WAC 2004 Recruiting Review

[Cheesesteak]

Feb. 9, 2004 - College Football News

Recruiting 2004 ... WAC
Which school had the best class?

1. Boise State The complete class
The shelves are restocked in several key areas, especially on the defensive back seven. Josh Smith is one of the better receiver recruits to come to Boise in a long time, while QB Bush Hamdan has the potential to be the next great Bronco signal-caller.

Star of the Class Marty Tadman S 5-11 174 Fr. Mission Viejo, California (Mission Viejo HS)
A two-way starter and honor roll student out of Mission Viejo High School in Mission Viejo, California. .... Helped team to CIF Division II Championship game as both a junior and senior. Finished with 42 catches for 921 yards and nine touchdowns as a senior. He also returned four kicks for touchdowns. ... As a senior, named first-team All-CIF All Divisions and first-team All-CIF Division II. Also named South Coast Offensive Player of the Year, Orange County Player of the Year by the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Player of the Year by the Orange County Register, and first-team All-South Coast. He was the team MVP at Mission Viejo, as well as special teams player of the year and team captain.

2. Tulsa The complete class
The momentum of the turnaround under Steve Kragthorpe continues with a big class of depth. WR Demacho Ousley gives the receiving corps a big-time talent, but the strength of the class is in the defensive backs.

Star of the Class Damacho Ousley WR 6-1 190 Fr. Tulsa, Okla./BT Washington
Was a three-year letterwinner and two-year starter at Booker T. Washington High School . . . started both his junior and senior seasons at receiver, and started at cornerback his junior season . . . was an honorable mention all-state selection by the Tulsa World and Daily Oklahoman . . . caught 22 passes for 490 yards and five touchdowns his senior season to rank 11th in receiving among Class 5A schools . . . was named to the all-District 5A-4 team his senior season . . . had 1,155 yards on 55 receptions during his career . . . also tallied 25 tackles in his prep career

3. Hawaii The complete class
A small class numbers-wise, this is a huge group in size with several 300-pounders at defensive tackle. DT Austin Jackson might be one of the smallest of the defensive line recruits and "only" 270 pounds, but he's the best of the bunch. Andrew Pearman might be the fastest player to ever play at Hawaii and should be a big-time threat at either running back or receiver.

Star of the Class Andrew Pearman, RB/WR, 5-9, 175, Fr, HS, Char., NC/Providence HS (NC)
Touted as the fastest prep football player in North Carolina as a junior...clocked at 4.3 in the 40-yard dash and 10.3 in the 100-meter dash...rushed for 1,600 yards and scored 31 touchdowns (28 rushing) as a junior...is the younger brother of Virginia running back Alvin Pearman

4. SMU The complete class
This isn't a deep group, but there are plenty of decent players ready to step in and produce. Most importantly, there are several decent running backs with former Texas Tech runner Foy Munlin to go along with the speed of Jessie Henderson and the power of Andrew McKinney.

Star of the Class Vincent Chase TE 6-5 245 Irving, Tx
No. 25 overall prospect according to the Dallas Morning News Area Top-100 and No. 75 overall in State Top-100… Also tabbed the state’s No. 1 tight end by the DMN… Named to The Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Area Top 75 ... An All-State, All-District and All-Area selection… An Academic All-District honoree… Chose SMU over offers from Florida, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, LSU, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Colorado State, Syracuse, Kansas State, Kansas, TCU, Missouri and Iowa State

5. Fresno State The complete class
A disappointing class for Pat Hill, there aren't any standouts other than quarterback/defensive line prospect Bear Pascoe. The defensive line got the most attention, but there's not a whole bunch of size to provide an immediate impact against power running teams.

Star of the Class Bear Pascoe QB/DL 6-5 252 Granite Hills, Ca.
A big, physical quarterback who is one of the top all-around athletes in the Valley ... selected the 2003 East Yosemite League Offensive Player of the Year and was named all-area after guiding his team to a 16-4 record over the last two seasons ... guided Granite Hills to the 2002 EYL title ...accounted for 1,851 total yards and 16 touchdowns as a senior and nearly 3,500 yards and 33 touchdowns over two seasons ... was a first-team All-East Yosemite League basketball player as a junior ... also played outside linebacker ... played send in the EYL in the shot and discus, placing sixth in the Valley championships in the discus as a junior ... also an accomplished rodeo roper

6. Louisiana Tech The complete class
There's not a whole bunch to get fired up about, but the Bulldogs went heavy on offensive line and defensive end highlighted by OL Ben Harris. Outside of RB Freddie Franklin, there are next to no sure-thing skill position prospects.

