question on UCONN 2018 commits

[CTrefugee]

I have no idea about the quality of 2018 players who have committed to UCONN. Is there a general feel for about the same talent, better talent, or really good talent. In other words, how does the future look?

 

[thatguyed]

Have we signed any kids with multiple offers from "big time" schools? That's more of a barometer to me than any stars rating.

 

[huskymedic]

Here's a breakdown of all 19 kids who came aboard yesterday by which "tier" their best set of offers came from: P5 schools, G5 schools, FCS schools, or just UConn.

QB
Steven Krajewski, Moultrie GA (1 P5 offer: Syracuse)

RB
Khyon Gillespie, Hartford CT (1 FCS offer: Central Connecticut State)

WR
Heron Marriseau, Mastic Beach NY (only offered by UConn)
Elijah Jeffreys, Somerville MA (only offered by UConn)

OT
Dylan Niedrowski, Reading PA (2 FCS offers: Columbia, Stetson)

OG
Noel Ofori-Nyadu, Arlington TX (5 G5 offers: Boise State, Louisiana-Monroe, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Tulane)
Peter Rooney, Atlanta GA (4 G5 offers: Appalachian State, Florida Atlantic, Georgia Southern, Georgia State)

DE
Lwal Uguak, Edmonton AB (1 G5 offer: Fresno State)
Jonathan Pace, Boston MA (1 G5 offer: Army)

DT
Travis Jones, New Haven CT (3 P5 offers: Boston College, Pittsburgh, Rutgers)

LB
Kevon Jones, East Hartford CT (1 P5 offer: Boston College)
Hunter Webb, Montoursville PA (2 G5 offers: Army, Massachusetts)

CB
Shamel Lazarus, Jamaica NY (2 P5 offers: Purdue, Rutgers)
Ryan Carroll, Temple Hills MD (3 G5 offers: Eastern Michigan, Ohio, Temple)
O'Neil Robinson II, Hartford CT (1 G5 offer: Army)
Malik Banks, Hockessin DE (3 FCS offers: Central Connecticut State, Howard, Morgan State)
Jeremy Lucien, Moore Township PA (2 FCS offers: Columbia, Davidson)
Keyshawn Paul, Miami FL (1 FCS offer: Duquesne)

S
Jordan Morrison, Hamilton NJ (1 P5 offer: Virginia)

5/19 topped out with at least one P5 offer, 7/19 with at least one G5 offer, 5/19 with at least one FCS offer, 2/19 were only offered by UConn.

 

[CTrefugee]

promising start, I think. Something to build on.

 

[thatguyed]

Thanks.

 

[Pudge]

I find this other offer stuff silly.

If a CT, MA, upstate NY kid commits in May-July ... who else has seen him? It’s not like SEC or B1G are scouring scouting the region. There’s basically BC (who frankly ...does not grind the way our coaches do in NE & NY); Don Brown (who will scoop up the highest profiles); and occasionally a assistant or three. A Notre Dame kid from Greenwich or West Hartford. Stanford or Vandy ... who’s parents shoehorn. The region - with justification - gets overlooked. The kids film and games and contact is sparse. I guarantee the kids Buffalo got from West Senaca High or Canisius High MAY have been seen by UConn - but nobody else. UMass portrays a school that’s not doing NE homework; Whipple has a weird mix. And that’s it.

Here come the Usual Suspects of BY posters.

Edsall is going to get more competitive kids with P5 Offers - over time. But the Jonathan Pace / Elijah Jeffreys story is going to be with us today tomorrow and 10 years from now. Are they less of a 5 year prospect because Indiana never found them?

Byron Jones.

 

[Stainmaster]

I find this other offer stuff silly.

What's life like on the island?

 

[Sky ball]

Regardless of Stars or P5 offers I am confident that Edsall and Company evaluate talent much better than Red Pant Fiacso.

 

[Scrutiner]

I find this other offer stuff silly.

If a CT, MA, upstate NY kid commits in May-July ... who else has seen him? It’s not like SEC or B1G are scouring scouting the region. There’s basically BC (who frankly ...does not grind the way our coaches do in NE & NY); Don Brown (who will scoop up the highest profiles); and occasionally a assistant or three. A Notre Dame kid from Greenwich or West Hartford. Stanford or Vandy ... who’s parents shoehorn. The region - with justification - gets overlooked. The kids film and games and contact is sparse. I guarantee the kids Buffalo got from West Senaca High or Canisius High MAY have been seen by UConn - but nobody else. UMass portrays a school that’s not doing NE homework; Whipple has a weird mix. And that’s it.

Here come the Usual Suspects of BY posters.

Edsall is going to get more competitive kids with P5 Offers - over time. But the Jonathan Pace / Elijah Jeffreys story is going to be with us today tomorrow and 10 years from now. Are they less of a 5 year prospect because Indiana never found them?

Byron Jones.

For those who may not recall, Byron Jones was a 6 foot, 175 pound, two star with one offer. UConn. There was also reported interest from Akron, Boston College and New Hampshire according to Rivals, but probably very few people on this site expected him to turn into the superior talent he
became.

