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By Stuart
Stoppin’ by for a Visit
This weekend marks the first time new Colorado head coach Jon Embree will host prospective new Buffs for official visits.
While it is highly unlikely that the Buffs’ 2011 Class will be filled this weekend, there is the opportunity to add a few names to the five known verbal commitments. The weekend starts Friday afternoon and evening with a reception for recruits and their families at the club level of Folsom Field. Coaches, academic advisors, professors, and other members of the Boulder community will be on hand to answer any questions recruits or their parents may have about the university. Saturday will likely include attendance at the CU/Oklahoma State basketball game, which should have a great crowd. The weather should also cooperate, with highs in the 50’s.
Nothing left to do but convince these young men to join the Buff Nation for the next five years …
Here is a look at the known list of players who are taking offiical visits to Boulder this weekend:
Linebackers
Leilon Willingham
The Stats … Willingham is a 6′2″, 240-pound linebacker from Mullen High in Denver. He runs a 4.6 in the 40, and has a 3.00 GPA. Willingham is considered a four-star prospect by Rivals (three by Scout), the highest rated prospect coming out of the state of Colorado this year. Rivals considers Willingham to be the 11th-best outside linebacker prospect in the nation, while Scout considers Willingham the 69th-best linebacker.
The Status … Willingham committed to Texas A&M on December 29th. “Yes, I committed to Texas A&M,” Willingham told Aggie Websider on December*30th. “Even though I’m not visiting there until January, it just felt like the right decision for me … I want to play in a big-time conference in a big time defense. Von Miller is the best linebacker in the country because of (Texas A&M linebackers) coach DeRuyter. He won the Butkus award. I just saw myself playing for the Wrecking Crew.”
Still, Willingham is not quite done with his recruitment. Before Christmas, he took official visits to Washington and Arizona State. After visiting Boulder this weekend, Willingham will visit College Station next weekend, before taking his final visitation to Central Florida on January 28th. On January 6th, Willingham told ASUDevils.com, “I have a really good feeling about (my A&M commitment) right now, but I’m still looking to become even more sure if this is what I want to do.”
The Skinny … While it would be quite a coup for Jon Embree and his staff to land the No. 1 prospect in the state so late in the game, the odds of landing Willingham would have to be considered long. Jon Embree and Brian Cabral did an in-home visitation with Willingham last week, and convinced him to take an official visit. Still, Willingham is from Denver, so the Flatirons and Folsom Field are not new territory for the prized linebacker recruit. With Willingham visiting Texas A&M next weekend, it would take a very impressive pitch from the Colorado coaches to win him over.
Kellen Jones
The Stats … Jones is a 6′1, 210-pound linebacker from Houston, Texas. He runs a 4.6 in the 40, and has a 3.43 GPA. Jones is considered a four-star prospect by Scout (three by Rivals). Scout rates Jones as the 14th-best middle linebacker prospect in the nation, while Rivals sees Jones as the 28th-best inside linebacker.
The Status … Jones committed to Michigan last July 29th. In January, though, when Rich Rodriguez was fired, Jones began looking around. “You started hearing the ‘first time’ this has happened,*then the ‘first time’ this has happened in the history of the school,” Jones told Scout.com on January 5th. “I got to thinking, all these firsts are not good … I want to be patient. I want to see what coach is going to be brought in, and see what my value is to him.” This past week, Jones’ father, Sean Jones told TheOldCoach.com, “I think it would have to be a really rare circumstance for Kellen not to be a Michigan Wolverine, but we have to be prepared.”
Jones has over 20 scholarship offers, mostly from BCS conference schools. In addition to Colorado, Jones may visit Miami and Arkansas. With Michigan missing out on Jim Harbaugh and Les Miles, instead going with Brady Hoke, there may still be an opening for another school.
The Skinny … “Right now, I’m a still a solid commit,” Jones told BuffStampede.com on January 11th. “It is not soft, it is solid.” Still, Jones was willing to see what Colorado had to offer. “I just really want to get to see the new coaching staff,” said Jones of Colorado. “One of their new coaches, coach McGhee, came out here just a week ago … I still have a good relationship with coach Cabral. I’m interested to see the different feel within the program … and see if it is right for me.”
Just my impression, but if Harbaugh or Miles had taken the Michigan job, I would say that the Buffs had no chance at Jones. Now, with Brady Hoke being named the next head coach, I’m not so sure …
Woodson Greer
The Stats … Greer is a 6′2, 215-pound linebacker from Gardena, California. He runs a 4.7 in the 40. Greer is considered to be a three star prospect by both rating services, and is rated as the 48th-best linebacker prospect in the nation by Rivals.
