Murray State head football coach Mitch Stewart got an early start to his 2017 recruiting class Wednesday with the addition of two junior college transfers, one of which was former Meridian High School standout Kenney Wooten.

Offensive lineman J.R. Burns of Northwest Mississippi Community College and Wooten, a defensive end out of Itawamba Community College, have chosen Murray State as the place where they will continue both their academic and athletic careers.

Wooten played in 19 games over two seasons for the Indians and helped them finish 19th in the final national rankings in 2016. The Meridian native and notched 31 total tackles as a sophomore and 18 as a freshman. Wooten had 5.5 sacks for ICC in 2016, dropping opposing quarterbacks for 46 yards of loss. He ended the year with 8.0 tackles-for-loss, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

Stewart will look to fill out the rest of his 2017 class on National Signing Day, which is scheduled for Feb. 1.

Burns, a 6-foot-2, 295-pound offensive lineman from Corinth who prepped at Corinth High School, played in 22 games with 20 starts at center over his career with the Rangers, helping them to a national title in 2015 and a sixth-place finish nationally in 2016. Prior to his sophomore season, Burns was named as a preseason All-American by College Football America and following the season was a second-team All-MACJC selection. He helped anchor a Northwest offensive line that averaged 340.5 yards and 30.1 points per game in 2016.