Missouri State football announces 12 newcomers on signing day

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SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State head football coach Bobby Petrino has added a dozen newcomers for the upcoming season during the spring National Letter of Intent Signing Day that began today (Feb. 2).

Wednesday’s list of additions to the Bears’ roster includes six freshmen and six mid-year transfers already on campus.

With the eight recruits signed during the December period, the Bears now have added 20 newcomers to the roster for the 2022 campaign.

Committing to Missouri State on Wednesday were:

Wesley Anuseim (DB, 6-0, 195, Jr., Simi Valley, Calif., Royal High, Central Arkansas)
Anuseim played the last two seasons at Central Arkansas where he was a standout defensive back for the Bears in Conway. He brought down 25 ball carriers in 9 appearances in 2021 and ranks second on the team with 5 pass break-ups for a 5-6 Bears squad. He played in 7 games with one start in 2020 and tallied 12 tackles and 4 solo stops. He recorded a season-high 7 stops at Missouri State (10/17/20). Anuseim also played at Ventura (Calif.) College where he led all California juco players with 15 pass break-ups during the 2019 season for Ventura College with four interceptions and 49 tackles. He played the 2017 campaign at Riverside (Calif.) City College for coach Tom Craft. He prepped at Royal High School in Simi Valley, Calif., as a standout cornerback and wide receiver for the Highlanders.

Jacob Clark (QB, 6-5, 225, So., Rockwall, Texas, Rockwall High, Minnesota)
Clark comes to Missouri State after three seasons at the University of Minnesota. He was an Academic All-Big 10 selection in 2020. Clark played in one game (vs. Maryland) in 2019, completing a 39-yard pass, but did not see any game action in 2020 or 2021. He had offers from California, Iowa, Purdue, Syracuse, TCU, Vanderbilt and Washington State out of high school. He prepped at Rockwall (Texas) High where he threw for 6,232 yards and 60 touchdowns in 23 varsity games. He was a four-star recruit and the No. 13 pro-style quarterback out of high school, according to Rivals. He led Rockwall to an 8-3 record and completed 192-of-296 passes (64.9%) for 3,295 yards and 31 touchdowns as a senior, averaging 299.5 yards per game and accounting for 10 rushing touchdowns. In his final high school game, he passed for 428 yards. He was named District 11 Offensive Player of the Year in 2018. As a junior in 2017, Clark completed 185-of-295 passes for 2,937 yards and 29 touchdowns, averaging 244.8 yards per game with 7 rushing TDs for coach Rodney Webb.

Eric Hemphill (CB, 5-11, 175, Fr., Brenham, Texas, Brenham High)
Hemphill was a three-time all-district selection for the Brenham (Texas) High Cubs. He helped coach Eliot Allen’s squad to a 7-4 record his senior year after he snagged 16 passes for 240 yards and 4 touchdowns in 2021. On the defensive side, he finished with 8 career interceptions. He also earned District Newcomer of the Year for District 13-5A as a sophomore after leading the district in interceptions (4) and ranking second in kickoff return average (27.2) for a 10-3 team. A dual-sport star who also runs track for Brenham, Hemphill is currently ranked as a three-star recruit by Rivals and 247Sports.

Jordan Jones (WR, 6-2, 190, Sr., Smackover, Ark., Smackover High, Cincinnati)
Jones comes to Missouri State after spending the last two years at Cincinnati where he played in 15 total games for the Bearcats as a graduate student. He saw action in 5 contests in 2021, snagging 4 receptions for 31 yards and a touchdown for a 13-1 Cincinnati team that advanced to the FBS Semifinals. He played in 10 games in 2020 during his first year at UC, making his first start against East Carolina. He had 13 catches for 157 yards, averaging 12.1 yards per reception with at least one catch in the final 9 games of the season. He played the 2016-18 seasons at Arkansas, redshirting in 2016 and playing in 22 games with 6 starts in 2017 and 2018. He caught 37 balls for 593 yards and 4 TDs in Fayetteville with a pair of 100-yard games (vs. Eastern Illinois in 2018 and vs. Missouri in 2017). He earned a bachelor his degree in Communication from Arkansas in May 2020 after sitting out the 2019 season.

Jared Lloyd (LB, 6-3, 225, Fr., Daytona Beach, Fla., Mainland High)
Lloyd racked up 90 total tackles, a conference-best 44 tackles for loss and 10.0 sacks as a senior at Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Fla. He helped coach Travis Roland’s Buccaneers to a 5-6 record in the new head coach’s first season. He also plays basketball for Mainland.

Christian Loaiza (OL, 6-5, 320, Fr., Wesley Chapel, Fla., Wiregrass Ranch High)
Loaiza helped anchor a rugged, veteran offensive line at Wiregrass Ranch High School in Wesley Chapel, Fla. He was credited with 13 pancake blocks in 3 games his senior season (second only to Ridolph), while helping the offensive unit average 313.2 yards per game. He also helped coach Mark Kantor’s Bulls to a 5-5 overall record his senior season in a competitive 7A campaign.

