College Football Recruiting (2009 Class)

[Logan]

RB De'Antwan Williams is taking his first official to Rutgers this weekend. It's the only visit he has set in stone right now, as he cancelled a trip to Alabama and is trying to reschedule a WVU visit. Apparently Alabama was his leader but they grabbed a RB commit, and we had backed off him earlier after a verbal from Desmond Scott who is now heading to Duke. I can't help but hope we land him, as we don't have a RB verbal yet for 2009, and his exact replica size to Ray Rice gets me excited.

[DeToxRox]

Sak - What is PSU going to do if Newsome goes to VT? It sounds like high probability he goes there, and Boyd is showing a lot of interest in Ohio State and Virginia.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

Penn State's backup quarterback Pat Devlin told the team yesterday that he is transferring. That makes getting a QB in this class imperative for Penn State. If they don't get one, Daryl Clark will be the only scholarship QB on the roster after the Rose Bowl.

Don't mind if I hope this poor QB situation pushes Justin Brown to Rutgers.

[Dr. Sak]

I really don't know what they will do. They have put their eggs in one basket a bunch of times the past few years and lost.

[DeToxRox]

Michigan picks up their 21st commitment in 4* WR/LB Cameron Gordon. He was a late offer because he wanted to play WR and UM wanted him at LB, but with the need of a big WR, UM promised he can start at WR but D is also possible.

A nice get from the state.

Plus, his QB this year was 2010 priority Devin Gardner.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Logan

Don't mind if I hope this poor QB situation pushes Justin Brown to Rutgers.

Well if he wanted to play early...I think Penn State might be more attractive now.

[mckerney]

The in home visit for Watkins has been pushed backed from today to monday, though it is still likely he'll commit to Minnesota when Ron Lee makes it out to Michigan.

[Blade6119]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Taylor Lewan is visiting Michigan this weekend. Outside of Jelani Jenkins, he is the commit I want most, but it still could be Minny's to lose. Should be interesting to see what happens.

Could be nothing, but lewan said he wants to visit Mizzou now as well. I dont think we have a shot, and my friend's little brother on the Chapparal football team with him says its mostly a 2 horse race, but its still worth noting.

[MJ4H]

4 star DE Leon Mackey recently said chances of him going to Arkansas are 10 out of 10 and if he had to choose tomorrow, it would be Arkansas. Remains uncommitted, but I like the sounds of that. Big area of need for the remainder of our class, so that would be a big time commit for us. The caliber of players we have lined up for the rest of the class could push this class into the top 10. Very exciting.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I mentioned this in the HS football dynasty thread but ... Stanford offered QB Connor Shaw (Flowery Branch (GA) HS) yesterday morning. His only other major offer had been from Georgia Tech where his brother Jaybo Shaw is currently a freshman. He's a coach's son who will lead his team into a state championship game this afternoon. His teammate DE Izaan Cross has as many as 20 offers with Georgia Tech & Clemson among the leaders

Also, after winning a state championship last night, OL Dallas Lee (6'4" 285 Buford (GA) HS) makes his official visit to UGA this weekend, following up on an early commit.

[DeToxRox]

Rumor is Taylor Lewan committed to Michigan on his visit today, according to fellow commit Mike Jones who also visited.

[DeToxRox]

Dola, one of the UM rivals guy is saying Lewan did in fact commit but he is going to confirm with his family.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Logan

RB De'Antwan Williams is taking his first official to Rutgers this weekend. It's the only visit he has set in stone right now, as he cancelled a trip to Alabama and is trying to reschedule a WVU visit. Apparently Alabama was his leader but they grabbed a RB commit, and we had backed off him earlier after a verbal from Desmond Scott who is now heading to Duke. I can't help but hope we land him, as we don't have a RB verbal yet for 2009, and his exact replica size to Ray Rice gets me excited.

Committed and will not take anymore visits. A much-needed get after LB/S Gerald Hodges decommitted and will go to PSU.

