College football recruiting

[Transmogrified Tiger]

What could Zook possibly be selling these recruits? They got beat by at least three scores in all their losses, including every single conference game. U of I isn't exactly a bastion of football tradition either.

 

so? does that mean he shouldn't be able to recruit anyone good ever? i mean, how is illinois going to improve if they don't get the recruits?

 

i could ask you why weber didn't get scheyer, wright, rush, or collins after sending a team to the championship game, in which they narrowly lost--not to mention turning deron williams into a top 3 draft pick and sending luther head to the rockets in the first round as well.

 

i think you just hate the illini for whatever reason. maybe it's their recent dominance over MSU, maybe it's their perrenial dominance over mizzou, i don't know.

 

Calm down. I don't think it's illogical to wonder why the worst team in the Big 10, who got beat soundly in all their losses, that isn't traditionally a strong football school got around a top 25 ranked class.

 

It has nothing to do with Basketball, but since you brought it up, it's not like Weber lost those guys to Bradley and IUPUI, or that he ended up with a terrible class. It's a terrible analogy, even more so when you consider the different dynamics of building a football v. basketball roster.

[Magnetic Curses]

stop telling me to calm down!

 

illinois is a BT school, for what that's worth. and illinois produces more than enough talent to be able to live off of the throwaways from other programs. it's inevitable that they'd have a good recruiting class.

 

you want tradition? Red Grange freaking BUILT the NFL based solely on his name!

 

Dick Butkus and Ray Nietschke are possibly the 2 greatest inside linebackers in NFL history. furthermore, there are enough illinois guys in the NFL currently to warrant a close look at the program.

 

wisco was once a perpetual doormat in the BT, they get alvarez and now they're a perpetual power, even though their tradition wasn't close to the illini tradition. hayden fry left iowa pretty barren, but ferentz has them competing again. northwestern? come on, until the early 90's they'd always been terrible.

 

illinois is still a major college and will still get top recruits by accident.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

stop telling me to calm down!

 

illinois is a BT school, for what that's worth. and illinois produces more than enough talent to be able to live off of the throwaways from other programs. it's inevitable that they'd have a good recruiting class.

 

you want tradition? Red Grange freaking BUILT the NFL based solely on his name!

 

Dick Butkus and Ray Nietschke are possibly the 2 greatest inside linebackers in NFL history. furthermore, there are enough illinois guys in the NFL currently to warrant a close look at the program.

 

wisco was once a perpetual doormat in the BT, they get alvarez and now they're a perpetual power, even though their tradition wasn't close to the illini tradition. hayden fry left iowa pretty barren, but ferentz has them competing again. northwestern? come on, until the early 90's they'd always been terrible.

 

illinois is still a major college and will still get top recruits by accident.

 

This isn't difficult. Linebackers from generations ago aside, U of I hasn't been good with any consistency recently in the sport. They are a big school, in a major conference, and obviously aren't going to be competing with Middle Tennessee State in the recruiting rankings. The point is that they were terrible last year, and it's not a departure from the near past(11 wins the last 4 years, 5-19 in B10 play, including 1-15 most recently). How many 8 and 9 loss schools do you see near the top 30 in the recruiting rankings? top 50? It's great for the program that Zook's been able to do that, I'm just wondering how he did it. And no, I'm not implying any sort of illegal actions at all.

[Magnetic Curses]

stop telling me to calm down!

 

illinois is a BT school, for what that's worth. and illinois produces more than enough talent to be able to live off of the throwaways from other programs. it's inevitable that they'd have a good recruiting class.

 

you want tradition? Red Grange freaking BUILT the NFL based solely on his name!

 

Dick Butkus and Ray Nietschke are possibly the 2 greatest inside linebackers in NFL history. furthermore, there are enough illinois guys in the NFL currently to warrant a close look at the program.

