USF Football Bulls Sign two in Late Period, Bring 2025 Class to 27

TAMPA, FLA., FEB. 5, 2025 – Head coach Alex Golesh and the South Florida Football staff announced the addition of two more Bulls, a pair of defenders, to USF’s 2025 Signing Class on Wednesday, the first day of the NCAA Late Signing Period. The Bulls 2025 Class, which for the second-straight year was ranked among the top two classes outside of the autonomous four conferences, now numbers 27 members.

USF also welcomed 13 new additions through the NCAA Transfer Portal and has 28 early enrollees on campus this spring, 15 from the 2025 Signing Class and 13 transfers, that will compete in winter conditioning and spring practices. The Bulls open the first of 15 spring practices on March 25 and the annual Spring Game has been set for Saturday, April 26 at Corbett Stadium on the USF campus.

“We capped off this period here with 40 additions to the team, which is a lot,” Golesh said. “I feel like this was the first class where we had a full two years to start evaluations, start developing relationships, and be able to put it together. You look at the class – 21 from the state of Florida, eight from the state of Georgia. That’s really where you want to be. That’s the great thing about this job is you don’t have to go very far, you just have to be able to evaluate at an elite level and build relationships.”

For the second-straight year, USF’s 2025 Class was ranked among the very best among all programs outside the autonomous four conferences by Rivals, 247Sports and On3. As the NCAA Late Period opened Wednesday, all three recruiting services ranked the Bulls class second in The American and second among all programs outside of the autonomous four conferences, one year after the Bulls posted the top class in both. 247Sport ranked the Bulls class ahead of seven autonomous conference programs while Rivals had it ahead of six.

Defensive back Dorian Mallary Jr. (5-11, 170/Fort Myers, Fla.), an athletic two-way player that that also threw for more than 3,000 yards and ran for more than 700 as a quarterback, and defensive lineman Richard Scott III (6-4, 245/Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), who helped lead St. Thomas Aquinas High School to its sixth-straight state title in 2024, are the Bulls newest defensive additions, bringing their 2025 Class signees on the defensive side to 13. The Bulls 2025 Class has 13 signees on the offensive side and USF also added one specialist, all in the early period.

The Bulls also added 13 players through the NCAA Transfer Portal, which opened on Dec. 9. Among them were five on offense, five on defense and three specialists, all of which are currently on campus.

Through the portal, USF added a pair of offensive linemen in Connor McLaughlin (6-7, 295, Sr./Stanford), a Tampa native and Jesuit High School graduate, and Thomas Shrader (6-5, 305, Jr./Appalachian State) and a tight end in Wyatt Sullivan (6-4, 245, Jr./FAU). The Bulls also added running back Cartevious Norton (5-11, 225, Sr./Charlotte), who ras run for 1,180 yards and 12 touchdowns in three collegiate seasons, and wide receiver Chas Nimrod (6-2, 185, Jr./Tennessee), who played in 23 games for Tennessee and caught 29 passes for 315 yards.

Portal additions on defense include three defensive linemen in Dre Butler (6-5, 280, Gr./Charlotte), a former No. 1 junior college recruit who has played in 40 games and recorded 91 tackles in five Division 1 seasons, Josh Celiscar (6-3, 292, Sr./Texas A&M), who brings 156 career tackles and comes to USF from Texas A&M but previously was a team captain and played four seasons at UCF, and Jacob Merrifield (6-2, 285, Gr./FAU), who played in 33 games for FAU. The Bulls also added two defensive backs in Jonas Duclona (5-11, 190, So./Wisconsin), who played in 16 games in two seasons with Wisconsin, and Boogsie Silvera (5-11, 191, Jr./McNeese State), who logged 153 tackles for McNeese State.

USF also added three specialists from the portal in kicker Adam Zouagui (5-11, 175, Jr./Davidson), punter Chase Leon (6-5, 201, So./Lamar) and long snapper Turner McLaughlin (6-1, 220, So./Tennessee Tech).

During the NCAA Early Signing Period in December, USF announced the addition of 25 new Bulls, 23 high school student-athletes, one junior college transfer and one Australian punter.

#GOBULLS

USF FOOTBALL 2025 SIGNING CLASS

HIGH SCHOOL & JUNIOR COLLEGE ADDITIONS (27)

OFFENSE (13)

Colin Bellomy              OL    6-7     270      Fr.    Powder Springs, Ga. (Harrison HS)

Khalil Collins                OL    6-1     288      Fr.    Moultrie, Ga. (Colquitt County HS)

Tayte Crable                TE    6-5     215      Fr.    Massillon, Ohio (Archbishop Hoban HS)

Chase Garnett             RB    5-9     202      Fr.    Fort Worth, Texas (Liberty Christian HS)

Gerrick Gordon Jr.      OL    6-4     290      Fr.    Reddick, Fla. (Carrollwood Day HS)

Caleb Harris                OL    6-4     260      Fr.    Miami, Fla. (St. Thomas Aquinas HS)

Locklan Hewlett          QB   6-1     175      Fr.    St. Augustine, Fla. (St. Augustine HS)

Tray Kinkle                  RB    5-11   185      Fr.    Holly Springs, Miss. (Holly Springs HS)

Jeremiah Koger           WR  6-3     190      Fr.    Baltimore, Md. (St. Frances Academy)

