Jan. 9, 2012

Tulsa, Oklahoma - University of Tulsa Head Football Coach Bill Blankenship welcomed five newcomers as second semester classes began today. Three 2011 letter-of-intent signees who gray-shirted during the 2011 season, one junior college signee and one high school senior began classes today at Tulsa.

True freshman Dane Evans (Sanger, Texas/Sanger HS) has completed his high school class work and decided to enroll at Tulsa for this semester, while junior college transfer Davis Walton will have two seasons of eligibility remaining after playing two years at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M.

Tulsa also has three gray-shirt players from last year's recruiting class enrolled for the spring semester. Running Back Michael Sorrells (Austin, Texas/McCallum HS), offensive lineman James Floyd (Fort Worth, Texas/Paschal HS) and defensive tackle Nick Hall (Broken Arrow, Okla./Broken Arrow HS) signed to play for the Hurricane last February, but did not enroll for the fall semester.

A quarterback who threw for over 9,000 career passing yards and completed his career 15th on the state of Texas' all-time career passing list, Evans (6-2, 195) committed this past summer to play for the Hurricane. Evans completed 200-of-310 passes for 3,265 yards and 36 touchdowns as a senior at Sanger (Texas) High School, while rushing for 337 yards and five touchdowns in leading his team to a 9-2 record. He finished his career with 9,074 passing yards and 94 TDs.

"We're really excited about Dane. He has some really unique abilities. He's an incredible passer and understands the game. Dane combines the cerebral part of the game and the skill set that can make him very successful," said Blankenship.

Walton (6-5, 285) played the last two seasons at NEO A&M. He started at the tight end position as a freshman and spent the 2011 season as a starting offensive tackle, while earning second-team all-conference honors this year. Walton was a three-year letterwinner and started at tight end at Tulsa's Bishop Kelley High School.

"One of the things we like about Davis is he's not a freshman. We think he has the ability to come in this year and compete for a spot, but we still have the ability to red-shirt him. He brings us everything that a high school kid does, plus two years of maturity," added Blankenship.

Sorrells (6-2, 205) was a three-year letterwinner at McCallum (Texas) High School where he played running back and returned punts and kickoffs. He rushed for 1,629 yards and 24 touchdowns, while catching six passes for 64 yards and one TD his senior season. He earned first-team all-district accolades as a junior and senior and was a second-team Class 4A all-state selection his senior season.

A two-year letterwinner and starter at Paschal (Texas) High School, Floyd (6-2, 287) was played offensive guard and tackle in his career. Floyd was named first-team District 4-5A as a senior and earned honorable mention all-district 3-5A merits his junior season.

From Broken Arrow (Okla.) High School, Hall (6-3, 265) totaled 83 tackles, 50 solos and blocked two kicks from his defensive line position as a senior in 2010. He was a second-team all-state selection by the Tulsa World and was also named to the OCA all-state Class 6A team as a senior.

For James Floyd and Nick Hall the gray-shirt semester provides them little more physical maturity that will really benefit them playing in the offensive and defensive lines., respectively. Their upside is tremendous and it gave them another semester to mature physically," said Blankenship. "Michael Sorrells has the same skill-set as Willie Carter and Charles Clay. We're really excited to have him on campus and looking forward to his development."

Tulsa Football 2012 Mid-Semester Enrollees
Player	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Cl-Exp	Hometown/Previous School
Dane Evans	QB	6-2	195	Fr-HS	Sanger, Texas/Sanger HS
James Floyd	OL	6-2	287	Fr-GS	Fort Worth, Texas/Paschal HS
Nick Hall	DT	6-3	265	Fr-GS	Broken Arrow, Okla./Broken Arrow HS
Michael SorrellsRB	6-2	205	Fr-GS	Austin, Texas/McCallum HS
Davis Walton	OL	6-5	285	Jr-JC	Tulsa, Okla./Northeastern Oklahoma A&M