**With National Signing Day approaching Wednesday, The Roost will continue introducing Coastal Carolina's 2011 football recruiting class one by one.**
Going into this recruiting season, safety was a position of priority for Coastal Carolina with defensive standout Dominique Davenport (six interceptions in 2010) and fellow ball hawk Keon Cunningham (eight career INTs) finishing their collegiate careers last fall.
And in Anthony Burton, a recruit from Northern High School in Durham, N.C., the Chanticleers are expected to add a key piece in addressing that need.
Burton, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound safety committed to CCU, finished his senior season at Northern with 78 tackles, eight interceptions (three returned for touchdowns) and seven tackles for loss.
"He's a big-play guy, and he's very passionate," Northern coach Anthony Sullivan said. "That's something that sets him apart from other guys at his position. He plays with a lot of heart, passion and emotion that you don't see much of from players today."
Burton also played receiver and a little quarterback in high school (21 catches for 396 yards and five touchdowns last season), but he is expected to focus on playing defense at CCU, Sullivan said.
"He thinks that he can really do a lot of things early there. There's some talk of him playing as a freshman, and that's something that weighed heavily on his decision as well," Sullivan said.
"... They definitely expressed that area of need and said he has the skillset to come in and see some [early] playing time should he do everything he needs to do between now and then. He's got to get up to speed with the speed of the game. That's the biggest difference."
According to Sullivan, Burton also had offers from Delaware, Appalachian State and Western Carolina. Delaware and Appalachian State finished ranked second and fourth, respectively, in the final Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS top-25 poll.
"He really liked the coaching staff, and knowing the coaching staff as I do, I think it's a great fit," Sullivan said of Burton choosing CCU. "They showed him a whole lot of attention, and he enjoyed his visit down there."
Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQgdMljYJGk
| Ryan Young, ryoung@thesunnews.com
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