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Texas Recruiting Notes 2020


Reese Bennett

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1 hour ago, Bam Bam Sam said:

Yeah, that video only confirmed what I heard about him. If he gives a shit about engineering he sure as hell ain't going to Auburn over Texas, ESPECIALLY not for mechanical. 

Yeah, Auburn is Alabama's "cow pasture college" like aggy is the "cow pasture college" in Texas.

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2 hours ago, Machinator said:

From a poster on another board who was very familiar with the Bijan recruitment

 

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A little more background about Bijan Robinson's recruitment:

I said I'd do a follow up post about Bijan once he made his announcement and I had the chance to discuss it with a few people I know back in Tucson. I knew his likely decision early in the week, but no one wanted to step on his moment, out of respect for him and his family. Salpointe is an incredible school with a reputation for integrity and honor that stretches back generations; and that reputation is well-earned.

First and foremost, Bijan is a heck of a kid by all accounts. Everyone there likes and respects him. He is smart, and he is humble. Salpointe is a rigorous academic institution, and athletes are not given a break at all. Bijan has worked hard and done well in school, and is a young man of very high character. He also comes from a religious family, and his faith is a big part of who he is. You can see all of that in his interviews.

He grew up probably wanting to go to USC more than any other school. That's why he wears Reggie Bush's number (and indeed, USC may have even suggested to him that they might "unretire" it just for him). If the coaching situation wasn't such a mess there, there is a good chance that's where he would have ended up. But the perception is buzzing everywhere that Helton will be gone almost certainly after this season (people in recruiting circles are openly suggesting he will be fired with anything less than 9-10 wins). So Bijan was obviously going to be open to other options. 

That's where Texas comes in. Bijan and his grandparents loved the visit to Austin. His grandfather was an official in the Pac 10, and seeing UT's facilities and everything it has to offer impressed him immensely. His grandmother also liked the fact that it was closer than some "other" schools. Most importantly -- and this is going to hit a few of you haters pretty hard -- Bijan really hit it off with Drayton. He loves the guy, and thinks he is a great coach that will develop him well. And, in the end, the fact that Drayton coached Elliot actually mattered more than what jersey Elliot wore when he played. In short, from what I've been told, Drayton deserves a ton of credit for this victory. Kudos to him. (The Drayton skeptics should probably put a sock in it for a while).

It's already been discussed elsewhere, but yes, Bijan got a very hard press from OSU, especially by OSU commits at the big camps this summer. It sounds like they really ganged up on him, and pressed him on how cool it will be when they all played and won championships together, etc. Texas didn't have a similar phalanx at those elite camps, and it hurt us. He probably gave in to that pressure to some extent, which is why the sense became that he would probably go there. (As an aside, Herman may already be adjusting to this problem given the size of the 2021 class this early on). 

But once he got home, that noise and pressure dissipated. And he was able to focus on what he wanted to do, where he felt the most comfortable, and what he thought was the best fit for him. (It probably helped that he had Salpointe coaches that really had his best interests at heart, and stressed to him that he needed to make the best choice for him, and not worry about what other players were doing, most of whom he didn't even know, besides Ransom). So that led him back to Texas, which was the school he liked best all along.

Bottom line: such a great kid. Loved by his coaches and peers. Perfect character fit for Texas. Awesome job by Herman and Drayton and the rest. Hugs all around.

P.S. People have asked about Ransom. It sounds like he is solid to OSU. Being developed for the NFL is important to him, and they have had a lot of success in that regard lately. (He also liked LSU, but they signed a ton of safeties right after his visit). You never know, of course, so the coaches should probably keep his number, especially if we have a big year. He's also a great student, by the way. 

P.S.S. I also heard some great stories about Harbaugh. The guy is a lunatic, but kind of a hilarious and awesome one.

 

1. Bijan is the anomaly Drayton needed. Bijan didn't respond permanently to pressure and he is very devout in his faith, something a lot of other running backs we've recruited aren't about. Many are more about the hype and the golden things. Had Texas joined in the Noah Cain sweepstakes sooner, Drayton would have won that too. But, for all intensive purposes, Bijan was literally the perfect kid for Drayton to make a real, meaningful connection with.

