Troy Football Adds Seven for Spring Semester

TROY, Alabama – Troy football head coach Neal Brown announced Wednesday the signing of seven student-athletes to join the Trojans at mid-year. The newest Trojans will join the program in January for the start of the spring semester.

Troy's mid-year signing class features wide receiver Payton Carter (New Brockton HS), wide receiver Tevaris McCormick (Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College), offensive lineman Brandon Niccum (Navarro College), defensive lineman Baron Poole II (Hinds Community College), quarterback Sawyer Smith (Tate [Fla.] HS), wide receiver Dominic Walker (Itawamba Community College) and safety Kris Weatherspoon (Hinds Community College).

"Our goal in this year's mid-year signing class was to address some immediate needs and I feel like we did that," Brown said. "We added a quarterback that we're really excited about, we needed to added some quality play-making ability at the receiver position, and we were able to get two players there. Offensive line was an immediate need, especially at center. Defensively we are going to go heavy with high school players in this class, but we needed to add some immediate depth at defensive tackle and at the safety position. We feel like both of the defensive players we signed can compete for immediate playing time."

Troy Football Mid-Year Signing Class

Payton Carter, WR, 6-3, 185, New Brockton, Ala. (New Brockton HS)
Earned all-county honors following his senior season at New Brockton High School … Earned AHSAA Spotlight honors after rushing for 208 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries, including runs of 75 and 49 yards, against Providence Christian; also threw a 6-yard touchdown pass … Named the Southeast Sun All-Around Player of the Year … Played wide receiver, quarterback and safety … Signed with Troy in February 2015 and grayshirted … Also played basketball and baseball

Neal Brown on Payton Carter:
We've put a premium on trying to keep the best local talent here at Troy. He has the potential to be 210-215 pounds when he gets into our strength and nutrition program. Was an option quarterback in high school and is a good athlete. He will have the ability to play on either side of the ball and could potentially be a safety or a wide receiver for us. He has a lot of potential and we are looking forward to getting him in the program.

Tevaris McCormick, WR, 5-10, 180, Biloxi, Miss. (Mississippi Gulf Coast CC)
Caught 19 passes for 195 yards and three touchdowns over 10 games as a sophomore at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College … Also rushed for 101 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries … Helped lead the Bulldogs to a combined 16-5 record in his two seasons … As a freshman, caught 39 passes for 487 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing 47 times for 467 yards (9.9 ypc) and three touchdowns … Averaged 20.3 yards on eight kickoff returns, including a 72-yard return … Earned conference player of the week honors after scoring a pair of touchdowns and finishing with 209 all-purpose yards against Jones … Earned a spot in the 2012 Mississippi-Alabama All-Star Game following his senior year at Biloxi (Miss.) High School … Named second team all-state following his junior season – finished with 16 total touchdowns with 41 receptions for 484 yards and 15 carries for 213 yards … As a senior, had 41 catches for 484 yards and finished with nine total touchdowns … Rated by 247 Sports as the 35^th best player in Mississippi coming out of high school

Neal Brown on Tevaris McCormick:
Tevaris is a big-time playmaker who played at Gulf Coast Community College where we have tremendous relationship with their staff; head coach Chad Huff and wide receiver coach Jason Phillips. Tevaris is a player that we really perused and identified him early in the process. He is going to step into the position that Teddy Ruben was playing and we feel he can also make plays in the return game and be a factor in the backfield. He has tremendous speed and has a great ability to make people miss. Tevaris is going to have an opportunity to come in this spring and win the starting "H" job.

Brandon Niccum, OL, 6-4, 295, Justin, Texas (Navarro College)
Named to the NJCAA All-America Team as an honorable mention selection … Two-time All-Southwest Junior College Conference selection out of Navarro College … Helped lead the Bulldogs to a combined 14-7 record over his two seasons … Leader on a line that blocked for an offense that averaged 43.5 points, 513.6 total yards and 328.8 passing yards per game … As a freshman, the Bulldogs averaged 52.8 points, 612.3 total yards, 277.2 passing yards and 335.1 rushing yards per game … Three-time all-district selection in high school … Finished his high school career at Northwest (Texas) HS

Neal Brown on Brandon Niccum:
We lose an all-conference center in Dalton Bennett and we needed someone that had played that position and had really good leadership skills, and we feel that Brandon fills all of those needs. He played for Scott Parr at Navarro, who I worked with at Texas Tech. They run a very similar offense to us and Brandon played center in that offense last year. He did a great job making calls and communicating. He has a good first step and plays with good pad level.