 

wisco was once a perpetual doormat in the BT, they get alvarez and now they're a perpetual power, even though their tradition wasn't close to the illini tradition. hayden fry left iowa pretty barren, but ferentz has them competing again. northwestern? come on, until the early 90's they'd always been terrible.

 

illinois is still a major college and will still get top recruits by accident.

 

This isn't difficult. Linebackers from generations ago aside, U of I hasn't been good with any consistency recently in the sport. They are a big school, in a major conference, and obviously aren't going to be competing with Middle Tennessee State in the recruiting rankings. The point is that they were terrible last year, and it's not a departure from the near past(11 wins the last 4 years, 5-19 in B10 play, including 1-15 most recently). How many 8 and 9 loss schools do you see near the top 30 in the recruiting rankings? top 50? It's great for the program that Zook's been able to do that, I'm just wondering how he did it. And no, I'm not implying any sort of illegal actions at all.

 

i'm just pointing out that illinois has history, some recent success (sugar bowl appearance in 2001-2002) although no current success, exposure opportunities, enough good players in the NFL, and plenty of opportunity to start right away.

 

i think the power of being a bad team with several openings for freshman starters is being overlooked here.

 

BTW- WE GOT JUICE!!!!!!!

[TruffleShuffle]

stop telling me to calm down!

 

illinois is a BT school, for what that's worth. and illinois produces more than enough talent to be able to live off of the throwaways from other programs. it's inevitable that they'd have a good recruiting class.

 

you want tradition? Red Grange freaking BUILT the NFL based solely on his name!

 

Dick Butkus and Ray Nietschke are possibly the 2 greatest inside linebackers in NFL history. furthermore, there are enough illinois guys in the NFL currently to warrant a close look at the program.

 

17 or 18 year-old kids don't even know who Red Grange, Dick Butkus and Ray Nietschke are.

 

The question is a logical one. Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota have all been much better than Illinois, yet Illinois ranked 4th in the Rivals recruiting tally behind PSU, O$U and UM. I would not have expected this kind of class to commit to a school that was so uncompetitive last year either.

 

But as has been noted before, rankings are not gospel. Penn State signed a three star linebacker in 2003 who chose PSU over Iowa, Northwestern, Pitt, BC, Purdue and Wisconsin. No offer from O$U, Michigan, Miami, USC, LSU, Oklahoma or any of the other power schools that were recruiting nationwide. Three years later and Paul Posluszny is the Butkus award winner for top LB and Bednarik Award winner for top defensive player.

[Jon]

In-state recruiting should never be a problem for Illinois. Northwestern and NIU, although better football programs right now, don't really offer Illinois any competition. Most in-state guys, especially public league players, are Illinois' to lose.

[Andy]

I agree with Truff re: not reading too much into it. Aaron Rodgers didn't get a single Division I offer out of high school, and LaDainian Tomlinson was ignored by just about everybody except for WAC teams because he didn't start till his senior year.

[Jon]

Wisconsin officially kicked Booker Stanley off the team today. Anyone know how their depth is at RB?

[adamb0719]

There is an article about Hazelton posted at NDNation, but it has no link to it, so here is a link to the article on NDNation, if anyone want to read it.

[Derwood]

I agree with Truff re: not reading too much into it. Aaron Rodgers didn't get a single Division I offer out of high school, and LaDainian Tomlinson was ignored by just about everybody except for WAC teams because he didn't start till his senior year.

 

Further, Willie Parker didn't play at all his senior year at Virginia and now he's in the Super Bowl. Go figure.

 

(I'm pretty sure that's the school and situation....I'm sure they'll beat the point to death on Sunday)

 

The point being that people misevaluate talent at both levels, which is why the great scouts are great. They find the diamonds in the rough.

[bmkhawk]

North Carolina.

[TruffleShuffle]

Derwood and sethuel, you guys will probably want to read this, and some of the rest of you may enjoy it as well. The staff at the PSU scout.com site contacted one of the committed recruits and, since he planned on becoming a communications/journalism major, asked him if he was interested in writing a story about the recruiting process through his eyes. I guess they asked him about it on LOI day and within less than 24 hours he had written a long story. They just made very minor edits to the piece before posting on the website.

