Official Recruiting Thread II

[Heads22]

ISU pulls off one big recruiting surprise, keeping *** ATH Leonard Johnson after overtures from Ole Miss, USF, WVU and Michigan.

 

Also, **** WR Sedrick Johnson, a Texas A&M commit, is deciding between ISU and A&M. Locking him up would give us our second **** (woo).

[Heads22]

Johnson to ISU!!! Other schools that offered him included Texas A&M, Michigan, LSU and Florida. Jesus. That's a bit of a victory for us.

[whitesoxfan101]

Ex-Maryland assistant Mike Locksley who's now an asst at Illinois. He essentially rules over the DC area these days. I read an article the other day that says Illinois is more popular in some high schools (Dunbar for example) than Maryland.

 

Locksley is a beloved figure in the District of Columbia, and more specifically, Dunbar is a great program and Locks is best friends with their head coach. Disch is the reason for a lot of Florida kids (especially Jacksonville), Zook has the Ohio connections, it's a nice system.

 

And NIU signed a much better class overall than I expected, I have to give Coach Kill credit, he pulled out all the stops and got people from all over the place.

Edited February 6, 2008 by whitesoxfan101

[chimpy2121]

Haha, Star Jackson hasn't signed his LOI with Satan yet and might be looking at Michigan now.

 

Eh, scratch that...I can't believe they got the number 1 class and why so many people buy into Satans bulls***.

Edited February 6, 2008 by chimpy2121

[RockRaines]

So with all of the bucks loi's in by 11am today, with exception of our last target, I'm very pleased with our class despite not having a ton of schollies to hand out. My favs: the #1 and #2 inside linebackers in sweat and sabino. Tress has proven over and over how dominant he is at developing stud lb's.

 

 

However, our best recruiting win was getting all of those juiniors back for one more run. I also think one of the sleepers of the class is lombard's goebel. He is a beast.

[Felix]

I've gotta be happy with what Brewster's done thus far with recruiting. Getting a top 20 ranked recruiting class (third in the big 10) after a 1-11 season is damn impressive, I can't wait to see what he can recruit to a program that's actually won a couple of games. Should be interesting to see whether he can get these guys to perform come Saturday's in the fall though, I'm not sold on his in-game coaching ability yet.

 

Locking him up would give us our second **** (woo).

We got 7 4-stars (including Keanon Cooper, who was orally committed to Texas Tech last week but signed a LOI with the Gophers yesterday; gotta love recruiting...)

Edited February 6, 2008 by Felix

[RockRaines]

I am also impressed with minnys class, to out recruit ill is impressive. I wouldn't put them in the top 20 though, for total points yes, but for overall rank and quality, I would have them slightly outside the top 20. Scout puts emphasis on total numbers which hurts teams that have less schollies to give out. This is what moves up miami because they had 33 committs but only a 3.33 star avg. Great pull by minny though, in fact marqueis gray is going to give the big ten fits for the next 3 years at least, that kid is unreal.

[thedoctor]

I am also impressed with minnys class, to out recruit ill is impressive. I wouldn't put them in the top 20 though, for total points yes, but for overall rank and quality, I would have them slightly outside the top 20. Scout puts emphasis on total numbers which hurts teams that have less schollies to give out. This is what moves up miami because they had 33 committs but only a 3.33 star avg. Great pull by minny though, in fact marqueis gray is going to give the big ten fits for the next 3 years at least, that kid is unreal.

 

i think it is great that minnesota got the class it did and i'm happy that another big ten school is starting to recruit well. that is only good for a league that clearly needs more high-caliber players.

 

i'm also happy that brewster was able to pull of this class without any of the stupid and totally unfounded allegations we saw against zook and illinois last year. maybe people are getting the picture that a dynamic coach who has playing time to offer and can sell his vision of the program can pull kids away from teams that have historically been more successful. then again, maybe minnesota just didn't compete for kids against schools that piss and moan when kids don't choose their programs.

