The 95th best recruiting class

[UconnFamily]

We just saw this with Nolan Ulizio.

It was going to happen regardless. Eventually he was going to get his 2 stars even if he stood committed to us.

 

[UCFBfan]

If Temple, Tulsa, San Diego State, UCF, Cincinnati, and Memphis can get them 4 and 5 star players to commit or transfer then I don't see why we can't.

Out of curiosity, and I mean this seriously, how many of those 4 or 5 star players that committed to those universities were from in-state. You are looking at schools in California, Oklahoma, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. All of which are high level recruiting grounds. UConn is at a severe disadvantage geographically speaking. We can't play the "you can play home games in your own state" card with 99% of 4 or 5 star recruits. So that statement about those schools getting 4 or 5 star recruits might be a bit skewed.

 

[UconnFamily]

Nah - it's because one's s a legacy. Nothing to do w/ level of effort on this one.

Temple_FB Feb 04, 7:10am via Twitter Web Client
DYK: Kareem Ali Jr.'s dad played football at Temple and his mom ran track? TRULY #TempleMade.

They still had to compete with top schools in the country, but I'll give you that one. What about T.J Simmons? Kid is from FL with offers from Ohio State, Penn State, Florida, Auburn, Notre Damn, Ole Miss, UCLA, etc... but yet he chose Temple? We need to sell these kids hard. Didn't Rutgers bring their recruits around NY in a limo to have fun? it was something like that.

 

[formerlurker]

I know that negative posts are generally frowned upon in this establishment....but I'll take the risk. I also know that the star system is subjective. But, how do we ever improve with a recruiting class somewhere between 90 and 100? (depending on who's rankings you look at)

The minute you admit to being negative, in anything, is the minute I stop listening.

I hope we improve by this 95th ranked class being stocked with 22+ young men who look at academics, Football and life the same way. I'm not the soapbox, motivational speaker we all hate but I truly believe in positive thinking over doom.

 

[UconnFamily]

Out of curiosity, and I mean this seriously, how many of those 4 or 5 star players that committed to those universities were from in-state. You are looking at schools in California, Oklahoma, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. All of which are high level recruiting grounds. UConn is at a severe disadvantage geographically speaking. We can't play the "you can play home games in your own state" card with 99% of 4 or 5 star recruits. So that statement about those schools getting 4 or 5 star recruits might be a bit skewed.

Temple has a four star commit from a FL kid.

 

[UCFBfan]

Temple has a four star commit from a FL kid.

Yeah I just saw you post that after I posted mine. Thanks. I wasn't trying to be a dick, just was curious if there was a correlation.

 

[Dizzy21]

It was going to happen regardless. Eventually he was going to get his 2 stars even if he stood committed to us.

He had two stars before Michigan was in the game, the only place that he increased was espn. The other places he remained the same, so I have no clue why people keep bringing this up. Hell, if what everyone says is true about star jumping, u lizzy should be far above a 2 on rivals because he committed to Michigan.

 

[UconnFamily]

Yeah I just saw you post that after I posted mine. Thanks. I wasn't trying to be a dick, just was curious if there was a correlation.

It's cool... I don't mean to be a dick either... to anyone.

 

[formerlurker]

Yeah I just saw you post that after I posted mine. Thanks. I wasn't trying to be a dick, just was curious if there was a correlation.

It's cool... I don't mean to be a dick either... to anyone.

Good job my friends. That's the Boneyard I love.

Can't we all just say we don't mean being dicks and apologize?

 

[huskymedic]

They still had to compete with top schools in the country, but I'll give you that one. What about T.J Simmons? Kid is from FL with offers from Ohio State, Penn State, Florida, Auburn, Notre Damn, Ole Miss, UCLA, etc... but yet he chose Temple? .

I have absolutely nothing against the kid and I hope he succeeds after all the adversity he faced but ya gotta wonder how many of those old offers were still in play after he broke his leg and missed almost his whole senior season. (Some of those offers were back in 2013). He also rebounded from an ACL in his Soph. year.

Hey - he has speed and he could be the next Bernard Pierce but a proverbial red flag goes up when his final choices came down between Marshall and Temple after all those original offers (only two schools he visited after de-committing from UCLA).

Sometimes recruiting just comes down to good luck, right place right time and catching a break or two (no pun intended)...

 

[Excalibur]

T

I do feel like this year there were more kids with P5 offers than we have ever gotten before.

The opposite is true

 

[itgoeslike]

Chart: Comparing the top 25 teams to their recruiting rankings;
http://coachingsearch.com/article?a=Chart-Comparing-the-top-25-teams-to-their-recruiting-rankings

View attachment 8402

Great chart medic. If I added up things correctly, of this year's top 25, only 10 of the teams averaged a top 25 recruiting class; 11 of the top 25 teams averaged a ranking of 39 or higher; and 5 teams averaged a ranking of 55 or higher.