The Status … Unlike the majority of the recruits coming to Boulder this weekend, Greer has not yet made a commitment to any school. Greer has offers from Michigan, Arizona State, and San Jose State. Greer has already taken official visits to Arizona State (in December), and San Jose State (last weekend), and has no other reported official visits set up. “I’m pretty much content with Arizona State, Colorado, and San Jose State,” Greer told ASUDevils.com on January 6th. “I would say right now Arizona State is ahead only because I’ve already taken a trip there,” Greer said. “I want to take my other trips, and then see how I feel.”
The Skinny … If only due to the fact that he is the only linebacker candidate coming to Boulder January 14th who doesn’t already have a commitment elsewhere, Greer would seemingly be the best chance for the Buffs to land a verbal commitment this weekend. It also helps that Colorado has the last shot at Greer, as he has already taken his official visits to the other two finalists. Colorado fans could be talking a great deal more about Woodson Greer come this Sunday.
K.T. Tuumalo
The Stats … Tuumalo is 6′3, 210-pound linebacker from Honolulu, Hawai’i. He runs a 4.65 in the 40. Tuumalo is considered to be a three-star prospect*by Rivals*(two by Scout), and is rated the 119th-best outside linebacker in the nation by Scout. One of the “Hawai’i Four”, Tuumalo is rated as the fifth-best overall prospect coming out of Hawai’i this year.
The Status … Tuumalo committed to Boise State on December 26th. Tuumalo has offers from at least eight west coast schools, including four from the Pac-12. He took an official visit to Oregon State, Arizona State, and Boise State before making his decision. On January 9th, Tuumalo met with Boise State head coach Chris Petersen, and made an impression upon Tuumalo’s family. “They really enjoyed talking with Coach Petersen,” Tuumalo told BroncoCountry.com. “He came in, and wasn’t uptight at all. He’s just a really cool guy.”
The Skinny … The question here is not whether Tuumalo is going to change his commitment this weekend, it is whether he will be in Boulder at all. Tuumalo is still showing up on the official visit list at Rivals, but has been taken off the list at Scout.com. What Tuumalo reportedly told BroncoCountry.com may have something to do with that. “I won’t be taking that visit (to Colorado),” said Tuumalo. “I’m 100 percent committed to Boise State.” Tough to misinterpret those words. So don’t be surprised if there is no mention about Tuumalo in Boulder this weekend.
*
Program Note … Still a work in progress, the write up on the remaining four prospects coming to Boulder this weekend – defensive backs Rashad Wadood, Kameron Jackson, and Sherrard Harrington, along with wide receiver Jafus Gaines …
*
Meanwhile, two of the known visitors this weekend have already committed to Colorado. As with the other three known Buff verbal commitments, their story has been filed under “2011 Verbal Commitments”. In case you haven’t yet had the chance to read up on them, here are the writeups on wide receiver Nelson Spruce and offensive tackle Marc Mustoe:
Nelson Spruce – WR
Just the facts … Committed December 18th … Spruce is a wide receiver prospect from Westlake High school in Westlake Village, California. He is 6′2″, 195 pounds, and runs a 4.5 in the 40. Spruce has a 3.8 GPA.
What others say about Spruce … Nelson Spruce is considered to be a three-star prospect by both Rivals and Scout. Spruce is the 94th-best wide receiver prospect in the nation, according to Scout.com. In his senior year, Spruce had 73 receptions for 1,292 yards and 18 touchdowns. A two-way starter, Spruce was named his league’s Defensive back-of-the-year, with 31 tackles and three interceptions.
Spruce*had other offers from … at least a dozen schools, including Washington State, Hawai’i, Air Force, Colorado State, and Northwestern. Spruce will take his official visit to Colorado January 14th. He had discussed taking an official visit to Hawai’i before he announced his commitment, but it is unclear as to whether Spruce will still take that visit. Spruce’s head coach, Jim Benkert, speculated that Spruce did not receive more BCS offers because Spruce played baseball this past summer, instead of going to summer camps. “He has been a three-year starter for us,” Benkert told BuffStampede.com. “He played safety, corner, inside and outside receiver … he returned punts, kicks, never left the field … We played 14 games this year, and he probably played past halftime in four games. So his numbers, not only are they impressive, but considering he didn’t play in the second half in probably ten of those games, that tells you how dynamic a player he is.”
