Commit Nick Dennis Talks Navarro Trio, Coach Dykes and Coaching Aspirations
Monday night was huge for the new SMU coaching staff as they locked down not one, not two, but three talented JUCO prospects from Navarro College. With less than 24 hours left before the very first early National Signing Day kicks off, SMU only has three commits confirmed to sign early—but the addition of the Navarro Trio allows SMU to hit the 6-8 signee mark that new head coach Sonny Dykes said he was aiming for when he first got onto the Hilltop.
The Mustangs hosted offensive linemen Nick Dennis, who plays center for the Bulldogs, and Levon Livingston, who plays tackle, as well as safety Trevor Denbow.
The most sought-after of the three commits is Livingston. The Corsicana native has offers from TCU, Texas, Nebraska and more, so his commitment to SMU surprised even his own teammates.
"I was asking Levon the whole weekend, ‘Are you really going to go here?’ because he has a ton of power five offers and the whole time he was like, ‘Yes, really,’ Nick Dennis said. "We were all playing basketball and joking around like, ‘ok, if I make this shot we all have to commit to SMU today.’ So we all talked about it, but we each made our own separate decisions. It is nice that we’ll have familiar faces when we get there, it’s a plus factor.”
While Livingston's commitment was a surprise, Dennis's was even more of a surprise as the former Midland Lee center was committed to SMU's AAC opponent ECU prior to his official visit.
"I had an offer from SMU but I didn’t post about it because I was committed to ECU," Dennis said. "When I got to campus is when I decided I would flip. I didn’t really talk to SMU much during the season so they never saw me play really but I went to camp at TCU and Coach Dykes saw me there. I initially turned down the offer to come visit this weekend but then I called coach back and he said, ‘hell yeah, get your ass up here,’ so I packed up my dorm at Navarro and headed right that way to Dallas.”
Dennis has major coaching aspirations that he hopes to achieve, starting by building a relationship with his new head coach. Dykes is a Midland native, his father coached at Dennis's alma mater Midland Lee and with a coaching tree as expansive as Dykes' he figured SMU would be his best shot at achieving his goals.
"I know that Coach Dykes will take care of me and help me become a successful offensive lineman coach—more so than the ECU staff could’ve helped me," Dennis said. "I visited a lot of schools and Coach Dykes was one of the most laid-back guys. He didn’t push me or bash other schools, he just gave facts and every question I asked he had an answer for."
Dennis, Denbow and Livingston all plan on signing with SMU on Wednesday, however Denbow has yet to make his official commitment announcement on Twitter despite changing his profile picture to one in an SMU uniform. Denbow also held offers from Tulsa and Nebraska.
All three players are eligible and will enroll for the January semester on the Hilltop.