opinion about the class

[Stallion]

It doesn't take long to quickly compile a list of Top Texas Jucos who were generally very very highly recruited out of high school-at least 8 of these guys were Texas Top 100:

Malcolm Williams(UT) TCU
James Cleveland(Iowa) UH
Marquis Franklin(Texas Top 100) Baylor
Rodney Bradley(SMU) Hawaii
Justin Jourdan (UH) Southern Miss
Roy Watts(UT) UH
Phillip Blake (UH) Baylor
Anthony Morgan (Baylor) Oklahoma St
Zhamel Thomas (LSU) Arkansas
Marquis Frazier (4 Star-didn't qualify) SMU
CJ Parish (multiple BCS offers-didn't qualify) Arizona
Rynn Clark (Missouri, K-State others-didn't qualify) SMU
Jeremy Sanders (Baylor) Baylor


And these were just guys I quickly recognized who attended Texas JUCOs. There would be plenty of others.

[Stallion]

Oh and you are absolutely wrong about how TCU built their program. First of all Sulliven had already started the TCU rebuilding with quality recruits-maybe not a bunch of Top 100s but quality. Then Franchione came in and tore it up in recruiting from the word go -he had some of the best non-BCS recruiting classes there have been-ever. The foundation of TCU's turnaround. Don't listen to all these TCU recruitniks who claim that TCU finds hidden gems in a pumkin patch. Are they good evaluators yes-but TCU over the last 13 years I would bet has been the No. 1 composite non-BCS recruiting school in the entire country. They have almost always been in the Top 50-55 sometimes better discounting for deceptively small recruiting classes. Rarely -as in once or so a year- will a non BCS team class get rated higher than 50 and several times it has been TCU. If not the No. 1 non-BCS schools over the last 13 years they would be in the Top 3 without question. They are arguably 20-0 straight up against SMU-maybe 19-1. Almost every year in the last 13 they have had the best non-BCS Class among Texas/CUSA non-BCS schools.

[huskerpony]

There are plenty of top top recruits these days in JUCO just like them-they are by no means leftovers.......But the Top 100 JUCOs-the top JUCOs generally are there for academic or transfer reasons not because no body wanted them out of high school.

Totally agree. JUCO is the primary route for non-qualifiers since they eliminated the Prop 48. A decade ago, this would have been true, and why the rare JUCO kid you saw at a top program was usually just a late developer. Almost every top 25 program has a couple JUCO kids on their roster though.

Lots of times they just don't get a lot of offers because it becomes a numbers game with scholarships. Everyone would prefer to have a player in their system as long as possible, so if you have a program with a lot of depth, you aren't going to use too many scholarships on kids unless they have 3 years of eligibility left--or you have an immediate need at a specific position. And you don't want to go too overboard with the JUCO's because the core of your team leadership comes from guys who have been in the program for 4 or 5 years.

[ozfan]

I just don't think that is true these days. For example, both SMU's top JUCO recruits this year had multiple BCS offers out of high school-they just didn't qualify. There are plenty of top top recruits these days in JUCO just like them-they are by no means leftovers although SMU has signed several others in recent years that might fit that description out of high school. But the Top 100 JUCOs-the top JUCOs generally are there for academic or transfer reasons not because no body wanted them out of high school.

I took a look at kids on the JUCO Top 100 who were originally from Texas(because I'm more familiar with them). Almost without fail these guys were big time recruits out of high school.

Sorry I did not make myself clear. I did not mean that JCO are leftovers. Myself having played at a jc for a year prior to playing at a larger school What I meant was most of the top JCO talent ends up at the BCS schools. What the BCS schools do not take is left for the MTN West, WAC, CUSA, and Mid American to choose from. I do feel that SMU will get value from this years JCO recruits.

[papawasamustang]

Heard Art Briles on the radio yesterday comment that when it comes to recruiting it all starts up front with the O line & D line. He said despite all the great HS football we have here in Texas there aren't that many BCS types out there & the ones that are get snatched up quickly. He said probably 30-35 O line & maybe 10-15 D line. He said there are skill players everywhere.