[Palehosefan]

UNC with the 30th ranked class now, but 15th in avg. star rating. UNC also picked up two top 100 recruit commits for next year. Wohoo for a future in football at UNC for the first time since Mack left.

[RockRaines]

i think it is great that minnesota got the class it did and i'm happy that another big ten school is starting to recruit well. that is only good for a league that clearly needs more high-caliber players.

 

i'm also happy that brewster was able to pull of this class without any of the stupid and totally unfounded allegations we saw against zook and illinois last year. maybe people are getting the picture that a dynamic coach who has playing time to offer and can sell his vision of the program can pull kids away from teams that have historically been more successful. then again, maybe minnesota just didn't compete for kids against schools that piss and moan when kids don't choose their programs.

You know i love Zook, but he had a rep as a snake oil salesman long before last year's recruiting class.

[CanOfCorn]

Deries Hodge is a no-go for the Illini...didn't qualify. Going to some Community College in Kansas.

[Felix]

I am also impressed with minnys class, to out recruit ill is impressive. I wouldn't put them in the top 20 though, for total points yes, but for overall rank and quality, I would have them slightly outside the top 20. Scout puts emphasis on total numbers which hurts teams that have less schollies to give out. This is what moves up miami because they had 33 committs but only a 3.33 star avg. Great pull by minny though, in fact marqueis gray is going to give the big ten fits for the next 3 years at least, that kid is unreal.

Yeah, in terms of quality, it's probably outside top 20 just off the fact that we didn't get a single 5-star recruit. Still, this class is being touted as the best Minnesota recruiting class since Lou Holtz back in 1984 (which isn't saying much, but still..)

 

I hope Gray gets redshirted next year to give him some time to get used to the system first. We've got so many options at QB (Adam Weber, Clint Brewster, David Pittman) that it'd be a shame to rush Gray into the starting job just to have him struggle. We aren't going to be competing near the top of the Big 10 next year anyway, so they might as well take their time with him. I do agree that he's going to be a VERY good QB for the Gophers in the upcoming years, and should be ready to lead us to the top of the Big 10 when TCF Bank Stadium opens in 2009 (yes, I'm being optimistic, but whatever.. I deserve it after putting up with our s*** team last year).

Edited February 7, 2008 by Felix

[thedoctor]

You know i love Zook, but he had a rep as a snake oil salesman long before last year's recruiting class.

 

i don't recall any allegations of zook cheating before last year.

[CanOfCorn]

Yeah, in terms of quality, it's probably outside top 20 just off the fact that we didn't get a single 5-star recruit. Still, this class is being touted as the best Minnesota recruiting class since Lou Holtz back in 1984 (which isn't saying much, but still..)

 

I hope Gray gets redshirted next year to give him some time to get used to the system first. We've got so many options at QB (Adam Weber, Clint Brewster, David Pittman) that it'd be a shame to rush Gray into the starting job just to have him struggle. We aren't going to be competing near the top of the Big 10 next year anyway, so they might as well take their time with him. I do agree that he's going to be a VERY good QB for the Gophers in the upcoming years, and should be ready to lead us to the top of the Big 10 when TCF Bank Stadium opens in 2009 (yes, I'm being optimistic, but whatever.. I deserve it after putting up with our s*** team last year).

 

Maybe Clint Brewster will transfer to Illinois once Gray gets his starting job!

 

[Jimbo's Drinker]

What happened with Sam Mcguffie?

[RockRaines]

i don't recall any allegations of zook cheating before last year.

The only allegations of cheating came from alot of ND fans (sorry guys) but his rep as being a i'll tell you anything recruiter who also tends to go after already committed players has been around for years. But hes a great recruiter, one of his teams already won a national title.

[RockRaines]

What happened with Sam Mcguffie?

Last I heard hes still undecided because of the latest push by Cal.

[farmteam]

So it appears pryor's dad told him not to sign and take an official visit to penn state. I'm not sure why he would do that when they are far back in third place at this point. Pryor appears to be the type of kid who doesn't want to dissapoint people so he will visit and once again choose between osu and um.

