Has Stanford landed all these highly rated players from all over the country the past couple of years by selling academics? And if so why haven't schools like Duke and Vanderbilt been able to replicate their success?Originally Posted by Boulder Buff
That's a big part of it. Stanford was able to pair that with a very charismatic HC in Harbaugh. Now they pair it with a top 5 finish and BCS bowl appearance.
Duke's football facilities are so bad they'll have trouble getting there. Vanderbilt doesn't even have an AD (or athletics department) and their commitment to athletics simply isn't there. But Northwestern has certainly been effective using this model, even if they aren't drawing blue chips. They're getting enough good players to consistently go bowling.
Utah picked up a commitment from in-state safety Austin Lee today. Pretty solid pickup for the Utes, I think Lee would have picked up some other Pac-12 offers on the camp circuit.
Gonna be a while before we see him. Doing a 2 year mission.
Do you think we should count him in this class? I'm not up on the mission thing. Will he sign a LOI? Is it still binding on him if he goes on the mission before beginning classes?
Hmm USC picked up their 2nd RB commit yesterday. Jahleel Pinner out of Mission Viejo, CA. He didn't have any other known offers. I assume this means USC is done at RB. Probably a FB?
http://rivals.yahoo.com/usc/football...m4gDIAjRBSuZB4
Here is how I understand it: he will sign a LOI for this class, but that does not bind him when his mission is over. I think it similar to a "sign and place" guy. You sign the guy to a LOI knowing full well he will not enroll at the school right away, but in signing him, you are hoping it gives you the leg up 1-2 years down the road. Someone can correct here if I am wrong.
I give you a comical quote from UCLA's rivals site:
The Bruins already have two commitments for the class of 2012, both from Hawai'i in fullback prospect Steven Lakalaka and athlete prospect Psalm Wooching. UCLA is in the hunt for at least two more Hawaiian players, both from Honolulu Punahou in defensive end bookends Luke Kaumatule and DeForest Buckner.
New defensive line coach Inoke Breckterfield is UCLA's recruiter for Hawai'i and he is obviously doing a great job as the Bruins at this time are the dominant school in the islands.
I need to talk to Adam about upping his spin level. That's too good.
Arizona State picked up their 8th commitment today and all eight are from southern California. While some are soft verbals and some were lightly recruited, that is still a pretty impressive start for the Sun Devils.
Their WR coach Steve Broussard is using his LA and Inland Empire connections to continue the success that Matt Lubick had started there for ASU.
ASU's getting a lot of hype for this year and it's helping them. They might fulfill expectations, but that program is also a house of cards right now. Team chemistry is an issue and they're at the top of the list as far as programs that could implode from academic and disciplinary issues. Erickson's trying to re-create what worked so well at Miami. It worked about as well there as I've ever seen a college program perform... until the program got completely out of control and came apart.
Austin Apodaca from Silver Creek HS in Longmont, CO, just committed to Washington State. That makes 5 Pac-12 commitments from in-state and means that Colorado is the most represented state for Pac-12 commitments behind California so far this cycle. We've also had in-state commitments to non-conference BCS programs (Auburn and Duke), so I think that the Pac-10 fans who complained that adding CU would dilute the recruiting pool can eat a bag of dicks.
The same day McNamera committed Arizona got a committment from Nate Sudfeld a QB from CA, their second '12 QB committ. He had no other offers and Scout doesent even have a profile page for him but ESPN rates him as a 4* star player and the #10 QB in the country. Kind of strange.
That's cause ESPN as a recruiting service blows.
"Fame can come in a moment, but greatness comes with longevity."
-Bill McCartney
The rest of the PAC-12 can EABOD on general principle alone.
Utah picked up their 6th commitment from in-state athlete Chase Hansen. He is a 4*/top 250 player on rivals and a solid 3* on the other sites. Another kid who will going on his mission right away after high school. They are putting together a solid class.
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