Two weeks ago the class of 2014 recruiting class for Western Kentucky got a major kickstart with the commitment of Bowling Green (Ky.) wide receiver Nacarius Fant. Four days later, the Hilltoppers picked up their second commitment from Champagnat Catholic (Miami, Fla.) defensive back/wide receiver Jason Williams.
Fast forward to today and the flood gates of verbal pledges opened up for Western Kentucky, scoring four commitments from prominent in-state talents.
The morning started off with a commitment from Collins (Ky.) linebacker Masai Whyte, a stout defender with a nose for the ball who recorded 183 tackles during his junior season. Whyte measures in at 6-foot-1, 210-pounds and was an All-State Honorable Mention.
Around lunchtime, Apollo (Ky.) linebacker/defensive end Ryan Duvall made his pledge to the Hilltoppers.
For Duvall, the choice was easy, "throughout this whole process Western has always been my top choice, mainly because I've been around it for so long and it was my first college experience."
Duvall's older brother, Ben, is a former Hilltopper linebacker and is currently a graduate assistant for the program.
That is one of the reasons he was confident in his decision:
"The reason I wanted to go ahead and do it because I was ready and just confident in my choice, I wanted to make sure it was all set in stone before I head into my last year of football and focus on that and not have to worry about college choices or anything. Then, I called Coach Petrino to finalize my commitment and he was real excited about it."
Later in the day, the Hilltoppers landed a commitment from Derik Overstreet, a defensive end from Paducah Tilghman (Ky.). At 6-foot-1, 236-pounds, Overstreet is tough to block coming off the edge on the rush and compiled some monstrous stats - 110 tackles, 39 tackles for loss, 13 sacks, and five pass deflections.
The walk-off shot came at 7:30 p.m. (CST) via this tweet:
I will be committing to western Kentucky University. #hilltoppernation #WKU- DeAndre Farris (@DeAndreFarris22) June 27, 2013
DeAndre Farris, a fast playmaker also from Collins (Ky.) chose to commit to Western Kentucky over his other choice, Toledo. The 5-foot-9, 170-pound speedster has legit 4.4 speed and was all over the place his junior year collecting 937 rushing yards with 17 touchdowns and 974 receiving yards with 13 scores.