 

I have to say that it's a unique look at the process, and a good read as well. The kid seems very grounded and understood that he needed a place where he could succeed as a football player, student and person. He writes very well too, and has great enthusiasm to play for Penn State. I think he will be a team leader whether he becomes a star or turns out to be a backup all four years.

 

 

BTW, the second part of the article is here.

[sethuel1]

Derwood and sethuel, you guys will probably want to read this, and some of the rest of you may enjoy it as well. The staff at the PSU scout.com site contacted one of the committed recruits and, since he planned on becoming a communications/journalism major, asked him if he was interested in writing a story about the recruiting process through his eyes. I guess they asked him about it on LOI day and within less than 24 hours he had written a long story. They just made very minor edits to the piece before posting on the website.

 

I have to say that it's a unique look at the process, and a good read as well. The kid seems very grounded and understood that he needed a place where he could succeed as a football player, student and person. He writes very well too, and has great enthusiasm to play for Penn State. I think he will be a team leader whether he becomes a star or turns out to be a backup all four years.

 

 

BTW, the second part of the article is here.

 

By all accounts, Maybin is a fantastic guy. He's been the organizer for all of the Baltimore get-togethers, been at the announcements for a lot of the other recruits, made phone calls, etc. he also sent his LOI in yesterday at about 6:30 AM.

 

Now I'll read the article....

[illiniguy]

stop telling me to calm down!

 

illinois is a BT school, for what that's worth. and illinois produces more than enough talent to be able to live off of the throwaways from other programs. it's inevitable that they'd have a good recruiting class.

 

you want tradition? Red Grange freaking BUILT the NFL based solely on his name!

 

Dick Butkus and Ray Nietschke are possibly the 2 greatest inside linebackers in NFL history. furthermore, there are enough illinois guys in the NFL currently to warrant a close look at the program.

 

wisco was once a perpetual doormat in the BT, they get alvarez and now they're a perpetual power, even though their tradition wasn't close to the illini tradition. hayden fry left iowa pretty barren, but ferentz has them competing again. northwestern? come on, until the early 90's they'd always been terrible.

 

illinois is still a major college and will still get top recruits by accident.

 

This isn't difficult. Linebackers from generations ago aside, U of I hasn't been good with any consistency recently in the sport. They are a big school, in a major conference, and obviously aren't going to be competing with Middle Tennessee State in the recruiting rankings. The point is that they were terrible last year, and it's not a departure from the near past(11 wins the last 4 years, 5-19 in B10 play, including 1-15 most recently). How many 8 and 9 loss schools do you see near the top 30 in the recruiting rankings? top 50? It's great for the program that Zook's been able to do that, I'm just wondering how he did it. And no, I'm not implying any sort of illegal actions at all.

Kevin Hardy and Simeon Rice say hi.

[gflore34]

stop telling me to calm down!

 

illinois is a BT school, for what that's worth. and illinois produces more than enough talent to be able to live off of the throwaways from other programs. it's inevitable that they'd have a good recruiting class.

 

you want tradition? Red Grange freaking BUILT the NFL based solely on his name!

 

Dick Butkus and Ray Nietschke are possibly the 2 greatest inside linebackers in NFL history. furthermore, there are enough illinois guys in the NFL currently to warrant a close look at the program.

 

wisco was once a perpetual doormat in the BT, they get alvarez and now they're a perpetual power, even though their tradition wasn't close to the illini tradition. hayden fry left iowa pretty barren, but ferentz has them competing again. northwestern? come on, until the early 90's they'd always been terrible.

 

illinois is still a major college and will still get top recruits by accident.

