Is this Bennett's Best Class?

[McClown27]

I was hoping for 4 three-star players. And, of course, this could still happen. Overall, it seems like we are in on more guys this year.

[Stallion]

Mediocre and Unremarkable are words that come to mind. Don't think it should be considered even average based on past recruiting seasons:

2003(Rivals)
60 Total
60 Average

2004
85 Total
85 Average

2005
71 Total
71 Average

2006
90 Total
77 Average

(PARTIAL YEAR)
2002
87 Total
87 Average

To be fair with such a small class (although Bennett now claims we will sign up to 20) that makes it more difficult to accumulate points so I think a fair measure would be to combine the average and total amounts. Also, as we know Rivals simply ignores about 20 schools in its Database, Scout in this part of the country ignores just about the entire CUSA except for Houston. A good number of schools should pass SMU's Total Ranking this year once they are given credit for commitmeent not yet recorded(best local example is UH which is missing about a reported 15+ commitments on the Rivals board). But the Average Point category can also be extremely deception since at the bottom of the ranking the difference is generally insignificant and minimal. If you are taking a class of sleepers then the more gambles you get the greater likelihood of success. These numbers are still subject to change but not likely to significantly go up because the players yet to be added to the Rankings (and Bennett claims we will sign up to 20) are not likely to be higly rated unless there are some huge surprises out there-I am not aware of any scuttlebutt concerning ANY remaining highly recruited players still considering SMU). I also would give SMU a D+ for failing to strongly address its two biggest needs QB and LB. Almost all of the players at these positions are sleepers. The really good news is that SMU plays in perhaps the weakest conference and weakest Division in America except for the Sun Belt and the MAC. Nobody else has an even average class in the CUSA West anyway so I guess we'll be right in the thick of things. I also think we went about 0-5 or 0-6 in real actual recruiting battles against TCU-not including players like Burley for SMU and Daniels for TCU that never really looked at the other school.

[Charleston Pony]

obviously a question that can't be answered until we see what these guys contribute before they are done.

Based on "on field" performance, what has been Bennett's best class to date? I haven't even looked at that because most of his guys are just now maturing to the point they will be getting significant playing time. I would consider his 1st class to be more Cavan's than Bennett's, so this is arguably only his 4th class.

Somebody with a lot of time on his/her hands might want to look back to see who is still here, how much they've contributed, etc... to help answer that question. I suppose you could look at how many guys played as true Frosh, how many broke the lineup as RS FR, Sophs, etc...but that has as much to do with position and what upperclass players were competing. Bottom line is that it's really a question that can't be answered until the class completes it's eligibility...but go for it and entertain us with opinions and theories based on what they did in H.S.

Let's face it...SMU has signed very few "can't miss" types since the death penalty. Wasn't Mosely one of those???

[McClown27]

Another well regarded JUCO QB would have been nice.

[BringBackThePonies03]

I think we have done really well with this class, we have a couple of gamebreakers, some immediate impact, and some long term talent. Not too mention we signed athletes.

[JasonB]

Interesting thought, Stallion, because I show exactly 1 player that had an offer from SMU and chose TCU, Nutei. Rivals doesn't show any other players in their database.

So, 0-1.

[Stallion]

we went head to head with TCU on Nuitei, Renfro, Ibuloye, Jerry Hughes (reported planned visit to SMU) and Newhouse and we had definite interest in Colin Jones. Newhouse who at 6-3 289 ran a verified 5.0 Forty at Nike Camp, a 4.90 at SMU camp and a 4.95 at A&M camp. His report in the Rivals(12/20.05) in fact claimed he camped, visited AND was OFFERED by SMU. I believe we were among the most prominent players for Jones although I'm not exactly sure we would have offered and that's why I said either 0-5 or 0-6. But Jones committed so early it hard to say but we were in the mix.

[PerunaPunch]

That's where drinking the Rivals Kool-Aid can get you into trouble Stallion.

Rivals reports what they're told by the recruit and the recruit's parents and high school coach... All of whom are doing their utmost to promote their kid. These reports are almost all unofficial and are rarely confirmed by college coaches, most of whom are too busy recruiting to talk to the recruiting services and would be hesitant to share any meaningful information on their prized, prospective recruits even if they had the inclination.

My recollection was that Bennett's '03 class had the most marquis names. I find it particularly amusing to throw this class in Stallion's face because it was loaded with Rivals 3-star recruits, all of which have washed out or not yet contributed significantly (with the notable exception of Joe Sturdivant) while their lower ranked bretheren have earned playing time.

It's almost impossible to guess how this class ranks in comparrison with Bennett's other classes because Bennett's first full recruiting class is just now becoming upperclassmen. The benchmark has yet to be established. But right now I'd pin it about on par with the '05 class: utilitarian, athletic, but without any high profile players. A solid group, but particularly lacking star power at QB (unless Rhodes gets a shot at QB...with all our DBs, it might be interesting to experiement with Rhodes at QB. He can throw, and he's wicked fast).

[Pony Fan]

we went head to head with TCU on Nuitei, Renfro, Ibuloye, Jerry Hughes (reported planned visit to SMU) and Newhouse and we had definite interest in Colin Jones. Newhouse who at 6-3 289 ran a verified 5.0 Forty at Nike Camp, a 4.90 at SMU camp and a 4.95 at A&M camp. His report in the Rivals(12/20.05) in fact claimed he camped, visited AND was OFFERED by SMU. I believe we were among the most prominent players for Jones although I'm not exactly sure we would have offered and that's why I said either 0-5 or 0-6. But Jones committed so early it hard to say but we were in the mix.

NEVER interested in Jones

[LakeHighlandsPony]

we went head to head with TCU on Nuitei, Renfro, Ibuloye, Jerry Hughes (reported planned visit to SMU) and Newhouse and we had definite interest in Colin Jones. Newhouse who at 6-3 289 ran a verified 5.0 Forty at Nike Camp, a 4.90 at SMU camp and a 4.95 at A&M camp. His report in the Rivals(12/20.05) in fact claimed he camped, visited AND was OFFERED by SMU. I believe we were among the most prominent players for Jones although I'm not exactly sure we would have offered and that's why I said either 0-5 or 0-6. But Jones committed so early it hard to say but we were in the mix.

Newhouse wanted to get more than 6 miles away from home for college. It was a s simple as that.

[EastStang]

Isn't Renfro a TCU legacy?

[2112]

Stallion used to complain that we couldn't recruit the same players as our rivals. Looking at all of his TCU references, we are recruiting the same players. He also used to say it was not a coaching problem, so what is it?

[McClown27]

Let's forget about proving Stallion wrong and begin to pray that we can find a QB for next year!

[ponyboy]

If Willis plays as well as expected, we may have found next years quarterback already. Agreed for the need for depth at the position, though.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

By the time Wednesday rolls around, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if SMU's 2006 class isn't a national Top 25 class.

We are loaded.