Based on what Briles said I like the O line recruits we have coming in.
I really like the Padron, Johnson & McDade trio.

Considering our record I think this class looks pretty good & hopefully we look back in 4 to 5 years & point to this class & say this is were it all began.

[Glenn Sosbee]

Sosbee - you are not intelligent.

State 100 matters if you are only recruiting in state - JJ recruits across the country - and especially in the West.

Yes - it will be a good sign if we get more of the Texas top 100 - but nobody with half a brain would expect that at this stage of our rebuilding.

In fact - if you track TCU's program (since you bring them up) - they did not draw many top 100's at the beginning of their rebuilding - they built their program with JUCO's and less heralded players - and built up as they won 4, then 6, then 9 games a year consistently.

"Especially in the West? If signing three or four marginal players from California is a sign that JJ is concentrating his efforts in the West, then we really have problems. SMU recruiters should STAY in Texas, save a little fuel in these rough economic times, and just fill their roster with Texas guys. OU does it. How do they look?
I love all the childish insults and name calling on this board. Here's mine: Gostangs, I try to see things from your point of view, but I just can't stick my head that far up my *ss.

[huskerpony]

Sosbee - you are not intelligent.

State 100 matters if you are only recruiting in state - JJ recruits across the country - and especially in the West.

Yes - it will be a good sign if we get more of the Texas top 100 - but nobody with half a brain would expect that at this stage of our rebuilding.

In fact - if you track TCU's program (since you bring them up) - they did not draw many top 100's at the beginning of their rebuilding - they built their program with JUCO's and less heralded players - and built up as they won 4, then 6, then 9 games a year consistently.

"Especially in the West? If signing three or four marginal players from California is a sign that JJ is concentrating his efforts in the West, then we really have problems. SMU recruiters should STAY in Texas, save a little fuel in these rough economic times, and just fill their roster with Texas guys. OU does it. How do they look?
I love all the childish insults and name calling on this board. Here's mine: Gostangs, I try to see things from your point of view, but I just can't stick my head that far up my *ss.

Wow.

First of all, the economy does not effect our recruiting budget. That money comes from boosters and ticket sales. So unless our boosters start pulling funding, the best thing we can do for our recruiting budget is to go ANYWHERE we can find the best athletes and start winning games to boost ticket sales.

Second, while recruiting in-state is important on many levels, the idea that Texas recruiting is the end-all of football recruiting is ridiculous. The most recruits come out of Texas, California, and Florida because that is where the most people are--not because Texans are inherently better football players. And just because there is a plethora of good players in the state, does not mean that if you find a good player elsewhere who shows some interest that you don't go after him with everything you've got. Some of the best players in this class have come from other states. Would you rather that June Jones had said, "You know what Joey Fontana, you're good, but you are from Louisiana, so why don't you just go to Arkansas or Stanford!"

We have been one of the worst programs in college football over the past few years. We are not going to get the kind of recruits from Texas that UT and OU get. We do have a major recruiting magnet in our new coach, and this is the first time in recent memory that we have snagged some guys with offers from some respectable BCS programs, even with our shoddy record. However, we have to start winning games before we can go head-to-head with the recruiting efforts of the Big 12 schools on most of the best players in the state.

The state of our program necessitates that we go out and scour the earth to find every quality player we can find. Many of those recruits will still be from Texas. But if the player from American Samoa is better than what we have the ability to pull out of Dallas....get the Samoan.

[LA_Mustang]

Heard Art Briles on the radio yesterday comment that when it comes to recruiting it all starts up front with the O line & D line. He said despite all the great HS football we have here in Texas there aren't that many BCS types out there & the ones that are get snatched up quickly. He said probably 30-35 O line & maybe 10-15 D line. He said there are skill players everywhere.

Briles is dead on with these comments. Skill players get all the hype but the bigs set the tone. A good example is OU – they are losing 4 great OL and we know they have some of the best skills players in college football. It will be interesting to see how they do next season without those very talented O-linemen….chances are they have a group of 4 stars ready to step in but it will still be tough. That is why I’m surprised Bradford came back knowing he will lose a bulk of those guys.