Official 2014 Commit Thread

[huskymedic]

Ri.v.als has him listed as going to Delaware St

You talking Lamont Bradford or Jalen Branford??? Lamont signed w/ DSU today.

 

[Durks07]

 

[kcc1442]

You talking Lamont Bradford or Jalen Branford??? Lamont signed w/ DSU today.

I was talking Jalen originally....Indiana PA sounds familiar but hes not on their roster or part of their incoming class. Isn't playing basketball there either (I know he was a dual athlete)........Mike Box was there last year though...

 

[huskymedic]

I was talking Jalen originally....Indiana PA sounds familiar but hes not on their roster or part of their incoming class. Isn't playing basketball there either (I know he was a dual athlete)...Mike Box was there last year though...

I think Art got spun around. I knew who you meant. I stopped following him on Twitter and that was the last thought that was stuck in my head . Didn't check the roster. Shame if he didn't bounce somewhere.

 

[huskymedic]

NHRJimFuller6:57pm via TweetDeck
#UConn football coach Bob Diaco's thoughts on record-breaking signee Arkeel NewsomePost original url/1fSTVgh

>>Wednesday, February 05, 2014

UConn's Diaco dishes on Arkeel Newsome

If there is a concern about Arkeel Newsome, the record-breaking Ansonia High running back who signed with UConn today, it is his lack of size.

UConn football coach Bob Diaco is not only of those worried about the 5-foot-7, 170-pound Newsome being able to make an impact at the collegiate level.

"I am not concerned about his size at all," Diaco said. "We are going to ask him to do things that serve his tangible traits. We really pride ourselves in not asking players to do what we know they can’t do and ask them things that we know that they can do. He is not diminutive. He is maybe not the tallest guy in the world. When you are looking at him he has stature. He can nice, big round shoulders, he has nice big legs and he is really grounded well. This is not a diminutive guy where you are not only short but small. There are things that he can do that are better than the rest and we are going to ask him to do those things."<<

 

[billybud]

Any observation or 2 from ESPN recruiting rankings.

How does Kentucky get a 20th ranked class and how does Tenn (5th ranked) have 36 commits?

An awfully good recruiting staff a UK and Tenn is sending 11 to prep?

Stoops, in his second year at Kentucky, is a phenomenal recruiter...his last year's class was good. He was responsible for bringing in stellar defensive recruits while at FSU.

 

[kris1]

 

[ZooCougar]

Arkeel is going to play next season. No way you leave that kind of talent on the bench.

 

[sportsart]

You talking Lamont Bradford or Jalen Branford??? Lamont signed w/ DSU today.

I guess I read it too fast.

 

[Dove]

Just based on size and offers, I bet Ron Johnson gets a ton of playing time next year. New territory for us getting a kid seemingly that ready to contribute.

I have a feeling Bob's "thick running back" will be a featured guy very soon.

 

[ZooCougar]

Bob Diaco is not just playing lip service to academics. We have a BUNCH of players signed that are coming from legit prep schools, not just 1 year schools where guys go to get eligible or grayshirt. Blair Academy, Kent School, Lawrenceville, and Suffield Academy. These are secondary schools that are academically rigorous, if you don't make grades at schools like that they bench you or just suspend you altogether.

 

[metsfan2323]

These videos are like an episode of "The Office". Diaco is a great Steve Carell. Hopefully in the next episode someone puts Cummings' cell phone into a jello mold. They just need a Pam.

If they did this a few weeks ago they could have had a great episode. I'm picturing Susan Herbst from corporate storming the office to give a talk about the importance political correctness.

 

[BlueDogs]

Total class effort today. Great marketing and outreach. Completely different feel and approach. UConn Country is on the rise! Can next season start soon enough!! Let's get rolling.

 

[jdb50]

Nice speed on TE Bloom and LB Diggs. Liked the footwork on Crozier as well. 3 RB's really filled a need, nice looking class.

 

[UCFBfan]

Nice write up from J silver.

http://snyuconn.com/uconn/football/diaco-wraps-up-signing-day/#more-10849

• 
  [ ]One thing I got from Diaco is that transcripts and ability to do well in school mean something. The Huskies aren’t going to go after a marginal student even if they could qualify him for school. UConn isn’t going to academically reach for a player. Diaco shut that down even if they think they can get that player through admissions.

“You still have to go to school at UConn, not every student has to launch a missile…but you got to be able to read and write well to compete in the classroom,” Diaco said.

This is evident in those videos. I think he mentioned the players academic accomplishments in some way in his talk to every recruit. I thought it was a little odd to mention but reading this quote clears it up now. It's great to see that they hold academics in high regard. I just hope it doesn't hurt us long term when all of our conference members could care less about academics and start leapfrogging us for the last lifeboats by getting great players who are dumber than dirt.