 

[tduconn]

Stars may not be perfect, but in the majority of cases, more teams with athletes that have a plethora of stars compete for national championships than those built with a plethora of "under the radar" athletes.

Nothing against the efforts of UConns coaching staff. Regardless of the success or lack thereof on the grid iron, I think UConn has a plethora of athletes that will rank very high as far as being developed academically, graduating and succeeding in their chosen profession and life after college.

Maybe the class is not perceived very well athletically by coaches of prominent programs in the FBS realm. Thus the lack of interest and offers.

However, outside of football, I'll bet if Tuesday was a National Letter of Intent day for some academic program, eg biology, business, etc. UConn may be ranked among the prominent institutions as having a high ranking class.

The RKG's will help maintain and or enhance UConn's academic prowness......which benefits everyone with "0" athletic skills......which is the majority of the student body.

I have no problem ranking this class as far as character, academic ability, and future benefit and impact on society...........a plethora of 4 & 5 star recruits.

I give Bob D a lot of credit for recognizing and giving the recruits an outstanding opportunity and chance to succeed in life

 

[itgoeslike]

I like Diaco's apparent strategy of you can't teach "big". Recruiting talent is going to be challenge for the next few years, but I think size does temper talent when you line up against an opposing team. If some of these big guys coach up then it's a total win.

 

[pnow15]

Gee, what happened? When I was in school, 95 was a good grade.

 

[pnow15]

Stars may not be perfect, but in the majority of cases, more teams with athletes that have a plethora of stars compete for national championships than those built with a plethora of "under the radar" athletes.

Nothing against the efforts of UConns coaching staff. Regardless of the success or lack thereof on the grid iron, I think UConn has a plethora of athletes that will rank very high as far as being developed academically, graduating and succeeding in their chosen profession and life after college.

Maybe the class is not perceived very well athletically by coaches of prominent programs in the FBS realm. Thus the lack of interest and offers.

However, outside of football, I'll bet if Tuesday was a National Letter of Intent day for some academic program, eg biology, business, etc. UConn may be ranked among the prominent institutions as having a high ranking class.

The RKG's will help maintain and or enhance UConn's academic prowness.which benefits everyone with "0" athletic skills.which is the majority of the student body.

I have no problem ranking this class as far as character, academic ability, and future benefit and impact on society......a plethora of 4 & 5 star recruits.

I give Bob D a lot of credit for recognizing and giving the recruits an outstanding opportunity and chance to succeed in life

What have you been smoking? This is football. Winning is the only thing.

 

[BlueDogs]

Because we have no 3/4 stars, they are irrelevant. If we did have some, they would be. Its that simple. The fact that we have any prospects coming is a feat itself. I thought we might have to resort to recruiting LAX players and wrestlers as projects.

 

[Husky25]

http://www.sbnation.com/college-foo...96710/nfl-draft-recruits-five-stars-two-stars

When two-stars get drafted

Sometimes, colleges and recruiting analysts simply misevaluate players. More often, however, when a low-rated recruit becomes a big NFL prospect, there is an explanation for why the prospect was rated as he was. The most common reasons are that the recruit:

• had very limited film due to injury or focus on another sport,
• is a punter or kicker,
• gained a ridiculous amount of muscle in college, while retaining athleticism,
• is from another country, or
• was expected to head to junior college because of academics but somehow qualified for a four-year school.

...

So why was Mack rated a two-star? A perfect storm of reasons, really:
There were reasons: Mack was a prep basketball player who as a junior suffered a patella tendon injury that threatened his high school athletic career. He returned to health stronger than before, but he wasn't even thinking about football until Ashmon phoned Mack's dad early in the teenager's senior year and promised him that if he allowed his son to pick up a new sport, he'd go to college for free.

It looks like the staff is focused on the bold italics red reasons. I'm not saying that all 31 players will hit and get drafted within the first 2 rounds, but this article gives plenty of hope to those of us who focus on Post NLI day development as much as star rating.

 

[John Greene]

RE could find talent. He wasn't a good recruiter, in fact he turned off tons of coaches and rankings coordinators as anyone in the business. but, he found athletes and developed them into players, many who went on to play in the pros. PP was a terrible recruiter and terrible developer of talent. Diaco? I can't imagine his BS plays well after a 2-win season and I saw almost nothing last year to say any player developed. but it was one year. We will know more after this season.

I doubt Nick Saban could get a top 20 class to Storrs, playing in the AAC with home games in front of 8k people. RE's model is the one every coach in new england should stock to. Find linemen who are smart and can develop, build around that, and find enough athletes to run the ball well and tackle effectively. if you a re lucky enough to get a good QB, then maybe you can crack the top 25.

Horrors! Are you suggesting UConn follow the Chestnut Hill strategy? Prepare to be severely reprimanded.