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SMU has picked up commitments from Victor Mckinde from Scottsdale, Arizona JC (6-1, 185 4.4) (will have 3 years to play 2), Heywood the DT from Tyler JC (who they report was being heavily recruited by Tech which wanted him to visit in Jan), and Prep LB Curtiss Powell 6-1, 215 4.5 (who they said made 150 tackles last year. ALL 3 RECRUITS WERE GIVEN 3 STAR RATINGS although they wern't even in the database yesterday-(I don't want to ever hear an SMU fan say that recruiting services are biased against SMU again-even I would question that-if anything I've got a feeling Bennett has got a friend at Rivals as this makes about 6-7 players upgraded after committing to SMU). No mention of Tyrone Wilson but story said SMU got commitments from 4 HS recruits which they are confirming right now. Stay tuned.

High School Recruit No. 1: CB Emerson Settle(see separate thread)

Also, Tim Monroe from Mt. Vernon

James Mapps up on Rivals now too.

With tongue planted frimly in cheek.....Rivals has most likely been reading our board and notice our concern over their rating system.

Of course, all schools have coaches with "friends" at Rivals. It is also my understanding, that some schools actually pay $$$ to Rivals. For what?

Re: rivals -- YAWN. Vincent Chase fell after committing to SMU, as did Richuel Massey, both of whom were hightly touted recruits.

And yes, Haywood and Makinde are pretty heavily-sought assets. Very good players, from what I understand. Like come-in-and-play-right-away guys. Let's hope!

oh and who do you hear that from? Let me guess.

Oh settle down. Corso said "let's hope" -- which, to me, means he doesn't know for sure. Quit mocking PonyFans who maintain a little optimism.

well they may be the greatest collection of sleepers ever assembled-but let me just point out that SMU got 8 commitments this weekend-most were personally interviewed and apparently the only one to receive a Division 1A offer was Mario Walker whose only two offers as of two weeks ago were SMU and Arkansas Pine Bluff. Guess we'll find out just how good a talent ecaluator Bennett is.

Just to set the record straight, someone (not Stallion) who posts on this site regularly and shoots tidbits of recruiting info to PonyFans from time to time is a writer for Insiders.com. Prior to taking that job, he was offered the Bureau Chief job at Rivals.com, but he didn't take it because it would have entailed a move to the east coast (somewhere like Atlanta if memory serves).

So if he's of the opinion that our players are sometimes downgraded in the Rivals ratings, I'd be inclined to believe it.

well its pretty hard for a recruiting service to underrate a player whose choices come down to a Sacramento St, Sam Houston St, Louisiana Monroe, Arkansas -Pine Bluff, Louisiana Lafeyette, Texas St et al. Players getting that level of attention are SLEEPERS and should be rated as such. Phil Bennett may be the best talent evaluator in the business-just as long as you and I understand that the kids we sign aren't the ones he evaluated to be the best. If you sign a class full of sleepers each year you will be unemployed in 5 years. As for the Insiders I would be surprised if they had ANY knowledge of ANY SMU signeee since they generally only cover the Top 150 or so players. I don't think the the Insiders has even covered 3/4 or probably 4/5th of the SMU signees. I'll stand by my assessment that-if anything-SMU's recruits have been OVERRATED(as in a rating score) in the last 3 years based on the recruiting interest they drew. We have had at least 7-8 players upgraded AFTER committing to SMU.

I think both of you make good points. The only thing I'll add here is that since most players are thought to need 2-3 years (in an ideal situation -- redshirt, then serving as a backup for a year or two) to mature and learn, it's really just after this year that we can fully evaluate Coach Bennett's first class, much less his classes since then. However, I'd say that based on what we've seen from some of the young guys -- Chris Phillips, Cory Muse, Jonathan Lindley, Bobby Chase, etc., -- not to mention the guys like DeMyron Martin, Kendall Mouton, etc., who redshirted last year but reportedly have shown tremendous promise, Coach Bennett can identify talent extremely well.

How have they shown promise? It is not based on wins is it? It is simple folks. We can argue about whether or not Bennett is a great talent evaluator or recruiter for that matter. We can argue about whether an SMU recruit should have been given a higher recruiting ranking. It simply does not matter either way. It is this simple....SMU is still missing out on the top talent in the State and locally for that matter. Why? Sure it hurts not being in a BCS conference, but N. Texas, La. Tech., UTEP, Fresno St., etc. have been able to consistently get enough talent on their teams to compile winning seasons and even go to bowl games. SMU has not and cannot do so. Why? The admission and academic restrictions SMU places on its athletes. It is that simple regardless on how the 'sunshiners' on this board spin it or Big Jim tells you in his little newletter he posts on the SMU board. Until SMU changes its ways do not expect much on Saturdays.

We're having to dig a little and reach on top3a talent...it might help you here and there, but if you rely on it consistently, it is going to hurt.

Dickerson was top 2A when he came out of Sealy.