Ben Martinez (OL, 6-4, 300, Jr., South Pasadena, Calif., South Pasadena High, Mt. San Antonio College)
Martinez was a first-team all-conference selection in 2021 for the Mounties of Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif. He was part of an 8-3 team in 2021 that averaged 202.7 yards per game on the ground and passed for 253.0 yards per game. He originally signed with Colorado out of high school where he redshirted in 2018. He was a standout two-way lineman at South Pasadena (Calif.) High where he was part of a 6-5 season as a senior in 2017 for the Tigers, while earning All-Rio Hondo League honors. His teams were 26-15 in his four years of high school, including 8-3 as a sophomore and 7-3 as a junior under coach C.B. Richards. He also participated in track (shot put) at South Pasadena.

Lance Mason (TE, 6-3, 230, Fr., Rockwall, Texas, Rockwall-Heath High)
A highly-touted tight end, Mason racked up 34 receptions for 556 yards and 5 touchdowns as a senior for a 12-2 Hawks squad at Rockwall (Texas) Heath High. Earned Academic All-State laurels after his senior season as well as earning all-district accolades for a second straight season. He produced 1,006 yards in two varsity seasons on 61 catches with 8 touchdowns and was an all-state honorable mention selection after his junior year. He also played baseball at Rockwall-Heath.

Logan Ridolph (OL, 6-5, 290, Fr., Wesley Chapel, Fla., Wiregrass Ranch High)
Ridolph helped anchor a rugged, veteran offensive line at Wiregrass Ranch High School in Wesley Chapel, Fla. He was credited with 17 pancake blocks in 8 games his senior season, while helping the offensive unit average 313.2 yards per game. Ridolph also helped coach Mark Kantor’s Bulls to a 5-5 overall record his senior season with a competitive 7A slate.

Jmariyae Robinson (WR, 6-1, 170, Fr., Cocoa, Fla., Cocoa High)
Robinson averaged 101.8 yards per game as a senior at Cocoa (Fla.) High where he posted 72 receptions for 1,323 yards and 7 touchdowns. He helped lead coach Ryan Schneider’s Tigers to an 11-2 overall record and No. 2 ranking in 4A. Played in 9 games as a junior with 37 catches for 528 yards and 4 TDs. In three varsity seasons, he finished with 141 receptions for 2,337 yards and 14 touchdowns in 34 games. Rivals and 247Sports both rated him as a three-star recruit with scholarship offers from Cincinnati, Washington State, Utah State, UCF and others.

Dillon Thomas (DB, 6-2, 190, Sr., Kansas City, Mo., Park Hill South, Northern Illinois)
A transfer from Northern Illinois, Thomas spent five years with the Huskies (2017-21), playing 45 games as a standout defensive back. He brought down 62 ball carriers in 2021 with 35 solo tackles, an interception and three pass break-ups for a 9-5 team that won the MAC Championship. He earned MAC West Player of the Week honors in 2021. He started 6 games in 2020 with 19 total tackles, 13 solo stops and his first career interception at Ball State (11/18/20). Thomas made 38 tackles in 2019 with 12 appearances and three starts, including a season-high 12 tackles and a pair of PBU’s vs. Toledo (11/13/19). As a redshirt freshman in 2018, he played in all 14 games with three tackles and also saw action in the MAC Championship game. The Missouri native earned Kansas City Star Suburban Red Conference first team honors at safety and honorable mention recognition at wide receiver as a senior at Park Hill South High, racking up 108 total tackles, 72 solo stops and 8 interceptions in high school with 29 passes defended. He was also a three-time all-area and all-conference selection.

Jacardia Wright (RB, 6-0, 213, So., Decatur, Ill., St. Teresa High, Kansas State)
After spending three seasons at Kansas State, Jacardia Wright comes to Missouri State as a highly-touted running back. He played in three games for the Wildcats in 2019 with 122 yards on 22 carries and a 60-yard outing in a win over Iowa State and 14 carries vs. Bowling Green before an injury. He played in four games at K-State in 2020. He prepped at St. Teresa High in Decatur, Ill., under coach Mark Ramsey and was rated the 119th-best athlete in the Class of 2019 by 247Sports, while ESPN viewed him as the 107th-best safety and 35th-best player in the state of Illinois. He rushed for 8,821 yards and 133 touchdowns during his high school career, both ranking as the second-best mark in Illinois high school history. He was a three-time Macon County Football Player of the Year and was an all-state first-team selection at defensive back in 2018, and second-team honoree as a running back in 2017.