 

[Husky68]

This is evident in those videos. I think he mentioned the players academic accomplishments in some way in his talk to every recruit. I thought it was a little odd to mention but reading this quote clears it up now. It's great to see that they hold academics in high regard. I just hope it doesn't hurt us long term when all of our conference members could care less about academics and start leapfrogging us for the last lifeboats by getting great players who are dumber than dirt.

Yeah, like the SEC leaves any dumber than dirt GREAT players for the likes of UConn fight with other AAC schools over.

 

[Sportsman5]

I think the hope is to use academics as a differentiating factor. If you are the top academic school/ academic focused football program out of a recruit's scholarship offers, than that is an advantage. Most of the players who enter college football know that their chances of making money in the NFL is very minimal. Maybe the top few hundred think they have a good chance, but after that most know how hard it is. So telling a player that we will help you to achieve great academic success, give you a scholarship, give you a legit opportunity for playing time from day one, and make you a great leader and individual is a very good pitch to a player that is not in the top 200-300 players in the country.

 

[ZooCougar]

I think the hope is to use academics as a differentiating factor. If you are the top academic school/ academic focused football program out of a recruit's scholarship offers, than that is an advantage. Most of the players who enter college football know that their chances of making money in the NFL is very minimal. Maybe the top few hundred think they have a good chance, but after that most know how hard it is. So telling a player that we will help you to achieve great academic success, give you a scholarship, give you a legit opportunity for playing time from day one, and make you a great leader and individual is a very good pitch to a player that is not in the top 200-300 players in the country.

Other than Tulane and Navy, nobody in this upgraded CUSA cares about academics. Maybe SMU, maybe.

 

[ZackB05]

Saw something that mentioned David Shaw, Stanford's head coach said there were maybe 75 kids in this year's class who could academically qualify and be able to play at Stanford.

 

[johnhuskies95]

Any observation or 2 from ESPN recruiting rankings.

How does Kentucky get a 20th ranked class and how does Tenn (5th ranked) have 36 commits?

An awfully good recruiting staff a UK and Tenn is sending 11 to prep?

Tennessee took 14 early enrollees.

 

[Kgun7]

Other than Tulane and Navy, nobody in this upgraded CUSA cares about academics. Maybe SMU, maybe.

Maybe it's not just about academics in the classroom ... maybe it's about academics on the field too. A lot of smart football players = A very smart team.

I love how everyone analyzes a QB's play by how tall he is and how hard he throws the ball ... without realizing it's also pretty important to throw to the right guy, to the right location, at the right time ... not to mention knowing the playbook.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

It will be interesting to see if Diaco can hang in on the "no academic risks" stance. There are going to be top recruits...potentially in state recruits....that will be borderline. How patient will fans and boosters be if another Mark Harrison happens? He will feel the pressure to make exceptions.

You can take that stance easier at ND because they can still get top athletes. Remember before Meyer took the Florida job, he passed on the ND job because he couldn't get the exceptions to take on academic risks at ND and he didn't feel he could win without that.

DIaco won't have as many options at UConn and when the choice becomes being an average team with top students or an above average team with a few below average students, will he still take the "no academic risks" approach?

I think he says this publically..but he is probably not so black and white privately.

 

[UConnJim]

UConn has to develop players to compete. In general, most of UConn's recruits will not have been developed in high school, unlike athletes coming from the South. That means most freshmen will be redshirted and UConn is counting on the players being there for 4 or 5 years. So, strong academics are a must if you want to develop players over multiple years. In addition, if a student is struggling before he gets to college, there is little doubt that he will struggle even worse in college and you won't have the chance to develop them.

If UConn develops players and has many developed upperclassmen on teams in the future, I like UConn's chances of competing.

 

[gioff23]

I thnk Diaco gets that UConn is not about the Mark Harrisons or Montrell Dobbs or Rennick Bryans of this world. I think he was told that from day1 what UConn is doing and bought in. I think he is all about getting guys who are a fit for the entire program, not just football. It does us no good to bring in kids who can't cut it in the classroom. He needs kids he can rely on, day in and day out. I think you will see there are plenty of those kids out there - we saw many of them at the half of the MBB game the other night. If you want to send your kid to a good U w/a top notch coach/leader/father figure, we are now a destination. If you are only looking for a place your kid can play CFB, well then maybe you should look elsewhere.

 

[ZooCougar]

Diaco's key quote from yesterday.

"This is a developmental program". It's just not economical for us to waste time chasing waterfalls. The bulk of our classes will be the rivers and the lakes that we're used to.

Now that doesn't mean we can't sign scores of 3 and 4 star kids. They have to be developed as well. Diaco hired coaches with strong recruiting histories. I have little doubt that there will be an uptick after a couple of complete cycles.