MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Two additional players joined Neal Brown's signing class today giving West Virginia 20 players for its class of 2020.
 
A'varius Sparrow, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound running back from Orlando football powerhouse Jones High signed his letter today, as did Eddie Watkins, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound outside linebacker/defensive end from Evergreen, Alabama, who is projected to play bandit linebacker in Vic Koenning's Mountaineer defense.
 
Sparrow is relatively new to the game after spending the first two years of high school concentrating on wrestling. He played linebacker at Jones as a junior before switching to running back last fall and becoming one of the Sunshine State's most prolific rushers.
 
He gained 2,135 yards and scored 26 touchdowns in helping Jones to the Florida Class 5A state championship game and a No. 11 overall ranking in the state. Sparrow rushed for 111 yards and scored two touchdowns in Jones' title-game loss to Miami Northwestern, and he topped 200 yards or more in a game four times while producing an impressive 12 multiple touchdown games.
 
He is ranked No. 21 on the Orlando Sentinel's Central Florida Top 60 list and is considered a three-star prospect by recruiting services Rivals, 247Sports, ESPN.com.
 
Sparrow, one of 16 players signed to play college football from coach Elijah Williams' Jones program, had late recruiting interest from Rutgers, Central Florida and South Florida before giving West Virginia the nod.
 
According to the Sun Sentinel, Sparrow has been timed at 4.45 seconds in the 40-yard dash.
 
He also posted a 29-4 record as a wrestler.
 
Watkins, who originally pledged to Georgia Tech, reopened his recruitment last fall and whittled his list to West Virginia, Missouri and Arizona.
 
He picked WVU, much to the delight of the Mountaineers, who were seeking another athletic defender with some size. The Hillcrest High product produced 66 tackles and 10 sacks to earn first team Class 4 A Alabama all-state honors for coach Clinton Smith. 
 
The scouting service 247Sports has Watkins rated No. 57 among defensive ends and a three-star prospect. He is considered a top-50 prospect in the state of Alabama by 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN.com.
 
In December, Brown announced an 18-player haul equally distributed among offensive and defensive players and comprising 10 different states and two foreign countries. Five – cornerback Jairo Faverus, quarterback Garrett Greene, defensive back Jackie Matthews, defensive lineman Quay Mays and wide receiver Reese Smith – are already enrolled in school.   
 
Brown also managed to ink the top two college prospects in West Virginia this year – Bluefield defensive end Sean Martin and Fairmont Senior offensive lineman Zach Frazier.
 
The additions of Sparrow and Watkins boost West Virginia to No. 28 in the latest Rivals.com recruiting rankings. 247Sports.com has the Mountaineers' class rated 37^th, while ESPN.com currently has West Virginia at No. 43.
 
From the Big 12, Oklahoma and Texas each signed top 10-rated classes, according to the experts.
 
This year's Gold-Blue Spring Game, presented by Encova, is scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 18, at 1 p.m. at Milan Puskar Stadium.
 
A complete spring football schedule is forthcoming.