[timmynausea]

Originally Posted by Logan

Committed and will not take anymore visits. A much-needed get after LB/S Gerald Hodges decommitted and will go to PSU.

I'd heard grades could be an issue for Williams, which could be why Alabama went another route and WVU seemed to favor Tavon Austin of the uncommitted backs. You heard anything about that?

[Logan]

Definitely possible, I'm sure we'll hear more in the next couple days. We lost our top RB recruit this year to academics (and he committed very early which made it seem worse) so another one would be rough.

[DeToxRox]

Mike Ferrell is saying Newsome to PSU with a Tuesday announcement.

He is not ready to play right away, but if he can red shirt, he can be a player that's for sure. With PSU's lack of schollie QB's though, it may not happen.

[DeToxRox]

Not surprising but rumor is 5* LB Jelani Jenkins commited to Florida this weekend.

If it's true, at least he didn't head to Penn State. This kid is a beast.

[SnDvls]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Dola, one of the UM rivals guy is saying Lewan did in fact commit but he is going to confirm with his family.

it's true. good get for UM...has to be a slap in the face to Minn considering his dad played there. He was a must get for ASU since our OL is so bad guess now ASU needs to get in on some other guys and quick.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by SnDvls

it's true. good get for UM...has to be a slap in the face to Minn considering his dad played there. He was a must get for ASU since our OL is so bad guess now ASU needs to get in on some other guys and quick.

Would have been great to have him, but not at all surprised he chose Michigan. With Lewan going to Michigan the Gophers added 6-7 350 JUCO tackle Jeff Willis for the final offensive line spot of this class. Willis had an offer from Alabama, which is how new offensive line coach Tim Davis knew about him after he'd just been an administrative assitaint for the Tide. He'll probably start at right tackle next year.

Willis will be more of an instant impact guy which is really needed, but it does suck to miss out on a guy with Lewan's potential. The offensive line is undersized for the current offense with all the current offensive linemen having been recruited by Mason for the zone blocking scheme. Hopefully adding Willis and transfer Matt Carufel being eligible will provide a much needed boost on the line next year. In 2010 Minnesota is going to have to get local OT Jimmy Gjere and hopefully convince Henderson to stay at home.

Could be some other commits coming this week. Kenneth Watkins seems like he could commit to Minnesota tomorrow, and I believe Bryant Allen is commiting this wednesday and is likely down to Missouri and Minnesota.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Mike Ferrell is saying Newsome to PSU with a Tuesday announcement.

He is not ready to play right away, but if he can red shirt, he can be a player that's for sure. With PSU's lack of schollie QB's though, it may not happen.

Clark will be back next year, barring a injury on him they could redshirt Newsome next season.

[mckerney]

Looks like Watkins may have committed. He's listed on Minnesota's commit list on rivals, though I haven't seen any confirmation of it yet. Nice to add another DB out of Michigan, hopefully his cousin Jeremy Gainer is coming too, though it looks like he'll decide between Minnesota and MSU.

Hopefully they can add him also add Taikwon Paige, Anothony Leon, and Michael Carter to round out DBs in this class.

[mckerney]

Confirmation on Watkins.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by mckerney

Looks like Watkins may have committed. He's listed on Minnesota's commit list on rivals, though I haven't seen any confirmation of it yet. Nice to add another DB out of Michigan, hopefully his cousin Jeremy Gainer is coming too, though it looks like he'll decide between Minnesota and MSU.

Hopefully they can add him also add Taikwon Paige, Anothony Leon, and Michael Carter to round out DBs in this class.

Good get if you get Gainer.

For some reason Michigan never pursued him very hard, but he looks like a player.

As far as Michigan goes, some rumblings 4* OG Quinton Washington will commit to UM at the AA Bowl, which would give us 3 OL this class, plus 6 OL last class, all of which red shirted.

