2017 Recruiting Thread

[ktuck911]

Thinking out loud, I wonder if some of the offers of late have been for PWO. I think most of the offers from the past month have been worthy, but a few not so much unless for PWO.

If those kids took a PWO role they'd be foolish... when you got a ton of FCS offers why not go to school for free and play right away at the same time?

 

[Jerry27]

Miller, McKenzie, Jones and Crawford look particularly athletic. And McKenzie looked fantastic at four positions, kick returner, wr, rb and even defensive end/OLB. Regardless of the stars, any of these players would be a real positive.

two things on McKenzie I liked; speed and he can block out of the backfield

 

[huskymedic]

2Strong ‏@speedy_heem 46m 46 minutes ago
Blessed to receive a offer from University of Connecticut #huskies #uconn

Matt Vender ‏@Matt_Vender 7m7 minutes ago
Bob Diaco sends out an offer to 2017 Temple WR/RB commit Raheem Blackshear of Archbishop Wood.

Raheem Blackshear is a 5-9 160lb WR/RB/DB from Archbishop Woods High Scjhool in Warminster PA. Besides Temple his other offer are Syracuse, Navy, Army, Buffalo, Kent State, Fordham, Holy Cross, Maine, Delaware, CSCU, Monmouth, Delaware State, Morgan State, Lehigh, Stony Brook, Lafayette, Duquesne, and Kentucky Christian.

Senior highlights - Raheem Blackshear highlights

First Team PA Class 5A Football All State - "Athlete".

 

[huskymedic]

Octavian Williams on Hudl

Octavian Williams@__tavian_ 7 mins ago
Blessed to receive a offer from Uconn

Octavian Williams is 6-7 310lb OT from Lithonian High School in Lithonian GA. Offer from Georgia State.

 

[Drew]

I don't even know how to respond to this:

 

[huskymedic]

I don't even know how to respond to this:

?Pull in a top 5 recruiting class...? I agree w/ him. Tough to do in AAC.

 

[Drew]

?Pull in a top 5 recruiting class...? I agree w/ him. Tough to do in AAC.

i just found it odd that a ND commit from CT is saying this stuff about Michigan/UConn. And I don't blame him for not coming to school here in the slightest- if I was him I wouldn't be playing for us. But him and other top CT kids all had the opportunity to come play for UConn and they didn't so I guess I just don't see the need to complain about it.

 

[noeynox]

I don't even know how to respond to this:

Imagine if Chris smith, Scott Burrell, and Murray Williams thought this way?

 

[huskymedic]

i just found it odd that a ND commit from CT is saying this stuff about Michigan/UConn. And I don't blame him for not coming to school here in the slightest- if I was him I wouldn't be playing for us. But him and other top CT kids all had the opportunity to come play for UConn and they didn't so I guess I just don't see the need to complain about it.

I didn't take it as complaining - I believe it was a subtweet about someone else taking a poke @ his buddy Black going to Michigan. Look @ his last two retweets.

 

[jazyj]

First Team PA Class 5A Football All State - "Athlete".

Heard Mich. St. is reaching out to him so expect him to turn red

 

[huskymedic]

Heard Mich. St. is reaching out to him so expect him to turn red

He's a Temple commit so technically he's "red" already. I use the the different color to differentiate those who we offer that are already committed to someone else for tracking purposes.

 

[ktuck911]

Commit #12???

UConn FootballVerified account ‏@UConnFootball 7m7 minutes ago


Welcome to the Pack!

#UConnFootball


3:31 PM - 19 Dec 2016

 

[FDNY99]

ThisIsUConnCountry ‏@MattSchonvisky 2m2 minutes ago
BREAKING: #UConnFootball lands CB Jordan Swann, who chose Huskies over Temple #ThisIsUConnCountry

 

[huskymedic]

FARGO ‏@_ChrisChuk1 29m 29 minutes ago
thank you @CoachVBrown59 and Coach Diaco for stopping by the house today. #HuskyPack

Alex Gleitman ‏@alexgleitman Dec 7
2017 RB/DB @_ChrisChuk1 tells me he has decommitted from #Villanova, re-opens recruitment

Chris Chukwuneke is a 6-0 185ib RB/DB from St. John Vianney High School. Former Villanova commit.
Chris Chukwuneke highlights -

FARGO@_ChrisChuk1 18 mins ago
blessed and thankful to say i have received an offer from the University of Connecticut⚪️ #Huskypack

 

[huskymedic]

Covers NJ HS Sports/Recruiting

Todderick Hunt (@TodderickHunt)
12/19/16, 4:49 PM
#UConn FB strategy: Hit N.J. hard as NSD approaches. Offer guys who can really ball, yet are under-recruited & likely have a chip bc of it.

