Texas State's G.J. Kinne adds 33 newcomers with Bobcats' 2023 signing class

SAN MARCOS — Texas State added seven more signees to its 2023 recruiting class Wednesday, bringing new coach G.J. Kinne's first group to 33 players. All 33 have pledged and signed in the two months since he was hired in early December.

“Our staff went to work as soon as we got the job,” Kinne said. “I think you can tell that by the quality of guys that we signed. … We wanted to add length; we wanted to add speed. We had to get some impact guys, some guys that can play right away. I feel like we did that to go along with the guys on our current roster."

On national signing day, the Bobcats added Spring Westfield quarterback PJ Hatter, Kingsville offensive lineman Justin DeLeon, Houston King defensive end Jo'Laison Landry, Kilgore College linebacker Derrick Mourning Jr., Cisco College defensive back Bobby Crosby, Tyler Junior College linebacker Dontavius Burrows and Coffeyville Community College defensive lineman Kalil Alexander.

"Obviously, the focus was on Texas high school kids, whether that was coming out of high school now, JUCO or the portal," Kinne said. "The focus has been on that, and that won’t change.”

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Kinne said more players could be added.

“We’ll get through spring ball and kind of see what happens," he said. "After that, fill the needs as they come up. With the portal and everything going on, it's hard to say an exact number. It will be a fluid 85 for sure.”

Landry, Mourning and Burrows were previously committed, but Hatter, Crosby, DeLeon and Alexander were surprise signings. Texas State had one pledge who didn’t sign — South Oak Cliff defensive back Taylor Starling signed with North Texas.

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Hatter is one of seven high school prospects who signed, and the second quarterback along with Arkansas transfer Malik Hornsby. Hatter was pledged to Jackson State before visiting the Bobcats last weekend.

“I think (Hatter) had like 66 total touchdowns this season, so obviously the production was there,” Kinne said. “He’s a dual-threat guy with speed and athleticism. I think for me, once I got him onto campus last weekend and got to know him and his family and his character, and going to his high school and talking to his high school coaches, I think that’s what really sold me. The film is always good, but getting to know the person, especially at the quarterback position, is always huge. Really excited about PJ and the production that he’s bringing into the quarterback room.”

Hornsby, a former four-star recruit out of Fort Bend Marshall, signed between the early signing day Dec. 18 and Wednesday. While Kinne seemed to consider Hatter a developmental project coming out of high school, he likened Hornsby to his previous quarterback at Incarnate Word, Walter Payton Award winner Lindsey Scott Jr.

“As soon as we identified (Hornsby) as someone we wanted to go after, we pursued him hard,” Kinne said. “Obviously, our pitch was what we’ve done with Lindsey Scott, what (Texas State offensive coordinator Mack) Leftwich has done with Cam Ward previously at Incarnate Word. I think he fits our offense for what we want.

"He’s going to bring a little bit of a different dynamic than Lindsey. Lindsey was a really good runner, led the Southland Conference in rushing, but I think Malik is even more of a dynamic runner than him. But we signed him because we think he can play quarterback. He’s got the arm talent.”

The biggest needs were at offensive line and defensive back. The Bobcats signed seven at each position.

“You can never have too many defensive backs and offensive linemen,” Kinne said. “We need length, we need speed, we need size at the defensive back position. We lost some guys to the portal and to graduation, so with the way we play our defense, we are aggressive. A lot of man-to-man coverage. As much as we can rotate those guys, the better. We have some really solid guys on campus already that I’m excited about, but this is a signing class that we can develop and some guys that can come and play.”

Along with DeLeon, Texas State signed Mansfield Timberview offensive lineman Bami Badusi and five Incarnate Word offensive line transfers — Dorion Strawn, Nash Jones, Jimeto Obigbo, Emeka Obigbo and Caleb Johnson. Crosby’s fellow defensive back signees are Oklahoma transfer Josh Eaton, Missouri transfer Darius Jackson, Washington State transfer Kaleb Ford-Dement, Mesquite Horn's Amarion Atwood and junior college transfers Bobby Crosby (Cisco) and Michael Boudin III (Navarro).

Deven Wright (Boise State), Tavian Coleman (Utah State), Bryce Cage (Southeastern Louisiana) and Terry Webb (Kilgore College) join Landry and Alexander as defensive line signees. At linebacker, the Bobcats previously signed Dan Foster Jr. (Marshall) with Mourning and Burrows.

Overall, the Bobcats signed four receivers — Chris Dawn Jr. (Mesquite Horn), Kole Wilson (Incarnate Word), Drew Donley (Cincinnati) and Shadeed Ahmed (Marshall) — as well as two tight ends, Konner Fox (Kansas State) and Jake Simpson (Frisco Independence), and two running backs, Donerio Davenport (Kilgore) and Ismail Mahdi (Houston Christian).

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas State's 2023 signing class yields 33 newcomers to Bobcats