Star of the Class Freddie Franklin 6-0/190 RB Carver HS New Orleans, La.
Played running back and wide receiver for the Rams … Helped lead Carver to the 8-5A District championship this season … Led the school to the state playoffs all four years, three years in 4A and one year in 5A … Earned all-district honors three years … Also named all-metro twice … Second team all-state selection at running back as a senior … Rushed for 923 yards and caught 46 passes for 941 yards as a senior

7. UTEP The complete class
Mike Price's first year in El Paso wasn't all that bad, but the Miners will have to wait a year for its best talent, former UCLA RB Tyler Ebell. In the meantime, Marcus Thomas and Brandon Jackson are good enough recruits to give UTEP the best overall running back class in the WAC.

Star of the Class Tyler Ebell RB 5-9 180 Ventura (UCLA), Ca
UCLA transfer who will be eligible to play for UTEP in 2005…posted spectacular numbers for the Bruins over the last two years with nearly 1,500 yards rushing…in 2003 rushed 116 times for 501 yards (4.3 avg.), scoring a pair of touchdowns…also had 10 catches for 68 yards (6.8 avg.)…added one punt return for 22 yards and 12 kickoff returns for 226 yards (18.8 avg.)…posted 234 carries for 994 yards (4.2 avg.) and 10 touchdowns as a redshirt freshman in 2002 …also a second team All-Pac 10 choice…led the team in rushing yardage and scoring (10 TDs)…rated fourth in the Pac-10 in rushing (76.5 ypg), fifth in punt returns, ninth in all-purpose yards (106.3 ypg) and 13th in total offense despite not earning much playing time until the fifth game of the season…caught 12 balls for 72 yards (6.0 avg.)…had 24 punt returns for 273 yards (11.4 avg.), and two kickoff returns for 43 yards (21.5 avg.)…his 1,382 all-purpose yards marked the 10th-top total in school history…ranked seventh in the country among freshmen running backs…had six straight 100-yard games, the second-longest one-season streak in school annals…averaged 108.3 yards rushing in conference action…picked up a season-high 203 yards on 29 carries at Oregon State, including 124 yards in the fourth quarter…also had a career-long 73-yard run versus the Beavers…redshirted in 2001

8. Nevada The complete class
It's usually never right to boost up an entire recruiting class based on one player, but the addition of CB Kevin Stanley makes a mediocre Wolf Pack season look much better. The secondary got the most attention with a premium placed on big corners.

Star of the Class Kevin Stanley DB 6-0 175 Jr.-JC Newport News, Va. (Victor Valley (Calif.) College)
The junior college transfer had 88 tackles, eight interceptions, 20 pass breakups and 864 all-purpose return yards in 2003. A first-team all-state selection in California's Region III, he earned All-Foothill Conference honors and was a second-team jcgridwire All-America as an all-purpose player. He earned USA JC Iron Man ho

[PerunaPunch]

Very interesting. But I can't help but wonder if we're not being underestimated again. Maybe our 4th place rating is a byproduct of the class' size, but when you compare stars to stars...

Our safety prospects (McCray and maybe Lindley) appear to be more highly regarded than #1 Boise State's star Marty Tadman.

Although I hear that Ousley is supposed to be great and is a heck of a pick for a dump like #2 rated Tulsa, his Oklahoma All-State honorable mention and 490 yards looks positively anemic compared to Devin Lowery's First Team Texas All-State and 1,100 yards.

#3 ranked Hawaii's star power comes from a tiny, fast RB named Andrew Pearman. Although Peamans' 31 touchdowns and 1,600 yards as a junior is amazing, at 4.3 he sounds like a slightly bigger (but slower) Jesse Henderson.

Then at number 4, SMU's Vincent Chase appears to be the most highly regarded signee of the league. Hard to tell for sure because none of this is apples-to-apples, and there are some JUCOs and transfers, but it appears as though Chase is the only top state talent and nationally regared recruit.

I know that every school spins these accolades to make their recruits look as good as possible, but reading between the lines, our kids compare favorably to the top recruits at the other WAC schools.

[The PonyGrad]

Based on the wording of the article there seems to be a drop off after #4 with disappointing words being used for those classes.

[JasonB]

I want to look into detail at the various schools' recruiting classes, to see where we stand, but haven't had the time yet.

I will say though, that Tulsa had a fine recruiting class, certainly better than expected. Haven't heard much about Hawaii's though.

