It has been a hectic past 10 days since Hugh Freeze was named Liberty’s head football coach. The new head coach, his newly hired assistant coach Josh Aldridge, and several members of Coach Gill’s staff have been feverishly scouring the country to sure up the verbal commits and find the final pieces to the class of 2019. This is a class that is expected to grow to approximately 20 before it is all said and done.
The December signing period opens Wednesday, and here’s an update on where things currently stand.
VERBALS
13 early commitments make up the class of 2019, most of whom committed while Coach Gill was still head coach.
Most of the early verbal commits under Coach Gill have re-affirmed their intentions to sign with the Flames after the coaching hire. 3-star QB JOHNATHAN BENNETT is locked in, and he has been one of Liberty’s biggest recruiters since he committed. The 6’0″, 215 pound dual threat from Summerville, South Carolina also has offers from Appalachian State, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Old Dominion, and several FCS schools.
Another early commit, 3-star WR C.J. YARBROUGH from Athens, Alabama has also stated he is still committed to the Flames after the coaching change. The 6’3″, 200 pound wideout also had offers from South Alabama, Troy, and Virginia.
WR DEMARIO DOUGLAS has committed to Liberty following his weekend visit. Douglas is a small, speedy wide receiver from Mandarin High School in Jacksonville, Florida. The 5’8″, 165 pound athlete had an electrifying state championship game with 4 touchdowns to help lead his team to a state title. He also has offers from FAU and UAB.
TE BRAYDEN MONDAY is another 3-star verbal for the Flames. The 6’4″, 240 pound athlete from Waynesville, North Carolina pledged to Liberty while visiting campus during the weekend of the Norfolk State game. Monday had numerous offers including Charlotte, East Carolina, FIU, Florida, Georgia State, NC State, Ohio State, and Tulane.
ZACK AMERSON, a 2-star defensive end prospect from Greenwood, South Carolina, was another early verbal. The 6’4″, 215 pound prospect chose Liberty over offers from Charleston Southern and Tennessee Tech. TRE’SHAUN CLARK is another defensive end product that has committed to the Flames. Despite not having any stars, the 6’3″, 230 pound product of Cape Coral, Florida has limitless potential. Clark’s uncle, Omar Clark, played at Liberty under Danny Rocco a decade ago. Tre’Shaun also has offers from Appalachian State, Marshall, Middle Tennessee State, UConn, Harvard, and Yale. Due to a injury suffered during spring practice back in May, Clark had to have the tip of his right pinky amputated.
The first commit to come under Coach Freeze’s watch was 3-star linebacker MALIK CAPER from Faith Christian in Grapevine, Texas. Liberty’s coaching staff had been recruiting him for quite sometime, but he didn’t make his commitment until right after Freeze was named as coach. The 6’1″, 225 pound prospect had numerous offers including Colorado, Navy, New Mexico State, SMU, Syracuse, Texas State, and Tulane.
A couple of local products have pledged to the Flames and will play in the defensive backfield. 2-star prospect MICAH GLAIZE from Brookville High School committed to the Flames. The 6’3″, 200 pound safety had an offer from ODU and numerous FCS schools including JMU. CHRIS MEGGINSON is another local product who has committed to Liberty. The 6’0″, 180 pound defensive back chose Liberty over Georgia State and a couple of FCS offers. He attends Heritage High School where he helped lead the Pioneers to the state championship in a game played at Williams Stadium. Megginson had a late interception to seal the victory.
The first commitment in the class came from kicker JASON STRICKER. Stricker is a 6’0″, 150 pound prospect from Waxhaw, North Carolina. Liberty is his only reported offer.
The Flames have also picked up verbals from a few JUCO defensive products in DT DEVONTE LLOYD, DB JEREMIAH HOUSTON, and DB NAKOTA SHEPARD-CREER.
Lloyd committed following a visit during the Norfolk State game. He is 6’2″ and 300 pounds and from Senatobia, Mississippi. He attends Northwest Mississippi Community College. The big defensive tackle product has offers from Bowling Green, FAU, Jacksonville State, Louisiana-Monroe, Troy, and Western Kentucky.
