2017 Recruiting Thread | Page 18 | The Boneyard

2017 Recruiting Thread

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huskymedic said:
Sigh... FTAAC

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While the AAC is true, this is from the article linked. Can't fault the AAC for this.

"Just a long talk with my family," Melifonwu said. "My brother goes to UConn and I kind of wanted to carve my own path at Syracuse."
 
Dynasty said:
While the AAC is true, this is from the article linked. Can't fault the AAC for this.

"Just a long talk with my family," Melifonwu said. "My brother goes to UConn and I kind of wanted to carve my own path at Syracuse."
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Yeah... I posted out of pocket when I saw the commit announcement. I was just coming here to update the OP when you also dropped this. I do believe if we were in a different conference, carving his own path @ UConn would be just as attractive. The challenges recruiting against non-Group of 5 schools is getting more real everyday. We can't underestimate the pull of the P5 perception for some kids. Frustrating for sure.
 
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We also got EJ Levenberry as a transfer.. the conference affiliation thing is overblown IMO in regards to UConn football. Our basketball still recruits more than fine in the league. I don't know that Big East-AAC is big of a difference conference wise as we think it is.
 
Drew said:
We also got EJ Levenberry as a transfer.. the conference affiliation thing is overblown IMO in regards to UConn football. Our basketball still recruits more than fine in the league. I don't know that Big East-AAC is big of a difference conference wise as we think it is.
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IMO - You can't compare basketball recruiting to football recruiting based on recruiting class size alone, yet alone total roster size. Bit easier to pluck a few blue chips in basketball than to pluck them in football in the AAC/Northeast. Football is a completely different animal than basketball/baseball.
 
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huskymedic said:
IMO - You can't compare basketball recruiting to football recruiting based on recruiting class size alone, yet alone total roster size. Bit easier to pluck a few blue chips in basketball than to pluck them in football in the AAC/Northeast. Football is a completely different animal than basketball/baseball.
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Even ignoring that basketball recruiting is doing extremely well- are our football classes that much better/worse rated than when we were in the Big East? (and this is a question I honestly don't know the answer to). I don't really buy the argument that if we were in the ACC all of a sudden Tarik Black or the equivalent is coming to play here.

As for what I bolded above- I think this is a fair argument. That because there are naturally fewer "elite" D1 prospects in the Northeast we are naturally going to not land as many of these prospects as other schools. But recruiting elite prospects to schools in this league can be done. Hell Houston had a top 25 class last year and landed a top 5 player in the country. I just think its annoying that people blame the AAC for us not landing certain guys when there's been zero inclination that for example, had we not been in the AAC Obi's brother would be coming here.
 
Drew said:
Even ignoring that basketball recruiting is doing extremely well- are our football classes that much better/worse rated than when we were in the Big East? (and this is a question I honestly don't know the answer to). I don't really buy the argument that if we were in the ACC all of a sudden Tarik Black or the equivalent is coming to play here.

As for what I bolded above- I think this is a fair argument. That because there are naturally fewer "elite" D1 prospects in the Northeast we are naturally going to not land as many of these prospects as other schools. But recruiting elite prospects to schools in this league can be done. Hell Houston had a top 25 class last year and landed a top 5 player in the country. I just think its annoying that people blame the AAC for us not landing certain guys when there's been zero inclination that for example, had we not been in the AAC Obi's brother would be coming here.
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It doesn't matter whether it's the AAC or the MAC -- recruiting high end/elite kids in numbers to geographically disadvantaged non P5 schools will be tougher and tougher (... and Houston is in a talent rich/geographically advantaged state and their 5* recruit was from Houston not even just Texas. I believe only 1 or 2 of the 2016 class wasn't from Texas or an adjoining state.).

If you don't believe there is negative recruiting going regarding P5 versus Non-P5 then I'm not going to be able to convince you otherwise until you hear it direct from a recruit. As far as Obi's brother (and I'm not saying he was not expressing his true feeling - but if he wasn't) did you really expect him to come out w/ a different reason why he's not going to UConn when his brother is still here? How about Foley's brother going to Rutgers?

I'll never say never but it is a steep hill to climb. The more CT kids that are evaluated and ranked- the faster tides will slowly turn (consistent winning helps too). I guess we'll just disagree what weight to put on "conference affiliation" in football recruiting. I'm one who would sure like that "excuse" to not be a prevalent factor.
 
Dynasty said:
Finally some actual recruiting news...


LB Kam Jones. Has offers from Mississippi State and Northwestern.

I couldn't find a profile on him, but apparently he has his own website so I'll just copy and paste his info:

Kam Jones is a 6'1 223 pound Inside Linebacker. He has violent hands at the point of attack and is a side line to side line tackling machine. He plays very well in space and has an extremely high football IQ. His father is 14 year NFL veteran offensive tackle Tony Jones.

#52 Kameron Jones
Linebacker
Peachtree Ridge High School
Class of 2017

Core Values
God, Family, Football - To work hard and honor my family and teammates.
Academic Information
Class - 2017
GPA - 3.4
Major Interest - Sports Marketing

Position/Size/Strength/Speed
Position - Linebacker
Height - 6'1
Weight - 223
Bench Press - 305
Squat - 425
Power Clean - 255
Vertical - 31"
40 - 4.79
5-10-5 Shuttle - 4.51
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Kam Jones to Louisville
 
huskymedic said:
It doesn't matter whether it's the AAC or the MAC -- recruiting high end/elite kids in numbers to geographically disadvantaged non P5 schools will be tougher and tougher (... and Houston is in a talent rich/geographically advantaged state and their 5* recruit was from Houston not even just Texas. I believe only 1 or 2 of the 2016 class wasn't from Texas or an adjoining state.).