Todderick Hunt (@TodderickHunt)
12/19/16, 4:59 PM
@TodderickHunt Already have Dickens & Van DeMark committed. & I could see Jahsim Floyd, Kessler, Devera and Chukwuneke also signing up.

Todderick Hunt (@TodderickHunt)
12/19/16, 5:01 PM
@TodderickHunt They have a recent offer out to T.J. Rayam, who I love & still have an opening 4 Fornadel, who is better than his offer list.

 

[Dynasty]

Covers NJ HS Sports/Recruiting

Todderick Hunt (@TodderickHunt)
12/19/16, 4:49 PM
#UConn FB strategy: Hit N.J. hard as NSD approaches. Offer guys who can really ball, yet are under-recruited & likely have a chip bc of it.

Todderick Hunt (@TodderickHunt)
12/19/16, 4:59 PM
@TodderickHunt Already have Dickens & Van DeMark committed. & I could see Jahsim Floyd, Kessler, Devera and Chukwuneke also signing up.

Todderick Hunt (@TodderickHunt)
12/19/16, 5:01 PM
@TodderickHunt They have a recent offer out to T.J. Rayam, who I love & still have an opening 4 Fornadel, who is better than his offer list.

Interesting that the first tweet by Hunt was retweeted by Chris Chuk.

 

[Drew]

Didn't see this.. Commit?

 

[Stainmaster]

Didn't see this.. Commit?

He lists "UCONN'21" in his Twitter bio now. I'd say so.

I like this pickup a lot - we needed an interior lineman to come on board, and his cadre of offers (Air Force, Navy, Nevada, ODU, Temple) is a step up from some of what we've seen recently.

 

[jazyj]

Brendan Devera decommitted from UNH

 

[ktuck911]

He lists "UCONN'21" in his Twitter bio now. I'd say so.

I like this pickup a lot - we needed an interior lineman to come on board, and his cadre of offers (Air Force, Navy, Nevada, ODU, Temple) is a step up from some of what we've seen recently.

Nice! We offered this kid awhile ago. Glad he's aboard.

Now let's get Big O (Octavia Williams) signed on too to get the OL even if more order

 

[huskymedic]

Brendan Devera decommitted from UNH

Sure he did... I just finished updating the lists!!!

Brendan Devera® ‏@BrendanDevera 1h 1 hour ago
I've decided to open up my recruitment and decommit from The University of New Hampshire

Updated above...

 

[Exit 4]

Sure he did... I just finished updating the lists!!!

Brendan Devera® ‏@BrendanDevera 1h 1 hour ago
I've decided to open up my recruitment and decommit from The University of New Hampshire

Updated above...

247 reports Chris Chukwuneke and DeVera as "warm" for UConn.
Chris Chukwuneke's Highlights

 

[HuskyHawk]

247 reports Chris Chukwuneke and DeVera as "warm" for UConn.
Chris Chukwuneke's Highlights

I like the speed. Are we looking at him as a RB or safety?

 

[Exit 4]

I like the speed. Are we looking at him as a RB or safety?

I have no idea....and actually havent had the time to watch his tape.

 

[uconnflyer88]

I don't even know how to respond to this:

I want to preface this post with I'm not criticizing the kid, he's 18 years old and I know this board sometimes goes down that path....I want to look at it objectively.

