Eastern Michigan Recruiting Class of 2025
Eastern Michigan Recruiting Class of 2025
Keeping up with Eastern Michigan's recruiting class for the 2025 cycle.
Welcome to The Ypsilanti Eleven! This page is dedicated to Eastern Michigan’s upcoming signing class of 2025, for both high school recruits and, eventually, incoming transfers. EMU’s current commits are listed below with links to their highlight videos at the bottom of the page.
EMU OFFENSIVE COMMITS: CLASS OF 2025
RB Amareon Blue (Durham, N.C. - C.E. Jordan HS)
247comp: N/A
247sports: 83 (3-star)
On3: N/A
Listed Ht./Wt.: 5-8/192
Amareon Blue is a do-it-all running back who exploded on the high school fields with 4,419 rushing yards and 64 rushing scores over his sophomore and junior seasons in Durham, North Carolina (9.0 yards per carry). Per MaxPreps, he’s had 22 100+ rushing-yard performances over his 25-game varsity career. He’s also caught 25 passes for 181 yards with two scores, and is 1-1 in trick-play touchdown-pass situations.
As a special teamer, he’s been useful as a kick returner (6 returns, 211 career yards) and punt returner (3 returns, 91 yards).
In highlights, Blue’s a minimalist who lets his speed in runs up the middle do all the work if that’s all he needs. Blue’s explosiveness provides a lot of big-play ability, and has a lot of bend and shiftiness out of his shorter body that pairs well with that explosiveness of his. (Maybe its the #15 he wears in his high school clips, but he does remind me some of former Kent State and Ball State running back Marquez Cooper.)
Blue was offered by EMU in February and picked the Eagles over Bethune-Cookman, Boston College, Charleston Southern, Charlotte, Gardner-Webb, Howard, Maine, Morgan State, Old Dominion, Temple, and Troy.
Blue was the first running back to commit to EMU’s 2025 recruiting class.
QB Bryce Button (Bowling Green, Ky. - South Warren HS)
247comp: N/A
247sports: 85 (3-star)
On3: N/A
Listed Ht./Wt.: 6-3/205
Bryce Button joins EMU’s recruiting class as its highlight quarterback. A Bowling Green, Kentucky native (home of Western Kentucky) picked EMU over Arkansas State, Austin Peay, Eastern Kentucky, Murray State, and UL-Monroe.
Last year as a junior starter for his South Warren HS team (11 games), Button reached 3,008 passing yards on 260 attempts (11.6 yards/att.) with 35 throwing scores to 5 interceptions. He didn’t score any touchdowns on the ground, but did contribute well with 217 yards on 33 carries (6.6 avg.). He broke six school records in his one season as a starter.
Button led South Warren to a 9-3 overall record, 2-1 in league play. In the 5A state playoff, South Warren opened up with a 50-12 win over Madisonville-North Hopkins, then fell to Owensboro 53-22 in the second round. The Bowling Green Purples, South Warren’s division rival, would end up beating Owensboro and taking the state championship. Under current head coach Brandon Smith, South Warren has captured three state championships, last accomplished in 2021.
For his high school, Button is in line to be the third-straight QB to graduate into an FBS-level college; Button (to EMU) follows Caden Veltkamp (to Western Kentucky), who followed Gavin Spurrier (to Duke).
WR Nate Lyman (Kings Mills, OH - Kings HS)
247comp: N/A
247sports: 83 (3-star)
On3: N/A
Listed Ht./Wt.: 6-2/185
Nate Lyman is a well-sized receiver from the Cincinnati-area who received upwards of 20 FBS+FCS offers in his recruitment, and ultimately chose EMU in June. The FBS schools that offered Lyman include Arkon, Army, Kent State, Navy, Toledo, and UMass.
So far as a two-year starter for Kings HS, Lyman caught 95 career passes for 2,101 yards and 26 scores with 10 100+ yard performances. Last year, he caught 58 passes for 1,314 yards with 19 touchdowns and was named a First Team All-Ohio receiver by the state’s sportswriters.
What’s the first thing that stands out watching his highlights? Those wheels. Doesn’t matter if he’s getting the ball deep or staying underneath for a screen pass. Lyman’s speed is a difference-maker in the pass game. And for as fast as he is, he seems to enjoy some physicality as a blocker. Lyman advertises his 40-time at 4.54 seconds on Twitter/X, and in April he was part of the relay team that broke his high school track program’s record time in the 4x100 at 42.75 seconds.
OL Tamarley Smith (Brandtford, Ontario, Canada - Clarkson Football North)
247comp: N/A
247sports: 83 (3-star)
On3: N/A
Listed Ht./Wt.: 6-6/295
Tamarley Smith was the first prep recruit to commit to EMU’s 2025 class, back on April 2. Smith also held offers from Boston College, Buffalo, and Maine when he decided to pick EMU. This isn’t the first time EMU’s had a Canadian lineman join its program out of high school (hello, 4th-round draft pick Sidy Sow), but it’s the first time EMU’s gotten a massive lineman from the Clarkson Football North program.
What stands out about Smith is, you guessed it, his size. At a listed 6-6, 295 lbs., it’s hard not to project your wildest imaginations onto what his potential could be in college.
