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^\&M football team signs 22 players
2000 Texas A&M Football Signing Class (22)
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A&M coach R.C. Slocum announces the Aggies’ signing class yesterday
at a press conference at Cain Hall.
BY DOUG SHILLING
The Battalion
National Signing Day was good to
the Texas A&M football team for the
second straight year as 22 players
signed letters of intent to play for the
Aggies in the fall.
The 22 players consisted of 20
high school seniors and two junior
college transfers.
A&M signed nine offensive play
ers and 13 from the defensive side of
the ball.
“1 was pleased with our class,” A&M
coach R.C. Slocum said. “Of course we
wouldn’t offer guys if we didn't like
them. The guys we got were ones we
feel good about.”
The strength of the Aggie class once
again came from the defense.
Defensive lineman and defensive
backs were two of the major target ar
eas for A&M when recruiting began,
and the players they signed did not
disappoint.
Defensive linemen Eddie Brown
from Aldine, Linnis Smith from Tyler
and Marcus Jasmin from New Orleans,
La. bolstered the line and helped the
Aggies reach their goal of becoming a
bigger unit.
Smith is the smallest of the bunch at
260 pounds, with Jasmin at 292 and
Brown weighing in at 295.
"We had to get bigger on the defen
sive line,” Slocum said. “We play in a
physical conference, and we felt it was
an area of concern. We aren’t a big de
fensive line across the board so we made
an emphasis of trying to get some big
ger guys. “
The Aggies helped their depleted de
fensive back field by signing six DBs.
Adam Black of Houston, Jonte Buhl
of Pflugeryille, Dawon Gentry of Deni
son, Keeland Jackson of Garland, Kevin
Mangum of LaMarque and junior col
lege transfer Mike Pinesette from Blinn
College all signed to play defensive back
for A&M.
With three starters lost to graduation,
the Aggies recruited people who could
come in and step in right away.
“We signed several defensive
backs,” Slocum said. “We need imme
diate help in the secondary. We signed
most these guys based on the hopes they
were man coverage guys.”
On the offensive side of the ball, the
main area of concern was wide receiver.
After not signing any wide receivers last
year, A&M w anted to try and emphasize
that position this year.
See Signing on Page 11.
Name
Position
Ht.
Wt.
Cl.-Exp.
Hometown (High School/JC)
Adam Black
DB
6'0
175
Fr-HS
Houston, Texas (Cy Falls)
Eddie Brown
DL
6-2
295
Fr-HS
Aldine, Texas (Eisenhower)
Jonte Buhl
DB
5-9
170
Fr-HS
Pflugerville, Texas (Connally)
Ricky Cardoza
OLB
6-5
220
Fr-HS
Mission, Texas (High)
Kasey Cheshier
OL
6-5
270
Fr-HS
Duncanville, Texas (High)
Eric Crutchfield
ATH
6-1
185
Fr-HS
Galena Park, Texas (North Shore)
Robert Ferguson
WR
6-2
220
Jr-T'R
Houston, Texas (Spring Woods/Tyler JC)
Dawon Gentry
DB
6-0
180
Fr-HS
Denison, Texas (High)
Mathus Gill
FB
5-11
230
Fr-HS
Brenham, Texas (High)
Geoff Hangartner
OL
6-6
280
Fr-HS
New Braunfels, Texas (High)
Keelan Jackson
DB
6-0
195
Fr-HS
Garland, Texas (High)
Marcus Jasmin
DL
6-4
292
Fr-HS
New Orleans, La. (De La Salle)
Keith Joseph
RB
6-3
220
Fr-HS
Houston, Texas (Lamar)
Dustin Long
QB
6-3
185
Fr-HS
Port Neches, Texas (Port Neches-Groves)
Kevin Mangum
DB
6-0
176
Fr-HS
La Marque, Texas (High)
Joey Perot
TE
6-4
255
Fr-HS
Petal, Miss. (High)
Mike Pinesette
DB
5-11
185
Jr-TR
La Marque, Texas (High/Blinn JC)
Cody Scales
P
6-2
180
Fr-HS
Tyler, Texas(Lee)
LeBrandon Sheppard
LB
6-1
210
Fr-HS
Lufkin, Texas (High)
Chris Sims
K
6-0
170
Fr-HS
Garland, Texas (High)
Linnis Smith
DL
6-4
260
Fr-HS
Tyler, Texas (John Tyler)
Brian Thompson
LB
6-2
220
Fr-HS
Tyler, Texas (Lee)
Underneath solid class, problems lurk for Aggie recruiting
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A nother signing day
has come and gone
here in Aggieland,
and as usual, A&M coach
•R.C . Slocum put together
another solid class for the
Aggies. All the needs have
been filled and A&M has
"another top-25 class
signed, sealed, delivered
'and on its way to campus in the fall. So every
thing is nice and rosy for the Aggies, right?
’Well, in the immortal words of Lee Corso,
.“Not so fast my friend.”
Despite the fact this class “filled needs,”
there were some things that were lacking.
The most glaring was A&M’s inability to
sign more playmaking wide receivers this year.
After not signing any wide receivers during last
year’s recruiting season, the Aggies targeted the
position as a major need this year. And with
what was supposed to be the best w ide receiver
class to come out of Texas in some time, A&M
expected to do well.
The Aggies did not do so well, however,
only landing junior college All-American
Robert Ferguson. A&M lost out on the "Big 3”
w ide receivers B.J. Johnson, Roy Williams and
Sloan Thomas, who all went to Texas, and many
other of the state’s top receivers.
Speaking of Texas and the recruiting freight
train named Mack Brown, they managed to do
well against the Aggies in head-to-head recruit
ing battles.
Including the “Big 3,” the Longhorns beat
out the Aggies for the services of players like
tight end Brock Edwards from Fort Worth, who
went to school and is friends with A&M quar
terback Vance Smith.
Texas also nabbed quarterback Chance
Mock from the Woodlands who was a heavy
A&M lean during the summer.
So, while the tendency is to look on the
bright side of this year’s class, there are some
underlying problems with it. That being said,
one has to wonder why problems are there.
Pessimists’ first reactions would be to blame
Coach Slocum and his staff.
Well, let me be the first to debunk this theo
ry. Coach Slocum is a good coach who has done
a wonderful job at A&M. You don’t become a
school’s winningest coach and win champi
onships by being a bad coach. And as far as re
canting goes, he and his staff are known
throughout college football for being wonderful
recruiters.
The problem with the Aggies is something
that unfortunately the coaching staff has nothing
to do with. The problem is with perception.
Unfortunately for A&M, some recruits’ per
ception of the Aggies isn’t what the A&M staff
would like.
One explanation some wide receiver recruits
gave for not signing with A&M is that they
thought the Aggies<lidn’t throw the ball enough.
This after a year in w hich Randy McCown
came within 89 yards of breaking the school's
single-season passing record and, as a team,
A&M posted the second-highest passing total in
school history. But since the perception was that
the Aggies didn’t throw, that’s what recruits
thought.
Probably the most important, and over
looked, perception recruits have is that the
Longhorns have superior facilities compared to
the Aggies.
Geoff Ketchum ofRivaIslOO.com said that
he has not talked to a player who has visited
See Problems on Page 11.
Inception
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