Baron Poole II, DL, 6-2, 280, Decatur, Ga. (Hinds CC)
Finished his sophomore season with six sacks and five tackles for loss in addition to recording 38 tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and three pass break ups … Key pass rusher for a defense that held opponents to just 159.7 passing yards per game and 23.1 points per game … Earned all-state honors as an honorable mention selection … Named Hines' Most Outstanding Defensive Lineman following his freshman season as he finished with 30 tackles, six sacks, seven tackles for loss and a pass break up … Finished his Southwest DeKalb (Ga.) HS career with 15 sacks

Neal Brown on Baron Poole II:
Baron can play either one of the inside spots on the defensive line – the nose or the three technique – and could also potentially play some defensive end in our three-down package. He has really good hands, has a nice first step and plays with good pad level. I believe he is a guy that can continue to grow and be an upper level defensive tackle in our league.

Sawyer Smith, QB, 6-3, 200, Cantonment, Fla. (Tate HS)
Led Tate (Fla.) HS to a 27-9 record in his three years as a starter – the Aggies went 1-8 during his freshman season … Rated as the No. 33 rated dual threat quarterback in the signing class by 247 Sports and the No. 36 dual threat quarterback by ESPN … Led Tate to the Florida 6A semifinals as a senior for the first time in 10 seasons; the Aggies finished the season 10-3 … Threw for 2,100 yards and 16 touchdowns entering the semifinal matchup, while rushing for 334 yards and six touchdowns … Threw for 2,304 yards and 19 touchdowns as a junior in addition to rushing for 440 yards and seven touchdowns

Neal Brown on Sawyer Smith:
Sawyer is a young man that we identified early in the recruiting process as our main target at quarterback. He is from an athletic family; his brother played baseball at Alabama and is playing professionally now and he was recruited heavily by Coach (Mark) Smartt to come to Troy, so there was a good familiarity there with Sawyer and his family. He is a dual-threat player; he can run and he can throw it. He has a tremendous amount of upside and is a winner. Sawyer is a player that we are really excited about and he is going to get a lot of experience this spring because we don't have a whole lot of numbers at that position.

Dominic Walker, WR, 6-2, 210, Orlando, Fla. (Itawamba CC)
As a sophomore at Itawamba CC, caught 23 passes for 316 yards and four touchdowns in 10 games … Returned eight kickoffs for an average of 19.9 yards per return … Rated as the No. 14 JUCO wide receiver in the class by 247 Sports … Originally enrolled at Auburn out of Evans (Fla.) High School; spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons with the Tigers … Recorded 36 receptions for 628 yards with seven touchdowns as a senior at Evans HS... Played both receiver and safety and helped the Trojans to consecutive district titles ... Ranked No. 16 in Orlando Sentinel Central Florida Super60 ... 247Sports Top 150 WR, Top 160 in Florida ... Ranked as the No. 95 receiver by Rivals and No. 77 by Scout ... Selected to play in the Offense/Defense All-America Bowl

Neal Brown on Dominic Walker:
Dominic is an outside receiver who has really good size, is strong and has home run ability speed. He is a guy who made a lot of plays on go and post routes. He spent some time at Auburn, so he knows how to work and has been in Division I football; he understands the responsibilities. Dominic is going to be a guy who can come in and compete for playing time right away.

Kris Weatherspoon, S, 6-2, 195, Natchez, Miss. (Hinds CC)
Finished fourth overall and first among defensive backs with 60 tackles during his sophomore season at Hinds CC … Also broke up five passes, forced a fumble and recorded one tackle for loss … Eagles held opponents to just 159.7 passing yards per game and 23.1 points per game … As a freshman, recorded 38 tackles, three pass break ups, a fumble recovery and one tackle for loss … Earned Mississippi 6A all-state honors in addition to all-metro honors following his senior season at Natchez (Miss.) HS … Finished his high school career with 15 interceptions … Also played soccer for the Bulldogs

Neal Brown on Kris Weatherspoon:
Kris is a guy that is really intelligent and has really improved over his two years at Hinds Community College. He has good size, is a sure tackler and really covers a lot of distance in the secondary. Kris is a guy that I really think can be the quarterback of our secondary. The last player we got from Natchez, Miss., was Jason Bruce who was a really good receiver for us. Kris without question has the ability to come in and compete for a starting job. We held off some really good suitors down the stretch, some Power 5 people. He is a great fit for Troy and I look forward to coaching him.

Troy University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Dalton Bennett

Teddy Ruben

Troy Football Adds Seven for Spring Semester

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