Miami's Randy Charlton caps off UCF's early class

UCF's early signing class got a big-time boost on Friday.

Randy Charlton, a three-star defensive end from Miami (Fla.) Southridge, signed a National Letter of Intent with the Knights to become Josh Heupel's 13th official signee.

The move came as a surprise as Charlton had not been previously linked with UCF. At a morning ceremony at his high school on Wednesday, Charlton committed to FIU only to later tweet that he would be flipping to Indiana. But nothing was officially signed.

UCF defensive coordinator Randy Shannon and cornerbacks coach Corey Bell already had a relationship with Charlton and made it known he had a spot in Orlando should he want to consider another option. He did.

Syracuse was also prominently in the mix as that's where he visited this past weekend. Earlier offers included Temple, Iowa State, Mississippi State, Illinois, Nebraska, USF, Baylor, Rutgers, Michigan State and Maryland.

Charlton is also expected to be a January enrollee. In all, the Knights should have six players enrolling next semester: Charlton, linebacker Eriq Gilyard, defensive back Jermaine McMillian, tight end Chris Deloach and offensive linemen Trevor Elbert and Josh McMullen.