2021 early signing period overview
Before Wednesday turned into Thursday, the Sun Devils had inked ten high school prospects and one transfer to become the newest addition of players to ASU. Here’s a look at each and every one of these newcomers
QB Finn Collins
Height: 6-3
Weight: 185
Hometown/Last School: Tarzana, Calif./Bishop Alemany HS
State/Position/National Rankings: 35/18/NR
Expected Arrival: Spring 2021
Competing Power Five Offers: Oregon State
Immediate Expectations: Assuming Daylin McLemore and Trenton Bourguet are back in 2021 to serve as Jayden Daniels’ primary backups, there is no foreseeable need for Collins to use a year of eligibility as a true freshman unless multiple injuries occur.
Long-Term Impact: Though Daniels has eligibility through the 2023 season, he also is draft-eligible after next season. If QB1 opts to join the professional ranks as soon as possible, that leaves an opening for the 2022 season and beyond for Collins to compete to fill. Objectively, hopes are that ASU can lure a four-star (or better) caliber quarterback by this time next year, either through the 2022 class or the transfer market.
WR Lonyatta “Junior” Alexander
Height: 6-2
Weight: 185
Hometown/Last School: Pacifica, Calif./Kennedy HS
State/Position/National Rankings: 9/59/NR
Expected Arrival: Fall 2021
Competing Power Five Offers: Arizona, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Washington State
Immediate Expectations: Uncertainty regarding whether Frank Darby will return in 2021 places a question mark at one starting wide receiver position for next season, though Ricky Pearsall, Johnny Wilson and LV Bunkley-Shelton saw extended playing time in the first three games of the 2020 season and assume to keep key roles regardless of Darby’s decision.
Alexander will likely battle the likes of Geordon Porter, Andre Johnson, Chad Johnson, Jr. and the presumably eligible Elijhah Badger for a two-deep role in 2021. Alexander has the credentials, however, to avoid a redshirt season as his size and range are major assets.
Long-Term Impact: Beyond 2021, Darby will assuredly be gone, but due to this year’s eligibility freeze Alexander will share the same playing eligibility as Wilson, Bunkley-Shelton, both Johnsons and Badger, while he’ll only be one year behind Pearsall. With all this in place, Alexander will be consistently competing with his teammates from the 2019 and 2020 signing classes in what should be a deep and talented group of receivers for at least the next few years.
OL Austin Barry
Height: 6-5
Weight: 270
Hometown/Last School: Riverside, Calif./John W. North HS
State/Position/National Rankings: 54/72/NR
Expected Arrival: Possibly Spring 2021
Competing Power Five Offers: Arizona, California, Colorado, UCLA, Utah, Washington State
Immediate Expectations: Immediate offensive line needs for ASU are very much to be determined, as ASU’s entire starting line, of course, can return for 2021, and each member truly should. Likewise, depth is not an urgent concern as the second-team line consists of freshmen and sophomores. Therefore, unless ASU has a mass exodus from its existing line that is not replenished by way of incoming transfers, Barry should be expected to redshirt in 2021.
Long-Term Impact: Even if all key players return for 2021; in 2022, no fewer than three current starters will depart. It is challenging to truly forecast how a true freshman offensive lineman will project, but multiple starting openings will exist as soon as his second year on campus. Barry can play guard or tackle, a level of versatility that could help his cause during his college career.
OL Isaia Glass
Height: 6-5
Weight: 250
Hometown/Last School: San Tan Valley, Ariz./Queen Creek HS
State/Position/National Rankings: NR/NR/NR
Competing Power Five Offers: Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Utah, Washington State
Expected Arrival: Spring or Summer 2021
Immediate Expectations: The son of former ASU defensive lineman Paul Glass, Glass should be able to redshirt and develop in 2021 as there are no foreseeable needs that he would fill on next fall’s offensive line. Also, he will be best served to add a minimum of 20-30 pounds prior to being put into substantial game reps.
