North Texas Daily

Three athletes signed with the Mean Green on National Signing Day, increasing their 2020 recruiting class to 21 total players, according to a press release by Mean Green Sports News. The Mean Green finish the 2020 recruiting voyage, the best in program history at No. 1 in Conference-USA and No. 67 nationally, according to 247 Sports.

North Texas added offensive lineman and junior college transfer Teeshaun Turpin from Long Beach City College in California, edge rusher Jonathan Pickett Jr. from Desert Pines High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, and wide-receiver Detraveon Brown from Northwood High School in Shreveport, Louisiana.

“We added two more difference makers to the group today,” head coach Seth Littrell said. “Looking at the class as a whole, I am very pleased that we were able to address our needs in a really positive way. We got a lot better as a program throughout this process and I am looking forward to getting the rest of this group on campus and welcoming them into our family.”

Both Turpin and Pickett are one of five athletes in their respected positions as a defensive lineman and offensive lineman. The trench positions were a priority to Littrell in recruiting as they make up half of the total signed athletes. Brown is a wide-out who looks to make an impact for the Mean Green on the offensive side of the ball in the post-Mason Fine era.

Turpin is a 6-foot-4-inch, 3-star offensive tackle prospect by 247 Sports and helped Long Beach maintain a rushing attack average of 196.2 yards per game last season. Out of high school Turpin was committed to UT-Martin, later transferring to Long Beach City College. He had offers to UTSA, UTEP and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Pickett is a 6-foot-3-inch, 3-star ranked defensive end by 247 Sports and Rivals. He’s also ranked as the No. 6 overall prospect coming out of Nevada. He was named first-team all-state his senior season by Max Preps finishing with 13 sacks, 46 tackles and 11 quarterback hurries. Pickett also helped lead the Jaguars to a 4A Mountain Northwest district title. Other offers to Pickett included Arizona State, Arizona, Vanderbilt, BYU, West Virginia, Nevada-Las Vegas and Utah State.

Brown is a 5-foot-11-inch, 3-star ranked wide-receiver by 247 Sports who had multiple offers including Colorado State, Houston and Kansas after putting up 912 receiving yards, 58 receptions and 19 touchdowns his senior season. For his career as a three-year starter for the Falcons, Brown totaled 2568 yards receiving, 151 receptions and 46 receiving touchdowns.

Featured Image: Freshman wide receiver Deonte Simpson runs in for touchdown against UTEP on Nov. 2, 2019. Simpson receives 33-yard touchdown from senior quarterback Mason Fine on the first play of the game. Image by Zachary Thomas