SMU adds last-minute commitment

[giacfsp]

SMU has added defensive end Adrian Dizer of Clarksville, Texas to finish out its recruiting class. Dizer is 6'5" and 220 and runs a 4.7 in the 40. He chose SMU over Houston and Stephen F. Austin.

[DallasDiehard]

It's hard to find a lot of info on small-town guys (Clarksville is in Div. 16-2A), but I did read that he's supposed to be an excellent basketball player. Anyone know any stats (football) on him?

Nice job, coaches - way to yank one from the Coogs!

[Stallion]

sounds like the seventh lineman with no reported offers. UH already stood at about 25 although its possible they could go over.

[Corso]

Actually, I believe he was offered by Houston .... which would count as an offer. No idea about SFA.

So this means four new defensive ends (Dizer, Handy, Therien and Parham) and three fast linebackers (Cox, Powell, Alexander -- who's going to grayshirt). Think bolstering the pass rush was a priority?

Congratulations, coaches.

[Stallion]

like I said no reported offers-rumors coming from coaching staffs is the most unreliable info there is.

[Stampede]

except for your reporting, Stallion. When Rivals does not have a player in their database...you are helpless. So, I guess we will stick with our coaches' reports. Thanks anyway...by the way...the recruiting party is full....but we will always make room for you, Stallion. Hope to see you there!!

[Stallion]

feel free to search the internet for any newspaper article or any source whatsoever supporting that offer. Heck this is the first recruit I've ever searched for that didn't have a single mention on the internet. Hopefully someone spelled his name wrong. Sorry I can't be there tonite because of my son's BB practice but why don't you ask him how TCU came away with 4 supperstar recruits in the last week. Better yet ask Jim Copeland.

[Stampede]

No...we have been on Dizer for awhile. Houston as well. BTW, did you make reservation fo rht party tonight? Can we count on you to be there?

[JasonB]

Yes, Stallion is correct, that the player is not in the rivals DB.

I know this isn't saying much, but it is no worse than we have done in the past. If you look at the DEs, Berry wasn't in there and had no offers confirmed by Rivals, Griffen wasn't in the system, then committed to us late and all of a sudden they listed him with offers from AF, NT, and Miami Ohio. Rogers wasn't in the system. Bey wasn't in the system, and then they added him after the committment with an offer from LT. Muse is our only player who had a pre-existing Rep on Rivals before committing.

My point is that Rivals does a lot more dilligent work on the skill position players. D-line and O-line just kind of pop up on there a lot of the time after committments, because they don't research the players who are targeted by non-BCS conferences, and a lot of those linemen don't end up at the Rivals camps in the summer. The only time our recruits at those postions are going to pop up there is if they are really good players that we managed to grab (Muse, Jones, Boren).

So, yes, take what the coaches say with a grain of salt. But just because they aren't on rivals doesn't mean they had no offers.

Of course, in my mind, if he is only offered by Couger High, that doesn't say much anyway, but that is just my opinion .

[giacfsp]

I didn't get any rumors from the coaching staff. With the exception of a couple of handshakes, I don't know them. I talked to someone in Clarksville who watched Dizer sign this morning, and confirmed that Houston but a full-court press on Dizer on his recent official visit to UH. (And for what it's worth, I think I remember Griffin was reported by Notre Dame, too.)

[JasonB]

Rivals reported Griffen interest, but no offer. The coaches said that there was an offer and a "full-court press" put on him by ND. I was just reporting what Rivals had said...

And, I want to make it clear that I am not saying that the coaches lie or anything crazy like that, just saying that I take some things they say with a grain of salt, just like I take the rivals rankings with a grain of salt. The more places you hear things, the more valid it makes it, in my mind...

[Stampede]

We probably do not need to ask how TCU got 4 super star recruits on the same day they are self-imposing penalties on their men's track team. Would be looked upon as a stupid question.

That and the fact that none have passed the entrance exams to date

[EastStang]

There was an article in today's Washington Times showing the 2004 NFL draft choices and how many were top 100 players. About 40%. Then it showed the top 15 players for 2000 and showed how they fared. Some never started for their college. Interesting read. The Washington Post had an article today about the recruiting system and how an All-Met DC area player from Maryland had his offer pulled by Clemson at the last minute (allegedly for being non-qualifier), so he had to settle for U Mass. And by the way, one look at the NCAA investigators swarming all over TCU tells you how they're getting those players.

[OC Mustang]

There is some stuff on the guy on the internet, but Stallion is correct that little substantively supports the offer. This guy is probably a pretty solid athlete, though. He is the anchor on Clarksville's basketball team, if his athletic talent is consistent with the number of Google entries on his basketball exploits.

TexasPrepXtra (who are these guys?) has him as All East-Texas 2nd Team defense on this year's playoff Clarksville team, and I guess he was listed the prior year as O-line. (I found some obscure reference to "players to watch"...).

But for basketball, this guy is pretty well documented.

[Webmaster]

Not that it has any bearing on this year's 25 signees, but Kyle Griffin DID get an offer (and a lot of last-minute pressure) from Notre Dame.

If I remember the timing correctly, his offer came a few weeks after he gave his solid verbal to Bennett. We were trying to put the wraps on the '04 Recruiting Roundup at the time, as as you can imagine, we went into panic mode to find out if he was going to stick with his word or whether we were going to have to start interviewing his replacement. If I remember correctly, the Griffin family is Catholic, which made NT especially attractive.

To put the roundup together, PF.com talks to Bennett, the relevent SMU position coach, the HS coach, the player, and oftentimes the player's parents and other people who know the particular player. In Kyle's case, we also talked to the Boren family who are personal friends with the Griffins (from their Colleyville Heritage days). Anyway, all of them independently confirmed a written offer from NT.