Mora lands first four commitments
UConn football coach Jim Mora got off to a late start recruiting. But he isn’t letting that slow him down.
Mora and his staff had a big weekend, landing commitments from two 2022 in-state products and two prospects who had previously decommitted.
The first pledge came Sunday night from Derek Spearman, a three-star safety from the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor. Spearman is rated as the No. 124 safety in the nation and the No. 1,737 overall recruit, per 247sports’ composite rankings. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Spearman is from Cornelius, North Carolina, and was originally committed to Princeton. He also had offers from Purdue, Miami, Nebraska and UMass.
Tight end Denzel Mountali, Spearman’s high school teammate, also committed. Mountali, a 6-4, 220-pound native of Vancouver, British Columbia, was not ranked by 247sports but had offers from Marshall, Yale, Fordham and Columbia.
In addition to gaining two new commitments, the Huskies were also able to convince edge rushers Donovan Branch and Nathan Voorhis to come back on board. Branch, a 6-4, 220-pound threestar from Winter Garden, Florida, had decommitted from UConn in wake of Randy Edsall’s departure. He is rated as the No. 60 edge rusher and the No. 1,294 overall recruit, according to 247sports. Voorhis is a 6-4, 230-pound two-star from Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.
All four players were in Storrs for official visits this past weekend.
Mora still has plenty of heavy lifting to do, with the start of NCAA’s early signing period fast approaching on Dec. 15. The Huskies’ 2022 class is just seven players deep at the moment, though two of the prospects — Bristol Central dual-threat quarterback Victor Rosa and Loomis Chaffee offensive lineman Brady Wayburn — seemingly reaffirmed their commitments Sunday.
Meanwhile, Xavier Brown, a 6-3, 175-pound wide receiver from Cedar Hill, Texas, is no longer committed to UConn, he announced Monday morning. Brown, who also recently was on campus, retweeted an account blaming the coaching staff for their handling of the situation.