Doral willis. 6'1" 315 pounder is coming to the U...thank God we got at least one DT!!! i am pumped about this pick up.
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=176&f=1102&t=4604670
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=176&f=1102&t=4604670
So what? Of course he would. The day we start taking prospects from Miami who have Miami offers is the day my season tickets will be too expensive for me to afford. Almost every Miami kid grows up wanting to play at the U. I wouldn't take it as a slight at all.
Take that FIU!
Why are we picking up a 2-star, 40-espn, player so early? Shouldn't we hold out for a 3+, 70+, player? The only lower ranked players should be in state players, IMHO.
Why are we picking up a 2-star, 40-espn, player so early? Shouldn't we hold out for a 3+, 70+, player? The only lower ranked players should be in state players, IMHO.
Why are we picking up a 2-star, 40-espn, player so early? Shouldn't we hold out for a 3+, 70+, player? The only lower ranked players should be in state players, IMHO.
There likely aren't. I've been following this as close as probably anyone on here, and the tea leaves aren't good. We could still get a top 30 class, but I think the only 4 star players will be the ones we already have, with the possibility of a star bump for a guy like Beau Allen (who seems to be leaning ND anyway).That said, I am a little concerned with recruiting this year. The offer lists for many of the players we have commits from have not been very impressive. Several of the out of state midwest recruits only have offers from MAC schools and were not offered by their home state Big Ten school. That is not to say that these guys can't turn out to be good players. It also does not seem like the Gophers are in on as many 4 star guys as they have been in recent years.
Hopefully, there are some surprises out there in regards to players who still may consider the Gophers. I think a JUCO corner or two and a JUCO Dlineman or two are necessary in this class. It would have been really nice if Paige or Robinson would have become Gophers in this class as we'd then have had a SR CB in 2010.
There likely aren't. I've been following this as close as probably anyone on here, and the tea leaves aren't good. We could still get a top 30 class, but I think the only 4 star players will be the ones we already have, with the possibility of a star bump for a guy like Beau Allen (who seems to be leaning ND anyway).
It will be composed of mostly 3 star guy with a few 2's and 4's mixed in. Probably about the same as last year, maybe a little weaker, although the higher # of scholarships will compensate.
It's really imperative we get at least 2 of the 3 (Seantrel, Allen, Tobi) to stay home. It's one thing if the classes are out of the top 30, that's understandable for Minnesota, but it's quite the other to keep losing top in-state talent.
Well, the short answer is yes, I am pessimistic.Don't you think your prediction is a little pessimistic? I mean, suppose we win 7+ games this year and represent ourselves well in a bowl game: given the recruiting advantages supposedly presented by the new stadium, one would think we'd have a shot at snagging some pretty decent guys. Maybe I'm being a Pollyanna, but I'd be pretty damn disappointed if the best Brewster could muster this year was a bunch of 2* with a few 3*s and a 4* or two.
Well, the short answer is yes, I am pessimistic.
The long answer is that if you look across the landscape of recruiting, which I've tried my best to do, there just aren't that many 4 star players that are mentioning us as part of their top tier. And honestly, there's no particular reason why they should unless they are from the Upper Midwest. Michael Carter came here in large part because of his cousin, and because of a variety of outside factors. Gray came here, I think more than anything, because we continued to pursue him when other teams backed off due to his academic issues (and because we were probably the best opportunity for him in the midwest). Lipscomb also had grade issues.
As for your dissapointment, I would say, with all due respect, that you are a bit pollyanish. We are a .500ish team for the last decade, we have a very tepid and mediocre fanbase, and we play far outside of the thought process of a lot of prospects who may not even know where Minnesota is. Brewster's big recruiting class his 2nd year came with a lot of smoke and whistles, but underneath that were a lot of players with grade issues and JC transfers. I thought last year was actually a superior class on the whole, and it had 3 four star players (one who didn't even make it, and another who was a JC transfer).
Recruiting expectations here have actually become too unrealistic. Winning the Alamo Bowl is not going to change that overnight, although it may help swing a player or two who may have wondered if he could ever win at Minnesota.
There are a lot of teams we compete with that have 8+ win expectations every year, have established coaches, have fervent fan bases, and have better geographical proximity than us. I think it's been a credit to Brewster the classes he has brought in, and by and large they have only had a handful of four star players. We've outrecruited Wisconsin and Iowa (especially Iowa) to a pretty significant margin the last few years. That itself is impressive considering the tide we have going against us there.
It's a long haul, which is why Brewster needs to prove his chops coaching. You develop the players you have and establish the credibility later to consistantly compete with the top-notch programs.
In the short-term, the biggest question is can Brewster lock down the state. He hasn't been able to do that yet, and he really needs to. Our best shot at elite talent is going to be to convince our own to stay here, not to go into Florida and Texas and try to outrecruit the current elite programs.
almost every player we are getting is a 3 star
i'll take that all day..........many of them will become 4 star players
we used to think 3 star players were not us
I am loving this class so far and we have yet to get kids in our new stadium
I have to disagree with you in at least one respect. Year in and year out, there is not enough talent in Minnesota alone to compete sucessfully. Yes, you want to get the top guys every year from here, but you'll never get everyone as some kids just want to go away for school.
At Minnesota, you have to open recruiting lanes in Florida, TX, Ohio, Cal, etc if we are going to compete long term
Thanks,