EMU DEFENSIVE COMMITS: CLASS OF 2025
S Tylan Boykin (Akron, OH - Archbishop Hoban HS)
247comp: N/A
247sports: 83 (3-star)
On3: N/A
Listed Ht./Wt.: 6-1/175
The Akron-raised two-way player for Archbishop Hoban is going to settle into a safety role once he gets to college.
Don’t get it twisted though. He’s a heck of a quarterback for his high school team. In his first year as a starter behind center, he led Hoban to a 13-2 record and got his team all the way to a state championship appearance. Despite the game’s 7-2 final score (loss to Massillon Washington), Boykin put up a heck of a fight in his playing career’s biggest stage.
Most of his training and work he put in before the 2023 season was, admittedly, for his cornerback play.
While I can’t speak to how Hoban head coach Tim Tyrrell will manage his team’s QB spot knowing that Boykin will be prioritizing defense full-time at the next level, what I can say is that his QB ability and reflexes make will help him when it’s time for him to be the center of communication for the defensive backs units in college.
For as good as Boykin has been on both sides of the ball for powerhouse Hoban, he never received an offer from Akron. The other programs that did extend Boykin an offer before he picked EMU in June include Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Eastern Kentucky, Hampton, Kent State, Temple, Toledo, and Youngstown State.
DE Quincy Byas (St. Louis, MO - DeSmet HS)
247comp: N/A
247sports: 83 (3-star)
On3: N/A
Listed Ht./Wt.: 6-2/230
Getting as many high-ceiling defensive ends through the door is certainly a priority in high school recruiting, and getting a guy like Quincy Byas is certainly a step in the right direction for EMU. And going into St. Louis to get one of the city’s best defensive talents seems like an important move for the position room.
Byas recorded 14 sacks, 20 tackles for loss, and three interceptions as a pass rusher at DeSmet HS. With so many local offensive drives struggling to get past him, Byas was voted the Metro Catholic Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
Crystal-balling Byas’ high school tape with what he could do at the next level, he could give EMU added flexibility and depth at the position by being an effective edge defender in coverage. There are times where his position is asked to slide out into coverage after the snap and he could project to be the best option for that assignment.
Byas picked EMU over other FBS options in Air Force, Army, Ball State, Indiana, Kent State, Middle Tennessee, and Northern Illinois.
DE Hector Gonzalez (Rabun Gap, GA - Rabun Gap-Nacoochee HS)
247comp: N/A
247sports: N/A
On3: N/A
Listed Ht./Wt.: 6-5/240
Hector Gonzalez was a late June commitment for the Eagles, who also had his choice offerings from Air Force, Appalachian State, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Charlotte, Jacksonville State, Kent State, Miami OH, and Navy.
With a 6-5 frame, anything is possible as a defensive end. Gonzalez plays with an aggressiveness and physicality that’s desired for Ben Needham’s defense, and could one day have the goods to anchor down one side of a D-line.
As a growing recruit who has picked up discus throwing for his Georgia high school’s track team, he’s apparently a natural at the sport.
LB Noah Knigga (Lawrenceburg, IN - Lawrenceburg HS)
247comp: 0.8300
247sports: 83 (3-star)
On3: 83 (3-star)
Listed Ht./Wt.: 6-2/205
A high school coach’s son, Noah Knigga has been a popular recruit in this year’s cycle for a couple of obvious reasons.
First off, he pronounces it “Ka-nay-guh”.
And secondly, his last name doesn’t really matter when he’s on the field. His first visit announced to West Virginia gave his Twitter/X account 300 million double-takes. His play and football accumen have helped him earn FBS and FCS offers from Air Force, Arkansas State, Army, Colgate, Cornell, Dartmouth, Gardner-Webb, Indiana State, Lehigh, Lindenwood, Navy, Southeast Missouri State, and Western Illinois.
While Knigga plays for his father, Ryan, the head coach of Lawrenceburg High, he’s a respected high school basketball player as well. As a junior, Knigga was named to the 12-man, all-conference team by opposing coaches. One time during the season, Noah and his sister, Natalie, were named MVPs for each the boys’ and girls’ sides of the same basketball tournament.
Knigga is listed as an outside linebacker and tight end, and it’s the defensive side of the ball where he’ll be on defense. He’ll certainly play within the front-6 box, but will he end up as a linebacker or as a pass rusher off the edge?
CB Sean Martin (Dunnellon, FL - Dunnellon HS)
247comp: N/A
247sports: N/A
On3: N/A
Listed Ht./Wt.: 5-10/180
The second defensive back commitment of EMU's 2025 signing class is a hard hitter from Florida who picked Eastern over Kennessaw State, Navy, and a bunch of FCS-level programs.
Even though Florida’s a popular state for many colleges to go to for talent, EMU hasn’t always been the type to go into the Sunshine state for its high school recruiting. However, in 2023 EMU signed DB Caleb Dobbs (Cocoa), and this year the team brings on RB J.T. Bronaugh (Winter Garden) and CB Jaylyn Monds (Fort Pierce). Until recently, EMU hadn’t signed any Florida-based recruits since 2018.