 

2. Everything I hear about Harbaugh makes me think of him akin to a psycho from the Borderlands game series with a little more intelligence. 

Edited by Bam Bam Sam
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5 minutes ago, HornsRUs said:
10 minutes ago, Bam Bam Sam said:

But, for all intensive purposes, Bijan was literally the perfect kid for Drayton to make a real, meaningful connection with.

i had "intensive purposes" with your mom last night.😁

Did I do that right?

I'm just curious what moderate purposes would be for comparison's sake.

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Something for you guys that track things and then report back on, Adidas is apparently paying players to attend their all star game. I won’t pretend to have paid one bit of attention to which game that is, but it’s going to be somewhat telling, I guess, in terms of the attendee list. 

Adidas is dirty a corporation as you can find in the sports realm. I cheer for their bankruptcy and utter failure. 

I remember my buddy telling me the story of Kenyon Green’s dad showing up to a camp dressed like a pimp and then started campaigning for his son to get paid to attend an all star game. Dude only missed it by one year. Or hell, maybe he struck the first deal for paid all star attendance with adidas for all I know. 

More on Adidas, after Haselwood decommitted from Georgia last year, they wanted him to visit Miami. Problem is, he’d already OV’d there. So Adidas went ahead and put his whole family up in Miami for an unofficial visit there and asked him to reconsider. I’m sure he really went nuts reconsidering before winding up at OU. So yeah, Adidas is fucking filthy. I can’t really follow what the payoff is, either. This isn’t basketball. 

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4 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Something for you guys that track things and then report back on, Adidas is apparently paying players to attend their all star game. I won’t pretend to have paid one bit of attention to which game that is, but it’s going to be somewhat telling, I guess, in terms of the attendee list. 

Adidas is dirty a corporation as you can find in the sports realm. I cheer for their bankruptcy and utter failure. 

I remember my buddy telling me the story of Kenyon Green’s dad showing up to a camp dressed like a pimp and then started campaigning for his son to get paid to attend an all star game. Dude only missed it by one year. Or hell, maybe he struck the first deal for paid all star attendance with adidas for all I know. 

More on Adidas, after Haselwood decommitted from Georgia last year, they wanted him to visit Miami. Problem is, he’d already OV’d there. So Adidas went ahead and put his whole family up in Miami for an unofficial visit there and asked him to reconsider. I’m sure he really went nuts reconsidering before winding up at OU. So yeah, Adidas is fucking filthy. I can’t really follow what the payoff is, either. This isn’t basketball. 

Adidas = Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio

Kenyon Green played at the Under Armour game. So I guess that was an opportunity missed for Mr. Green

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4 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Something for you guys that track things and then report back on, Adidas is apparently paying players to attend their all star game. I won’t pretend to have paid one bit of attention to which game that is, but it’s going to be somewhat telling, I guess, in terms of the attendee list. 

Adidas is dirty a corporation as you can find in the sports realm. I cheer for their bankruptcy and utter failure. 

I remember my buddy telling me the story of Kenyon Green’s dad showing up to a camp dressed like a pimp and then started campaigning for his son to get paid to attend an all star game. Dude only missed it by one year. Or hell, maybe he struck the first deal for paid all star attendance with adidas for all I know. 

More on Adidas, after Haselwood decommitted from Georgia last year, they wanted him to visit Miami. Problem is, he’d already OV’d there. So Adidas went ahead and put his whole family up in Miami for an unofficial visit there and asked him to reconsider. I’m sure he really went nuts reconsidering before winding up at OU. So yeah, Adidas is fucking filthy. I can’t really follow what the payoff is, either. This isn’t basketball. 

That's.. actually wild. I'd always known boosters were a constant in recruiting but I never thought of the.. brand sponsors? I mean I  considered Nike was helping Oregon given their relationship, but outside of that, I didn't consider it. I figured they didn't give a flying fuck as long as some teams were using them. 

Is their only angle securing a potential CFB sensation wearing their brand or what?

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7 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Something for you guys that track things and then report back on, Adidas is apparently paying players to attend their all star game. I won’t pretend to have paid one bit of attention to which game that is, but it’s going to be somewhat telling, I guess, in terms of the attendee list. 

