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Re:2011 Glenville Prospects
by Duane Long 2009/11/10 21:17

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Stars and ratings
Written by Duane Long   
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 10:05

I don't get around to other boards.I go to Rivals because of the national film database. I have not been to their message board one time. I am on Bucknuts every day. I stop by Buckeye Planet now and again. The conversationat those sites is enough to leave me scratching my head.

Today I would like to be celebrating several more verbals and talking about those players, but the fallout from those verbals has prompted to to address what fans are talking about. Yes, I used the term "fallout." That seems to be the reaction. What has fans all worked up is the lack of "stars" for the committed players. I am not going to tell you they don't matter. I think they do. Yes, there are always exceptions. We can always point to Malcolm Jenkins and many other players who rose above their rankings. The percentages of four and five star players becoming stars is higher. The better the prospect, the better the chance the player is going to pan out.

What I want to point out is the date. It is March. March 17th to be exact. National signing day was just about five weeks ago for the class of 2010. Who has stars? Nobody. We in the business of evaluating players are just getting up to speed on the class of 2011. Take DerJuan Gambrell and Antonio Underwood. I had to run it through my mind for a minute to remember what position Underwood played when I heard about his offer and verbal. I was not aware of Gambrell at all. Mark Porter is the only person I know who sees more Ohio players than me. He knew more about them than I did but had not taken the time to break down and evalute either player at the time of their offers. Rivals is the national film king of this business. Mark and I have not seen all the players we need to see in Ohio. You think Rivals is going to be able to rank the entire nation five weeks after national signing day? Come on.

The other argument is offers. MalcolmTen covered that in a question to the Bucknuts board, He asked do fans really believe that the coaches on other regions of the country know who the top players in Ohio are right now? They may know who the top players are at Glenville and Centerville but they are not going to know who the top players are Toledo Rogers, Shaker Heights and Cleveland JFK.We are about six weeks from when they can make personal contact. It is very difficult for staffs to recruit out of state players until May 1st of their junior year.

Of our seven verbals I see Kenny Hayes and Steve Miller as five star guys. I think Kris Farris will be at least a four-star player. Chis Carter could be a four-star. Bobek will be at least a three-star and maybe a four-star. Gambrell and Underwood are going to be three-star players.

Give it time. Let the national ratings services do their thing.

 


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Comments (8)Add Comment
Why people are questioning the talent
written by rwkosu72, March 17, 2010
Duane,
In some respects I agree with what you are saying, but even though it is only March 17th, there have already been at least 3 underclassman combines that I am aware of. Kids don't just drop out of the sky and suddenly become a five star player. What about the 13 year old that USC verbally offered 3-4 weeks ago. I have been in the Rivals national office in Brentwood, Tn a couple of times(I do business with the company next door). They have told me they get tips, and info on kids all the time. They kid film on kids who MAY play Div III ball, but Mom or Dad or a neighbor thinks they are the greatest thing in the world. There are no secrets in recruiting any more. If akid is BCS quality player, coaches know about him.
When someone commits to Ohio State, and only has offers from MAC schools, people are going to question the talent.
Recent verbals
written by larry parson, March 17, 2010
Duane:

I actually like the fact that we are offering so many in state kids earlier than in the past. I think the coaches know that last year was not a good in-state recruiting effort. Recruiting is mostly about signing local kids. Get the in state kids early and go after a few out of state stars. If not, others will come after them and OSU will start seeing major competition inside the state.
Look what happened last year with in state offensive linemen. Of course you go after the big names but you better have a plan B, if they don't verbal to OSU.
...
written by Rob97, March 17, 2010
Sorry RWK but you are wrong about national recruiting gurus knowing about all of the recruits. For one, Kirk Barton was a 1 star which means he was not even rated/graded by these sites. Because they did not know about him. How about that super fat DT down at Alabama? A 2-star recruit, and he just graduated from HS less than 3 short years ago. Rivals and other such related companies may get tips and rumors all the time about players...but there are just waaay to many out there to grade, especially the ones from smaller schools. Look at some of the bigger named '11 & '12 recruits that were hot names in the last 6-12 months (Kris Rock is just one example), they are dropping like rocks on the big boards and not getting the love everyone thought they would get. (USC with Lane at the helm does not count as he has yet to prove anything much better than a .500 record).
...
written by loosebelt12, March 17, 2010
Duane,
We know how Miller, Depriest, and Grant are going to rate out, but how about Wynn, Big Drey, and Tanner? Do you dare speculate on them?
...
written by rwkosu72, March 17, 2010
Rob97 ,
You are wrong about scouts not knowing about these kids. I know for a fact that Rivals knew about Cody the DT at Ala. They thought his weight was going to get worse as he got older. They saw him on video and in camps as a soph. in HS.
...
written by Duane Long, March 18, 2010
..
written by loosebelt12, March 17, 2010
Duane,
We know how Miller, Depriest, and Grant are going to rate out, but how about Wynn, Big Drey, and Tanner? Do you dare speculate on them?


I put a five-star on Miller and DePriest. I would be surprised to see anyone give either anything less than a five-star. I think most will give Grant a five-star but I think there will be a few holdouts like me that would like to see more of him as a corner and playing the run. He is explosive and quick. He is great with the ball in his hands and a great kick returner. I think Tanner is a great looking prospect. At one point he was in my top ten. A number of players emerged since then and he is no longer in my top ten. I can see a four-star on him. Wynn is no better than a three-star in my mind and I may not make Walker a three-star. I believe the offers to Wynn and Walker are about Glenville, and I am not just talking about the Buckeyes. I think this is the way for other programs to breakthrough.
Scatter gun than rifle
written by SFBuck, March 18, 2010
I personally love this approach. Fill needs first. Maybe the yield on some of these kids is a tad lower than on a kid like Anthony Davis or S Henderson, but, this is, at best, an inexact science. We have a core of bigs in the bag. If we only get one more DT and one more OL, we have filled needs. We can now target the 5 best kids in the country at DT and LT, if we get two of the 10 we are in fantastic shape.
Good article
written by harp, March 19, 2010
Right on.

This being March - offers list, evaluations, and scouting is just in its infancy stages. Ohio is still a very strong state and there is just too many players for OOS programs to have a read on at this time. OSU staff obviously has the best network and read on these players at this point.

Another factor - an OSU verbal will stunt most players offer list(s).

Allow the process to grow and keep it in healthy debate. Secrets might not exist, but prep players flying under the radar in March is still not uncommon.

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