Minium: ODU Football Takes Another Big Step, Signing 4 of Top 17 Recruits in Hampton Roads

By Harry Minium

NORFOLK, Va. – Statistics sometimes speak for themselves and in the case of Old Dominion's latest football recruiting class, one stat says it all: ODU signed four of the top 17 players in Hampton Roads, as rated by The Virginian-Pilot's Larry Rubama.

Never has ODU done as well locally as coach Ricky Rahne and his staff did this fall in the early signing period.

In all, ODU signed 10 players, including wide receiver Peter Kikwata, a 6-foot-1, 181-pound Montgomery Village, Maryland native, the top-rated recruit ever to sign with the Monarchs.

Kikwata was also the highest-rated recruit to sign with a Conference USA team on Wednesday. 

And the Monarchs are far from done. Because of NCAA rules, ODU is not allowed to announce signees from the transfer portal until January. Last season, Rahne and his staff signed 10 transfers.

Also, in February, there is another signing day and Rahne said the recruiting year won't truly end until fall camp begins in eight months.

ODU could sign as many as 22 players when all is said and done, Rahne said.

While it's too early to judge this class, the Monarchs are off to a phenomenal start. Five of the 10 signees had Power 5 offers, including three of the four local signees.

Recruiting linemen, wide receivers and defensive backs were critical needs, Rahne said, and ODU signed five lineman (three on offense, two on defense) and two wide receivers, two defensive backs and a placekicker.

"It was a great early signing day for us," Rahne said. "I thought we were able to address some key needs and we were able to get five players from the state of Virginia, which was important to us.

"We added some play-making ability and some much-needed size. We're excited about the guys we brought in. We got some guys with great character and great students who've been around winning programs."

Ahmarian Granger, a 6-1 wide receiver from Norfolk's Maury High School, is ranked No. 5 in Hampton Roads by Rubama and one of the highest-rated local players ever to sign with the Monarchs.

He had offers from Arkansas, Pitt, Virginia and North Carolina State. He helped lead Maury to the Eastern District title and to an appearance in the state championship game.

No. 11 Ryan Nolan is a 6-4, 316-pound offensive lineman from Chesapeake's Deep Creek High who had offers from Tennessee, Pitt, Michigan State and Virginia. 247Sports ranks Nolan as the No. 41 recruit in Virginia and the 93rd-best interior offensive lineman in the country.

No. 16 Maarten Woudsma, a 6-5, 308-pound offensive lineman from state champion Oscar Smith High, turned down Pitt, Nebraska and Liberty to sign with ODU. He was a late commit to the Monarchs.

And as his name hints, he's a native of Amersfoort, Netherlands, and should fit in well with the large international community at both ODU and in the football program.

He will be the fifth international football Monarch, joining kickoff specialist Dominik Soos, from Budapest, Hungary, offensive lineman Gerrik Vollmer, a native of Hamburg, Germany; wide receiver Frederik Antoine, who is from Montreal, Quebec and Ethan Duane, the punter from Melbourne, Australia.

Finally, No. 17 Jaylon White is a 6-4, 239-pound defensive end from Virginia Beach who helped Kempsville High School break a 63-game losing streak two years ago. The Chiefs advanced to the state playoffs this season. White had offers from Bowling Green and James Madison.

Kikwata is rated a four-star recruit by Rivals and ESPN, while 247Sports rates him a three-star recruit. He had 15 offers from Power 5 schools and his late commitment to ODU earlier this month generated quite a stir among the media in the Washington D.C. area. He had an offer from Maryland as well as offers from Florida State and Auburn.

Rahne and his staff have worked to improve ODU's recruiting in the Washington, D.C. area and its southern Maryland and northern Virginia suburbs, often referred to as the DMV. Taylor Heinicke's success with the Washington Football Team has helped make ODU's name "a lot more relevant than it was in the past in that area," Rahne said.

"As a program and as a university, we need to do a better job in that area. We have a lot of alumni up there. As a university, we need to engage them and make them feel a part" of ODU.

ODU may have signed the replacement for senior placekicker Nick Rice in Ethan Sanchez, who went to North Paulding High School in Dallas, Georgia, a western Atlanta suburb. He is ranked as a "Power 5 freshman starter" and a six-star recruit by Chris Sailer of the highly respected Chris Sailer Kicking program.

He nailed all 32 extra point attempts and had a 47-yard field goal for North Paulding.

ODU went to familiar recruiting grounds to sign safety Mario Easterly from Bishop McDevitt High in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Senior ODU defensive back Joe Joe Headen graduated from Bishop McDevitt, as did reserve running back Matt Geiger.

Rahne came to ODU two years ago from Penn State, where he was offensivie coordinator. And while Rahne did not directly recruit the Harrisburg area, he said he knew of Easterly from his time with the Nittany Lions. 

Easterly played primarily at wide receiver fore Bishop McDevitt and caught 57 passes for 1,071 yards and 15 touchdowns. He told www.pennlive.com that he welcomes the move to safety and that he signed with ODU because "I want to go there and help them win championships."

ODU signed one recruit from North Carolina – Christopher Spencer, a 6-5, 263-pound defensive lineman from Burgaw, located about 30 miles north of Wilmington. Selected to play in the North Carolina/South Carolina all-star game, he had offers from Duke and East Carolina.

ODU also signed a player from the Richmond area, which has been a fertile recruiting ground. Mason Howard, a 6-6, 261-pound offensive lineman from Cosby High in Chesterfield, turned down Penn, Richmond and William & Mary to come to ODU.

JeCareon Lathan, a 6-1, cornerback from Minden, Louisiana, is the only junior college player ODU signed. He had 40 tackles, three pass breakups, a tackle for a loss and a blocked kick for Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas.

ODU began this season 1-6 after not playing football in 2020 because of the pandemic. However, the Monarchs won their last five in a row and meet Tulsa on Monday in the Myrtle Beach Bowl at 2:30 p.m.

Asked if ODU's late-season surge helped the Monarchs recruiting, Rahne said it may have helped stave off competitors who tried to poach commits away from the university.

"But a lot of these guys committed to us before that," he said. "So, a lot of these guys had some faith in what we're building and what we can become.

"I have a lot of respect for the guys on this list because they showed faith in what we're doing here."

ODU is leaving Conference USA for the Sun Belt Conference either next season or in 2023. Regardless of when that happens, the Monarchs play what may be the most difficult non-conference schedule in the Group of 5 in 2022.

ODU opens at home against Virginia Tech on Saturday, Sept. 3, in the debut of Brent Pry as the Hokies' head coach. Pry was the defensive coordinator and Rahne the offensive coordinator at Penn State in 2019.

Athletic director Wood Selig has said that game might be moved to Friday night to accommodate a national TV broadcast.

The Monarchs then travel to East Carolina on Sept. 10 and the University of Virginia on Sept. 17. They close out their non-conference schedule with a home game against Liberty on Oct. 1.

Tickets remain on sale for the Myrtle Beach Bowl. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets or if you can't make it to the bowl game, you can purchase tickets for students to attend the game.