In his 10 seasons as coach at NAU, Jerome Souers has brought in a lot of deep, talented recruiting classes that have produced All-Americans and NFL players like Jason Murrietta, Keith O’Neil, Alex Watson, and Clarence Moore.

With that said, Souers isn’t sure he has ever brought in a more talented and balanced class than he has this year.

“It’s always hard to project a recruiting class,” Souers said. “Sometimes you have to recruit more defense or more lineman or focus on a specific position. This year is probably the best balance yet. We have some exceptionally talented people in this group.

“It may be one of the most talented groups we’ve brought in.”

Souers and his staff officially announced the signing of 23 student-athletes on Wednesday, which was National Signing Day across the country.

The 2008 class hails from five different states, including 14 from California and six from Arizona.

The headliner of the class may turn out to be running back Deonte Williams from Sacramento. Williams shunned his hometown team of Sacramento State., and turned down several FBS offers from schools such as UNLV, Utah State and Nevada and some Big Sky offers from Idaho State and Montana State.

The running back rushed for 2,448 yards with 29 touchdowns his senior year and was named the Sacramento Bee Offensive Player of the Year. Williams called Souers a few days before Christmas and told the head coach he wanted to be a Lumberjack.

The call caught Souers off guard, considering Williams had never visited NAU and wasn’t scheduled to do so until January.

“My whole recruiting process was kind of funny,” Williams said when reached by cell phone on Wednesday. “I didn’t really get onto the scene until late. I had all these (FBS) schools offering me, but I didn’t feel comfortable. When I met with coach Souers and coach (Ryan) Wells, it just felt right. I knew that’s where I wanted to go and I’m a man of my word.”

Souers added another running back in Deante Piper, who chose NAU over Northwestern Louisiana State. Piper, who hails from Fort Worth, Texas, rushed for 1,391 yards last year 14 touchdowns.

In a bit of a surprise move, Souers added two more quarterbacks to the roster. The Jacks will now potentially go into the summer with six healthy quarterbacks on the squad.

Souers raved about Cary Grossart, a six-foot-one quarterback out of Folsom, Calif. Grossart, who is a dual-threat quarterback, threw for 3,046 yards and 22 touchdowns in 10 games last year. He also rushed for 315 yards and five touchdowns.

Souers also signed quarterback Troy Graham out of Chandler Basha High School. Graham suffered a serious leg injury his senior year.

The two quarterbacks Souers signed go along with Michael Herrick, a transfer out of University of Mississippi, that NAU signed at semester break.

“We repopulated the position at all levels,” Souers said. “We have (Lance) Kriesien with one year left, Corey (Slater) with two years, Michael with three and Cary with four. We’ll still play who is best but we’re not top heavy and we’re not all youth.

“I can’t underestimate how important this position was for us in the recruiting process.”

Other players that could potentially have an impact next year include Matt Estrada, a safety out of La Habra, Calif, Michael Battisti, a defensive end from Hesperia, Calif., Jonathan Chanda, a offensive lineman out of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.,  Michael Czyz, a wide receiver from Danville, Calif., and Austin Shanks, a wide receiver out of Shadow Hills, Calif.

“We recruited Arizona, Oregon, Washington and Las Vegas aggressively,” Souers said. “These are the guys that profile out to be the best fit for our program in every way, academically and athletically. We start in Arizona, and then essentially recruit the entire west coast. These are the guys that are the best fit for us.”

Daniel Berk can be reached at dberk@azdailysun.com or 556-2251.