Long-Term Impact: Assuming Glass projects to an offensive tackle at ASU, current starting right tackle Ben Scott retains four years of playing eligibility starting with the 2021 season, while starting left tackle, Kellen Diesch has the option to return for a final season next fall. Therefore, long-term for Glass, he’ll likely be in the mix with the likes of 2019 starter Ladarius Henderson and Ralph Frias to replace Diesch 2022 – assuming Diesch utilizes the option to return.
OL Sione Veikoso
Height: 6-6 (2018 Rivals profile)
Weight: 290 (2018)
Hometown/Last School: Kailua, Hawaii/Kailua HS
State/Position/National Rankings: NR/NR/NR
Power Five Offers: ASU, Oregon State, Washington State (2018)
Expected Arrival: Spring 2021
Immediate Expectations: A high school recruit for the 2018 class that went on a church mission to Brazil, Veikoso has been away from active game duty since the 2017 season and presumably would benefit from a year of development before being thrown into significant reps – unless, of course, he comes to ASU with a Case Hatch level of post-mission readiness.
Long-Term Impact: Beyond the 2021 season, ASU will need to fill multiple starting positions as well as two-deep spots, and after acquiring only two true freshman linemen for the 2020 class, members of this group such as Veikoso could be at the forefront of that next wave of Sun Devil linemen.
DL Gharin Stansbury
Height: 6-5
Weight: 230
Hometown/Last School: Centerville, La./Franklin Senior HS
State/Position/National Rankings: 23/NR/NR
Competing Power Five Offers: Kansas, Texas
Expected Arrival: Fall 2021
Immediate Expectations: A linebacker moving to defensive line, it is plausible that Stansbury could use the 2021 season to bulk up for his new position – perhaps playing in a few games but retaining eligibility, a la Amiri Johnson in 2019. Depending on how the defensive line roster looks next fall compared to how it does right now, there should not be any pressing depth need to force him into actual before he his physically developed for the role.
Long-Term Impact: Similar to players like Johnson and Stanley Lambert who have grown into their roles, Stansbury brings a very high athletic upside to the position group. ASU rotated quite a bit in the four games it has played to date in 2020, which can create a bit of a blessing and a curse for incoming players as on a positive level, it shows that several players will be given reps, but that also allows a multitude of players to get game experience and therefore create much greater competition for time at the position.
LB/DL Eric Gentry
Height: 6-6
Weight: 220
Hometown/Last School: Philadelphia, Penn./Saint John Neumann Goretti
State/Position/National Rankings: 26/NR/NR
Competing Power Five Offers: Georgia Tech, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan State, Oregon, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington, West Virginia
Expected Arrival: Spring 2021
Immediate Expectations: Similar to Stansbury, Gentry likely will benefit from a year or so to develop physically before thrown into action. Gentry comes to ASU with near identical measurables as Amiri Johnson, a player ASU likely wishes to serve as a blueprint for these sort of cases, as he weighed 225 pounds as a freshman, played in no more than four games but got some live experience as a true freshman, then packed on more than 50 pounds by the time he clocked in for his second season. With no urgent needs in the front seven – barring myriad NFL Draft departures and/or transfers – ASU can afford to redshirt Gentry.
Long-Term Impact: Cut from a specific and intentional mold, Gentry and Stansbury join Johnson as athletes with excellent height, length, and athleticism who are tasked with adding the finishing touch of 30-50 pounds of quality mass to be physically imposing linemen with next level athletic tools. Rare as it is for a player of Gentry’s height to stay at linebacker long-term – especially in a three-man linebacker group – it seems plausible that a move to defensive end is in his future.