From outside our sphere, Russell Wilson was also a two star with offers from NC State and Duke and interest but no offer from VA Tech, so they're out there.

Let us pray and dream that Edsall, et al, can find at least a few Byron Jones type players every year. How about ten? He did it in 2009 but it looks tougher today with the bad rap the league has been given and six wasted years of Pasqualoni and Diaco.

 

[Palatine]

I find this other offer stuff silly.

If a CT, MA, upstate NY kid commits in May-July ... who else has seen him? It’s not like SEC or B1G are scouring scouting the region. There’s basically BC (who frankly ...does not grind the way our coaches do in NE & NY); Don Brown (who will scoop up the highest profiles); and occasionally a assistant or three. A Notre Dame kid from Greenwich or West Hartford. Stanford or Vandy ... who’s parents shoehorn. The region - with justification - gets overlooked. The kids film and games and contact is sparse. I guarantee the kids Buffalo got from West Senaca High or Canisius High MAY have been seen by UConn - but nobody else. UMass portrays a school that’s not doing NE homework; Whipple has a weird mix. And that’s it.

Here come the Usual Suspects of BY posters.

Edsall is going to get more competitive kids with P5 Offers - over time. But the Jonathan Pace / Elijah Jeffreys story is going to be with us today tomorrow and 10 years from now. Are they less of a 5 year prospect because Indiana never found them?

Byron Jones.

Your post made me curious. Take a look at how UMass builds it's roster. I don't know how to explain it. Does this make any sense?

Mass - 29
Fla - 11
NY - 11
Calif - 10
NJ - 10
PA - 8
Texas - 5
Ohio -2
MD- 2
RI - 2
GA - 2
VA - 2
CT - 2
Germany - 2
WV - 1
Wash - 1
Del - 1
Maine -1
NH - 1
Bama - 1
Que - 1
Ont - 1
Australia -1

 

[Hornet22]

Have we signed any kids with multiple offers from "big time" schools? That's more of a barometer to me than any stars rating.

Star ratings are based mainly on offers. And lots of offers are simply handed out like hot cakes for a myriad of reasons other than actual evaluations. Some schools offer kids because their next door neighbor did. Some schools offer a kid just to throw their hat in the ring then start to evaluate him afterwards- if they find out that the kid wasn’t worth the offer well guess what? They don’t pull it, they simply stop calling the kid yet the offer is still reported. Lots of offers are non committable ones. Others purely given out for marketing purposes- to attach a school’s name to a kid that’s hot at the moment.

And I say this with all due respect- most fans don’t take the time to truly evaluate a kid’s film that just got offered by so and so Big school. Lots on these threads (that I enjoy reading) simply want UConn to sign kids with multiple P5 offers because then that validates the talent that we’re bringing on. Again, you can’t read too much into that.

Question, have you guys compared the film of P5 offer guys and let’s say for example our DB group? Take Morrison, Paul, Lucien, etc. Is there that much of a difference between those guys and the “big name” recruits? When I watch our guys I see aggressive tackling, guys who are committed to pursuing the ball, and overall football IQ. Now, does that mean they don’t have work to do? Nope. It means that P5 guys and our guys are all good athletes (some perhaps further along than others) with a solid base that needs to be coached up to realize their potential. I guarantee if our guys had multiple P5 offers you would be more excited about them right? But then ask yourself this...Did their film change? Or did your perspective of their film change because of the other offers? That’s what happens when one looks at the film from someone who got offered by Clemson. Suddenly he looks more dominant yet check out who they’re doing it against? That never changes. High schools are full of the same dynamics. Teams have a few studs and the rest are decent to subpar players. When hose guys get to the next level, the studs, most of them hit a wall and have to work because the level of competition just got greater. Trust that the coaching staff did their evaluations both game film wise and in person to determine that these 19 players all have the ability to get coached up on fundamentals, strength speed and agility to add on to their already solid foundation. You want guys that aren’t finished products and havent already peaked because It’s harder to mold those types into what you need them to be.

All my two cents. Sorry for my long intial post. You guys are all great with wonderful opinions. Looking forward to this ride back to the glory days!

 

[Pudge]

Your post made me curious. Take a look at how UMass builds it's roster. I don't know how to explain it. Does this make any sense?

Mass - 29
Fla - 11
NY - 11
Calif - 10
NJ - 10
PA - 8
Texas - 5
Ohio -2
MD- 2
RI - 2
GA - 2
VA - 2
CT - 2
Germany - 2
WV - 1
Wash - 1
Del - 1
Maine -1
NH - 1
Bama - 1
Que - 1
Ont - 1
Australia -1

The obvious answer

Edsall grinds through traditional recruitment and evaluated / projects. Whipple is broadly gathering Juco transfers prep and not the Camp type combine. It’s amazing that he isn’t our competition on CT kids and then ... what’s he find in Mass. Are those 29 productive?