In his own words … “I’ve been talking to Coach Embree a lot, and he seems like he has the program going in the right direction,” Spruce told Rivals.com when he committed, “so I wanted to be a part of it.” Being able to return to California to play also played a role. “That’s one of the many things that attracted me,” said Spruce. “I’ll be able to come back to California, so that was a big part of it.” Spruce has yet to make his official visit, but it looking forward to seeing Boulder on January 14th. “I just want to get a feel for how the players are and how the atmosphere of the school is,” said Spruce. “I have heard a lot of great things about Boulder, so I am sure that it will go well.”
Marc Mustoe – OT
Just the facts … Committed December 11th … Mustoe is an offensive line prospect from Arvada West High school in Arvada, Colorado. He is 6′7″, 273 pounds, and runs a 5.3 in the 40. Mustoe has a 4.0 GPA.
What others say about Mustoe … Marc Mustoe is considered to be a three-star prospect by both Rivals and Scout. Mustoe is ranked as the 5th-best overall prospect in the state of Colorado. Mustoe is ranked as the 55th-best offensive tackle in the nation by Rivals, and the 32nd-best offensive tackle by Scout.com.
Mustoe had other offers from … at least five other Pac-12 schools, including Cal, Arizona, UCLA, Arizona State, and Utah. Mustoe also had offers from Louisville, Notre Dame, and Kansas State. Mustoe was an early commit to UCLA (June 23rd), but changed his commitment after Jon Embree was hired as the new head coach at Colorado.
In his own words … “I visited UCLA (on June 22nd), and got a chance to see the campus for the first time and it was awesome. I committed (that night),” said Mustoe last summer. “I told Coach (Bob) Palcic and Coach (Rick) Neuheisal, and they were*pretty fired up … I was leaning to leaving Colorado, and going someplace out-of-state for school”. After meeting with Jon Embree, however, Mustoe changed his mind, and his commitment. Mustoe told PrepColorado.com that the “program at Colorado is looking up”, and that he wanted to be a part of it. Mustoe was particularly impressed with Embree. “He bleeds Colorado. He went to Cherry Creek, played at Colorado, was a coach at Colorado, and now he is the head coach … Coach Embree has a vision of making the program what it once was.”
Originally posted by CU At the Game
Click here to view the article.
Stoppin’ by for a Visit
This weekend marks the first time new Colorado head coach Jon Embree will host prospective new Buffs for official visits.
While it is highly unlikely that the Buffs’ 2011 Class will be filled this weekend, there is the opportunity to add a few names to the five known verbal commitments. The weekend starts Friday afternoon and evening with a reception for recruits and their families at the club level of Folsom Field. Coaches, academic advisors, professors, and other members of the Boulder community will be on hand to answer any questions recruits or their parents may have about the university. Saturday will likely include attendance at the CU/Oklahoma State basketball game, which should have a great crowd. The weather should also cooperate, with highs in the 50’s.
Nothing left to do but convince these young men to join the Buff Nation for the next five years …
Here is a look at the known list of players who are taking offiical visits to Boulder this weekend:
Linebackers
Leilon Willingham
The Stats … Willingham is a 6′2″, 240-pound linebacker from Mullen High in Denver. He runs a 4.6 in the 40, and has a 3.00 GPA. Willingham is considered a four-star prospect by Rivals (three by Scout), the highest rated prospect coming out of the state of Colorado this year. Rivals considers Willingham to be the 11th-best outside linebacker prospect in the nation, while Scout considers Willingham the 69th-best linebacker.
The Status … Willingham committed to Texas A&M on December 29th. “Yes, I committed to Texas A&M,” Willingham told Aggie Websider on December*30th. “Even though I’m not visiting there until January, it just felt like the right decision for me … I want to play in a big-time conference in a big time defense. Von Miller is the best linebacker in the country because of (Texas A&M linebackers) coach DeRuyter. He won the Butkus award. I just saw myself playing for the Wrecking Crew.”
Still, Willingham is not quite done with his recruitment. Before Christmas, he took official visits to Washington and Arizona State. After visiting Boulder this weekend, Willingham will visit College Station next weekend, before taking his final visitation to Central Florida on January 28th. On January 6th, Willingham told ASUDevils.com, “I have a really good feeling about (my A&M commitment) right now, but I’m still looking to become even more sure if this is what I want to do.”
