Mike Sanford has recruited around the country at his various college football coaching stops. The Western Kentucky coach had never focused on New Orleans, though, until this recruiting cycle.

Now Sanford says he wants to make the Crescent City a consistent stop on his staff’s annual search for prospects.

“I am all for recruiting New Orleans going forward,” Sanford said. “I’ll leave it at that. It was really good, a really good area.”

The Hilltoppers signed two New Orleans prospects Wednesday as they completed their 23-man Class of 2018.

Running back Garland LaFrance and wide receiver Anthony Spurlock both committed to WKU within the past two weeks and signed with the Toppers on National Signing Day. Graduate assistant Matthew Mitchell spearheaded WKU’s efforts in New Orleans.

The 2017 Hilltopper roster included just one Louisiana native, offensive tackle Jimmie Sims of New Orleans. He graduated, so WKU doesn’t feature any returning players from the state.

But as Sanford and his staff scoured the nation last month looking for prospects, they found LaFrance and Spurlock available in Louisiana. The Tops couldn’t pass up the chance to recruit two players with Power Five-conference talent, Sanford said.

Landing those two three-star recruits gives WKU a foothold in the city. Now a place that’s produced football stars like Marshall Faulk, Tyrann Mathieu, Aeneas Williams and the Manning family could be an area of emphases for the Hilltoppers in future classes.

“There are certain areas of the country a lot of people are recruiting and there are certain areas that are a little underrecruited,” Sanford said. “I’m pretty excited about New Orleans.”

Spurlock was a late pickup for WKU, announcing his commitment Monday night. He’d previously committed to Oregon State on Sept. 11 before decommitting Dec. 17, three days before the early signing period. Troy was also in the running for the 6-foot-1, 160-pound wideout.

Spurlock helped lead Edna Karr High School to back-to-back Class 4A Louisiana state championships. He was ranked as the No. 74 Class of 2018 prospect overall in Louisiana and the No. 272 wide receiver nationally.

Spurlock joins Russell Brown, Spencer Gaddis and Kawan Williams as wideouts in the Hilltoppers’ signing class.

LaFrance had a lively recruitment. The 5-10, 175-pound back committed June 24 to hometown Tulane, then decommitted July 31. Shortly after that, he announced a pledge Aug. 5 to Texas Tech before decommitting from the Red Raiders on Dec. 11.

Southern Mississippi was hot on LaFrance’s trail, and he made an official visit with the Golden Eagles on Jan. 19. Sanford’s staff convinced him to visit Bowling Green the following weekend, and he committed to WKU on Jan. 28 and signed Wednesday.

LaFrance played for New Orleans’ St. Augustine HS, the same program that produced Mathieu and Leonard Fournette. He rushed for 1,225 yards on 239 carries with 10 touchdowns and also added 207 receiving yards and 290 return yards.

LaFrance posted the fastest recorded shuttle time in the nation (3.82 seconds) at the 2017 Nike Opening Combine. The three-star recruit was ranked as the No. 51 prospect in Louisiana and No. 70 running back nationally.

LaFrance joins December signee Gino Appleberry as running backs who are joining the Topper program.

“He was just short of a 40-inch vertical (leap) as well,” Sanford said of LaFrance. “He’s a dynamic football player.”{&end}