2017 Recruiting thread

[General Mike]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Iowa offer 4* QB Jonathan Lewis out of NJ. He will visit this spring. Doubt we get him, but he looks like a good one.

Just committed to Rutgers.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by General Mike

Just committed to Rutgers.

Good for Rutgers. Hope that program turns around.

[Logan]

Texas A&M assistant goes on furious Twitter rant after losing one recruit, promptly loses another | For The Win

[HomerSimpson98]

fuck

[dawgfan]

Epic fail there by Moorehead. He's lucky he still has his job.

[mckerney]

It's always great to hear coaches that change jobs every two years lecture kids on loyalty.

[JonInMiddleGA]

And I thought an apology being needed from a coach who was basically spot on was a great microcosm of how f'ed up society has become.

Seems like the 2nd kid was already gone mentally anyway so {shrug} would have been a more appropriate response.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

And I thought an apology being needed from a coach who was basically spot on was a great microcosm of how f'ed up society has become.

Seems like the 2nd kid was already gone mentally anyway so {shrug} would have been a more appropriate response.

Assistant coaches very frequently LITERALLY leave jobs the day after recruits sign their freedom away. They're able to do that because they've already negotiated and accepted those jobs during the days when they are concurrently telling these kids how they will be there for them during their college careers. Fuck him.

[Solecismic]

I certainly get how frustrating it is to recruit kids. It's a crazy system and 18-year-olds make decisions for reasons that often have nothing to do with reality.

But when you sign on to coach major college football, and accept an incredible salary for that work, you have to make it your 24/7 focus and understand that these kids are your work and you had better embrace their unpredictability. The highs are incredible and the lows often defy reason. But you need to have the maturity to recognize this. I'd fire the guy on the spot.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Good for Rutgers. Hope that program turns around.

Meant to post this a few days ago. Thought you'd like hearing that all reports are that AJ Blazek has been killing it, both with recruiting and his attitude/coaching style with the current players. I remember you thinking he would be good for us so wanted to share.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Logan

Assistant coaches very frequently LITERALLY leave jobs the day after recruits sign their freedom away. They're able to do that because they've already negotiated and accepted those jobs during the days when they are concurrently telling these kids how they will be there for them during their college careers. Fuck him.

Yeah, some loyalty he showed to the kids he recruited to Virginia Tech when he jumped ship for College Station. At least he didn't have to sit out a year before he started coaching for A&M.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

I certainly get how frustrating it is to recruit kids. It's a crazy system and 18-year-olds make decisions for reasons that often have nothing to do with reality.

But when you sign on to coach major college football, and accept an incredible salary for that work, you have to make it your 24/7 focus and understand that these kids are your work and you had better embrace their unpredictability. The highs are incredible and the lows often defy reason. But you need to have the maturity to recognize this. I'd fire the guy on the spot.

The challenge is quite often many of these college assistants that can relate well to high level recruits, do so because they are on the same emotional level as the kids. These situations end spectacularly, every time.(see: Blake, John and Robinson, Trevarius as great examples)

The staffs that truly "get it" understand these are kids and that the coaches job is to mentor and mature the young men.

That's why it hurts me emotionally to see great men, like a Mark Richt, get ran off when they are doing things the right way. I get it, its a meritocracy and it is win or go home but it still hurts.

This is one area where for all of his weirdness I give Jim Harbaugh a lot of credit. He is a father figure and a role model and expects his coaches to be the same. In stark contrast to an Urban Meyer who is a friend and buddy. Both are "players coaches" just in a very different way.

Another way of saying it much more eloquently was the way Clemson's director of construction (who left the same position at Alabama to come to Clemson) Thad Turnipseed told me, "The best coaches lead by authority and fear. Whether that is Saban, where a player fears his wrath if he mis-steps or Swinney where a player fears disappointing him, they have to fear the head man. When they consider him a friend its going south, quickly and spectacularly."

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Logan

Assistant coaches very frequently LITERALLY leave jobs the day after recruits sign their freedom away. They're able to do that because they've already negotiated and accepted those jobs during the days when they are concurrently telling these kids how they will be there for them during their college careers. Fuck him.

I'm not so much on the reaction/initial kid here as I am the faux outrage by the wide receiver, which seems to be what turned this into a story.

He's a kid who was "committed", yet showed up for another school's camp wearing their gloves. It's pretty obvious he was about as committed as Nick Young was to his girlfriend/fiancee/whatever. That recruit -- the 2nd one, not the first one -- is so obviously full of shit & playing this for drama so he can have 15 minutes or seem like some sort of big shot that the biggest f.u. I see in the story is reserved for him.

[bhlloy]

Thad Turnipseed is not a real name, surely?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Thad Turnipseed is not a real name, surely?

I'm not CUTiger, but I can assure you that it's very real.

