Wayland Baptist Pioneers announce initial list of signees - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

The process of signing football recruits for the Wayland Baptist Pioneers will prove to be more of a marathon than a sprint.

The much-anticipated national signing day for high school players to announce their choice of colleges with pen and paper is today, and the Pioneers had 17 players make it official during the annual signing day ritual.

Wayland's recruits list is heavy with linemen, addressing the Pioneers' biggest need last season when the program fielded its first team in 72 years. Of today's 17 recruits, 11 are either offensive or defensive linemen.

WBU's recruits list also has a strong Lubbock flavor as six signees hail from the Hub City. Five of those played at Lubbock Cooper High School.

Wayland head coach Butch Henderson said he's excited about the signees.

"We have some really good kids," Henderson said. "We have some really good athletes we were able to get hold of."
 
Henderson thanked not only his coaching staff for its hard work in the recruiting process, but also Wayland graduates and others for pointing potential players toward the Pioneers.
 
"We've had Wayland alumni and pastors helping us find kids and find good matches," he said. "That's been neat to see."

While happy with the program's initial haul of recruits, Henderson stressed that the majority of signees for the Pioneers will commit in the coming weeks.

"We look for the bulk of ours to be over an extended period," Henderson explained.
 
The coach said he looks to bring in about 75 new players to the Pioneer program.
 
"That's what we're hoping for before we get through," Henderson said. "We'll continue to build out and bring in kids. We have two coming in to visit this weekend, and we'll continue to recruit probably through the end of school…for sure the next month."
 
Henderson said he doesn't want to rush the signing process and would rather future players be completely comfortable with their decision to attend Wayland. That means bringing them on campus to experience everything WBU has to offer, including a less-than-one-year-old residence hall for football players as well as a field house that's being completely renovated.
 
"We'd rather the kids take time to see the campus and meet the folks here," Henderson said.