Pleasant Grove’s Xavier Benson Adds Offers From Texas State + North Texas
[Updated: 5:36 p.m.]
Xavier Benson picked up his sixth and seventh college football scholarship opportunities from NCAA Division I FBS programs Wednesday.
The junior Pleasant Grove linebacker reported new choices from Texas State and North Texas directly to ETSN.fm.
Benson (6-3, 200) helped guide Pleasant Grove to a third-round playoff appearance at the Class 4A Division II level last season and finished a 13-game campaign with 89 tackles as well as four total takeaways.
Pleasant Grove also used Benson as a heavy receiver in its Wing-T set. He caught nine balls for 122 yards and two touchdowns.
Texas State joined the mix on the heels of a 2-10 campaign under first-year coach and 28-year coaching veteran Everett Withers.
While the Bobcats did not immediately thrive, their fans see a glimmer of hope on the horizon. James Madison, Withers' former program, won the FCS national championship mostly with players Withers' staff had recruited.
Withers, previously a highly-regarded defensive coordinator, also got a crash course with FBS head coaching duties prior to joining Texas State. He led North Carolina as its interim coach for the full 2011 season after Butch Davis got fired and placed the Tarheels in a bowl game.
Urban Meyer hired Withers after the 2011 season to serve as his first defensive coordinator at Ohio State.
A slow start at Texas State didn't prevent the Bobcats from obtaining one of the region's most explosive quarterbacks. Lufkin signal-caller Kordell Rodgers signed with the program in February and is expected to enroll after high school graduation next month.
North Texas, which reached out about an hour after the Bobcats, also went through a coaching transition last season with slightly better results. Seth Littrell led the program to a 5-7 regular season record his first year, and the Mean Green made an appearance in the Heart of Dallas Bowl due to a lack of .500 teams to fill all the bowl slots.
Littrell's squad got offered the opportunity due to a high APR score, which measures how many athletes complete degree plans while in college. That allowed North Texas to re-play Army, whom the Mean Green defeated earlier in the season in West Point, N.Y.
Army got revenge in the bowl game with the help of overtime.
North Texas earned signatures from Texas High quarterback Cade Pearson and Tyler Lee safety Makyle Sanders in the last recruiting cycle. Pearson is already on campus.
Benson, like all college football prospects currently in their junior year of high school, will become eligible to sign with any school that offers him in February.
2018 East Texas Football Players With Division I FBS Offers
- Tre Allison, John Tyler, OLB, 6-0, 200 — committed to SMU; additional offers from Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, ULL (5)
- Chance Amie, Tyler Lee, QB, 6-3, 190 — offers from Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Central Florida, Colorado State, Houston, Iowa State, Rutgers, Southern Miss, Syracuse, Tulane, ULL, Virginia (12)
- Xavier Benson, Pleasant Grove, LB, 6-0, 200 — offers from Army, Southern Miss, Texas State, Tulane, ULL, ULM (6)
- Drake Centers, Tatum, OL, 6-4, 295 — offer from Texas State (1)
- Dekalen Goodson, John Tyler, DE/OLB, 6-2, 215 — offers from Houston, Mississippi State, Texas State, ULL (4)
- Trae Hall, Henderson, QB/ATH, 6-3, 185 — offer from ULL (1)
- Conner Henson, Harmony, OL, 6-4, 250 — offer from ULL (1)
- Chasen Hines, Marshall, OL, 6-3, 340 — committed to LSU; additional offers from Arizona, Baylor, Louisiana Tech, Minnesota, North Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Rice, Southern Miss, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas State, Texas Tech (16)
- Tevailance Hunt, Texas High, WR, 6-2, 180 — committed to Kansas; additional offers from Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Iowa State, Louisiana Tech, Marshall University, Nevada, North Texas, Southern Miss, Tulsa (10)
- Keaontay Ingram, Carthage, RB, 6-0, 198 — offers from Arkansas, Baylor, Colorado, Florida State, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, LSU, Memphis, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCLA, USC, UTSA (26)
- Malik Jackson, Lufkin, WR, 5-8, 165 — offer from Arkansas State (1)
- DeMarvion Overshown, Arp, ATH, 6-4, 196 — offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Clemson, Colorado, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Kansas, Kansas State, LSU, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, SMU, South Carolina, Southern Miss, Stanford, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA, USC, UTSA (28)
- Jonathan Shepherd, Kilgore, WR, 6-3, 196 -- offer from Colorado State (1)
- Tyree Wilson, West Rusk, LB, 6-5, 225 — committed to Washington State; additional offers from Texas State, ULL (3)