Murray State picks up eight from rural West Tenn.

The Ohio Valley Conference football coaching staffs have begun coming into rural West Tennessee more in recent years.

Austin Peay picked up a few local players a few years ago, and Tennessee Tech was a frequent name heard on this end of the state leading up to national signing day in 2016 behind the coaching staff that had just come to Cookeville from Temple that included former McKenzie and UT Martin quarterback Derek Carr.

The team that’s come into the area more this year is Murray State.

The Racers picked up a total of eight players from rural West Tennessee according to the program’s national signing day letters of intent received along with walk-on commitments on social media. According to the list of signees and walk-ons compiled by the Sun, Bethel was the only program at any level that had more program additions from the area on Wednesday with 12.

Liberty pair Rodney Castille and Corey Newble were a part of that group, and their teammate, Christian Ballard, was a late addition as a walk-on Wednesday morning.

Dresden receiver Austin Thomas was another part of that group along with defensive lineman Kelian Rooks.

Union City defensive lineman Jeremy Bumpus, Trinity Christian defensive back Tristan Bonnstetter and Humboldt defensive back Kylan Martin are all headed across the border.

“One thing I liked about it was how much they throw the ball,” said Castille, he had nearly 2,000 receiving yards the last two years at Liberty. “They look like they throw it 100 times per game.”

Geography was a key for Newble as Murray is less than 90 minutes from Liberty’s campus in Jackson.

“It’s close enough that my family can come up and watch us play then be back home that night,” Newble said.

But there’s plenty of attraction in West Tennessee for the Murray State coaching staff, according to head coach Mitch Stewart, who just completed his first season leading the Racers.

“Well one thing you’ll notice about a lot of those players is they come from winning programs,” Stewart said. “Dresden just won a state championship, and Liberty played for one.

“Union City has been winning a lot of games. That tells me we’re bringing in guys that have been a part of winning programs and understands what being a part of a winner is all about, even though that may look somewhat different at the college level.”

Stewart said the athleticism and skill set each athlete brings to the table is something the Racers need.

“You look at what Castille can do as a receiver and Thomas can do, and they’re the same but still different because they’re different players but they’re both really good at what they do,” Stewart said. “Bumpus and Newble are both guys we can put anywhere on the field.

“Quarterback is the first place we’ll look at for Corey, but if for some reason that’s not the best place for him on the team, he won’t be standing on the sidelines next to me. He’ll be out there somewhere because he’s the kind of athlete I’ve never coached before.”

Murray State is enjoying better relationships with the high school coaches from its coaching staff now too, largely in part because of Carson Hunter. He’s on staff at Murray State after having been an assistant coach at Dyer County and TCA and was the head coach at Rossville Christian in 2015.

“Carson and a couple others have some ties to West Tennessee, and recruiting is all about relationships,” Stewart said. “He’s done a good job of continuing to build those for us and make a few more connections for us, and hopefully we’ll continue to have quality relationships between us and all the programs in the area there.”

Brandon Shields, 425-9751