JUCO DE Pernell McPhee may commit to UM as well, but who knows how that'll work as far as if he will be able to enroll or not.

Then that'd leave Will Campbell and probably a safety or DB.

Technichally Michigan can sign 27 guys, and use two early enrollees as part of last years class, so we'll see how that shakes out.

[CU Tiger]

Jonathan Meeks commits to Clemson on his official visit yesterday.
He is not Loston or Holloman who were both Tiger commits prior to Bowden's resignation but he will be a nice addition coming from a prep school

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Good get if you get Gainer.

For some reason Michigan never pursued him very hard, but he looks like a player.

Word is he's an MSU lean. Getting Watkins will help, but they're no longer a package deal.

[DeToxRox]

Well Jelani Jenkins didn't commit to UF apparently, which still makes it an open race. I just hope he comes to campus and we see what happens.

JUCO DE Pernell McPhee is announcing Wednesday. Allegedly he has met the requirements to actually get in to school. This would be huge because we need kids to play asap.

[Blade6119]

ASU snagged three solid commits this past weekened, including 4 star RB Jamal Miles. They also added a JC CB who clocked a 4.27 forty and a pretty good sleeper DT from the centennial powerhouse program in cali. In related news, Kamonte Bateman, a 4 star WR from last years class that didnt qualify, has achieved necessary scores and will enroll next month.

Mizzou had most of their committed prospects out to visit, but also had Wingo in town and he called the trip "perfect." But from what ive noticed, he gushes about where ever he went last.

[Eaglesfan27]

After reading Devon Kennard's comments about his official visit to USC this past weekend, I feel very good about the chances that he will be a Trojan.

Edit to add: Barkley visited this weekend and all indications are that he will have everything in place to enroll early in January of 09 at USC.

[bhlloy]

We'll see. Kennard enjoyed his visit, but I'm still not comfortable about Texas getting the last word. I'd still say it's only a 50-50 chance he ends up at SC over the Longhorns.

The bigger news for me from this weekend was Morell Presley reaffirming his commitment to USC. Losing him to UCLA would have been devastating, but it seems like that crisis has been averted and he might end up enrolling with Barkley in January still...

[Grammaticus]

Former Auburn pledge, RB Rodney Scott made a verbal commit to Ole Miss yesterday.

"After it seemed he was going to stay close to home and play for South Florida, running back Rodney Scott committed to Ole Miss during his official visit this past weekend, ESPN's JC Shurburtt reports.
The 5-foot-9, 190-pounder formerly was committed to Auburn before the news of former head coach Tommy Tuberville's departure.

He told the Clarion-Ledger, "My weekend visit went really well and I was just ready to make a decision. Ole Miss is a team that can really run the ball and the coaches had a great plan for how they want to use me."

Looks like good fuel for the Wild Rebel.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

If it's true, at least he didn't head to Penn State. This kid is a beast.

He has an official set up for Jan 16th to visit up at Penn State.

[Dr. Sak]

Newsome committed to Penn State today.

[MrBug708]

So a 4 win UCLA team just took the top ranked TE and 5 star player, Morrell Presley, away from USC. The monopoly might not be over, but that certainly is impressive. He had been a commit to USC since before his junior year

[Eaglesfan27]

I was wondering how long it would take you to post this since it broke yesterday. It is somewhat impressive, but he is only a 4 star player (and number 3 TE) in some rating systems and he seemed worried about Blake Ayles being too hard to beat out. He'll see the field 2 years earlier at UCLA than he ever would have at USC.

[MJ4H]

I think Gabe Lynn committed to OU today.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I was wondering how long it would take you to post this since it broke yesterday. It is somewhat impressive, but he is only a 4 star player (and number 3 TE) in some rating systems and he seemed worried about Blake Ayles being too hard to beat out. He'll see the field 2 years earlier at UCLA than he ever would have at USC.

