ATLANTA -- Bolstering its football recruiting class on the February National Signing Day, Georgia State announced the addition of five high school signees as well as eight transfers. They join 12 December signees for a total of 24 student-athletes, evenly split between 12 high school prospects and 12 transfers.

All 12 transfers and three of the high school athletes are enrolled this semester and will participate in spring practice, which begins next Tuesday, Feb. 13.

The Panthers have added at least one player at every position. On offense, the additions include two quarterbacks, three receivers, two running backs, one tight end and five offensive linemen, while the defensive haul consists of four inside linebackers, two outside linebackers, one defensive lineman, one safety and three cornerbacks.

Describing today's high school signees, head coach Shawn Elliott said, "On this second signing day, we added two really good linebackers from right here in the state of Georgia (Brent Washington and Jacobi Jones), we signed a quarterback, D.J. Murray, out of Mainland High School in Florida. Avery McFadden is a wide receiver out of South Carolina, and we have a big addition to our defensive line (Deity Deablo)."

"Really excited to add these guys to an already big class. In this day age of the portal combined with high school recruiting, it's ever changing, but I feel like we've made huge strides and the needs of our football program have been met. Now it's up to us to develop these young men and get them where they need to be.

The 12 transfers are all expected to contend for playing time immediately, including quarterback Zach Gibson, the transfer from Georgia Tech and former prep standout at Johns Creek High School who will compete to replace three-year starter Darren Grainger.

"Everyone that we brought in as a transfer has an opportunity to play right away," Elliott said as he enters his eighth season at the helm.

Other new additions from the transfer portal include cornerback Kenyatta Watson (Georgia Tech), linebackers KD McDaniel (UCF) and Martez Thrower (Kentucky), safety Derrick Maxey III (Coastal Carolina) and offensive linemen Joshua Black (Louisville) and Da'Quarise Brown (Newberry).

"We still could have a few more additions," Elliott said. "In this day and age, you never know what could happen, so we'll look to add a few more guys, probably in May. Recruiting never ends. It used to never end, now it NEVER ends. It's a continuous process."

The Panthers have won three bowl games in the last four years, including this year's 45-22 win over Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

 

FEBRUARY	Pos.	Ht., Wt.	Hometown	High School/Previous School
Joshua Black	OL	6-2, 277	Stone Mountain, Ga.	Stephenson/Louisville
Da'Quarise Brown	OL	6-4, 290	Manning, S.C.	Manning/Newberry
Deity Deablo	OLB	6-4, 230	Winston-Salem, N.C.	Oak Grove
Zach Gibson	QB	6-2,201	Alpharetta, Ga.	JohnsCreek/Georgia Tech
Jacobi Jones	ILB	6-0, 200	Forsyth, Ga.	Mary Persons
Avery McFadden	WR	5-9, 175	Simpsonville, S.C.	Hillcrest
Derrick Maxey III	S	6-0, 180	College Park, Ga.	Hapeville Charter/Coastal Carolina
KD McDaniel	OLB	6-2, 230	Tifton, Ga.	Tift County/UCF
DJ Murray Jr.	QB	5-11, 180	Daytona Beach, Fla.	Mainland
Martez Thrower	ILB	6-2, 223	Rochelle, Ga.	Wilcox County/Kentucky
Brent Washington	ILB	6-0, 230	Rockmart, Ga.	Rockmart
Kenyatta Watson II	CB	6-1, 195	Loganville, Ga.	Grayson/Georgia Tech
DECEMBER	Pos.	Ht., Wt.	Hometown	High School/Previous School
Victoine Brown	DE	6-4, 250	Loganville, Ga.	Grayson/Louisville
Austin McGee	CB	5-9, 155	Watkinsville, Ga.	Athens Academy
Kyrik Mason	OL	6-3, 290	Columbia, Md.	St. John's Catholic/Monmouth
CJ Beasley	RB	5-9, 212	Norfolk, Va.	Maury/Coastal Carolina
Domonique Thomas	RB	5-9, 202	Ohatchee, Ala.	Ohatchee/Clemson
Deuce Walker	WR	5-10, 185	Salisbury, N.C.	Salisbury, N.C.
Jules Ney	OL	6-3, 285	Wiesbaden, Germany	Rabun Gap-Nacoochee
Lane Wadle	TE	6-5, 245	Greenfield, Ind.	Greenfield-Central
Recordo Tarver	WR	5-11, 180	Warner Robins, Ga.	Houston County
Dominic Johnson	OL	6-1, 260	Ocala, Fla.	Trinity Catholic
Jyron Gilmore	CB	5-9, 180	Citra, Fla.	North Marion