Recruiting Continues to Gain Steam for Elkhart’s Jeffery Wilson

Jeffery Wilson was an under-the-radar recruit following a huge junior campaign, but that has changed in the last couple of months.

The 6-foot, 190-pound running back has gathered four Division I FBS offers from New Mexico State, North Texas, Texas State, and ULM, the most recent coming from Texas State earlier this week.

Elkhart coach Sam Wells said those four schools keep in touch regularly with him, but one seems especially interested in Wilson.

"All of them are pretty active contacting me pretty regularly, (but) probably North Texas the most so far. We visit quite a bit," Wells said. "There's been some others that have been in contact with me and I feel like they're gonna pull the trigger at some point in the fall."

Wells said that running backs coach Tommy Perry is North Texas' recruiter for Wilson, whose monster junior season included 2,329 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns as he averaged 8.4 yards per carry.

But tailback is not the only position schools could see Wilson playing at the next level.

"The ones that have offered him are all at tailback," Wells said. "There are some other ones that are kinda thinking about him as an athlete, a safety or running back or receiver, even. Those have not pulled the trigger yet.

I think he can play any of those positions, but it's hard for me not to see him as a running back."

Elkhart finished 2-8 in 2012, but with Wilson back for another year and playoff qualifiers going from three to four in each Class 2A district, the Elks have a better shot at reaching the postseason this fall.

One thing's for sure: if Wilson has another huge season, that offer list could reach double digits in the new few months.

2014 East Texas Football Players With Division I FBS Offers

• Terry Ausborne, S, John Tyler, 5-10, 175 -- offer from SMU (1)
• Blake Bogenschutz, QB, Carthage, 6-1, 175 -- committed to UTSA (1)
• Jacob Bragg, OL, Nacogdoches, 6-4, 310 -- committed to Kansas; additional offers from Louisiana Tech, Oregon State, ULM (4)
• K.D. Cannon, WR, Mount Pleasant, 6-0, 160 — offers from Arizona, Baylor, Clemson, Florida State, Houston, Miami, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Purdue, SMU, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Utah, Vanderbilt, Virginia, West Virginia (21)
• Caleb Chumley, QB/ATH, Pine Tree, 6-5, 220 -- offers from Houston, Kansas, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, New Mexico State, North Texas, Oregon State, Texas State (8)
• Joseph Clark, RB/S, Chapel Hill, 5-9, 175 -- offers from Air Force, Texas State, Texas Tech (3)
• Kade Clayton, ATH, Tyler Grace, 6-0, 180 — offer from SMU, Texas State (2)
• Terrell Cuney, C, Jasper, 6-3, 260 — committed to Texas; additional offers from TCU, Texas Tech (3)
• Adrian Goodacre, OL, Carthage, 6-4, 310 -- offer from ULL (1)
• Terian "Tee" Goree, WR, Carthage, 6-2, 168 -- offer from Colorado State, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, ULL, ULM, UTSA (6)
• Davion Hall, ATH, Liberty-Eylau, 6-2, 191 — committed to Baylor; additional offers from Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, SMU, Stanford, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech (9)
• Zaycoven Henderson, DT, Longview, 6-1, 287 — committed to TCU; additional offers from Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, SMU, Texas Tech (7)
• Willy Ivery, ATH, Sulphur Springs, 5-8, 180 -- offers from Colorado State, New Mexico, North Texas, Texas State, Toledo (5)
• Jamal Jeffery, WR, Lufkin, 5-9, 165 — committed to Texas A&M (1)
• Chris Jefferson, ATH, Athens, 6-2, 200 -- committed to SMU (1)
• Dorian Leonard, WR, Longview, 6-4, 200 — committed to Texas; offers from Florida State, Oklahoma, Oregon State, San Diego State, Texas Tech (6)
• Reggie Long, LB, Whitehouse, 6-0, 218 -- offer from Army (1)
• Ben Luckett, RB, Palestine, 6-0, 195 -- offer from ULM (1)
• Patrick Mahomes, QB, Whitehouse, 6-3, 203 — committed to Texas Tech; additional offers from Houston, North Texas, Rice (4); also has Arizona, Arkansas, Houston baseball offers
• Stephan Maxey, DB, Longview, 5-11, 185 -- offer from UTSA (1)
• Jarrell Owens, LB/DE, Palestine, 6-3, 230 -- committed to TCU; additional offers from Texas State, Texas Tech, ULM (4)
• Greg Roberts, DE, Nacogdoches, 6-5, 210 -- offer from Baylor (1)
• Anthony Rhone, LB, Texas High, 6-0, 205 -- committed to SMU (1)
• O'Keeron Rutherford, WR, Carthage, 6-6, 181 -- offer from ULM (1)
• Anthony Sanders, ATH, Athens, 5-11, 185 -- offer from ULM (1)
• Kevin Shorter, RB/S, Newton, 6-0, 190 — offers from Arkansas, Army, Baylor, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Houston, Kansas, LSU, Maryland, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, San Diego State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCLA, ULM, Utah (21)
• Brian Thlang, OL, Palestine, 6-2, 290 -- committed ULM (1)
• Justin Twine, ATH, Hemphill, 5-10, 195 — committed to TCU for baseball; additional football offer from Baylor (1)
• Josh Walker, RB/LB, Gilmer, 6-1, 220 — committed to Texas A&M; additional offers from Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech (4)
• D.J. Williams, DT, Lufkin, 6-4, 293 -- offers from Miami, Missouri, North Texas, Oklahoma (4)
• Jeffery Wilson, RB, Elkhart, 6-0, 190 -- offers from New Mexico State, North Texas, Texas State, ULM (4)