 

This isn't difficult. Linebackers from generations ago aside, U of I hasn't been good with any consistency recently in the sport. They are a big school, in a major conference, and obviously aren't going to be competing with Middle Tennessee State in the recruiting rankings. The point is that they were terrible last year, and it's not a departure from the near past(11 wins the last 4 years, 5-19 in B10 play, including 1-15 most recently). How many 8 and 9 loss schools do you see near the top 30 in the recruiting rankings? top 50? It's great for the program that Zook's been able to do that, I'm just wondering how he did it. And no, I'm not implying any sort of illegal actions at all.

Kevin Hardy and Simeon Rice say hi.

 

So does Eugene Wilson...

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Uhh, Eugene Wilson?

[Jon]

Teddy Greenstein[/url]"]The NCAA is looking into whether Florida Gov. Jeb Bush committed an NCAA violation by corresponding with Myron Rolle, a defensive back from New Jersey who on Wednesday signed a letter of intent to play football at Florida State University.

 

Rolle, whom ESPN.com ranked as the nation's top recruit, told a panel in Washington on Monday that Bush had sent him a text message in November.

 

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Rolle said [the text message] hit his cell phone the same weekend he hit Florida State for a recruiting visit."

 

The contents of the message, as Rolle reportedly recalled them, were: "I'm excited you're looking at Florida State. (FSU President) T.K. Wetherell and I are friends. When you come to Tallahassee again, let's hook up with each other--Jeb Bush."

.............

"The mistake I made was listening to the president of FSU say that he's being recruited by Stanford, Duke, Notre Dame, Michigan. He failed to mention that he was also being recruited by the University of Florida and the University of Miami. So I would have done the exact same thing for the Gators and for the Hurricanes, I promise you. Truth be known, I'm a Hurricane fan."

A possible violation and he didn't even push the kid to his favorite team.

[sethuel1]

Teddy Greenstein[/url]"]The NCAA is looking into whether Florida Gov. Jeb Bush committed an NCAA violation by corresponding with Myron Rolle, a defensive back from New Jersey who on Wednesday signed a letter of intent to play football at Florida State University.

 

Rolle, whom ESPN.com ranked as the nation's top recruit, told a panel in Washington on Monday that Bush had sent him a text message in November.

 

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Rolle said [the text message] hit his cell phone the same weekend he hit Florida State for a recruiting visit."

 

The contents of the message, as Rolle reportedly recalled them, were: "I'm excited you're looking at Florida State. (FSU President) T.K. Wetherell and I are friends. When you come to Tallahassee again, let's hook up with each other--Jeb Bush."

.............

"The mistake I made was listening to the president of FSU say that he's being recruited by Stanford, Duke, Notre Dame, Michigan. He failed to mention that he was also being recruited by the University of Florida and the University of Miami. So I would have done the exact same thing for the Gators and for the Hurricanes, I promise you. Truth be known, I'm a Hurricane fan."

A possible violation and he didn't even push the kid to his favorite team.

 

Also, he made it blatantly obvious he's not "in with the times" by inadvertantly sexually propositioning Rolle.

[Jon]

Also, he made it blatantly obvious he's not "in with the times" by inadvertantly sexually propositioning Rolle.

Perhaps, but I'm sure Jeb Bush wanting to hook up with him makes for a great conversation. Hope he saved the TM.

[stuy119]

Teddy Greenstein[/url]"]The NCAA is looking into whether Florida Gov. Jeb Bush committed an NCAA violation by corresponding with Myron Rolle, a defensive back from New Jersey who on Wednesday signed a letter of intent to play football at Florida State University.

 

Rolle, whom ESPN.com ranked as the nation's top recruit, told a panel in Washington on Monday that Bush had sent him a text message in November.

 

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Rolle said [the text message] hit his cell phone the same weekend he hit Florida State for a recruiting visit."

 

The contents of the message, as Rolle reportedly recalled them, were: "I'm excited you're looking at Florida State. (FSU President) T.K. Wetherell and I are friends. When you come to Tallahassee again, let's hook up with each other--Jeb Bush."

.............