The Skinny … While it would be quite a coup for Jon Embree and his staff to land the No. 1 prospect in the state so late in the game, the odds of landing Willingham would have to be considered long. Jon Embree and Brian Cabral did an in-home visitation with Willingham last week, and convinced him to take an official visit. Still, Willingham is from Denver, so the Flatirons and Folsom Field are not new territory for the prized linebacker recruit. With Willingham visiting Texas A&M next weekend, it would take a very impressive pitch from the Colorado coaches to win him over.
Kellen Jones
The Stats … Jones is a 6′1, 210-pound linebacker from Houston, Texas. He runs a 4.6 in the 40, and has a 3.43 GPA. Jones is considered a four-star prospect by Scout (three by Rivals). Scout rates Jones as the 14th-best middle linebacker prospect in the nation, while Rivals sees Jones as the 28th-best inside linebacker.
The Status … Jones committed to Michigan last July 29th. In January, though, when Rich Rodriguez was fired, Jones began looking around. “You started hearing the ‘first time’ this has happened,*then the ‘first time’ this has happened in the history of the school,” Jones told Scout.com on January 5th. “I got to thinking, all these firsts are not good … I want to be patient. I want to see what coach is going to be brought in, and see what my value is to him.” This past week, Jones’ father, Sean Jones told TheOldCoach.com, “I think it would have to be a really rare circumstance for Kellen not to be a Michigan Wolverine, but we have to be prepared.”
Jones has over 20 scholarship offers, mostly from BCS conference schools. In addition to Colorado, Jones may visit Miami and Arkansas. With Michigan missing out on Jim Harbaugh and Les Miles, instead going with Brady Hoke, there may still be an opening for another school.
The Skinny … “Right now, I’m a still a solid commit,” Jones told BuffStampede.com on January 11th. “It is not soft, it is solid.” Still, Jones was willing to see what Colorado had to offer. “I just really want to get to see the new coaching staff,” said Jones of Colorado. “One of their new coaches, coach McGhee, came out here just a week ago … I still have a good relationship with coach Cabral. I’m interested to see the different feel within the program … and see if it is right for me.”
Just my impression, but if Harbaugh or Miles had taken the Michigan job, I would say that the Buffs had no chance at Jones. Now, with Brady Hoke being named the next head coach, I’m not so sure …
Woodson Greer
The Stats … Greer is a 6′2, 215-pound linebacker from Gardena, California. He runs a 4.7 in the 40. Greer is considered to be a three star prospect by both rating services, and is rated as the 48th-best linebacker prospect in the nation by Rivals.
The Status … Unlike the majority of the recruits coming to Boulder this weekend, Greer has not yet made a commitment to any school. Greer has offers from Michigan, Arizona State, and San Jose State. Greer has already taken official visits to Arizona State (in December), and San Jose State (last weekend), and has no other reported official visits set up. “I’m pretty much content with Arizona State, Colorado, and San Jose State,” Greer told ASUDevils.com on January 6th. “I would say right now Arizona State is ahead only because I’ve already taken a trip there,” Greer said. “I want to take my other trips, and then see how I feel.”
The Skinny … If only due to the fact that he is the only linebacker candidate coming to Boulder January 14th who doesn’t already have a commitment elsewhere, Greer would seemingly be the best chance for the Buffs to land a verbal commitment this weekend. It also helps that Colorado has the last shot at Greer, as he has already taken his official visits to the other two finalists. Colorado fans could be talking a great deal more about Woodson Greer come this Sunday.
K.T. Tuumalo
The Stats … Tuumalo is 6′3, 210-pound linebacker from Honolulu, Hawai’i. He runs a 4.65 in the 40. Tuumalo is considered to be a three-star prospect*by Rivals*(two by Scout), and is rated the 119th-best outside linebacker in the nation by Scout. One of the “Hawai’i Four”, Tuumalo is rated as the fifth-best overall prospect coming out of Hawai’i this year.
The Status … Tuumalo committed to Boise State on December 26th. Tuumalo has offers from at least eight west coast schools, including four from the Pac-12. He took an official visit to Oregon State, Arizona State, and Boise State before making his decision. On January 9th, Tuumalo met with Boise State head coach Chris Petersen, and made an impression upon Tuumalo’s family. “They really enjoyed talking with Coach Petersen,” Tuumalo told BroncoCountry.com. “He came in, and wasn’t uptight at all. He’s just a really cool guy.”
