if mcneal goes elsewhere.....are you kind of
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Overall I would still consider the class average but it would be disappointing to lose the most heralded player two years in a row and I think will put some pressure on the gopher staff to make sure that seantrel henderson stays within the borders next year.
sonnygarcia
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Probably average, the class would still be better than any Mason brought in, right??? Lets not forget he is selling the U to kids using a make-shift "recruiting tent" outside the dome each game weekend, I'm just trying to think of the talent he will land when he has the sick amenities he will have next year at the new stadium. The recruiting room and its 25 big screen LCDs and beautiful stonework with 50 ft ceilings will be quite a recruiting upgrade over the "recruiting tent".
grunkiejr
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Wow. Talk about being spoiled by the 2008 class.
We currently rank #31 on Rivals (Wills was not rated yesterday but received 3 stars today so when the rankings are updated tomorrow we may move to 30) which is #6 in the Big Ten. Last year we pulled in the #17 ranked class which was good for 3rd in the Big Ten. Any other year #30 would be at least 5th if not 4th in the Big Ten but Michigan State has an unusually good class and under Zook Illinois has moved in to a consistent top 25 recruiting program. This year might be the best the Big Ten has recruited in years.
In comparison the three previous years of recruiting:
2007: 57 overall/ 9th Big Ten
2006: 62 overall/ 9th Big Ten
2005: 55 overall/ 10th Big Ten
To further illustrate how far we have come. The commitment of Kenneth Watkins yesterday would have represented our most highly rated recruit from 2006 and second most highly rated recruit from 2005 (behind Alex Daniels).
Regardless of whether we get McNeal, Brewster has done more to seal the borders this year than in any previous year that I have witnessed. We have the #2-6 ranked recruits from the state of Minnesota & #9. We do not have an offer out to #7 and #8 left because his parents and siblings are all Badgers.
We have had a lot of 4 star recruits (and a 5 star) take official visits and make us a finalist for their commitment. It hurts losing 4 star guys to Michigan but the reality is that everybody loses 4 star guys that they go after and until we are a consistent winner we're going to lose more often than we win on those guys. If we could sign everybody that took an official visit we would have a top 15 class but if we end up around 25-30 I'm pretty happy because it will add a lot of depth to the team. This past year losing guys like Decker, Theret, Campbell and Bennett to injury hurt us badly and if we would have lost Weber or Van De Steeg we would have been in a lot more trouble. We need to string a few consecutive top 30 classes and give them time to become upper classmen before our depth is adequate.
If we can get McNeal and/or Carter to put on our hat at the Army All America game the class will be better and everyone will be happy. If we get Gainer to commit that is another big win. Allen is making his decision this Thursday and that could help bolster the class. If the showing of Hageman, Alipate, and Garin at All Star Games helps them gain their 4th star then everybody will be a lot happier about how the rankings look even though nothing has changed other than the ratings. However, it is important to realize that we are successfully plugging the gaps that we have (OL, WR, DB) with this class and adding good depth to the program.
We also have Carufel, Royston, Maresh (now cleared for spring practice), Reeves, and Gray supplementing this recruiting class as potential impact players next year.
WolfontheProwl
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A couple thoughts about recruiting class.
I have not thought McNeal would ever be a Gopher he has stated over and over he wants to leave the state and see new places. I have been shocked we have been on his list for so long. That being said our class is stronger overall than a year ago. Last year we had more offers to give and took gambles on a few more guys who were not rated all that highly. This year we may lack some big 4* guys as we had a year ago but we have better 3* players in this class. If we land Paige and Leon we have a recruiting class that is much better than what Mason ever did and still could land some solid recruits. Lets also remember last years class didnt net us as much for this season as we had hoped with Reeves and Gray not getting into school and Maresh having his heart problem. Hopefully we will see these guys comeback strong this next year and really make a splash.
I am not worried about our recruiting class because even with a limited number of recruits we have a class ranked in the 30's with several more bigger named guys to come hopefully. The Gophers should find themselves in the mid 30's in the recruiting rankings and possibly late 20's with a couple good gets. A big win in the bowl game might open some doors we think are currently closed as of now.
I have not thought McNeal would ever be a Gopher he has stated over and over he wants to leave the state and see new places. I have been shocked we have been on his list for so long. That being said our class is stronger overall than a year ago. Last year we had more offers to give and took gambles on a few more guys who were not rated all that highly. This year we may lack some big 4* guys as we had a year ago but we have better 3* players in this class. If we land Paige and Leon we have a recruiting class that is much better than what Mason ever did and still could land some solid recruits. Lets also remember last years class didnt net us as much for this season as we had hoped with Reeves and Gray not getting into school and Maresh having his heart problem. Hopefully we will see these guys comeback strong this next year and really make a splash.
I am not worried about our recruiting class because even with a limited number of recruits we have a class ranked in the 30's with several more bigger named guys to come hopefully. The Gophers should find themselves in the mid 30's in the recruiting rankings and possibly late 20's with a couple good gets. A big win in the bowl game might open some doors we think are currently closed as of now.
sonnygarcia
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grnukiejr, you mention the 3 stars playing themselves to 4 stars..... Not sure if you've seen the stats for the Hawaii all-star game, but Garen had 3 sacks for the Mainland (their only 3 sacks), we'll have to see if Rivals bumps him up to a 4???? You would think there were other 4s or 5s there he outperformed?? A good sign for the Gophs.
grunkiejr
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It is funny to see the stats ended up that way. The stuff that I was reading earlier in the week highlighted some of the other players dominating in practice but Garin did not get mentioned. The DE from Texas that we recruited before he committed to Texas was one guy that got a lot of praise. I think his name was Okafor.
what is the talent level at this game........is it kind of a joke of a game?
i've never heard of it
are the 3 sacks coming against big-time guys or legit guys?
grunkiejr
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This was the inaugural game so it is no surprise you haven't heard of it. The prospects from the Mainland were legitimate but I have a hard time understanding how Hawaii would be able to field a competitive team when they are bringing in good Mainland prospects. I know a few of the Hawaii players were from the Continental US with family ties to Hawaii but it still confuses me.
