May 25—Even a holiday weekend yielded some recruiting news for the Lobos.
New Mexico received commitments from two transfers Saturday, with tight end Marcus Vinson and linebacker Ky’won McCray announcing their plans to play for the Lobos.
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UNM has now landed nine transfers since the end of spring practice.
A UTEP transfer, Vinson committed to UNM via a post on X. The 6-foot-4, 253-pound junior caught 12 passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns over 12 games last season; he has 15 career catches for 153 yards and three touchdowns in two seasons at the FBS level.
Before that, Vinson spent his freshman year at Kilgore (Texas) Community College, catching three passes for 28 yards on a team that won the Southwest Junior College Football Conference title.
The Duncanville, Texas native has one year of eligibility remaining.
Vinson’s addition helps bolster a tight end room that lost a projected starter in Keayen Nead, leaving only Dorian Thomas, Cade Keith and Aiden Valdez to finish out the remainder of spring practice. UNM also added Cal transfer tight end Simon Mapa in April, bringing the room to five ahead of fall camp.
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“We’re gonna have to add some pieces there, I think, in the offseason as well,” head coach Jason Eck said after practice April 12. ” … (But) I think all three of those guys have shown drastic improvement during spring ball — Dorian, Aiden and Cade Keith — which is what you want.”
A Jacksonville State transfer, McCray’s commitment was announced by UNM via a post on X. The 6-4, 200-pound senior made a career-high 66 total tackles with one sack and one interception over 14 games last season; he has 125 career tackles in three seasons at the FBS level.
McCray previously played at Independence (Kansas) Community College, where he recorded 17 tackles in the fall season of 2021. The Baltimore native has one year of eligibility remaining.
With Vinson and McCray now in the fold, UNM has added five defensive and four offensive transfers after losing 17 players in the spring portal. The other additions: — K Grant Glasgow (Montana) — LB Brett Karhu (Memphis) — DB Caleb Coleman (Texas State) — DB CJ Johnson (Auburn) — DB Chris Gant Jr. (North Texas) — QB Cole Welliver (UConn) — TE Simon Mapa (Cal)
