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GREENSBORO — Rod Broadway arrived at N.C. A&T one day after signing day last year.

It was too late for the new coach to recruit, so the Aggies added just three scholarship players to a team coming off a 1-10 season, biding their time.

This year was different.

This year there was time. This year there were 27 scholarships to offer. This year the staff could sell recruits on the improvements shown during a 5-6 season when A&T won the games that matter most: homecoming and the Aggie-Eagle Classic.

So this year a standing-room-only crowd of 70 invited guests gathered Wednesday night in a conference room to watch grainy game films of 18 high school players who signed national letters of intent to play for the Aggies next season.

A&T is still chasing "four or five" high school seniors, Broadway said. Add in a few transfers, and the coach said he'll use all 27 available scholarships.

That's luxurious, considering A&T finished last season with just 31 scholarship players. With 23 of them eligible to return, the Aggies could have 50 — out of a possible 63 allowed in the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision — on next season's roster.

Those numbers help.

The other numbers A&T pursued were simple: height and weight.

"One of the things we needed to do is get bigger, and we think we've helped ourselves." Broadway said. "But the thing with recruiting, it's all a crap-shoot. You never know. On paper it's a really good class. We feel like we filled a lot of our needs, but we'll find out in August exactly what we have."

What they have is size. Getting bigger and stronger on the offensive and defensive lines was a priority. So seven of the 18 players who signed Wednesday are linemen.

On offense, 6-foot-4, 325-pound Lashon Hudson of Savannah, Ga., is the biggest of a four-man group averaging 6-3 and 308 pounds. Assistant coach Keith Wagner told the crowd Hudson bench-presses 425 pounds.

The defensive line adds athletic ends Marquis Ragland and T.J. Terrell, and 275-pound tackle Marcus Raynor.

Another priority, Broadway said, was to build an academically solid class. A&T is still shaking off the effects of NCAA penalties for poor performance in the Academic Progress Rate — the reason scholarships and practice time were cut.

That led the Aggies to players such as Tony McRae, who ran the 100 meters in 10.7 seconds at the state track meet but also posted a 3.3 GPA at Scotland County.

"We don't anticipate any of these guys having to sit out," because of academics, Broadway said. "... Most of these guys are good students and class guys. Hopefully, they can all walk out of here in four years with a degree."

A&T added two quarterbacks to compete with junior Lewis Kindle, as well as a few receivers.

But there are no running backs in the class. A&T will go with 1,000-yard rusher Mike Mayhew, a senior, and backup tailbacks Dominique Drake and Ricky Lewis.

"With a lack of numbers, you can't overstock at one position," Broadway said. "You've got to fill your needs."

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com