Last weekend Kent State hosted nearly a dozen of its top recruiting prospects on official visits. The Golden Flashes immediately were rewarded for their efforts when Chesapeake, Va., cornerback Sam Kirkland pledged his verbal commitment Monday afternoon.

Today, the Golden Flashes added two more verbal commitments when Greenville (N.C.) J.H. Rose teammates Byron Tyson and Josiah Andrews opted to join the Kent State family. Andrews and Tyson will join former teammate and current KSU freshman, Leneric Muldrow.

"That's big for Kent State to get both of those guys and we have another guy up there so they have three kids from Greenville Rose," Rose head coach Greg Thomas said.

In his eight years at Rose Thomas has led the Rampants to four consecutive state championships including back-to-back 16-0 seasons. His record at Rose is an amazing 89-20. When he started at Rose he needed to instill a winning attitude in the current players, an attitude Andrews and Tyson quickly adopted.

"We kept the motivated kids and got rid of the unmotivated kids," Thomas said. "They were part of the motivated kids. Every year they got better and better and became great leaders in our program and we're going to miss them. Hopefully they learned what it takes to be successful."

Kent State head coach Doug Martin has installed a similar philosophy at Kent State. He believes that recruiting prospects from winning high school programs ultimately will lead to success for the Golden Flashes.

"I think (Andrews and Tyson) will fit in (that philosophy)," Thomas said. "Those kids know what it takes to get to the top and they are going to do everything they can do to help the team. They are both team players, so they know that the team is only as good as the weakest link and I'm sure they are going to do whatever it takes for Kent State to be successful."

Andrews, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound wide receiver/cornerback, will likely get his first opportunity at Kent State on the offensive side of the ball. That, according to Thomas, is where Andrews is most dangerous.

"The thing about Josiah, he's a playmaker whether it be at wideout or defensive back," Thomas said. "When we needed a big play, he was always in the picture. He's a great kid with great character and great work ethic and I think he's going to help Kent State out."

Andrews chose Kent State over offers from Temple, Elon and Western Carolina, but Thomas knows that size was the only thing keeping the bigger schools from offering.

"The bottom line is size has a lot to do with it," Thomas said. "The bigger schools, that has a lot to do with whether they think he can play at that level or not. Not that that's right or wrong but I think Kent State is a great fit for Josiah."

Like Andrews, Tyson could also play on either side of the ball. As a senior, the 5-foot-11, 207-pounder recorded 117 tackles and six sacks.

"He's the strongest kid in our program and he's fast," Thomas said. "I don't know if they'll redshirt him or not but he'll gain 20-25 pounds and he'll be ready to go at the linebacker position or at fullback."

With the addition of Andrews and Tyson, the Golden Flashes now have 16 public verbal commitments in the recruiting Class of 2007.

Click here for a list of all KSU commitments.

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