 

On a good note, orhian johnson committed to the bucks somewhat out of the blue.

 

Not a good note, I thought the Hoosiers were looking really good on him.

 

Oh well, here's hoping for Morgan Newton next year.

[Rex Hudler]

A few Wolverine recruiting notes...

 

McGuffie got a little cold feet at the altar, but this evening decided his first choice was the best one, not the sexy new girl that walked by. He signed with Big Blue.

 

Michigan "stole" 4-star OL Ricky Barnum from Florida, 4-star athlete Michael Shaw from Penn St and 3-star WR Roy Roundtree from Purdue. All signed with the Wolverines today.

 

As far as Pryor goes, I can see where his indecision is coming from. I believe all of his options are good ones for different reasons.

 

Mich - Offense fits, chance to play right away, solid relationship with RR, academics, Big House, tradition, blah blah blah

 

OSU - Program on top, chance to develop at a slower pace, which may or may not be better for him long term, relationships with incoming recruits, tradition, blah blah blah

 

Penn St - lure of staying "home" and playing for State U, respect for Joe Pa and the program, opportunity to play, dad thinks they should be considered, tradition, blah blah blah

 

Oregon - new kid on block, offense fits, unbelievable facilities, chance to get away from all the pressure and be himself, unknown intrigue (hasn't visited)

 

One could make an argument for all of the above. Given the fact that he had exactly 2 days between the end of football and basketball he hasn't had as much time as other kids. He also doesn't HAVE to decide right now. I do agree that he is the type that doesn't want to disappoint anyone and all of this is probably a bit overwhelming.

 

He'll do what's best for him at his own pace. I actually admire that.

[whitesoxfan101]

You know i love Zook, but he had a rep as a snake oil salesman long before last year's recruiting class.

 

There hasn't been a great recruiter who wasn't at least a bit of a snake oil salesmen. And I'm shocked all the ND fans who said Zook cheated last year aren't out saying Minnesota is cheating this year *rolls eyes*. I am not that suprised at what Minny did, Brewster is a great recruiter. The question is, will he the the Ron Zook at Illinois version of a great recruiter, or the Ed Orgeron at Ole Miss type, who great great players and doesn't know how to use them.

 

Oh, and random, but Illini RB signee Mikel LeShoure looks EXACTLY like Xzibit:

 

 

[whitesoxfan101]

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?...%2Fbreakingnews

 

Hart saga comes to an end: 'I made it up'

CHRIS GABEL

RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL

Posted: 2/6/2008

Modified: 2/6/2008

SPECIAL REPORT | Kevin Hart recruiting scandal

 

The Kevin Hart recruiting saga came to an abrupt end this afternoon when the Fernley offensive lineman admitted the entire process was a fraud.

 

“I wanted to play D-I ball more than anything. When I realized that wasn’t going to happen, I made up what I wanted to be reality,” read a statement sent out by Teri White, assistant superintendent of the Lyon County School District, on behalf of Hart. “I am sorry for disappointing and embarrassing my family, coaches, Fernley High School, the involved universities and reporters covering the story.”

 

Absolutely awesome. The kid is one messed up mother f***er, but what a great story.

[IlliniKrush]

What a dbag

[zenryan]

the zooker was shady at UF.

[RockRaines]

One could make an argument for all of the above. Given the fact that he had exactly 2 days between the end of football and basketball he hasn't had as much time as other kids. He also doesn't HAVE to decide right now. I do agree that he is the type that doesn't want to disappoint anyone and all of this is probably a bit overwhelming.

 

He'll do what's best for him at his own pace. I actually admire that.

I agree that would be a smart way to go about it, but if you look at several videos taken before and after his press conference, its clear he made up his mind and his dad told him to take another look at PSU. He even mumbled this sucks as he walked away from an interview. Basically he knew where he wanted to go and his dad MADE him go back to PSU. One of the rumors is that because Pryor doesnt live with his dad, the PSU folks have been over at his house selling him everyday the last couple of weeks.

[CanOfCorn]

the zooker was shady at UF.

 

Proof?