INSTITUTE, W.Va. -- The West Virginia State University football program announced its 2021 recruiting class on Wednesday. Head Coach John Pennington and the rest of the coaching staff were optimistic about the group of players brought in and the impact that they will have for the Yellow Jackets going forward. 
 
"It's an exciting day for Yellow Jacket Nation and we feel great about our 2021 recruiting class," said Pennington. "This is our largest signing class in the four years that I've been here in both numbers and in size. We added players who can help us immediately, but more importantly we found recruits who were self-motivated, love the game of football, and wanted to be Yellow Jackets!

"We were able to recruit student-athletes who took academics seriously, fit our culture, and will help us win football games. Of our 40 commits, 26 of them had a 3.0 or better and all of them fit our culture of being the toughest, most connected team in the country. Today was a big win for our program.

"On the football field, we had three main objectives: Beef up our offensive line and defensive line, find some outside linebackers who can play in space and rush off the edge, and add immediate depth and competition to every position. We signed eight defensive linemen and 12 offensive linemen and added size to both sides of the ball. We added multiple linebackers who can play on the edge and in space. We also found players at every position who can come in and compete immediately.

"There were a lot of people who helped us in recruiting, especially the faculty and staff at West Virginia State University. I am grateful that we were able to recruit and do it safely by following social distancing guidelines throughout the process. This was all possible because of Yellow Jacket Nation and our great university for helping us continue to move forward in a safe way, but continue to bring in great student-athletes."

The following is a list of the 40 freshmen that joined the Yellow Jackets on National Signing Day (click on their names to view their Hudl profile pages and watch highlight clips):
 

Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Hometown	High School
Jordan Adams	DL	6'1	240	LaGrange, Ga.	Troup County
Josh Alt	DL	6'3	263	Franklin, W.Va.	Pendleton County
Darnell Ashe	OL	6'4	260	Clayton, Ohio	Northmont
Nate Baker	TE/ FB	6'0	230	Lewisburg, W.Va.	Greenbrier East
Nathan Baker	OL	6'1	250	Hamlin, W.Va.	Lincoln County
Anthony Baltimore	DL	6'2	250	West Carrollton, Ohio	West Carrollton
Hunter Bowling	OL	6'1	275	Seth, W.Va.	Sherman
Trey Chapman	TE/ DE	6'5	235	Clendenin, W.Va.	Hoover
Kamron Cooper	LB	5'11	210	Middletown, Ohio	Middletown
Malik Corry	WR	5'7	170	Gastonia, N.C.	Hunter Huss
Jeremiah Covington-Griggs	DL	6'3	230	Ashburn, Va.	Stone Bridge
David Dawson	OL	5'11	295	North Fort Myers, Fla.	North Fort Myers
Mamadu Dem	OL	6'4	290	Stockbridge, Ga.	Stockbridge
Javon Dumas-Johnson	LB	5'11	215	Baltimore, Md.	St. Frances Academy
Dawson Gay	WR	6'0	185	WInchester, Ky.	George Rogers Clark
Juwaun Green	WR	6'0	170	Bluefield, W.Va.	Bluefield
Dalton Hall	OL	6'5	290	Reynoldsburg, Ohio	Reynoldsburg
Kadin Hall	FB/ LB	6'0	205	Ripley, W.Va.	Ripley
Devin Hill	OL	6'3	315	Bridgeport, W.Va.	Bridgeport
Nate Howard	OL	6'1	285	Henrico, Va.	Hermitage
Caleb Jantuah	QB	6'0	190	Richwood, W.Va.	Richwood
Joe Jones	RB	6'0	195	Weaverville, N.C.	North Buncombe
Nazir Jones	DL	6'0	275	Upper Marlboro, Md.	Frederick Douglass
Omari Lewis	DL	6'3	270	Baltimore, Md.	Calvert Hall
Michael Light	QB	6'0	175	Dallas, Texas	Bishop Lynch
TJ Lomax	DB	6'1	185	Westerville, Ohio	Westerville North
Rodney McDay	WR	6'1	180	Asheville, N.C.	TC Roberson
Amaurae Moore	OL	6'3	315	Marietta, Ga.	Sprayberry
Amir Powell	DB	6'0	190	Princeton, W.Va.	Princeton
Najee Richards	DB	5'10	160	Ashburn, Va.	Stone Bridge
Austin Rowan	OL	6'2	280	Weston, W.Va.	Lewis County
Jack Roy	QB	6'5	215	Ceredo, W.Va.	Spring Valley
Avaun Rucker	QB	6'2	215	Riverdale, Ga.	Riverdale
Brennen Schmitt	P/K	6'4	175	Fayetteville, Ga.	Whitewater
Malcolm Smith	OL	6'1	270	Murfreesboro, Tenn.	Blackman
Shy Stillwell	DB	6'0	160	Asheville, N.C.	Erwin
Dillon Taylor	LB	6'0	205	Poca, W.Va.	Poca
Kwesi Tillman	DL	6'0	200	Lilburn, Ga.	Parkview
Quinn Tolbert	DL	6'0	215	Goose Creek, S.C.	Goose Creek
Kameron Vargas	LB	6'1	215	West Chester, Ohio	Lakota West