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Texas Recruiting Notes 2024: Bags Don't Beat Bankrolls


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34 minutes ago, BornAndRaised said:

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned it, but I heard it on a Twitter Spaces today. Tausili Akana and Brandon Bakers mother are first cousins. Poly ties coming in clutch hopefully.

They realized they were cousins on a visit last year. Not exactly close if they didn’t know it. But can’t hurt. The more poly players you get the easier the next is. And that’s not never a bad thing imo.

Just now, FORTWORTHHORN05 said:

They realized they were cousins on a visit last year. Not exactly close if they didn’t know it. But can’t hurt. The more poly players you get the easier the next is. And that’s not never a bad thing imo.

Messed that up. Never a bad thing* lol

 

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2 minutes ago, TexasRenegade said:

I would also argue the recruiting services are worse on their evals/rankings.

 

I don't know if it's sheer volume, emphasis placed on camps, laziness, the number of jock sniffing dorks that know Jack about football anyway, or the stupid arbitrary manner some of them spread their rankings out to make sure there are good players in all states.

 

Are there fewer under the radar diamonds in the rough? Sure.  But I don't think the Evals by the services are as good as they initially were 15-20 years ago.

Part of the problem is that the guys who have been historically good at the evaluations aren’t involved with them anymore. They’re higher up in the orgs or just not interested in the tedious nature of how the rankings are crafted and updated. 

I can tell you for a fact that more than a third of the top 250 for On3 would be removed by guys that used to do it, to say nothing of the rivals and 247 stuff. ESPN lost their workhorse and their stuff has turned to absolute shit. 

One other thing that I have been reluctant to post about has been happening since Herman flamed out. The stigma with Texas’ class rankings versus the NFL production has become a widely spread problem in the space. That seeps into how Texas locks and leans are viewed early and how things get ranked later. In other words, if you rank Texas guys well, you’re going to look like an idiot later. Until that narrative turns due to performance, you really are going to see some downside weirdness. The whole moving down of Arch Manning thing in the last cycle played into this. 

I know that sounds conspiracy level on its surface, but consider the human psychology of it and also assume that I’ve been told multiple anecdotes associated to this. It also makes the aggie belief in On3 being a “sip run organization” comical. 

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10 minutes ago, FORTWORTHHORN05 said:

They realized they were cousins on a visit last year. Not exactly close if they didn’t know it. But can’t hurt. The more poly players you get the easier the next is. And that’s not never a bad thing imo.

Messed that up. Never a bad thing* lol

 

97F0E779-88A6-4E4C-B6B8-7AC035D02329.thumb.jpeg.c6c7caf30129e0b29855577a4fb4d2c1.jpeg
 

When you quote your own post within the same post

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43 minutes ago, BornAndRaised said:

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned it, but I heard it on a Twitter Spaces today. Tausili Akana and Brandon Bakers mother are first cousins. Poly ties coming in clutch hopefully.

Langi wrote an article about it on IT before the visit 

Spoiler
Isaia Faga Phenix City (Ala.) Central High School defensive lineman Isaia Faga. (Joseph Hastings/BamaInsider)

This weekend’s official visits are an opportunity for Steve Sarkisian’s staff to earn much-needed trust from recruits and their families. Because I’m Polynesian, I’m keeping an eye on Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei offensive tackle Brandon Baker and Phenix City (Ala.) Central defensive tackle Isaia Faga.

Here are some things Texas should be mindful of in order to maximize their experience.

If I’m offensive line coach Kyle Flood, I’d have freshman All-American Kelvin Banks and 35-game starter Christian Jones involved this weekend. Banks can speak to his instant impact on the field. Jones, who could have entered the 2023 NFL Draft, felt an extra year with Flood would increase his chances of securing a spot on an NFL roster.

During last April’s spring game, Baker and 2023 signee Tausili Akana learned that their mothers were first cousins. They are both of Samoan ancestry and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Akana provides a sense of family, faith, and culture that nobody else on the roster can offer, so Akana should be in Baker’s hip pocket.

Winning over Baker’s parents will be extremely vital. Texas is behind the eight ball and, honestly, I doubted whether or not they’d get an OV from Baker. Sarkisian and Flood seemed to have made up some ground and they’ll need to keep the momentum going. Wide receivers coach Chris Jackson is a Mater Dei alum, so he should have a seat at the dinner table as well.