The irony of the tweet is these kids are in direct control of UConn's (in-state) recruiting class. The question they have to ask themselves is "What do I want to get out of my college career?" If the answer is National Championship then I agree, UConn will NEVER EVER EVER compete for a national championship in the current construct...that's reality. However, if the answer is Play for the NFL, then that is absolutely attainable by staying home and playing for the Huskies....we prove it year after year. The two things Michigan has over UConn is ability to compete for National Championship and Gameday Atmosphere (the history and fanbase is baked into those two). Obviously UConn can't do anything about the first one, however, the Gameday Atmosphere has been proven to be amazing if the team is winning. Starting with 2012, let's see what UConn's team would look like today if the top 2 or 3 recruits would have stayed home and played for UConn:

2012: Casey Cochran and Malik Golen
- Obviously Casey stayed and is one of those "What could have been"
- Malik Golden went to Penn State to play Free Safety and started all games his junior and senior year.....imagine the Safety Tandem with him and Byron Jones?

2013: Andrew Isaacs, Tim Boyle, Sadiq Olanrewaju, Cory Jasudowich, and Noel Thomas
- Andrew Isaacs accumulated about 3 yards total his 3 years at Maryland due to an injury bug that has plagued him for most of his career
- We all know Tim Boyles story need I say more?
- Now Sadiq was not born and raised in CT, he immigrated from Nigeria and calls MD home, but he went to prep school in CT so let's go with it anyways. He went to UVA and started as a true freshman in 2013, injury bug plagued him in 2014, and he missed all of 2015 with injury, nothing yet for 2016 but nfldraftscout.com has him rated as the 77th OT out of 126.
- Cory left the team before the season started, started as a true freshman for University of New Haven, and then he trailed off in 2014.
- Anyone hear anything about this Noel Thomas kid?

2014: Marcus Outlow, Connor Dintino, Arkeel Newsome
- Marcus Outlow had an interesting journey which I'm sure we're all aware of so I'll leave that one alone
- Dintino redshirted in 2014 and started all games for Pitt in 2015...no stats yet for 2016, but one can think that he played in some games
- Anyone hear anything about this Arkeel Newsome kid?

2015: Christian Wilkins, Chris Clark, Anthony Palazzolo, Zach Allen, Jarvis Miller, Quentin Harris, and William Harris
- Uh Wilkins is a beast at Clemson and is the anchor of that defense that went to the national championship last year.....I'll just say imagine the defensive line with Foley at DT and Wilkins on the outside rushing the passer?
- Chris Clark transferred to Pitt after one game at UCLA, he sat out 2015....no stats available for 2016
- Anthony Palazzolo redshirted his freshman year at BC...no stats available for 2016
- Zach Allen played in all but 3 games for BC earning 4.0 sacks (Foley in the middle, Allen and Wilkins rushing the passer)
- Miller redshirted his freshman year at Penn State in 2015, and in 2016 played in 3 games with 3 total tackles
- Quentin Harris redshirted for Duke and was the backup quarterback in 2016
- William Harris was recruited out of Choate, but hails from GA, in 2015 he played in all but 3 games for BC, amounting 20 tackles and 1 INT as a DB, in 2016 he had almost 50 tackles and 2 INTs (imagine Summers on one side and William Harris on the other)

2016: Koby Quansah, Lucas Niang, Isaiah Wright, Jake Hescock, Scooter Harrington, Jacob Morgenstern, and Tahj Herring
- Koby played in all but 4 games for Duke as OLB, amounting 12 tackles (Junior Joseph in the middle with Koby on the outside)
- Lucas redshirted his freshman year at TCU
- Isaiah played in all but 2 games for Temple at WR amounting 8 catches for 74 yards (Noel the #1 and Wright the #2 WR)
- Jake comes from Massachusetts through Salisbury Prep, redshirted his freshman year
- Scooter redshirted for BCU
- Jacob redshirted for Duke
- Tahj committed to UConn and redshirted this year

So actually as you can see, CT has not really produced a CRAZY amount of talent, maybe 1 or 2 players.....at least one team difference maker. However, obviously it can be like domino's, if one play maker commits then they attract other playmakers.

Again it comes down to what they want out of their college career, if they want to CONTINUE excellence at a school like Mich or ND and compete for national championships then obviously UConn is not the place for them. If they want to BUILD excellence, compete for higher tier bowls (under the assumption that if top talent commits it creates higher bowl opportunities) and maybe not win a national championship, but play for the NFL....then stay home and commit to UConn.

Can't blame the kids though, look at 2016....schools like Duke and TCU and then this year in 2017 Notre Dame and Michigan.

This was meant to be a fun research exercise, anyone can build on it.