The Skinny … The question here is not whether Tuumalo is going to change his commitment this weekend, it is whether he will be in Boulder at all. Tuumalo is still showing up on the official visit list at Rivals, but has been taken off the list at Scout.com. What Tuumalo reportedly told BroncoCountry.com may have something to do with that. “I won’t be taking that visit (to Colorado),” said Tuumalo. “I’m 100 percent committed to Boise State.” Tough to misinterpret those words. So don’t be surprised if there is no mention about Tuumalo in Boulder this weekend.
*
Program Note … Still a work in progress, the write up on the remaining four prospects coming to Boulder this weekend – defensive backs Rashad Wadood, Kameron Jackson, and Sherrard Harrington, along with wide receiver Jafus Gaines …
*
Meanwhile, two of the known visitors this weekend have already committed to Colorado. As with the other three known Buff verbal commitments, their story has been filed under “2011 Verbal Commitments”. In case you haven’t yet had the chance to read up on them, here are the writeups on wide receiver Nelson Spruce and offensive tackle Marc Mustoe:
Nelson Spruce – WR
Just the facts … Committed December 18th … Spruce is a wide receiver prospect from Westlake High school in Westlake Village, California. He is 6′2″, 195 pounds, and runs a 4.5 in the 40. Spruce has a 3.8 GPA.
What others say about Spruce … Nelson Spruce is considered to be a three-star prospect by both Rivals and Scout. Spruce is the 94th-best wide receiver prospect in the nation, according to Scout.com. In his senior year, Spruce had 73 receptions for 1,292 yards and 18 touchdowns. A two-way starter, Spruce was named his league’s Defensive back-of-the-year, with 31 tackles and three interceptions.
Spruce*had other offers from … at least a dozen schools, including Washington State, Hawai’i, Air Force, Colorado State, and Northwestern. Spruce will take his official visit to Colorado January 14th. He had discussed taking an official visit to Hawai’i before he announced his commitment, but it is unclear as to whether Spruce will still take that visit. Spruce’s head coach, Jim Benkert, speculated that Spruce did not receive more BCS offers because Spruce played baseball this past summer, instead of going to summer camps. “He has been a three-year starter for us,” Benkert told BuffStampede.com. “He played safety, corner, inside and outside receiver … he returned punts, kicks, never left the field … We played 14 games this year, and he probably played past halftime in four games. So his numbers, not only are they impressive, but considering he didn’t play in the second half in probably ten of those games, that tells you how dynamic a player he is.”
In his own words … “I’ve been talking to Coach Embree a lot, and he seems like he has the program going in the right direction,” Spruce told Rivals.com when he committed, “so I wanted to be a part of it.” Being able to return to California to play also played a role. “That’s one of the many things that attracted me,” said Spruce. “I’ll be able to come back to California, so that was a big part of it.” Spruce has yet to make his official visit, but it looking forward to seeing Boulder on January 14th. “I just want to get a feel for how the players are and how the atmosphere of the school is,” said Spruce. “I have heard a lot of great things about Boulder, so I am sure that it will go well.”
Marc Mustoe – OT
Just the facts … Committed December 11th … Mustoe is an offensive line prospect from Arvada West High school in Arvada, Colorado. He is 6′7″, 273 pounds, and runs a 5.3 in the 40. Mustoe has a 4.0 GPA.
What others say about Mustoe … Marc Mustoe is considered to be a three-star prospect by both Rivals and Scout. Mustoe is ranked as the 5th-best overall prospect in the state of Colorado. Mustoe is ranked as the 55th-best offensive tackle in the nation by Rivals, and the 32nd-best offensive tackle by Scout.com.
Mustoe had other offers from … at least five other Pac-12 schools, including Cal, Arizona, UCLA, Arizona State, and Utah. Mustoe also had offers from Louisville, Notre Dame, and Kansas State. Mustoe was an early commit to UCLA (June 23rd), but changed his commitment after Jon Embree was hired as the new head coach at Colorado.
In his own words … “I visited UCLA (on June 22nd), and got a chance to see the campus for the first time and it was awesome. I committed (that night),” said Mustoe last summer. “I told Coach (Bob) Palcic and Coach (Rick) Neuheisal, and they were*pretty fired up … I was leaning to leaving Colorado, and going someplace out-of-state for school”. After meeting with Jon Embree, however, Mustoe changed his mind, and his commitment. Mustoe told PrepColorado.com that the “program at Colorado is looking up”, and that he wanted to be a part of it. Mustoe was particularly impressed with Embree. “He bleeds Colorado. He went to Cherry Creek, played at Colorado, was a coach at Colorado, and now he is the head coach … Coach Embree has a vision of making the program what it once was.”
Originally posted by CU At the Game
Click here to view the article.
