CRIMSON HAWKS NAB FOOTBALL RECRUITS ON SIGNING DAY

On National Letter of Intent signing day, 22 players signed on to play their college football at IUP.  Twenty-one of them are incoming freshman and one, offensive lineman Daric Coleman, will be a redshirt senior.

Combined with others who had already joined coach Paul Tortorella’s Crimson Hawks, the IUP roster looks much different now than it did when last season ended two months ago, and there will be more players coming.  But the biggest change may be one player who is going, quarterback Mak Sexton, who is giving up football to take a job in his native Texas.  Sexton has one year of eligibility remaining after throwing for more than 2,000 yards and 33 touchdowns in his only season at IUP.  He was a transfer from Pittsburg State.  A grad student, Sexton will finish up his master’s degree online, with his new employer paying the tab.

Of the incoming freshmen, two are quarterbacks: Zayd Etheridge of Upper Merion High School and Graham Hancox of Seneca Valley.  Tortorella is also expected to grab a QB from the transfer portal at some point and he already has one off the portal, Blayne Romano, who come from Division Two Mars Hill.  One incoming freshman signee, 6-4 wide receiver Connor Shamany of Hazleton High School, is a first-team all-state selection.

In addition to Cotman and Romano, other transfers coming to IUP include offensive lineman Qadir White, who comes from Division One Syracuse, former West Virginia Mountaineer linebacker Ethan Hiester, and ex-Fairmont State tight end Tanner Krevokuch.

You can check out the entire roster of new signees by visiting iupathletics.com. Tortorella joins Jack Benedict tonight at the CH Field Craft Kitchen at the Hilton Garden Inn for a special edition of Hawk Talk, from 6 to 7 PM on 92.5 FM U92 and on Renda Digital TV.

THE LIST: