In one of the greatest recruiting classes of the Todd Graham era, ASU football officially signed 18 recruits on Wednesday for National Signing Day.
The Sun Devils, who finished with a record of 6-7 last season after a loss to West Virginia in the Cactus Bowl, received national letters of intent from all 18 of their commits — eight of which signed in December. ESPN ranks ASU's 2016 recruiting class as No. 27 in the country and fourth in the Pac-12 behind USC, Stanford and UCLA. The average star rating of this group of Sun Devil recruits is 3.33.
"We feel like we've met our needs," ASU head coach Todd Graham said. "Every year you think each (recruiting class) is the best."
Chandler High school students Chase Lucas and N'Keal Harry were among those to commit, joining former teammate and redshirt freshman quarterback Bryce Perkins as part of what Lucas and Sun Devil Athletics have dubbed the "New Devils Order." Harry is a four-star recruit, ranked as the No. 1 wide receiver in the country and No. 22 player overall in the 2016 class, per the ESPN 300 rankings. Lucas, ranked 220th, was a star running back for the Wolves that will play safety for the Sun Devils.
It's official! We signed the dotted line #ForksUp #NewDevilsOrder pic.twitter.com/fEksqbSDPY
— Keal#⃣1⃣ (@NkealHarry15) February 3, 2016
Coach Graham said Perkins' relationship with Lucas and Harry definitely had an impact.
"The key to anything you do with a team is relationship," Graham said. "And those relationships help."
Other incoming freshman include four-star center Cohl Cabral (No. 199), four-star quarterback Dillon Sterling-Cole (No. 205), two-sport running back and baseball player Tre Turner, defensive back Robbie Robinson, wide receivers Kyle Williams and Jeremy Smith, tight end Jared Bubak and offensive lineman Marshal Nathe.
Eight players signed on Wednesday came from junior colleges, a juco class that ranks among the best in the country. According to 247sports.com, ASU has signed the No. 14, 16, 24, 27, 41, 72, 98 and 259th ranked junior college players. It should be noted that No. 259 is Michael Sleep-Dalton, an Australian punter from City College of San Francisco. Coach Graham, in his signature southern drawl, mentioned that the punter from down under thought that he had a funny accent.
The large class of junior college players continues a tradition for Graham, who brought in a number of key contributors through the juco route in recent seasons. Among those current and former contributors: defensive linemen Demetrius Cherry and Marcus Hardison, linebacker Antonio Longino, defensive backs Kweishi Brown and Damarious Randall, running back Marion Grice and wide receiver Jaelen Strong.
Sun Devil fans might remember Strong for making a pretty memorable catch in 2014.
Signees from this year's group of juco players include linebackers Dougladson Subtyl and Koron Crump, defensive backs J'Marcus Rhodes and Maurice Chandler, defensive end Christian Hill and offensive linemen A.J. McCollum and Tyson Rising.
Coach Graham said he is really excited about bringing in Hill, who is currently serving in the Air Force.
"You talk about embodying what we're about, this guy is integrity, character, toughness, physicality," Graham said. "We've had guys here in the past that have been part of our armed forces, and I'm honored to have him on our football team."
ASU has plenty of reason to be proud of the quality recruits it brought into the program, but there were a pair of in-state targets that spurned the Sun Devils in favor of other Pac-12 schools: four-star defensive end Connor Murphy from Brophy and four-star defensive back Byron Murphy from Saguaro.
Missing out on Connor Murphy, who signed with USC and considered Michigan, was no surprise for the Sun Devils. However, ASU was thought of as the frontrunner for Byron Murphy, who signed with Washington. Murphy's decision marked the second time in as many years that the Sun Devils lost out on a highly-touted Saguaro product, losing wide receiver Christian Kirk to Texas A&M in 2015.
Another in-state player that ASU couldn't land was four-star offensive lineman Garrett Rand from Chandler, who signed to Wisconsin and also considered UCLA and ASU.
Despite losing out on a few top-tier recruits, Graham said that he's pleased with this incoming class, and that he wishes the best to those who decided to go somewhere else.
"I walk around here and I rub a little silver cross all the time in my pocket, and a couple of our new coaches say 'Coach, what is that, is that a good luck charm?'" Graham said. "And I said no, it just reminds me that sometimes I really want kids to come here, but my prayer is that they end up where they're supposed to."
Reach the reporter at rclarke6@asu.edu or follow @RClarkeASU on Twitter.
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