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Texas recruiting notes 2019


bigup2dahorns

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1 hour ago, UT Lawnghorn said:

I"m not trying to rehash the last debate but this is where conversation is going and I like talking about this stuff. Plus, it beats comparing the school districts of LA and Austin so here goes.

I agree and there is still time, but it goes back to sustainability.  Last year we had Coburn pretty much in the bag, the U notwithstanding.  We got lucky with Ossai due to a coaching change, which probably won't help us this year, and while there are sometimes late risers on the line, they're usually project takes who fill out your last spot. It's rare to have a guy the quality of Ojomo just pop up.  Williams and Carson were project takes already. For the record, I like Williams but he has a higher bust potential than other guys who are rated higher. I'll put it this way, a late riser should have the Williams role in the class, but we also nabbed a late riser and Carson.  We took three late guys/project types last year. I like 2 of them a lot but I doubt we could get three guys of their quality late most years.  If that doesn't happen, we might start settling for some JAGs and then you start to have roster issues.

Williams is very similar to Vernon Jackson yet Jackson had an early offer to Bama. So, I don't get the project label unless you want all five star guys. And even Bama with its money and history can't do that.

And NaNa is a loss on paper but nothing in his play leads me to believe he will be the player Williams is. I understand that you are hurt and the coaches prioritized him but looking at some other guys like Zach Williams, Rian Davis, and Jermaine Johnson (and a host of unlikely  5 star guys), it is hard for me to really care. I think all of those guys mentioned are better football players and NaNa seems to be a guy that would reconsider if Notre Dame flames out this year.

So right now, we have lost one guy on the DL that I care about and that is Leal. And unless you want to pony up your own cash, you are just going t have to watch that one play out.

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39 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Williams is very similar to Vernon Jackson yet Jackson had an early offer to Bama. So, I don't get the project label unless you want all five star guys. And even Bama with its money and history can't do that.

And NaNa is a loss on paper but nothing in his play leads me to believe he will be the player Williams is. I understand that you are hurt and the coaches prioritized him but looking at some other guys like Zach Williams, Rian Davis, and Jermaine Johnson (and a host of unlikely  5 star guys), it is hard for me to really care. I think all of those guys mentioned are better football players and NaNa seems to be a guy that would reconsider if Notre Dame flames out this year.

So right now, we have lost one guy on the DL that I care about and that is Leal. And unless you want to pony up your own cash, you are just going t have to watch that one play out.

I'm not even sure you read my post because most of what you respond to is stuff I never said.  There's a lot of stuff in here that's not worth my time to address.

 

Edited by UT Lawnghorn
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2019 notes from EJ/247 - I added the 2020 notes in that thread as well. SIAP ::

— From talking to sources close to the recruitment of Jake Smith, it seems like Texas has a pretty good lead over USC, even after his official visit this weekend. Smith loves the city of Austin, has a great relationship with the staff and sees himself as a great scheme fit. Smith spoke to Jordan Shipley on both of his visits, and that has definitely helped here. Kudos to the staff on once again being creative on their visits and paying close attention to detail. Smith will be back in Austin on June 3 for his official visit, and it would be surprising if Texas didn’t seal the deal.

— The recruitment of Smith was an interesting one. In fact, Smith wasn’t even on UT’s radar before last winter. His father actually emailed Smith’s film to a handful of colleges before he really blew up on the scene, including Texas. A lot of times these emails go by the wayside. But not with Texas. It was actually running backs coach Stan Drayton that watched the film and got in contact with the Smith family. After visiting in December, the family fell in love with Texas. Tom Herman, Tim Beck, Drew Mehringer and Bryan Carrington all played crucial roles in the Longhorns surging up his list.

— Chandler (Ariz.) Brayden Liebrock recently made his verbal commitment to Texas. Naturally the question is: How solid is he? With many out-of-state kids, you have to worry about a potential flip all the way until signing day. However, Liebrock is completely solid to the Longhorns, and I don’t expect him to look around. Schools like USC and Ohio State made hard pushes, and he has family ties to Arizona State, but Texas really won him over and has done enough to keep him committed through the process. This was one heck of a land by the Texas staff.