Adidas is dirty a corporation as you can find in the sports realm. I cheer for their bankruptcy and utter failure. 

I remember my buddy telling me the story of Kenyon Green’s dad showing up to a camp dressed like a pimp and then started campaigning for his son to get paid to attend an all star game. Dude only missed it by one year. Or hell, maybe he struck the first deal for paid all star attendance with adidas for all I know. 

More on Adidas, after Haselwood decommitted from Georgia last year, they wanted him to visit Miami. Problem is, he’d already OV’d there. So Adidas went ahead and put his whole family up in Miami for an unofficial visit there and asked him to reconsider. I’m sure he really went nuts reconsidering before winding up at OU. So yeah, Adidas is fucking filthy. I can’t really follow what the payoff is, either. This isn’t basketball. 

Army All-American Bowl - Saturday January 4, 2020, San Antonio Texas, NBC, 12pm CST

 

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12 minutes ago, Bam Bam Sam said:

That's.. actually wild. I'd always known boosters were a constant in recruiting but I never thought of the.. brand sponsors? I mean I  considered Nike was helping Oregon given their relationship, but outside of that, I didn't consider it. I figured they didn't give a flying fuck as long as some teams were using them. 

Is their only angle securing a potential CFB sensation wearing their brand or what?

It’s extremely common in basketball, but that makes more sense because Nike does it to lock up guys like Zion and Lebron early for brand sponsorships once they make it to the league. like CTJ said, it doesn’t make nearly as much sense for them in football as individual sponsorships aren’t nearly as valuable.

my guess is they’re generally tired of getting their ass beat by Nike (and UA to an extent) and figure that helping funnel talent to schools that have deals with them will increase their market share for team deals in the future. 

Edited by Burt Macklin
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That's.. actually wild. I'd always known boosters were a constant in recruiting but I never thought of the.. brand sponsors? I mean I  considered Nike was helping Oregon given their relationship, but outside of that, I didn't consider it. I figured they didn't give a flying fuck as long as some teams were using them. 
Is their only angle securing a potential CFB sensation wearing their brand or what?


Same playbook as in basketball recruiting. Using the shoe companies but there is a great debate about whether Nike plays the game or not.
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14 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Something for you guys that track things and then report back on, Adidas is apparently paying players to attend their all star game. I won’t pretend to have paid one bit of attention to which game that is, but it’s going to be somewhat telling, I guess, in terms of the attendee list. 

Adidas is dirty a corporation as you can find in the sports realm. I cheer for their bankruptcy and utter failure. 

I remember my buddy telling me the story of Kenyon Green’s dad showing up to a camp dressed like a pimp and then started campaigning for his son to get paid to attend an all star game. Dude only missed it by one year. Or hell, maybe he struck the first deal for paid all star attendance with adidas for all I know. 

More on Adidas, after Haselwood decommitted from Georgia last year, they wanted him to visit Miami. Problem is, he’d already OV’d there. So Adidas went ahead and put his whole family up in Miami for an unofficial visit there and asked him to reconsider. I’m sure he really went nuts reconsidering before winding up at OU. So yeah, Adidas is fucking filthy. I can’t really follow what the payoff is, either. This isn’t basketball. 

I don't understand the big payoff for Adidas at the end..unless someone told them that Haselwood is the next Moss..  As far as Adidas going bankrupt.. I doubt it will happen anytime soon.. my daughter plays soccer and as I watch her play every weekend, I noticed most kids wear that brand.  From cleats to headbands..  Waiting for KD to jump into the soccer shoes world

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4 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

 


Same playbook as in basketball recruiting. Using the shoe companies but there is a great debate about whether Nike plays the game or not.

 

I'm sure Nike plays the game.. I've noticed that outside of a few, most kids sign with the same shoe maker they were wearing in college...which started at the AAU circuit

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4 minutes ago, satyanash said:

Last year the sponsor switched from the U.S. Army to American Family Insurance. adidas mainly does the uniforms, I think.

That's a bummer. I haven't been in a few years, but it was pretty cool all the equipment the Army would have outside the Alamodome. Hummers, artillery, ropes/climbing courses, misc other equipment. Now it's probably a bunch of insurance salesmen with crappy carnival games at best.

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