WSU is about to get a 6-4 receiver from New York ...
- Thread starter YakiCoug
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At that height he could run in the mid 11's and he'd still be good, as long as he can high point the ball. Speed is a nice bonus, though
Nothing to be ashamed of. You can't win 'em all, especially to a powerhouse like Toledo.
But seriously, expect this was a proximity issue - 5 hours away vs a full day of air travel.
It would not surprise me if he ends up signing somewhere else when he puts pen to paper.
And I would have felt that even more, should he have given us his verbal.
TBH this guy had "late flip" written all over him, especially in terms of a commit to WSU.
Leading up to his visit I read some of the things he had been saying during his recruitment. Things like "closer to home/family, and early playing time" came up regularly.
Neither of those things fit with WSU. Sure, Ohio isn't exactly in his backyard. But it's a helluva lot closer than a cross country flight. And there was no way he would have been assured early playing time at WSU. I don't know what the WR situation is for Toledo (or any of the others he was considering), but WSU is going to be a real fight for WR playing time in the next year or two.
So, even if he had given us a verbal yesterday, I think it would have been a looooooong way to signing day and I think he would have rated pretty high on the "flip potential" scale, as time went by.
On another note - for any talk of him and a 10.8 100 meters, his recruiting info lists a "verified" 4.77 40 time. Not exactly world class for a WR.
NONE of this is meant as "sour grapes" in any way, shape or means. Just a bit of a reality check on a guy whose only real connection with WSU was an asst coach who had recruited him to Toledo in the first place....
I honestly wish him the best career possible, no matter where he ends up.
Our New WR Coach was at Toledo last year. I assume that's how this kid was on the Coug radar.
Long Way To Go Till Letters of Intent Day
Long Way To Go Till Letters of Intent Day
I heard this about our WR corps last year, it turned out to be the weak link on the team
He had the 10th fastest 100-meter time in New York state, according to official track stats. I didn't pull that out of my arse. His 200 time is 22-something, not exactly Rodrick Fisher (21.2), but still decent speed. My guess is that he might not be as fast out of the blocks as others (Usain Bolt rarely leads in the first 40 meters), but that's often the case with taller sprinters.
As far as where he ends up, our staff is taking a nothing ventured, nothing gained approach. We'll get some and lose some.
Exactly.
My intent was not to make a "WDWHA" type post. It was merely to point out a few realities in his recruitment.
I'm all for the coaches going wherever they can to find players who can help WSU's football team win. I was just trying to say there were some factors that made this kinda questionable in the long run. Sometimes that works out fine. Other times not.
I honestly wish him the best.
In a related point, I think the fringe Power 5 guys like this make the worst candidates to bring across the country. I believe there are some ways the staff can go out and get some very solid players from other areas of the country ... e.g., Florida kids who get passed over by Florida, FSU, and Miami, but still are legit Pac-12 players, kids in a similar situation in Texas, or, for that matter, kids in New York like this, assuming they're legitimate. I think there are inefficiencies out there that can be exploited where we bring in some good players who, if in California, probably would spurn WSU for ASU or Oregon.
If they are fringe Power 5 prospects who probably would fit best in the Sun Belt, CUSA, or MAC, though, it's more likely that they don't get PT for WSU, and at minimum, they're very likely to need to redshirt. Being 3,000 miles away from home is a lot harder if your realistic path to playing time, if at all, is three years after you get on campus when you're a junior, and in the meantime, you're missing your family and friends and just getting beat up on the scout team. I'm not saying guys shouldn't be able to do it, and most do, at least for a couple years. Just saying it's that much harder if you're from across the country and were sold the dream of playing in the Pac-12, when it becomes apparent you might not get to play at all.
Seems anecdotally that a decent amount of these guys wind up transferring or just not working out, and then you've wasted a scholie and other resources on a kid for three years or so with little to show for it other than having had a guy on the scout team. Again, I'm talking about the kids who are stretches for the Pac-12, not all recruits from other areas.
Not doubting your track stats in the least.
But there's a reason most football players are looked at as far as the 40 instead of the 100 meters or 200 meters.
And a "verified" 4.77 is not a sterling 40 time for a top WR. That's ALL I was trying to get across.
40 times may be officially taken once and if the player isn't on top of it...he'll post a sub time. I wouldn't read too much into a single 40 time. I remeber a few of our receivers having those times only to post a mid 4.5 time when in season.
I guess I'm belaboring this a bit......but it's also possible that the 4.77 was the BEST of any 40 times he posted, huh?
All "measurables" have to be taken with a grain of salt. How many times have we seen a player listed at 6'4" (or whatever) turn out to be well below that in person? Track times can be accurate if electronically measured. But, as you say, can vary from day to day, depending on a number of factors.
Believe me....I wasn't trying to run this kid down and imply WDWHA.
My initial point was that I thought he would be one of the types of "commits" who could have been a higher risk for flipping later. I had read some of the recruiting material on him and he was quoted a number of times, mentioning things like distance and family, along with early playing time. Even the "Scout recruiting guy" for his area mentioned that he was hearing "distance would be a factor". It's just my opinion that these factors all worked against us in his recruitment and could have factored into a later "flip".
I only tossed in the part about the 40 time and his relative lack of solid connection to anything WSU (except for Sage) as other factors to consider.
People seemed to take each of these points individually as flawed or incorrect. So be it. They were just opinions based on what I had read, and I think they were well founded, especially looking at the entirety of all the factors. If others disagree....that's part of what message boards are all about. It wouldn't be the first time I was told that I was full of bleep...LOL
Obviously Coach Sage liked him well enough to recruit him to Toledo in the first place. And liked him well enough to convince WSU's staff to continue to recruit him, now that Sage is at WSU. That part is good enough for me. The staff REALLY knows what they are doing.
I still think he would have been at risk for flipping later, had he committed to WSU . But that's a moot point now.
Next man up!
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