Houston committed to Liberty in October. He’s a 6’0″, 200 pound defensive back from Inglewood, California where he attended La Habra High School. He’s currently at Long Beach Community College where he has recorded 20 tackles and 3 interceptions for the 5-1 Vikings. In his 2 seasons at LBCC, he has 35 tackles, 4 interceptions and 17 pass breakups. Liberty is his only reported offer.
Nakota Shepard-Creer is a JUCO defensive back from California. The 6’3″, 200 pound prospect attends Santa Barbara City College. He originally attended New Mexico State for the 2017 season, and Shepard-Creer is a 2-star rated prospect according to 247Sports. He also has an offer from Lamar. Liberty defensive coordinator Robert Wimberly had an in-home visit with Shepard-Creer last week. He has 2 seasons of eligibility remaining.
The Flames also picked up a commitment from AUBREY WILLIAMS, who also visited campus this past weekend. Williams is a 2-star rated defensive back from Brunswick, Georgia. The 6’2″, 190 pound prospect has spent this past season at Naval Academy Prep, basically a prep school for prospects who eventually go on to play for the Naval Academy. He was originally committed to play at Navy, but decommitted in recent weeks. He also had offers from Rice and several FCS schools.
Bennett, Yarbrough, Monday, Amerson, and Stricker have all publicly stated they will be signing with Liberty on Wednesday.
PROSPECTS
There are several prospects to keep an eye on this week and then, if they don’t sign in December, all the way until the February signing period.
Some of these include 5 prospects who just visited this past weekend – Isaiah Avery, Ryan Nixon, Shedro Louis, and Treon Sibley. It wouldn’t be a shock to see any, or even all, of these targets signing with Liberty this week.
Avery is a 6’1″, 185 pound cornerback that is currently in JUCO at City College of San Francisco. Liberty is his only report Division I offer.
Nixon is a 6’2″, 190 pound defensive back originally from Long Beach, California. He’s currently in JUCO at El Camino College. He is a true freshman qualifier that has 3 years of eligibility remaining and his redshirt season still available. Nixon is a 3-star rated prospect with offers from Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, and Wyoming. Liberty defensive coordinator Robert Wimberly had an in-home visit with Nixon last week prior to his official visit this past weekend.
Louis is a wide receiver/defensive back prospect who signed with Akron in February. Akron was his only Division I offer out of high school, and he was a non-qualifier. Louis is a 5’8″, 155 pound athlete originally from Immokalee, Florida.
Sibley is similar to Louis as he signed with Akron in February. He is originally from Akron, Ohio, and he was a 2 star rated prospect out of high school. Sibley is a 6’0″, 190 pound wide receiver/cornerback prospect.
Mason Vega is another prospect who the Flames were going after. He visited Lynchburg during the Norfolk State game. After a visit to Hawaii this past weekend, he committed to the Rainbow Warriors.
JUCO offensive line prospect Maisen Knight is another name to keep an eye on. He also visited Liberty during the Norfolk State game. He’s currently at Ventura College and is an Arizona bounceback. He has numerous offers including Middle Tennessee State, Youngstown State, and Kent State. The 6’5″, 300 pound lineman is a 3-star rated prospect.
Another 3 star offensive lineman, Jack Lookabaugh, is also high on the Flames’ list. He visited during the Norfolk State game, and Coach Freeze and offensive line coach Aaron Stamn checked in on him at his home in Coppell, Texas last week. The 6’5″, 285 pound prospect out of high school has numerous offers, but it appears San Diego State and Wyoming are at the top of his list with Liberty.
JUCO wide receiver Emmanuel Logan-Greene visited Liberty in November and has yet to make a public decision. The 5’9″, 165 pound receiver who attended IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida originally attended UCF out of high school where he was a 3-star rated prospect by most scouting services, but ESPN dropped 4 stars on him. He has since left UCF and transferred to Iowa Central Community College where he had 66 receptions for 766 yards and 5 touchdowns in 12 games this season.
Coach Freeze has also offered a slew of prospects since being hired including Angel Matute, Mason Lunsford, Samuel Okuayinonu, Jaylin Bannerman, Joey Noble, Dariyan Wiley, William Green, Jr., and Clarnece Hicks. It wouldn’t be expected that any of these prospects would sign this week. These are names to keep an eye on for the February signing period if they don’t sign or commit elsewhere prior.
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.