 

For Faga, Texas must show they are the total package and hopefully that can make up for their lack of family that Utah offers with defensive ends coach Lewis Powell. Faga’s mother Leta, Powell, and I are first cousins. Leta’s father, the late Royal Talking Chief Motu’apuaka, had a hand in raising Powell, so Leta and Powell are more like siblings. That’s a relationship that will be tough to beat.

Faga’s parents really like Texas but it must feel like home in order for Isaia to decommit from Utah. If I’m Bo Davis, I’d remind Faga that he has reached a level of success without living in a community with lots of Polynesians. In the same manner that Jeff Choate and I recruited Liona Lefau, selling the trailblazer route could resonate with Faga. Lefau has kept in touch with Faga and is also friends with my cousin Tavo Motu’apuaka (a defensive lineman at Utah State), so Lefau should host Faga or at least be involved in some capacity. 

A bonus recruiter would be Texas-Ex Roy Miller, who was a freshman defensive lineman on the 2005 National Championship squad. To my knowledge, Miller is the first Polynesian football player on the Forty Acres and, like Faga, is a military brat. Miller could provide big time mentorship. Graduate Assistant Nico Johnson earned Faga’s respect during the spring game, so he should definitely be around as well.

For both Baker and Faga, ample one-on-one time with Sarkisian should be at the top of the list for the Texas staff. This full-court press needs a good dose of Sarkisian to leave a strong and lasting impression. I feel both families are already somewhat tired of the recruiting process, so this could be a make or break weekend for the Longhorns.

6 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Part of the problem is that the guys who have been historically good at the evaluations aren’t involved with them anymore. They’re higher up in the orgs or just not interested in the tedious nature of how the rankings are crafted and updated. 

I can tell you for a fact that more than a third of the top 250 for On3 would be removed by guys that used to do it, to say nothing of the rivals and 247 stuff. ESPN lost their workhorse and their stuff has turned to absolute shit. 

One other thing that I have been reluctant to post about has been happening since Herman flamed out. The stigma with Texas’ class rankings versus the NFL production has become a widely spread problem in the space. That seeps into how Texas locks and leans are viewed early and how things get ranked later. In other words, if you rank Texas guys well, you’re going to look like an idiot later. Until that narrative turns due to performance, you really are going to see some downside weirdness. The whole moving down of Arch Manning thing in the last cycle played into this. 

I know that sounds conspiracy level on its surface, but consider the human psychology of it and also assume that I’ve been told multiple anecdotes associated to this. It also makes the aggie belief in On3 being a “sip run organization” comical. 

This is part of the larger issue with using the NFL draft to grade ranking. There are a ton of variables that affect draft prospects that are not at all relevant to a high schools football player's ability, however you define that. School, head coach, position, position coach, S&C, etc. 

Somewhat related, I think a lot of the shifting variables in CFB right now increase the importance of evaluation compared to recruiting. 

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2 minutes ago, texifornia said:

Guess @closetojumping isn't the only person unhappy with the state of our WR big board

https://www.on3.com/db/camron-williams-177602/

Interesting.

Unranked dude committed to Missouri State at the moment. So that's not great. 

But in the last week he's received a slew of P5 offers, from Oregon, Miami, ND, and us. 

I wonder what's changed. 

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1 minute ago, Park Gothic said:

Interesting.

Unranked dude committed to Missouri State at the moment. So that's not great. 

But in the last week he's received a slew of P5 offers, from Oregon, Miami, ND, and us. 

I wonder what's changed. 

Dunno.  But I trust his new offer list more than his previous ranking, for sure.

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5 minutes ago, Park Gothic said:

Interesting.

Unranked dude committed to Missouri State at the moment. So that's not great. 

But in the last week he's received a slew of P5 offers, from Oregon, Miami, ND, and us. 

I wonder what's changed. 

Looks like he deleted his commitment tweet (he only committed on 6/4), so that's not lasting.

I can't figure it out - his last hudl is from November, his brother plays for Missouri State so he's not totally out of the blue, stories from Oregon and Miami sites just say that he's "intriguing" or "surging,"  but he's going from FCS offers to bluechip offers in a month so someone saw something.

Edited by texifornia
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14 minutes ago, Park Gothic said:

Interesting.

Unranked dude committed to Missouri State at the moment. So that's not great. 

But in the last week he's received a slew of P5 offers, from Oregon, Miami, ND, and us. 

I wonder what's changed. 

Dude forgot he was playing with 100 lbs ankle weights on until the last game of the season.

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37 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Part of the problem is that the guys who have been historically good at the evaluations aren’t involved with them anymore. They’re higher up in the orgs or just not interested in the tedious nature of how the rankings are crafted and updated. 