GopherinPhilly
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what this class really is rated
I know a top 30 class is better than anything Mason did, but lets look at what this class really is...take our incoming class and Carafel, Maresh, Reeves, Royston and Gray and this class is a top 15 class and 3rd in the big ten, plus I think that we will get at least 3 more players all 3* or higher.
That rates us in the top 15 of players that we are adding...I am certainly not dissappointed and if one of the last three is McNeal, Carter or Leon, then I say this is the best class we have ever had by far, if you are talking about the players we are adding.
Just my opinion.
I know a top 30 class is better than anything Mason did, but lets look at what this class really is...take our incoming class and Carafel, Maresh, Reeves, Royston and Gray and this class is a top 15 class and 3rd in the big ten, plus I think that we will get at least 3 more players all 3* or higher.
That rates us in the top 15 of players that we are adding...I am certainly not dissappointed and if one of the last three is McNeal, Carter or Leon, then I say this is the best class we have ever had by far, if you are talking about the players we are adding.
Just my opinion.
NateDawgUM
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These players may turn out to be better as a group than last year's, nobody knows, recruiting is not a science.
The real key for our program is keeping most of these guys in Minneapolis for 4/5 years. We're starting to assemble some talent, now we need DEPTH.
The real key for our program is keeping most of these guys in Minneapolis for 4/5 years. We're starting to assemble some talent, now we need DEPTH.
How do you go from 1 star to 3 overnight
This brings up an interesting point, how does a player go from 1 or no stars to 3 stars overnight as Willis did. It kind of makes you question these rankings and I would be interested to know who is responsible within the different recruiting sites for rating these players and what their backgrounds are. It seems that often the number of stars assigned to a player have more to do with the number of offers the player has than anything else.
This brings up an interesting point, how does a player go from 1 or no stars to 3 stars overnight as Willis did. It kind of makes you question these rankings and I would be interested to know who is responsible within the different recruiting sites for rating these players and what their backgrounds are. It seems that often the number of stars assigned to a player have more to do with the number of offers the player has than anything else.
Its not suspicious at all. They have a number of talent evaluators and they evaluate film and gametape as it comes in. Sometimes they don't know abotu a player until someone (usually one of the mods from the team sites) gets word of an unknown player on the radar and adds them to the database and alerts the evaluators. They then try to acquire film on the guy (they have a lot more film than just the highlight tapes that are posted) and then once they get it they rate the guy. At this point its easy for a guy to get a quick rating because most everyone has been evaluated already so they can get to a guy's film quickly. All that said and of course ratings aren't a sure thing but they're a pretty good indicator of talent usually.
I don't have a problem with the ratings but I am just curious as to who the talent evaluators are or atleast what their backgrounds are. Do they have extensive experience with coaching and is it a national group of evaluators or does each teams rival or scout site have their own evaluators. Also, if Willis was being recruited by Alabama and Oklahoma how would he have been an unknown and not previously evaluated?
I don't know the evaluators backgrounds other than that most of them have been doing it for a long time. I doubt these guys are coaches or former NFL scouts though but their credibility depends on them doing their research and doing a good job so they're good at what they do. I do know that individual site's under the Rivals or Scout umbrellas have no say over the evaluations of any players. That said there has always been speculation that guys that get recruited by certain schools or out of certain areas get favorable rankings.
oleboy41, you seem to know a lot about the evaluators and how these ratings go. I guess the point is to not take the ratings to seriously without knowing the backgrounds and experiences of those involved. After all at the end of the day one evaluators 3 star is anothers 4 star.
grunkiejr
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Wills had not been evaluated by the recruiting sites prior to his commitment. Rivals does not put any rating (0 stars) on a player that has not been evaluated and Scouts puts 1 star on players that have not been evaluated.
It sounds like your issue has less to do with the evaluators than it does with the system of putting what appears to be a rating (1 star) on a player that has not been evaluated.
Actually grunkiejr, I am just trying to understand the backgrounds of these evaluators and how much creedence to give their ratings, nothing more nothing less. I don't have an issue as you say. I am also just curious how a guy supposedly being recruited by Oklahoma and Alabama falls under the radar and is not evaluated.
I hear you. I guess the only way to decide how credible they are is the results. Shoot Matt Millen drafted players in the NFL for years but he has 0 credibility now. Someone did a study a while back in terms of what percentage of 5,4,3,2 and no star players got drafted and in what rounds based on past Rivals rankings and the percentages (they also took into account the difference between the number of rated players - only about 25 5star guys a year vs like 350 3star guys) and it showed that the there was an extremely strong correlation between Rivals rankings and NFL draftability and draft position. Personally I don' tthink their background matters much if the results show they get it right often. They look at thousands of hours of film and rank the players how they see fit. Intelligent minds can disagree but I think they do as good a job as you can when it comes to the terribly inexact science of predicting the potential of high school kids who play against a wide array of competition levels