[Casey]

Let's look back at this in 4-5 years, but I say there's no way the RBs headed to UTEP are better than Jessie Henderson, DeMyron Martin and Andrew McKinney.

[DiamondM]

"10. San Jose State The complete class
As usual, the Spartans are relying on the JUCO ranks for talent. The offensive line and the defensive back seven received the most attention, but there aren't any standout stars."

What I want to know is how in Stallion's name can a school "relying on the JUCO ranks" be ranked 10 out of 10 since JUCOs are the answer?

[Stallion]

that's such a stupid question that I shouldn't even bother answering-but I will. The talent base from which a university can recruit MIGHT include qualified HS athletes, JCs, Partial Qualifiers, Non-Qualifiers, or Transfers. The broader the talent base a university has to chose from the more athletes a university will have to chose from in order to sign its class. Assuming Darwin was correct with his theory of natural selection and survibval of the fittest it is likely the Head Coach will chose the best, most qualified recruit to fill each scholarship space availiable. Therefore, the coach with the broadest recruiting talent will most likely to sign the class which is most qualified. Of course, this assumes a Head Coach can evaluate talent. If you need more info go ask Bob Stoops, Bill Snyder, Bobby Knight, Eddie Sutton, Houston Nutt, Dennis Franchione, Mike Leach, Nick Saban and every other superior Head Coach from the Southwest and from around the country who chooses that option when it is availiable. Perhaps you think you know more than these legends?

<small>[ 02-09-2004, 03:22 PM: Message edited by: Stallion ]</small>

[DiamondM]

I admit I am confused, Stallion. I thought you said you WERE going to answer my question. Anyway, it was pretty much rhetorical, now, wasn't it?

[Mike Damone]

I think the obvious answer is that of course JUCO's aren't the answer if you go get crappy JUCO's.

Recruiting SAT's:
If there are 100 good high school players to chose from and 50 good JUCO's, and you need to get 10 good players. Would your probability be better if:
A)You can only choose from the 100 high school players
B) You can only choose from the 50 JUCO players
C) You can choose fromm the total 150 players

[Cheesesteak]

Arriving on campus, JUCOS are frequently more physically and emotionally advanced than HS recruits.

A) Why is SJSU's class, composed of more advanced (battle-ready) JUCOS, ranked last among 10 WAC teams?

B) Assuming SJSU recruited "crappy" (Mike Damone) JUCOS, why wouldn't SJSU have instead given the scholarships "it is likely the Head Coach will chose the best, most qualified recruit to fill each scholarship space availiable" (Stallion) to average HS players in the hope that some will develop into good collegiate players during the coming 4-5 years?

SJSU (3-8 in 2003 using JUCOS) is located the state that produces the most HS D-1A players annually.

With its lenient admissions standards and attractive location it seems that SJSU could attract a top 5 or near-top 5 (WAC) class of HS recruits.

<small>[ 02-10-2004, 11:33 AM: Message edited by: Cheesesteak ]</small>

[mrydel]

The "experts" rating the recruiting classes should be concentrating on the classes recruited in 2001 or even 2000. Now is the time to evaluate how well those classes were. Right now all anyone knows about this years recruits is that they are a bunch of raw recruits who might, who knows, steal a purse before they ever get on the field. I am happy with our speed this year, but more concerned about how we did in recruiting those linemen last year and prior years that are going to have to step up this year after some seasoning.

[Mike Damone]

B) Assuming SJSU recruited "crappy" (Mike Damone) JUCOS, why wouldn't SJSU have instead given the scholarships "it is likely the Head Coach will chose the best, most qualified recruit to fill each scholarship space availiable" (Stallion) to average HS players in the hope that some will develop into good collegiate players during the coming 4-5 years?

I have no idea what the SJSU coaching staff's strategy is. Maybe they couldn't get decent high schoolers, maybe they wanted the crappy jucos, maybe they're not crappy, maybe the rankings were bogus. What exactly is the question?

My interpretation is that some are making the argument that JUCO's can't help and shouldn't be recruited, which makes no sense. And that SMU shouldn't allow it. How can access to hundreds of quality players possibly hurt?

[DiamondM]

I haven't seen anyone making that argument. My point is always been we can and do recruit jucos already, just not the crappy "academic risk"/"behavorial problem" type jucos SJSU and some of the others do. I do not disagree that recruiting a well placed juco transfer that is likely to succeed at SMU, not just athletically but also academically, to fill some holes is a fine policy. We already have that policy. I do disagree that recruiting jucos for the sake of recruiting jucos is the holy grail "athletic model" we need.