I can tell you for a fact that more than a third of the top 250 for On3 would be removed by guys that used to do it, to say nothing of the rivals and 247 stuff. ESPN lost their workhorse and their stuff has turned to absolute shit. 

One other thing that I have been reluctant to post about has been happening since Herman flamed out. The stigma with Texas’ class rankings versus the NFL production has become a widely spread problem in the space. That seeps into how Texas locks and leans are viewed early and how things get ranked later. In other words, if you rank Texas guys well, you’re going to look like an idiot later. Until that narrative turns due to performance, you really are going to see some downside weirdness. The whole moving down of Arch Manning thing in the last cycle played into this. 

I know that sounds conspiracy level on its surface, but consider the human psychology of it and also assume that I’ve been told multiple anecdotes associated to this. It also makes the aggie belief in On3 being a “sip run organization” comical. 

I figured that on the evaluators moving up into other roles.  Just the dweebs that seem to cover recruiting outside of Gerry just leave me shocked.

 

Also while I can't blame them for having a stigma about rating Texas players highly,  then again they are also the idiots that went along with Tyler Owen's being a 5 star....

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55 minutes ago, Mason Ramsey said:

Gerry doesn't tweet often unless it's pictures of kids arriving at visits. Pretty sure he used this picture on the IT board earlier either before a commitment or comment about Simmons.

I'll fix it for you. Gerry doesn't tweet unless he wants to send a link of his favorite porn video.

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3 minutes ago, Vito Andolini said:

Thought @closetojumping might get a kick out of Nahlin’s need to shit on his own subscribers with this passive aggressive dig when he announced his Simmons bump in confidence.

IMG_2684.thumb.jpeg.20a7ec964f0046f6d907728b2fa1e618.jpeg

fwiw the slow people he's referring to are OB. Ketch (allegedly, I wouldn't know) said on a stream that 60% doesn't mean anything, it's a coin flip, not a real prediction, w/e

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1 minute ago, Bodacious Bevo said:

fwiw the slow people he's referring to are OB. Ketch (allegedly, I wouldn't know) said on a stream that 60% doesn't mean anything, it's a coin flip, not a real prediction, w/e

Ok, thanks, didn’t know of a specific reference, but he’s also been known to shit on his own base. 

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1 hour ago, cochamps said:

Dunno.  But I trust his new offer list more than his previous ranking, for sure.

Absolutely. This sort of dovetails with the conversation about Texas 3*s further up the thread. At this point I trust staff evaluations waaaay more than the recruiting sites. 

59 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

I'm guessing his film got out.

Looks like his film has been out since February. 

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1 hour ago, texifornia said:

Looks like he deleted his commitment tweet (he only committed on 6/4), so that's not lasting.

I can't figure it out - his last hudl is from November, his brother plays for Missouri State so he's not totally out of the blue, stories from Oregon and Miami sites just say that he's "intriguing" or "surging,"  but he's going from FCS offers to bluechip offers in a month so someone saw something.

Non-catapult aided 3.36 in the 40.

 

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56 minutes ago, Vito Andolini said:

Thought @closetojumping might get a kick out of Nahlin’s need to shit on his own subscribers with this passive aggressive dig when he announced his Simmons bump in confidence.

IMG_2684.thumb.jpeg.20a7ec964f0046f6d907728b2fa1e618.jpeg

 

52 minutes ago, Bodacious Bevo said:

fwiw the slow people he's referring to are OB. Ketch (allegedly, I wouldn't know) said on a stream that 60% doesn't mean anything, it's a coin flip, not a real prediction, w/e

I think those comments were aimed at the On3’s LSU board.

Here’s the LHF screenshot of the post Nahlin is mocking:
 

 

IMG_7927.jpeg

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7 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

What he drove was, sadly, more humiliating than even a corvette. He had a little early Lexus sedan, deep icy blue. He put a lot of his early first salary earnings into putting a big spoiler on the back, a giant muffler pipe (I don’t know what these are called), ground effects on the side, and some sort of stereo plus speed boost system into the car. This dude is like 6'4" and he's climbing into this tiny vehicle. 

Anyway, we later discovered that he and some buddy of his had totaled the little car in our company parking garage on a Saturday night, apparently trying to "drift". 

I've known him for 21 years and I'm guessing he's gone through at least 15 vehicles, most of which he's somehow totaled while no one got injured. 

Me either. I just refer to them as Carzoo’s.

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  • texifornia changed the title to Texas Recruiting Notes 2024: Bags Don't Beat Bankrolls

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