DL/LB Travez Moore
Height: 6-4
Weight: 250
Hometown/Last School: Bastrop, La./LSU
State/Position/National Rankings: NR/NR/4 (JUCO, 2018); 28/42/NR (2016)
Expected Arrival: Spring 2021
Power Five Offers: 2018 – LSU, (signed), Louisville, Mississippi; 2016 – ASU, LSU, South Carolina, TCU
Immediate Expectations: A graduate transfer with one year of eligibility due to the 2020 eligibility freeze, Moore only has the 2021 season to impact the Sun Devil lineup. The decisions made by players such as Merlin Robertson and Tyler Johnson regarding whether or not to return for 2021 likely will determine whether Moore will be a starter next season or a rotation player.
Long-Term Impact: Though Moore only has the one season to play in Tempe, if he can perform at a high level it could impact ASU’s ability to recruit the state of Louisiana and/or to appeal to future graduate transfers.
LB Jaydon Williams
Height: 6-1
Weight: 220
Hometown/Last School: Dallas, Texas/South Oak Cliff HS
State/Position/National Rankings: 81/NR/NR
Competing Power Five Offers: Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Kansas State, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Tech
Expected Arrival: Fall 2021
Immediate Expectations: An athletic linebacker able to get to the quarterback, ASU is well-stocked across the two-deep, especially if Merlin Robertson opts to return for 2021. The immediate question mark is how physically prepared for college football Williams will be upon arrival, as Rivals lists him at 194 pounds, but ASU’s official announcements have him listed at 220. Expected to be a fall arrival and not an early enrollee, he can certainly help his immediate play chances by walking on campus weighing in the ballpark of 220 pounds or more.
Long-Term Impact: ASU’s three starting linebackers for 2020 all have eligibility through the 2022 seasons, but it is possible that Merlin Robertson may depart for the professional ranks sooner rather than later. The Sun Devils have Jordan Banks, Caleb McCullough, and Will Shaffer from the 2020 class who all have played this year but naturally retain the season of eligibility, so Williams likely will compete with members of that trio to replace the current starters as they begin to move on from Arizona State.
DB Tommi Hill
Height: 6-0
Weight: 190
Hometown/Last School: Orlando, Fla./Edgewater HS
State/Position/National Rankings: 60/14/NR
Competing Power Five Offers: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Miami (Fla.), Minnesota, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Syracuse, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Washington
Expected Arrival: Spring 2021
Immediate Expectations: An accomplished receiver and two-way player at the high school level, he is initially targeted to play cornerback for ASU. Perhaps no position group on the roster is more challenging to predict at this current time because either, both or neither of the two primary starters Chase Lucas and Jack Jones could return for next year.
Even if both Lucas and Jones opt not to return, players such as Jordan Clark, Timarcus Davis and Ed Woods have game and starting experience at cornerback, while others including T Lee and Macen Williams also will compete for reps.
Long-Term Impact: Boasting what clearly is the most impressive offer sheet of any player signed by ASU for the early period, Hill has the credentials to be an impact player for Arizona State, though that work must be done in a highly competitive position group.
DB Robert “R.J.” Regan
Height: 6-0
Weight: 170
Hometown/Last School: Orange, Calif./Orange Lutheran HS
State/Position/National Rankings: 36/45/NR
Competing Power Five Offers: Arizona, Florida, Kansas, LSU, Oregon, Oregon State, Utah, Washington State, Wisconsin
Expected Arrival: Spring 2021
Immediate Expectations: Like Hill, Regan enters a cornerbacks group that is expected to bring back at least a two-deep of returning players, if not a three-deep. That is not to say that neither Hill nor Regan face insurmountable odds to play as true freshmen, simply that the competition will be undoubtedly thick for next fall.
Long-Term Impact: Boasting an impressive offer sheet of his own, Regan and Hill give ASU a very intriguing tandem for a secondary that has been remarkably revamped in terms of individual and collective talent and depth since Herm Edwards’ arrival in 2018. Regan coming to Arizona State figures to further bolster the quality of the Sun Devil secondary in the days after the likes of Chase Lucas move on from the program.
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