The national champions supplemented their 2022 recruiting class on Wednesday, the first day of the late signing period, as South Dakota State football added nine new players — two transfers, five walk-ons, a new enrollee and one scholarship prep athlete.
The biggest the Jacks reeled into the boat was defensive end Blake Peterson, a transfer from Iowa State. Peterson, a 6-foot-4, 255-pounder, played at Beresford and was offered by SDSU then, but chose the Cyclones and played 28 games across three seasons, notching 21 tackles and two sacks. He'll join an SDSU defense that graduated pass rusher Reece Winkelman. Peterson will have two years of eligibility.
Cody Cotton, a 6-1 cornerback, joins the Jacks after a strong freshman season at Division II Upper Iowa, where he had 35 tackles and three interceptions.
Kirby Vorhees, a running back from Florida, was the lone high school athlete to sign a letter of intent. The 5-10, 195-pounder had two 1,000 yard seasons at George Steinbrenner High School in Lutz, Fla.
Andrew Gustad, who was an all-state linebacker at Gayville-Volin, will join the roster after attending school at SDSU this year, while five walk-ons were added, led by Beau Giblin, who was a standout safety for state champion Jefferson this season.
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Those nine names join the 16 high school athletes SDSU added in December.
Among the highlights from that class were Jefferson wide receiver Griffin Wilde, Rapid City offensive lineman William Paepke, Aberdeen kicker Jackson Isakson and Texas quarterback Kaden Brown.
Coyotes add 10 on second signing day
USD signed 14 high schoolers in the early signing period in December and added 10 more on Wednesday.
Though none of the 10 were from in-state, the Coyotes added three from Iowa and two from Minnesota, as well as a pair of high school teammates from Kansas in safety Jase Hovey and tight end Mack Newell.
They signed a quarterback from Pella, Iowa, in the form of 6-foot-3, 205-pound Beau Bush, as part of the first group of recruits to sign with USD since the school named former Jackrabbit assistant Josh Davis its offensive coordinator.
Bush joins Todd Drummond, a 6-5 passer from Oklahoma, who was part of the early signings in December. That class included four skill players from Florida and one in-state signing in Reed Rus, a 6-3, 195-pound linebacker from Mount Vernon.
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