Walker boasts strong recruiting class with new Aggies

By: Anthony Esparza

Photo by: Zack Ponce

Although the season is nine months away, the New Mexico State football team is in the midst of yet another busy offseason that has molded one of the best recruiting classes in years.

NM State coach DeWayne Walker announced the 2012 signing class Feb. 1, which consisted of 12 junior college transfers and 10 high school players.  The website rivals ranked the Aggies' 2012 signing class second among Western Athletic Conference teams.  This is the highest-ranked recruiting class since NM State joined the conference in 2005. 

“We’re very excited about this particular class and we think there are players in this class that are going to help us get to that level that we’re trying to get to,” Walker said. “The good part about this class is that 11 of our signees are already on campus and that’s big.”

Walker said one of the goals for this particular recruiting class was to get big bodies for the offensive and defensive lines, which was accomplished by signing six defensive linemen and four offensive linemen.

Three defensive backs signed to the team including junior college transfers Cameron Fuller and Dele Junaid, who may compete for immediate playing time in the secondary.

“We’re hoping Fuller will come in and compete for one of the corner spots and we’re going to give Junaid a chance at one of the safety spots,” Walker said. “I would say those two are coming in and competing right away for starting jobs.”

Walker added some new faces to the improved Aggie offense including two quarterbacks, two tight ends and two running backs.

One of the tight ends is junior college transfer Perris Scoggins, who Walker spoke highly of at the National Signing Day press conference.

“This kid is special. We’ve never had a tight end like him,” Walker said. “He’s big, he’s fast, he can catch and block. We really felt that was the missing link in our offense last year to a certain degree in the passing game, so we think he’s going to be the answer.”

After Kenny Turner declared for the NFL Draft, the Aggies were left with a hole to fill at the running back position. The hole was filled with Akeelie Mustafa from Santa Ana College.

Mustafa is similar to Turner in physical stature and the two players also have many similarities in their styles of play.

“We think that we have a running back that’s going to be very explosive,” Walker said of Mustafa. “We were kind of digging and we found him. This guy is going to be a heck of a football player.”

Walker and the new-look Aggies begin Spring practice on Mar. 29.