— Texas is just starting to make a move in the recruitment of four-star Gilbert (Ariz.) Williams Field defensive back Noa Pola-Gates. Yes, I put in my Crystal Ball for Alabama, and I do feel like the Crimson Tide are in the pole position at this time. But things could change. Texas safeties coach Craig Naivar has been putting in extra work in this recruitment as of late. Naivar visited Pola-Gates last week and is pushing to get him on campus in June. Pola-Gates does have ties to Austin as his godmother lives in the area. Pola-Gates is also of Polynesian descent, and Texas staffer Jake Langi, who really understands the culture and played a major role with Junior Angilau last cycle, is an X-factor in this recruitment.

— Like I reported late last week, Texas is a legitimate contender in the race for five-star Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei athlete Bru McCoy. In fact, I would go as far as to say that the Longhorns are running second behind USC in this recruitment. With a strong season, it wouldn’t be surprising at all if Texas gained control in this one. After all, the Longhorns absolutely blew away McCoy on his recent unofficial visit. He has also bonded with Texas commit De’Gabriel Floyd, who is recruiting him every day. McCoy told me he is open to creating his own legacy away from home, and that’s exactly what UT has been pitching. Carrington is playing an X-factor role here, and the Longhorns would allow him to start off at wide receiver, his position of preference. Texas and USC are the two schools that will for sure receive official visits this fall.

— Texas has been trending in the recruitment of four-star Lakewood (Calif.) Mayfair safety Chris Adimora. After talking to him and those around him, I have reason to believe the Longhorns have a nice edge over Boise State, which will receive an official visit on June 14. Adimora made an unofficial visit to Texas for the Longhorns’ spring game last month and loved his time on campus. He has a strong relationship with Naivar and Floyd, who has been recruiting him extremely hard. I’m told Floyd and Adimora are close friends. Adimora is looking to officially visit Texas in December — after his August 18 commitment date.

— The way Adimora’s recruitment unfolded is a little bit of a funny story. Texas Director of High School Relations Bob Shipley was the first to reach out to the Adimora camp. He actually called the school’s landline and inquired about him. Adimora’s high school head coach, Derek Bedell, laughed about it and said: ‘who the heck calls the landline?’ Bedell told Shipley Adimora would be interested, and Naivar quickly got in contact. Naivar actually coached with Bedell’s brother, Brad, at Texas State. Bedell praised Naivar and the Texas program and said Adimora would be a great fit in Austin. It is worth noting that Bedell’s brother, Brad, is now the offensive line coach at Boise State, so it’s no surprise that Adimora is the highest on Boise State and Texas.


— Chris Steele… man. Early on his recruitment, we had multiple sources, including Steele himself, tell us that he had legitimate interest in Texas. It made sense as Steele talks to Floyd all the time, played 7v7 for Houston-based Fast 7v7 and talked heavily about going out-of-state. Steele also kept in close contact with Washington throughout the offseason. So when he left Texas off his top schools list, it came as a bit of a surprise. What happened? I talked to both Steele and his father, and there was a miscommunication regarding his official visit that caused them to think Texas had moved on. However, that visit has been cleared up, and Steele is once again considering UT. Washington has been in contact with Steele and his father, and they both had nothing but great things to say about him. Steele has one official visit remaining, and he is debating on whether to use it on Texas or Penn State.

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7 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

Today is LA versus Austin chamber of commerce and visitor bureau discussions.

Meh. I didn't participate, but it is par for the course on any recruiting board since the advent of recruiting boards. This is kind of an "old man yells at cloud" issue. I mean, this thread can go sideways, there's no doubt. I just don't think a one page back and forth about Austin and LA is that egregious. 

More productively, and this board blows at this but it can get there, would be to actually have a standalone thread discussion about UT vs USC. We're going to be competing for them with recruits in AZ, NV, CA, UT, TX, and CO, for sure, over the next few years. Both programs have strong pros and cons, same for the schools and cities. The battles will be pitched and the reasons why one wins a recruit vs the other will vary. 

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4 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Meh. I didn't participate, but it is par for the course on any recruiting board since the advent of recruiting boards. This is kind of an "old man yells at cloud" issue. I mean, this thread can go sideways, there's no doubt. I just don't think a one page back and forth about Austin and LA is that egregious. 