It's also a fairly famous name in the state of South Carolina -- though he doesn't appear to be directly/closely related -- as it a shared surname with a long-time politician and (eventually) civil rights advocate.

As of 2000 census, it was the 11,978th most common surname in the U.S., with nearly 2,400 known examples.

edit to add: By way of comparsion, my own last name is 3,484th with 9,382 instances.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'm not so much on the reaction/initial kid here as I am the faux outrage by the wide receiver, which seems to be what turned this into a story.

He's a kid who was "committed", yet showed up for another school's camp wearing their gloves. It's pretty obvious he was about as committed as Nick Young was to his girlfriend/fiancee/whatever. That recruit -- the 2nd one, not the first one -- is so obviously full of shit & playing this for drama so he can have 15 minutes or seem like some sort of big shot that the biggest f.u. I see in the story is reserved for him.

The rivals guys have been saying for weeks he was jumping ship, just not one knew when.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Thad Turnipseed is not a real name, surely?

The man behind Nick Saban and now Dabo Swinney

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Yea, Martin. Corrected.
Tee Higgins is another 17 4 star WR, named after Tee Martin, coincidentally enough, who was a former Vol commit that withdrew his pledge after receiving a Clemson offer.

And it's very fair to say, Martin wasn't a focus in Rogers life but he wasn't exactly estranged either.

#WRU

[dawgfan]

Washington is off to a very good start for 2017. They got 4* Safety Brandon McKinney this weekend which puts them at 11 so far with an average rating of 3.45, behind only Stanford & UCLA at this point. Huskies have a limited number of rides this year and will likely take between 17-19, so Petersen is well on his way to filling up the class.

[MrBug708]

How's the echols recruitment going? I know Arizona is starting to think he is theirs

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

How's the echols recruitment going? I know Arizona is starting to think he is theirs

He's probably ending up wherever he visits last. Might not be room for him at the UW anyway by the time he's ready to take all his visits.

[MrBug708]

Echols decommits after the fallout from Lars basically screwing the kid over. But when you play that recruiting game, you can get burned.

[MrBug708]

The Hunter Echols show heads to USC after UCLA didn't send him an offer letter.

Wonder how soon until his next Top 10 comes out?

[Logan]

Just saw that Rivals put out their top 100 for 2018 and my immediate takeaway was that both Asante Samuel and Patrick Surtain have kids by their same name who are stud DB prospects.

Continuing to feel damn old.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Logan

Just saw that Rivals put out their top 100 for 2018 and my immediate takeaway was that both Asante Samuel and Patrick Surtain have kids by their same name who are stud DB prospects.

Continuing to feel damn old.

Trevor Lawrence looks like the kid off dazes and confused and plays like Peyton Manning.

Best HS QB I've ever watched.

Too bad he will end up in Athens.

[Butter]

Don't worry, CU... we'll be able to watch Hunter Johnson through our tears. Maybe not as good, but still pretty good.

[tarcone]

Iowa RB commit Eno Benjamin out of Texas has been an absolute dream come true for Iowa. He is a recruiting animal. He has done more getting kids to commit to the 17. It is incredible what he has done.
This kid will go down in Iowa history as one the most popular players ever. He has done that much for this recruiting class.

[CU Tiger]

5* and Nations' #1 CB AJ Terrell will be announcing his college choice in a video released later today.

Final 3 are South Carolina, Clemson and Florida

[MrBug708]

Interesting that Rivals has him ranked so high. He seems like a top 15 type kid who will probably play safety anyways

[Butter]

Pretty sure Clemson is counting on him coming in and playing corner pretty much right away.

I mean, if he comes to Clemson that is.

Whew, that was a close one.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Interesting that Rivals has him ranked so high. He seems like a top 15 type kid who will probably play safety anyways

Number 1 CB not #1 overall

[MrBug708]

I know. Rivals seems to be the outlier here. When espn ranks a South kid low, I'm generally a little surprised

[CU Tiger]

Gotcha. I honestly dont even look at ESPN for recruiting.
And since I am legally not allowed to comment on scout, well...

[CraigSca]

Oops!

Recruit Aubrey Solomon decommits after Michigan Wolverines thank him for attending an event he didn't attend

Also interesting to hear Michigan has lost 3 commits in the past two days. Admittedly, I'm not up on the other stories, so I'm not sure why.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by CraigSca

Oops!

Recruit Aubrey Solomon decommits after Michigan Wolverines thank him for attending an event he didn't attend

Also interesting to hear Michigan has lost 3 commits in the past two days. Admittedly, I'm not up on the other stories, so I'm not sure why.

"I know your school is a perfect match for the academics I seek and that you're up-and-coming on the football side with terrific coaching But I've decided to ignore those facts and what's best for my future because the aid to your administrative assistant had confused identity on a postcard."