I forgot to post it here. But that is about the response I expected from USC fans Blake Ayles and Presley are two totally different types of TE's however. Ayles is more of a possession guy while Presley can stretch the defenses better with his athleticism

Better get your reasoning for Flournoy decommiting ready too!

[bhlloy]

I don't 100% agree with EF27 here. Pressley is exactly the type of big WR/athletic TE that SC needs (although I was always surprised he was coming here with Ayles and Ellison already on the roster) Big loss IMO - as long as Alshon Jeffrey stays solid, it won't be a class breaker, but it hurts to see him go across town.

[Dr. Sak]

From what I am hearing, there is a better than 50% chance that Jelani Jenkins is going to Penn State.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

I think Sheldon Richardson committed to OU today.

You have a link for that? None of the major insider boards (Scout and Rivals) have any information showing he's switched from Mizzou.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

You have a link for that? None of the major insider boards (Scout and Rivals) have any information showing he's switched from Mizzou.

Plus everything I've read from him he's said that he's not making a decision until signing day.


Have you heard anything on Bryant Allen? He's announcing his decision tonight and it looks like it's down to Kansas, Missouri, and Minnesota.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Hazelton's father has said that his son is down to Rutgers and Mizzou. It's a classic friends vs. family recruiting battle. Hazelton knows several kids in the Mizzou program including his best friend, but Rutgers is closer to family. Said he should decide in the next week or two.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by mckerney

Have you heard anything on Bryant Allen? He's announcing his decision tonight and it looks like it's down to Kansas, Missouri, and Minnesota.

Coach Pinkel and new OC Yost were at his house last night for 3 hours. They reiterated that he could play basketball and made their last minute sell. We'll see what happens.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Coach Pinkel and new OC Yost were at his house last night for 3 hours. They reiterated that he could play basketball and made their last minute sell. We'll see what happens.

I haven't seen much to indicate a lean anywhere either, and it seems like he'd have the option to play basketball at all 3 schools he's considering.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Hazelton's father has said that his son is down to Rutgers and Mizzou. It's a classic friends vs. family recruiting battle. Hazelton knows several kids in the Mizzou program including his best friend, but Rutgers is closer to family. Said he should decide in the next week or two.

Hopefully he learns from the last time he went against his father and chose a school based on "his friends" and the location.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by mckerney

I haven't seen much to indicate a lean anywhere either, and it seems like he'd have the option to play basketball at all 3 schools he's considering.

Coach Pinkel is pretty stingy about allowing kids to play a second sport. He prefers that they stick to one sport. If Pinkel says you can play a second sport, it's a pretty good sign that he want that kid pretty badly and is willing to ignore his personal preference in that situation.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

Hopefully he learns from the last time he went against his father and chose a school based on "his friends" and the location.

More often than not, I think the 'family' school is the more likely choice by a kid, but there are surprises here and there.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

More often than not, I think the 'family' school is the more likely choice by a kid, but there are surprises here and there.

Not in this case.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

I don't 100% agree with EF27 here. Pressley is exactly the type of big WR/athletic TE that SC needs (although I was always surprised he was coming here with Ayles and Ellison already on the roster) Big loss IMO - as long as Alshon Jeffrey stays solid, it won't be a class breaker, but it hurts to see him go across town.

I didn't say it didn't hurt or that I wasn't disappointed. I was just pointing out it isn't some miracle for Slick Rick, and that Morrell isn't some consensus #1 super stud TE. He had good depth chart reasons for de-committing and also family ties to UCLA.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

I'm very worried about Randall Carroll and Flournoy decommitting (not to UCLA though.) I think the uncertainty at OC is hurting USC right now, and teams are negatively recruiting against that area.

[MJ4H]

Ugh, no. I was thinking Gabe Lynn and typed Sheldon Richardson. Weird brain cramp. Plus it turns out the source I was using was saying "expected" to commit to OU without the expected part. Sorry for the mislead.