More productively, and this board blows at this but it can get there, would be to actually have a standalone thread discussion about UT vs USC. We're going to be competing for them with recruits in AZ, NV, CA, UT, TX, and CO, for sure, over the next few years. Both programs have strong pros and cons, same for the schools and cities. The battles will be pitched and the reasons why one wins a recruit vs the other will vary. 

Stanford is better, imo.

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LA has high taxes, traffic, and english is the second language. oh, and traffic. who could want more.
USC created their own little city within the city type thing, no reason for any student to wander the surrounding neighborhoods, (Which I've heard incoming Freshmen are warned about) just uber to the best parts of LA, then back to campus.
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35 minutes ago, ousux said:
6 hours ago, NorLa Horns said:
LA has high taxes, traffic, and english is the second language. oh, and traffic. who could want more.

USC created their own little city within the city type thing, no reason for any student to wander the surrounding neighborhoods, (Which I've heard incoming Freshmen are warned about) just uber to the best parts of LA, then back to campus.

You are spot on.  USC provides free uber to all students.  There is also free shuttles to L.A. Live that picks up and drops off at the school.

The university just completed the USC Village across the street that is mixed use of student housing, residential colleges, retail stores, restaurants and other specialty businesses.  Trader Joe's, Target, Wahlburgers and Trejo's Tacos are just a few of the businesses within the Village.  

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14 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Clay Helton appears to be a slow starter, strong finisher. Credit to Herman for taking advantage. 

Haven't most USC recruiting classes been that way? I remember Sark after Dark pulling in a ton of talent late one of the years he was there.

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3 minutes ago, TrojanPrincess said:

You are spot on.  USC provides free uber to all students.  There is also free shuttles to L.A. Live that picks up and drops off at the school.

The university just completed the USC Village across the street that is mixed use of student housing, residential colleges, retail stores, restaurants and other specialty businesses.  Trader Joe's, Target, Wahlburgers and Trejo's Tacos are just a few of the businesses within the Village.  

Free uber? Really running with that University of Spoiled Children rep. Not that I wouldn't have killed for that in school. 

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1 minute ago, UT Lawnghorn said:

Haven't most USC recruiting classes been that way? I remember Sark after Dark pulling in a ton of talent late one of the years he was there.

That's because most of the top 4 & 5* recruits in our area want to wait till LOI day.  Clay also puts zero pressure on these kids to commit early, encourages them to take all their visits.  It can and has worked against us.

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15 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Clay Helton appears to be a slow starter, strong finisher. Credit to Herman for taking advantage. 

I wonder how similar his approach is to Strong's while at Texas. I've asked about it and it's apparently not that dissimilar, but for different reasons. 

I think Texas focusing on AZ, Vegas, Colorado and Utah is super smart. I'd love to see it grow, as they've only dipped toes in those places. No one can honestly claim ownership of any of those areas and there is substantial talent yearly to merit attempting to cherrypick. 

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On 5/19/2018 at 1:24 PM, Atticus said:

Yea, pretty sure we want him going to USC. OU is far more of a player there than we are.

How about student safety.  Not many large universities are located right in the heart of the second most densely populated cities in the country.  

Over 50% of those spoiled bitches volunteer in and around the surrounding community, winning College of the Year in 2000 for it's extensive community services.  Survival.

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1 minute ago, TrojanPrincess said:

Over 50% of those spoiled bitches volunteer in and around the surrounding community, winning College of the Year in 2000 for it's extensive community services.  Survival.

A couple of decades ago when people were worried about the Y2K bug and we were all going to party like it was 1999? I think the average college student was 3 when USC won that award.

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10 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

I wonder how similar his approach is to Strong's while at Texas. I've asked about it and it's apparently not that dissimilar, but for different reasons. 

I think Texas focusing on AZ, Vegas, Colorado and Utah is super smart. I'd love to see it grow, as they've only dipped toes in those places. No one can honestly claim ownership of any of those areas and there is substantial talent yearly to merit attempting to cherrypick. 

Almost makes you wonder where Texas will end up after the next conference alignment. Maybe Herman has a premonition.

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8 minutes ago, Fud said:

No USC is interesting. He's cousins with Tua and his brother, fwiw 

 

Has he even visited Clemson or Washington?  When he visited Texas he also visited LSU and OUsucks and they didn't make the cut.  Bama' already has 4 or 5 DL commits.  Shit I don't want to get my hopes up but we may have a shot.

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