I think Michigan is better off

[CU Tiger]

uh no.
He was sent a letter that specifically said thanks for coming to our cook out and or bringing your mom. But he wasn't there. That's pretty bad. He wasn't just a random recruit he was a commit. That his coach, who is signing on to be dad #2 for 3-5 years, doesnt know him enough to know he wasnt there...

That shows a lack of attention to detail and a lack of professionalism to me.

Its been laughed about quite a bit today. But maybe thats what he gets for his SE camp swing...Southern Hospitality is a thing and if you are going to recruit the SE you better get it, and get it right.

[MrBug708]

While this is a mistake and head coaches have to own mistakes their staffs make, does anyone really think a letter sent in error is gonna prevent anyone who really wants to be there from going to that school? This is the easiest thing in the world to laugh off. In this specific situation, the kid committed to Michigan behind his mom's back while mom has long wanted him at hometown Georgia, so this letter is nothing more than an excuse for the mom to make an intra-family power play and seize control of his recruitment. She was just waiting for an excuse to do so, whether it was gonna be this letter or some other perceived slight conjured from nothing.

[tarcone]

Whatever it takes for UM to stumble, Im all for it.

Who is more overrated this season? Michigan or Tennessee?

[Atocep]

One of the most mentioned things I see with recruits now is "feeling like a priority". Incredible amounts of money goes into making each player feel like they're a top target and a priority in their class. The kids love the attention.

So if you really feel like that's the case and then you receive a letter thanking you for attending something you didn't attend and they spell your first and last name wrong in the letter you're probably going to come to the crushing realization that you're not a priority. You're just another kid they're trying to get in this class.

Recruiting isn't about rational, well thought out decisions all of the time. It's about emotional, borderline knee-jerk reactions. This isn't surprising and says more about recruiting in general than the player.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Atocep

One of the most mentioned things I see with recruits now is "feeling like a priority". Incredible amounts of money goes into making each player feel like they're a top target and a priority in their class. The kids love the attention.

So if you really feel like that's the case and then you receive a letter thanking you for attending something you didn't attend and they spell your first and last name wrong in the letter you're probably going to come to the crushing realization that you're not a priority. You're just another kid they're trying to get in this class.

I can absolutely tell you that the combination of spelling both names wrong & getting the event attendance wrong would have played very poorly with my own not-an-athlete child during his college decision making phase. The margin between schools for even plain ol' student is often quite narrow, something like this could very easily be an eliminator IMO. One of the most astute things we heard from anyone during the process was an advisor who noted that the value of feeling genuinely wanted by a school should never be underestimated. And for anyone with multiple offers, the offer alone really doesn't stand out as "we want you", I can see how especially for the heavily recruited that alone is simply "we want bodies, you might be one of them".

In this particular case, it's certainly possible that a meddling mom successfully used this as leverage to sway her son but I can also assure you that it could easily be enough with a student (or student-athlete) without a parent saying a word.

[Logan]

Top 50ish recruit Drew Singleton tore his ACL. I know CU Tiger and the Michigan guys are following this closely.

[tarcone]

Iowa picked up a commit from Beau Corrales. He is a 6'4" 205 lb WR out of Texas.

That makes 7 recruits out of Texas fir tis class

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Logan

Top 50ish recruit Drew Singleton tore his ACL. I know CU Tiger and the Michigan guys are following this closely.

He's Michigan bound, but hate it for the kid!

[dawgfan]

Tough week on the field for Washington with their first loss, but a better one on the recruiting trail as they land 4* CB Elijah Molden and 4* OL Henry Bainivalu. Molden was a Duck legacy (son of Alex Molden) and with his commitment, Washington has gotten the top 2 prospects out of the state of Oregon this year (4* DT Marlon Tuipulotu being the other). Bainivalu is a local kid from nearby Skyline H.S.

Per Scout.com ratings, this gives then ten 4* commits out of a class of 15.

[Eaglesfan27]

It looks like USC has flipped QB Jack Sears which was desperately needed with Max Browne transferring out.

[MrBug708]

Greg Rodgers deciding this week

[CU Tiger]

It's too early to start a2018 thread but...

Rivals #1 overall and#1 QB for 2018, Trevor Lawrence announces his Clemson commitment tonight via Twitter.

This morning the 2014 #1qb , who was from ga graduated inot only 3 years, this evening the 2018 #1 QB, also from ga announces his intent to follow...

At no point in my life have my Tigers recruited at this level.... its is truly unbelievable.

[AnalBumCover]

Reverse Flash� on Twitter: "I am officially committed to..."

[MrBug708]

Former UCLA verbal commit...haha

Was hoping for Holmes tomorrow, but looks like mom is getting her way.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Former UCLA verbal commit...haha

Was hoping for Holmes tomorrow, but looks like mom is getting her way.

More like he is making the smart move. One team wins Rose Bowls, the other rents the Rose Bowl