If you don't believe there is negative recruiting going regarding P5 versus Non-P5 then I'm not going to be able to convince you otherwise until you hear it direct from a recruit. As far as Obi's brother (and I'm not saying he was not expressing his true feeling - but if he wasn't) did you really expect him to come out w/ a different reason why he's not going to UConn when his brother is still here? How about Foley's brother going to Rutgers?

I'll never say never but it is a steep hill to climb. The more CT kids that are evaluated and ranked- the faster tides will slowly turn (consistent winning helps too). I guess we'll just disagree what weight to put on "conference affiliation" in football recruiting. I'm one who would sure like that "excuse" to not be a prevalent factor.
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First paragraph: I think we're on the same page here in our thought process, I'm just also of the opinion that recruiting high end/elite (i.e. 4*+ prospects) is something that wouldn't happen at UConn regardless of our conference affiliation. It never really happened with regularity in our Big East classes (although there were a few exceptions to the rule). UConn's recruiting strategy for the most part has remained the same since the inception of D1 football in Storrs- find local under the radar guys and develop them.

Bolded: that's not what we're discussing here. I absolutely believe/know there is negative recruiting going on with this. Doesn't mean we can't still land guys who have P5 offers as we did last year for example with Herring, Dixon, Hahn, etc.

Agree that things are not necessarily easy in the AAC, especially if you're talking about us going up against a school in the upper half of the P5. But when it comes to us going up against Boston College, Syracuse, Rutgers, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Indiana, Illinois, etc I don't know that the conference affiliation has as big of an effect as we're making it seem. There's AAC teams that outperform mid/low level P5 programs in recruiting class rankings every year. Id rather be in a P5 and not have to worry about it either.
 
The biggest problem at the AAC level is when you find a good coach who can attract some P5 talent and coach up other players so that you have success can you keep the coach? Look at Ferentz at Iowa. Stability in the coach position has paid off for a team not seen as a national blueblood. Cinci has been luckier than most in G5 with continued success through multiple coaching changes. Then for us you add the State's budget woes and how much the money would help the school stay competitive. We can be successful but it is going to get tougher each year. There are plenty of players that want to play and we can attract them to UCONN. Filling the stadium again on a regular basis would be our best recruiting tool IMHO.
 
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Stairmaster said:
We broke down the FCIAC wall!
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Nice job by Coach Corley:

H.S. Football: For Staples they have one goal: return to the postseason

>>Ryan Fitton, Junior, Tight End

During the offseason Fitton who already stands at 6 feet 5 inches added thirty pounds and is now 235 pounds. That should bode well for the junior who has worked extensively on his blocking in preparation for the season. Fitton is the returning leading receiver for the Wreckers and will be expected to step up contribute more this season, especially in the red zone.<<
 
The thing I really like, no love, about how we recruit is we get depth... HCBD doesn't focus on the media hyped kids, even though getting a few of those kids in our recruiting classes wouldn't be so bad. He's building kids with the potential to succeed a little different than in the past... He's like Edsall on steroids with his recruiting and player development... Under the radar kids, with the facilities, strength & conditioning, and staff in place to develop these kids into MEN... I don't think I'm reading into this too much either... I think we'll see a helluva football team on the field starting this year and beyond... We all know that our OL is still the Achilles heel, BUT we are now in year 3 of the re-build... with our schedule, we should take the next step. No excuse for less than 7 regular season wins and a bowl game (If our OL play is improved there's no reason not to see us at 9 or 10 wins... my opinion).

HCBD has set UCONN up for a successful run these next few years...
 
btw, would be nice to snag Pinnock, Thompson, Field, and Wise still.. Keep that in state train rolling...
 
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Drew said:
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Who cares? We know it's not UCONN.
We bash Marinelli because a New Canaan kid wont go to UCONN, but CA has how many kids going elsewhere, with no intention of staying home?
I could care less where he goes. And I don't care if he ever sees the field. I hope he becomes a good citizen. That's it. I dont know the kid. If I did, I may root for him on the field. I'm a UCONN fan. I root for UCONN student athletes.
 
huskyblooz said:
Who cares? We know it's not UCONN.
We bash Marinelli because a New Canaan kid wont go to UCONN, but CA has how many kids going elsewhere, with no intention of staying home?
I could care less where he goes. And I don't care if he ever sees the field. I hope he becomes a good citizen. That's it. I dont know the kid. If I did, I may root for him on the field. I'm a UCONN fan. I root for UCONN student athletes.
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he has a UConn offer. Just technicalities at this point
 
huskyblooz said:
Who cares? We know it's not UCONN.

We bash Marinelli because a New Canaan kid wont go to UCONN, but CA has how many kids going elsewhere, with no intention of staying home?

I could care less where he goes. And I don't care if he ever sees the field. I hope he becomes a good citizen. That's it. I dont know the kid. If I did, I may root for him on the field. I'm a UCONN fan. I root for UCONN student athletes.
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Feel better?
 
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