excellent recruiting article in the courant

[mattp]

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-football/hc-uconn-football-0120-20120119,0,3893011.story

Nan linked this article but i think it provides a lot of info and deserves a little spotlight. Dez estimates we have 5 spots left and it looks like we have 5 big time players up this weekend, in addition to Brodie who will decide between us and Rutgers next Wednesday but is visiting RU this weekend. the article mentions Juco TE Neil Shortell, does anyone know if he's definite to transfer here? from the article it seemed like he was incoming, but he isn't listed on any of the websites as a commit.

so far i'm pretty happy with this class and i think if we can get 2 or 3 of the 6 guys mentioned above it'll look like our most attractive signing day haul yet. so far we have:
QB-2
WR-3
RB-1
TE-0
OL-4
DL-2
LB-2
DB-4
K-1
+Elijah Norris who i could see ending up anywhere from the DLine , LB or even TE

and of our main realistic targets remaining we have 2OL, 2LB, 1DL and 1S

after that i'm sure we have a couple fallback guys but it looks like we have a pretty good idea of what we'll have in this class. my main thought is that i'm surprised we only have 1RB committed. RB has never been a concern of ours, so i'm not going to start worrying too much about it now, but considering all we really have is a sophomore with no real proven adequate backups i'd have like to see 2, maybe even 3 if one was versatile enough to move to another position if he didnt' pan out. also it seems like we should have another TE. if we do have that Juco that will help, but regardless of whether Manning is staying we don't have many young players at the position. especially considering i was led to believe that TEs will be somewhat of a focal point in this offense. i'm surprised that we not only have few commits at these two positions, but it doesn't look like we really have any great offers out there either.

 

[UConnRock]

I wouldn't say UConn has 5 "big time players" in this weekend. From UConn standards Kinsey, Schwan, and Morgan, with multiple BCS offers, are big-time. The other guys visiting are the plan B/C backups. Levy is the Plan B for Brodie should Brodie end up at Rutgers. I think Glowinski is a JUCO plan A, but I still think the staff would take Levy if Glowinski committed. Vinci is the Plan B should neither Kinsey or Schwan commit at DE. He has the size and build to play DE, although he is listed as a LB. Right now I would say UConn has less than a 50% chance for Kinsey or Schwan, but interestingly I think there is more of a shot at Kinsey who has Cincy at the top of his board than Schwan who has just blown up in a week and will likely end up at PSU. Similar to Glowinski, Shortell is a fallback at TE and a 2 year band-aid to cover lack of success in recruiting TEs for the last couple of years.

The thing that I find very interesting is the lack of activity at WR. We heard all about potential visits from Goodluck and E.J. Liddell, but that talk has died. Does this mean positive news on Golden? He took a PSU visit and while many other commits who visited reaffirmed their intentions, Golden did not and is still deciding. We can only hope.

The Morgan situation is interesting. There is no Plan B if he doesn't commit which means the staff is comfortable with the DB recruiting in this class. Morgan would be a little icing on the cake forUConn.

 

[2Infinity]

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-football/hc-uconn-football-0120-20120119,0,3893011.story

Nan linked this article but i think it provides a lot of info and deserves a little spotlight. Dez estimates we have 5 spots left and it looks like we have 5 big time players up this weekend, in addition to Brodie who will decide between us and Rutgers next Wednesday but is visiting RU this weekend. the article mentions Juco TE Neil Shortell, does anyone know if he's definite to transfer here? from the article it seemed like he was incoming, but he isn't listed on any of the websites as a commit.

so far i'm pretty happy with this class and i think if we can get 2 or 3 of the 6 guys mentioned above it'll look like our most attractive signing day haul yet. so far we have:
QB-2
WR-3
RB-1
TE-0
OL-4
DL-2
LB-2
DB-4
K-1
+Elijah Norris who i could see ending up anywhere from the DLine , LB or even TE

and of our main realistic targets remaining we have 2OL, 2LB, 1DL and 1S

after that i'm sure we have a couple fallback guys but it looks like we have a pretty good idea of what we'll have in this class. my main thought is that i'm surprised we only have 1RB committed. RB has never been a concern of ours, so i'm not going to start worrying too much about it now, but considering all we really have is a sophomore with no real proven adequate backups i'd have like to see 2, maybe even 3 if one was versatile enough to move to another position if he didnt' pan out. also it seems like we should have another TE. if we do have that Juco that will help, but regardless of whether Manning is staying we don't have many young players at the position. especially considering i was led to believe that TEs will be somewhat of a focal point in this offense. i'm surprised that we not only have few commits at these two positions, but it doesn't look like we really have any great offers out there either.

Hey Matt! Not sure if you're aware of it or not, but some of the info you're mentioning, linking or discussing has been covered in some other threads. If you look at the thread "Walking in a recruiting wonderland", in yesterdays posts, you'll see the weekend visitors mentioned in post #14 and the article from Dez linked in post #16. Also, there is a highlights link to Richard Levy as well as some info and brief discussion about him.

You may want to take a look at the "Schwan official..." thread for some info and a few posts about Neil Shortell, they begin with post #63. Some of the other visitors have been discussed in their own named threads, like Schwan, Vinci and Morgan. And Brodie has his own thread as well. Hope this helps.

 

[B1GEast]

I wouldn't say UConn has 5 "big time players" in this weekend. From UConn standards Kinsey, Schwan, and Morgan, with multiple BCS offers, are big-time. The other guys visiting are the plan B/C backups. Levy is the Plan B for Brodie should Brodie end up at Rutgers. I think Glowinski is a JUCO plan A, but I still think the staff would take Levy if Glowinski committed. Vinci is the Plan B should neither Kinsey or Schwan commit at DE. He has the size and build to play DE, although he is listed as a LB. Right now I would say UConn has less than a 50% chance for Kinsey or Schwan, but interestingly I think there is more of a shot at Kinsey who has Cincy at the top of his board than Schwan who has just blown up in a week and will likely end up at PSU. Similar to Glowinski, Shortell is a fallback at TE and a 2 year band-aid to cover lack of success in recruiting TEs for the last couple of years.

The thing that I find very interesting is the lack of activity at WR. We heard all about potential visits from Goodluck and E.J. Liddell, but that talk has died. Does this mean positive news on Golden? He took a PSU visit and while many other commits who visited reaffirmed their intentions, Golden did not and is still deciding. We can only hope.

The Morgan situation is interesting. There is no Plan B if he doesn't commit which means the staff is comfortable with the DB recruiting in this class. Morgan would be a little icing on the cake forUConn.

I think Morgan would play safety, from what I've read he doesn't have the technique to play cb, does move his hips to well.

 

[ktuck911]

AJ Liddell is a major ECU lean... UCONN is his back up... rivals article on him indicated he might commit on his official to ECU...

 

[gioff23]

I have no idea if these kids are Plan A, B or Z, and not sure it matters. In years past we have found god value with the "last guys in", whether they were a Plan A or B or other. Think Jazz, Ty Meer Brown and last year Ashiru. The fact that they are coming in late should not mean they are a Plan B. None of us have any idea where they are on the board and how long they have been there.

Separately, the numbers listed do not count transfers (2 WRs, 2 LBs, and an OL) nor do they include a kid like Bokoleh (sp.?) who is on campus and must, I presume, be on a schollie.

Regardless of how this class fills out, I like the approach this staff has taken and the results reflected in less than a year. Welcome to CT in January guys, hope you enjoy the trip, and see the promise UConn holds.