North Dakota State has used the early December signing period to its advantage these last two years. While some programs opt to sign most of their recruiting class during the traditional February National Signing Day, the Bison get a majority signed a couple months earlier.
This prevents FBS programs from swooping in and offering scholarships late to NDSU targets. And it allows the Bison coaching staff to plug holes in the roster using the traditional signing day and also pursue high school prospects outside of the typical recruiting footprint.
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NDSU inked 25 players in December with most coming from the usual states of North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois. The Bison added 13 more recruits today for a recruiting class of 38 players, a school record in the Division 1 era. Twenty-seven signed National Letters of Intent and 11 are recruited walk-ons.
The addition of 13 players saw news areas being tapped into. NDSU landed signees from Georgia (RB Kobe Johnson and DB Dominic Jones), a state the Bison rarely ventured into in the past. They also finally cashed in on their seven trips to Frisco, Texas, for the FCS national title game and signed WR Braylon Henderson out of neighboring Plano. He joins another wide receiver from Texas in this class with DJ Baptist of Hutto also signing today.
Texas was a state the Bison recruited often in their early Division I days, but they got away from the state in recent years.
While NDSU will always recruit its core Upper Midwest states the heaviest, the recruiting footprint has expanded. The Greater Tampa Bay area has already developed into a nice pipeline for the Bison. First-year head coach Matt Entz said at today's press conference the Frisco/Plano area will remain a focus. And there now appears to be at least some interest out of Georgia.
The growing national brand of the Bison is a big help in all this. Securing most of its recruiting class in December also has aided in being able to get out to unfamiliar high schools and talk to recruits.
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