Current Recruiting & the In-State Debate
UConn Football has received 4 commitments over the past 10 days for the 2016 recruiting class. One player from CT, one from New Jersey, one from Virginia, and one from Illinois. This upcoming recruiting class is thought to be around 13-14 players max, so we’re just about a third of the way filled. For these 4 guys, Bob Diaco has done what many of our diehards have been screaming about for years, and that is to beat other schools, especially P5 schools, out for these players. UConn beat out schools such as Northwestern, NC State, Temple, & Duke for the services of these first four recruits. You’re entitled to feel how you feel about it, but I feel cautiously optimistic. Again, I am not a recruiting guru. I don’t pay all that much attention to it, and frankly I just want players here that are going to make us win consistantly year after year. In order to do that, we’re going to have to compete with good football programs to bring talent here. We can’t always resort to finding the hidden gem. So, even though we aren’t bringing in top 100 players nationally or bunches of 4 & 5 star players, we seem to be bringing in guys that other schools, P5 schools, covet. That’s a reason to be optimistic.
As far as the CT recruiting scene, UConn doesn’t really seem to be in the mix for our top in-state players. Quansah, Harrington, & Morgenstern have all commited elsewhere. Hescock seems to be heavy on Wisconsin, and Niang has offers from all over the country. Based off of recruiting websites that I checked, those 5 guys seem to be the consensus top 5 players in the state. We did secure a verbal commit in Keiyon Dixon, and UConn is in on Tahj Herring, a CB out of Suffield, and Jay Rose, a QB/TE out of Southington. It’s nice when in-state kids stay home and play for UConn, but I don’t blame them for leaving. Also, we’re not going to fill a competitive team with just kids from CT, so it’s more important for the staff to focus on spreading the program’s reach. I think that’s what Diaco has been doing, judging by the commitments of 2015 and 2016.
I don’t subscribe to the the camp that just because a CT kid is getting hype, or has a few stars next to his name, that we MUST keep him here and make the in-state kids the priority. We’re coming off 4 miserable seasons. Just get talent here. I don’t care where they’re from. If the staff feels they can get someone else from NJ or PA or freakin Alaska that would be a better fit for our program than the recruit from down the street, then go get that player! We need to start winning games, period. Get the best players here that fit what we’re trying to do.
Bottom line is, if the program starts winning, the top in state kids will be more likely to stay home because they’d have a reason to. The program has been so down the past few years, who could blame these kids for taking the opportunities handed to them elsewhere. Give these kids a reason to stay: a top notch education, proximity to their families, and A WINNING FOOTBALL PROGRAM TO PLAY FOR! That last one is pretty darn important to potential recruits. Who would have thought?
@UConn813
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