Liberty football signing day 2012

Signing day has arrived, and as the letters make their way into Liberty's football office, I'll post news and notes about each of the signees and update this file throughout the day. The final letter came in at about 11 a.m., so this blog post should stand. I'll have reaction from Turner Gill in tomorrow's News & Advance.

OL AHAROWN CAMPBELL (6-4, 300, Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck/Hargrave)

Campbell began his prep career at Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey before finishing at Teaneck High in suburban New York City.

From YouTube, a highlight video.

Campbell was listed as a three-star recruit on Rivals.com.

Campbell won a prestigious award at Hargrave.

The kid can also wrestle a bit.

RB D.J. ABNAR (5-10, 185, Tallahassee, Fla./Lincoln)

Abnar had previously verballed to Liberty, so this is an honored commitment.

Abnar's highlight video.

Abnar's Rivals.com page. He had nine FBS offers, including ones from BCS confernce schools Illinois, Iowa, Texas Tech and North Carolina State. Another three-star recruit.

A web Q&A with Abnar.

WR RYAN McCARTER (6-2, 165, Sterling, Va./Park View)

McCarter verballed before the coaching change and stuck firm with his commitment once Turner Gill came aboard.

McCarter's highlight video.

Seems like the kid can play a little basketball too. Note the 44-point game against Dominion.

McCarter's Rivals.com page.

WR DAMARCUS FAISON (6-4, 190, Tampa, Fla./Cambridge Christian)

Another verbal commit comes through on his pledge. He made his official visit during Danny Rocco's tenure and signed under Turner Gill. Faison is the first Division I player in the history of Cambridge Christian's program. Couldn't find any highlight videos on him.

Faison's Rivals.com page.

S CHARLES WILLIAMS (6-0, 190, Prospect, Va./Fuqua)

Williams was a VISAA Division IV all-state performer who was drawing medium interest from a number of schools, including Georgia, Virginia Tech and Virginia.

Williams' Rivals.com page.

Interesting read in the Washington Post on how Williams has played a role in shattering Fuqua's racist past. The school was opened as a haven for white students in the 1950s as desegregation took hold, and it didn't admit a black student until the 1980s.

LB DALLAS GRIFFITHS (6-2, 225, Monticello, Fla./North Florida Christian)

Griffiths originally committed to Maryland but swung his verbal to Liberty late in the game. The fact that Dallas' brother Chase is a Flames linebacker didn't hurt Liberty's cause. Three-star recruit.

Griffith's Rivals.com page.

A couple of videos. First, highlights from Griffith's junior year. Another video, from the National Underclassmen Combine.

A story from when Griffiths committed to Maryland in December.

A January story from the Baltimore Sun on Griffiths.

An interview on Rivals.com with Griffiths.

Apparently as recently as yesterday, Maryland still thought it had Griffiths.

TE CANON SMITH (6-4, 255, Birmingham, Ala./Briarwood Christian)

OK, now this is a kid who knows how to sell himself. Smith set up his own website to promote himself and earned a scholarship at Liberty.

Smith was a two-star recruit, per Rivals.com. He had offers from Samford and South Alabama.

Smith talks about his commitment in the Birmingham News, and he drops the not-so-subtle hint about the elephant in the room here: Liberty's feasibility study. No doubt that coaching staff has been selling that. Will be asking Gill about it later on.

Smith's highlight video.

DL GERALD HOLT (6-3, 275, Kannapolis, N.C./Kannapolis)

I can't seem to find much on Holt, aside from this article from the Salisbury (N.C.) Post. Holt is down from new special teams coach Mike Minter's neck of the woods, though, so perhaps he played a big role in this one.

WR DARRIN PETERSON (6-2, 190, Attalla, Ala./Etowah)

Peterson visited Auburn last weekend after giving Liberty a soft commit but stuck with the Flames even after the visit.

Here's Peterson's Scout.com profile.

Peterson was a first-team, all-state performer in Alabama's Class 5A.

Some highlight videos.

It should be noted that Liberty had no players from Alabama on this year's roster. Two signees so far from that state.

TE KENDALL COUAMIN (6-2, 225, Pines, Fla./Everglades)

I hadn't heard much about this kid before today, which makes sense because he's not on any of the major recruiting sites. But here's his ESPN.com profile page off of LSU's recruiting page. 

Here's one highlight video of Couamin. And here's another one. 

Couamin won an all-star game MVP award. 

Couamin received offers from Buffalo, Western Kentucky and Illinois State.

And heck, why not, one more highlight video.

K/P JOHN LUNSFORD (6-1, 180, Ft. Myers, Fla./Evangelical Christian)

As has been noted, Lunsford attended the same high school as Liberty basketball player Joel Vander Pol. Obviously, the Flames have a major need at both positions with the graduation of kicker Matt Bevins and punter Mike Larsson.

Lunsford's MaxPreps.com profile.

Apparently, this kid has a boot. Check out his 58-yard field goal attempt on grass from the left hash. Would have been good from 64.

Here's a video of Lunsford punting.

And a video of Lunsford's top kicks from 2010.

Looks like Lunsford is a strong track and field athlete as well.

DE Chima Uzowihe (6-2, 240, Houston/Lamar HS)

And the final member of Gill's first 12-man signing class is Uzowihe, another under-the-radar kid from Texas, a place Gill said he wanted to recruit during his introductory press conference.

Here's a mess of highlight videos.

Uzowihe's MaxPreps.com page.