MT lands the weekend trifecta
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The 2016 Middle Tennessee recruiting class took a sizeable shot in the arm this weekend after the Blue Raiders picked up a trio of commitments from Buford High (GA) LB William Dale Craig, Independence High (TN) DB Kylan Stribling and Pasco High (FL) TE/DE Nick Bryant.
Craig, a former teammate of current MT commit Kyle Banks, is getting set to play his senior season at Buford High in Georgia, a school that boasts five other FBS-level prospects, including DB Martin Mangram, whom MT is also actively recruiting.
Craig will join Buford after a standout year at North Paulding, where he amassed 110 total tackles (77 solo), five sacks, 22 TFL and two forced fumbles. Craig was also credited with 18 pass rushes.
The Blue Raiders were the first FBS level program to offer Craig a scholarship - a sentiment that obviously carried some weight with the talented backer. Rather than wait things out and see how his other suitors progressed, Craig went ahead and made things official with the Blue Raiders. Craig was garnering interest from BCS programs, including Georgia, Georgia Tech and Tennessee.
In Stribling, the Blue Raiders land a DB who has been climbing the ladder of various recruiting boards after having a standout junior season at nearby Independence. On the year, Stribling tallied 60 tackles (43 solo), two interceptions, six pass breakups and a fumble recovery. He countered that showing with an even more impressive summer camp circuit, which was capped off by a 7-on-7 championship for his Independence squad at the Ravenwood Invitational last weekend.
Expectations of Stribling's upcoming senior season arose enough that several BCS programs starting taking interest and were trying to sway the speedy DB into holding off on committing anywhere so they could keep tabs on him this season. In the end, however, Stribling decided to go with the place he says felt like home, joining fellow DB Justin Brown as the first of the DB commitments for the 2016 class.
To this point, Stribling holds offers from 12 programs including conference foe Western Kentucky, and he has been garnering interest from the likes of Kentucky, Missouri, Purdue, Tennessee and Vanderbilt along the way.
In Bryant, MT lands a versatile player who has fantastic athleticism for a player his size. Checking in at 240-pounds, Bryant has been clocked running the 40 anywhere from 4.55 to 4.60 at various camps this year, causing many to turn their heads when the 6-foot-3 prospect gets the wheels turning.
In addition to that athleticism, the Blue Raiders are getting a player who could play on either side of the ball. Although he projects out to be a TE or H-Back at the next level, it is not out of the realm of possibility that Bryant could line up at the DE position, either.
The Blue Raiders were the first FBS-level team to offer this talented player, with conference foe Florida International quickly following suit. In addition to those two programs, schools like Wisconsin, East Carolina, USF and Louisville have all been keeping tabs on him, just to name a few.
I wanna say that i am proud to be a raider committed to #trueblue pic.twitter.com/s80ryyAb1v— William Dale Craig (@Dalecraig6Craig) July 18, 2015
I like to announce that I have officially committed to Middle Tennessee State University. #blueprint16 pic.twitter.com/Yi7GzdbDM2— Kylan $tribling (@KylanStribling) July 18, 2015
Thanks for all of the support from family and friends.I have decided to commit to Middle Tennessee🏈🔵#TrueFreshman #D1 pic.twitter.com/J02xp924O5— Nick Bryant (@Giant_Bryant) July 19, 2015
For more on Nick Bryant, Kylan Stribling and William Dale Craig, keep it locked in to GoMiddle.com!