jackson
- VMI transfer OL Nick Hartnett
- Austin Peay transfer DB Koby Perry
Stay tuned to ASeaofRed.com, your #1 source for Liberty Flames recruiting info. Be sure to save our football verbal commit page for the full run down of the commits. Also, give us a follow on twitter where many times recruiting news is first broken. Just a reminder for ASOR Club members, be sure to keep tabs on the Rumor Mill this week, as always.