Committing to the Bears in the early signing period in December were:

Tico Brown (DL, 6-2, 290, Jr., Kokomo, Ind., Homestead High, Central Michigan)
Brown played 8 games for Central Michigan in 2021 with 7 starts. On the season, he recorded 18 total tackles and a pair of sacks. In 2020, Brown started all 6 games and made 14 tackles. As a redshirt freshman in 2019, Brown played in all 14 games and made 13 tackles. A native of Kokomo, Ind., he was named third-team all-MAC by Pro Football Focus in 2020. In high school, he racked up 224 career tackles, a school-record 21.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, 39 tackles for loss and five pass breakups for coach Chad Zolman at Homestead High in Fort Wayne, Ind. He was named as the team’s outstanding defensive player his last three seasons, was a two-time all-state selection and earned All-Summit Athletic Conference first-team honors as a junior and senior. He was also named to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette All-Northeast Indiana Team in 2016 and 2017. He led Homestead to an 8-2 record in 2017 and back-to-back sectional titles in his last two seasons with the Spartans.

Connor Lair (RB, 6-1, 225, Fr., West Plains (Mo.) High)
One of the top prep prospects in Missouri, Lair is coming off a senior season in which he racked up 720 yards on 87 carries in 2021 with 20 ground touchdowns at West Plains High. Defensively, he totaled 90 tackles with 21.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks for the Zizzers as part of a 10-2 team. He also finished with 539 yards on 22 pass receptions for coach Matt Perkins, while earning a spot on the News-Leader Dominant Dozen. As a junior in 2020, he posted 105 tackles, 9.0 tackles for loss and three sacks in just 6 games and finished his prep career with 257 tackles and 43 touchdowns.

Jayson McGaskey-Caldwell (DE, 6-6, 220, Fr., Dickinson (Texas) High School
A standout defensive lineman, McGaskey-Caldwell was part of a 9-3 team as a senior for the Dickinson (Texas) High Gators in 2021. Dickinson had an impressive eight-game win streak during the 2021 season in which it allowed just 17.5 points per game. McGaskey-Caldwell earned District 24 6A all-district first-team honors as a senior.

Liam O’Reilly (WR, 6-2, 180, Fr., Springfield (Mo.) Catholic High)
A local product from Springfield Catholic High School, O’Reilly is coming off a high-level senior campaign for coach Richard Rehagen in which he caught 35 passes for 588 yards and 4 touchdowns for the Fightin’ Irish. The all-state honoree also brought down 49 ball carriers on the defensive side of the ball with 3 interceptions. As a junior in 2020, he caught 38 passes for 544 yards and 8 touchdowns in a COVID-shortened, seven-game campaign. O’Reilly was named to the News-Leader’s Preseason Dominant Dozen prior to the 2021 season.

Kaleb Peleki-Elisaia (DL, 6-4, 265, Fr., Bethel (Calif.) High)
A solid defensive lineman who prepped at Bethel High School in Vallejo, Calif., where he earned All-Tri County Athletic League Stone Division first-team honors. He was a multiple-position standout for the 7-3 Jaguars of coach Daniel Martinez in 2021. Peleki also helped Bethel win the Vallejo Mayor’s Cup three times in four seasons.

Shaylon Roberts (OL, 6-4, 325, Jr., Pflugerville, Texas, Hendrickson High, Butler CC)
Roberts earned second-team All-Jayhawks Conference honors in 2021 for the Butler Community College Grizzlies in El Dorado, Kan. Roberts signed with Kilgore (Texas) College out of high school, before transferring to Butler. He was also a standout player at Hendrickson High School in Pflugerville, Texas where he helped coach Chip Killian’s squad to a 10-4 record as a senior.

Raylen Sharpe (WR, 5-8, 160, So., Allen (Texas) High, Houston)
Sharpe was a three-star athlete prospect in the class of 2020, according to 247Sports. He also participated in track and field at the University of Houston, compiling three top-10 finishes as a freshman, including a first-place finish in the 4×400 relay team at the H-Town SpeedCity Series. According to 247Sports, Sharpe had offers from SMU, Air Force, Arizona and Army coming out of Allen (Texas) High where he helped lead coach Terry Gambill’s Eagles to an 11-1 record his senior year.

DeAndre Washington (DB, 6-2, 180, Jr., Wellington (Kan.) High, Hutchinson (Kan.) CC)
Washington recorded 13 total tackles and 11 solo stops in 10 games this season at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College. He logged a season-high four tackles at Dodge City on Oct. 23 and was credited with two passes defended during the 2021 season. He was part of a 9-2 championship campaign and KJCCC this fall for coach Drew Dallas. He prepped at Wellington (Kan.) High where he holds the school’s career reception record with 95 (2016-18) while reeling in 50 catches for 833 yards his senior year. On the defensive side, he racked up four interceptions and 23 tackles as a senior while earning Class 4A all-state first-team honors by the Topeka Capital-Journal and was selected to the 2019 Kansas Shrine Bowl.

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