"The mistake I made was listening to the president of FSU say that he's being recruited by Stanford, Duke, Notre Dame, Michigan. He failed to mention that he was also being recruited by the University of Florida and the University of Miami. So I would have done the exact same thing for the Gators and for the Hurricanes, I promise you. Truth be known, I'm a Hurricane fan."

A possible violation and he didn't even push the kid to his favorite team.

 

That's [expletive] to investigate. There are many worse infractions that have come to light, including this nugget from a Texas A&M recruit:

 

"They take care of you down there," McCoy said. "I know from my brother they keep your pockets full, give you plenty of money, keep feeding you meals. Besides that all the help they give you with football. They keep you on your grades with private tutoring. Just good all-around."

 

Here's the entire article.

[adamb0719]

Teddy Greenstein[/url]"]The NCAA is looking into whether Florida Gov. Jeb Bush committed an NCAA violation by corresponding with Myron Rolle, a defensive back from New Jersey who on Wednesday signed a letter of intent to play football at Florida State University.

 

Rolle, whom ESPN.com ranked as the nation's top recruit, told a panel in Washington on Monday that Bush had sent him a text message in November.

 

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Rolle said [the text message] hit his cell phone the same weekend he hit Florida State for a recruiting visit."

 

The contents of the message, as Rolle reportedly recalled them, were: "I'm excited you're looking at Florida State. (FSU President) T.K. Wetherell and I are friends. When you come to Tallahassee again, let's hook up with each other--Jeb Bush."

.............

"The mistake I made was listening to the president of FSU say that he's being recruited by Stanford, Duke, Notre Dame, Michigan. He failed to mention that he was also being recruited by the University of Florida and the University of Miami. So I would have done the exact same thing for the Gators and for the Hurricanes, I promise you. Truth be known, I'm a Hurricane fan."

A possible violation and he didn't even push the kid to his favorite team.

 

I had read that it is not a violation since Jeb is not FSU alum. Not sure if that is true or not.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Teddy Greenstein[/url]"]The NCAA is looking into whether Florida Gov. Jeb Bush committed an NCAA violation by corresponding with Myron Rolle, a defensive back from New Jersey who on Wednesday signed a letter of intent to play football at Florida State University.

 

Rolle, whom ESPN.com ranked as the nation's top recruit, told a panel in Washington on Monday that Bush had sent him a text message in November.

 

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Rolle said [the text message] hit his cell phone the same weekend he hit Florida State for a recruiting visit."

 

The contents of the message, as Rolle reportedly recalled them, were: "I'm excited you're looking at Florida State. (FSU President) T.K. Wetherell and I are friends. When you come to Tallahassee again, let's hook up with each other--Jeb Bush."

.............

"The mistake I made was listening to the president of FSU say that he's being recruited by Stanford, Duke, Notre Dame, Michigan. He failed to mention that he was also being recruited by the University of Florida and the University of Miami. So I would have done the exact same thing for the Gators and for the Hurricanes, I promise you. Truth be known, I'm a Hurricane fan."

A possible violation and he didn't even push the kid to his favorite team.

 

I had read that it is not a violation since Jeb is not FSU alum. Not sure if that is true or not.

 

That makes sense. Otherwise, it wouldn't be difficult for a [insert school here] alum to do that just so that [insert school's rival here] got in trouble, or vice versa.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I apologize if this is a duplicate...

 

Grading the Big Ten (ESPN Insider Link)

From Tom Luginbill and Craig Haubert, Scouts Inc.

 

Penn State: A- (9th nationally)

Ohio State: A- (10th nationally)

Michigan: B+ (11th nationally)

Iowa: B-

Wisconsin: B-

Illinois: C+

Michigan State: C+

Northwestern: C

Minnesota: C-

Indiana: D+

Purdue: D+

[Andy]

ND beat Michigan 2 out of 3 times with inferior talent and an inferior coach - they'll own the series now that they will (soon) have better talent and now have a better coach.