Brandon Kubay           TE    6-3     225      Fr.    Mantibo, Canada (St. Thomas More HS)

Christian Neptune      WR  5-11   180      Fr.    Cantonment, Fla. (Tate Senior HS)

Kory Pettigrew            WR  6-1     180      Fr.    Kathleen, Ga. (Perry HS)

Khalil Walker               OL    6-5     310      Jr.    Canton, Ohio (Pickerington Central HS/Coffeyville CC)

DEFENSE (13) -  Late Period Additions

DeAngelo Bowden      LB    6-0     215      Fr.    Washington, D.C. (St. John’s College HS)

Jermichael Gillis          S      6-1     170      Fr.    Lakeland, Fla. (Lakeland HS)

Eli Jones                      DE    6-3     245      Fr.    Venice, Fla. (Venice HS)

Jeremiah Jones           S      6-0     185      Fr.    Riverview, Fla. (Sumner HS)

Gavin Jenkins              CB    6-2     170      Fr.    Lake Butler, Fla. (Union County HS)

Gavin Leach                LB    6-2     205      Fr.    Newburgh, Ind. (Castle HS)

Dorian Mallary Jr.       DB   5-11   170      Fr.    Fort Myers, Fla. (The Immaculata La Salle HS)

Herlin Perry Jr.            CB    5-11   165      Fr.    East Providence, R.I. (Miami Central HS)

Richard Scott III           DL    6-4     245      Fr.    Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (St. Thomas Aquinas HS)

Christian Smith           OLB 6-3     230      Fr.    Marietta, Ga. (Harrison HS)

Jabari Smith                S      5-11   155      Fr.    Orlando, Fla. (Wekiva HS)

Brooks Williams Jr.     DE    6-6     220      Fr.    Port Saint Lucie, Fla. (St. Lucie West Centennial HS)

Marcus Williams         DL    6-2     275      Fr.    Valdosta, Ga. (Valdosta HS)

SPECIAL TEAMS (1)

Luke Goater                P      6-2     195      Fr.    Melbourne, Australia (ProKick Australia)

2025 Transfer Portal Additions (13)

OFFENSE (5)

Connor McLaughlin    OL    6-7     295      Sr.    Tampa, Fla. (Jesuit HS/Stanford)

Cartevious Norton      RB    5-11   225      Sr.    Waycross, Ga. (Ware County HS/Iowa State/Charlotte)

Thomas Shrader         OL    6-5     305      Sr.    Venice, Fla. (Venice HS/Florida State/Appalachian State)

Wyatt Sullivan             TE    6-4     245      Jr.    Atlanta, GA (Robert F. Munroe Day/FAU)

Chas Nimrod               WR  6-2     185      Jr.    Bentonville, Ark. (Bentonville HS/Tennessee)

DEFENSE (5)

Dre Butler                   DL    6-5     280      Gr.   Conyers, Ga. (Newton HS/Michigan State/Charlotte)

Josh Celiscar                DE    6-3     292      Sr.    Winter Haven, Fla. (Winter Haven HS/UCF/ Texas A&M)

Jonas Duclona             CB    5-11   190      So.   Naples, Fla. (Naples HS/Wisconsin)

Jacob Merrifield          DL    6-2     285      Gr.   Winder, Ga. (Winder-Barrow HS/FAU)

Boogsie Silvera            DB   5-11   191      Jr.    Pembroke Pines, Fla. (American Heritage HS/

Charleston Southern/McNeese State)

SPECIAL TEAMS (3)

Adam Zouagui             K      5-11   175      Jr.    Reston, Va. (Herndon HS/Davidson)

Turner McLaughlin     LS    6-1     220      So.   Pensacola, Fla. (Pensacola Catholic/Tennessee Tech

Chase Leon                 P      6-5     210      So.   Brisbane, Australia (Lamar University)

2025 USF Signing CLASS BIOS

LATE PERIOD

Defense:

Dorian Mallary Jr.     DB    5-11  170     Fr.       Fort Myers, Fla. (The Immaculata La Salle HS)

X:@Mallarydo14                Instagram:

HIGH SCHOOL: Transferred to The Immaculata La Salle HS in the Miami area for his senior season and was a two-way player…played cornerback and also quarterback for his team, passing for 3,051 yards and 31 touchdowns while running for 729 yards on his caree…passed for 1,399 yards and 20 touchdowns and ran for 435 yards and two touchdowns in his senior year, according to MaxPreps…also ran track…region champion in the 400-meter dash as a junior and also qualified for states in the 200…top track marks include: 10.84 in the 100, 21.75 in the 200 and 47.48 in the 400.

Richard Scott III       DL   6-4    240     Fr.        Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (St. Thomas Aquinas HS)

X: @RichardScott_3           Instagram: _riicchhaarrdd_

HIGH SCHOOL: Posted 17 tackles, 5.0 sacks and 9.0 tackles for loss in his senior campaign according to MaxPreps…helped lead St. Thomas Aquinas to the 2024 FHSAA 5A State Championship with a 34-0 defeat of Lakeland High School in the championship game….it marked the team’s sixth-straight state title and 16th overall…rated a three-star recruit by On3, Rivals, ESPN and 247Sports, which gave him an 86 grade….had 14 offers, including from Florida, Miami, Ole Miss, Penn State, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, Memphis, FAU and UAB.

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