Home Recruiting Willie “The Buddha” Taggart Killing it in Recruiting

Willie “The Buddha” Taggart Killing it in Recruiting

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He picked up another 4-star DB today, winning “big boy battles” with this kid choosing Oregon over USC and Oklahoma.

Check out his April: https://oregon.rivals.com/commitments/football/2018

I guess his slimy personality isn’t holding him back; 18 year olds aren’t wise enough to realize a genuine person vs the flash and slime of a salesman. Meanwhile, check out GA’s class. Pretty bad trend that Willie is killing him that badly on the recruiting trail.

https://oregonstate.rivals.com/commitments/football/2018

262 COMMENTS

  1. Hard to put a positive spin on it. Just gotta hope he sabotages his own efforts by getting a few more DUII’s on his staff and a sloppy start to their season.

    One thing about these early commitments, is they often don’t stick around through February. But, so far he’s had a positive impact for them class wise.

    • It’s surprising in a way because his personality is so transparently, offensively slimy, yet when you realize how naive, superficial, and impressionable the players are, I guess it makes sense. I thought the slime would turn off more players.

      • You will never convince people that he is who he is. He could cheat on all his wives, welch on all his bills six times as a matter of business (and say so out loud as a matter of braggodocio), because filing for bankruptcy is a legal way to cheat the people who did all the work for your build, get legally found to be racist… twice, grab women’s pussies and brag about your sexual assault (something even Ducks don’t do), lie to everyone… and violate the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Commandments (some on a daily basis)… and still be thought of as a decent person.

        You just can’t talk the dumb out of people who want to believe that dumb trumps truth.

        Just accept it as the funny that it is. They can gather together all these boys, and many teams will beat them because their chosen leader is a joke. Everyone else in the world can see it. But they’re a bunch of dumb sycophants who will say that anything that resembles reality is an opinion which they can dismiss out of hand.

        This is the world in which we live.

          • Obsessed with what?

            Slick Willie could shit on anything resembling morality, explicitly in his own words, over and over… and you still will not convince his supporters that the actual words coming out of his mouth are what they are.

            Who’s the obsessed here?

          • Are you upset because of the bar that has been set?

            I didn’t set it. I have no power to reset it.

            So I choose to laugh my ass off at those who accept it then whine incessantly about someone who comes nowhere near it.

            Y’all are just pissing into the wind.

          • Maybe you think Willie (Will?) is duplicitous because when he sloughs off training to some clearly unqualified person, and three players end up in the hospital, he makes the story all about how the media is evil?

            So? Is that bad now?

    • Bingo. It’s like Barbie’s dressing room in all those photos the kids post online, and they love it because it’s a unique experience.

      • But under Mark they seemed to love it less, so they’re actually falling for the snake oil guy more. Sad how people are. Is this hard wired? I’d love to hear people who study this chime in. How do we bring awareness of this to people so they can understand they’re being duped while in the act, rather than when it’s too late? It’s more an indictment of people, in general.

  2. It helps that almost all of the coverage from the Oregonian these days is Oregon centered. They’ve got the media peppered with their guys and their guys aren’t afraid to put a positive spin on all things Oregon.

    Then look at this guy, a former 247 writer who started his own duck centered recruiting site. Shouldn’t be allowed access to recruiting info from coaches considering he isnt a member of the media, yet has connections to the entire coaching staff. And he’s encouraging fans to engage with recruits at the spring game, to influence their decision. It’s blatant, shady and against the rules, but nobody will police it so it will continue.

    https://twitter.com/JHopkinsSD/status/858360248918134785

  3. I thought this defensive staff would do well recruiting. The defense was horrible and thats where most of the players are sonthat makes sense. Then a duck fan ol growing up as nicebeav pointed out in the last thread. Thrn 2 rbs which they always have gotten talent and why not when they’ve had a good history of running the ball?

  4. Early commits don’t mean shit. Ducks do this every year after spring game and again after Nike opening camp. 1/2 these kids will flip back to SEC schools by signing day.

  5. “It’s blatant, shady and against the rules, but nobody will police it so it will continue…And even then, they wouldnt punish Oregon.”

    Exactly! I saw this coming when they brought in a relatively unknown coach from the Southeast along with some “great recruiters” also from the Southeast, namely Cristobol and anyone else from behind the SEC veil. Chip got caught because he didn’t have the insder’s knowledge of how to play the recruiting game like the SEC guys do as a lifestyle. Now NikeU will push the envelope with corporate tie-ins, camps, merch, promises of future contacts, as well as a myopic fanbase that doesn’t care. NCAA won’t touch NikeU because of Nike. ESPN, Disney, and ABC are happy with slicksters installed in the coaches office. WT is a snake oil salesman surrounded by a bunch of insiders.

    I want to trust that they will make mistakes and it will be self-evident that cheating is only beginnig.

    GO Beavs!

    • *yawn*

      So what if all his assistants are junked up the corporate way? You’ll never convince his supporters that he’s corrupt.

      Why try?

  6. Let’s keep a running tally of Duck violations. If you see something on Twitter or know inside info send it to me. I’ll send it all to the NCAA (though, for now I can’t find an email address for violations).

  7. Still to early to tell because recruits in the Helfrich era looked good but ended up being guys who only wanted to look good.

    It’s a long ways away from results on the field. My thoughts were that if would have been better for OSU for Helfrich to stay since they were on a downward trajectory. With Taggart, it’s an opportunity to right the ship.

    Taggart also hired Michael Johnson who’s son is the highest rated dual threat QB in 2019.

  8. Willie’s fortune cookie verse goes over with many who are not 18-19. Fans who think they are entitled to 9+ win seasons and armchair bloggers like this guy “fishduck”. He has a piece up by a HS coach in Kentucky who played against Willie when in college. Worth a read in a “know your enemy” sort of way. From the comments there, uck fans are lapping it up!

    It has been apparent from his hiring that Willie’s strong (?) suit is recruiting and the staff he hired are almost all billed as excellent recruiters as well. With the glitz of the toilet seat program (only slightly faded), it shouldn’t be very surprising that he has made a splash so far.

    We’ve lived through a coach who could not make decent in game decisions on a consistent basis, maybe Willie will be the same. At any rate, I don’t think his downfall will be more staff duii’s or the hospitalization of players.
    Exception would be if Leavitt blows his stack again. Maybe a 40% chance?

    Overall management of a large organization, along with poor in game decisions are more likely to be his downfall. Additionally, he has two ex head coaches on staff; how long will they stay in Eugene and how will the staff respond if the early W/L record is seen as weak even against the low expectations Willie is trying to keep on the table.

    http://fishduck.com/2017/04/the-willie-taggart-oregon-fans-dont-know/

    • That sounds like the guy is saying he wants to play the kind of football Andersen has since he’s been here. Although not great at d there were deficiencies on d and a lackluster offense. I truly believe that under coach A we will see tough hard nosed d. The offense has been in question and rightfully so. I hope coach A is just trying to improve the passing game and create balance rather than going to an air raid kind of attack.

      However my friend a wsu alum brought up a point to me about how its an easier system for smaller less funded schools to recruit and compete with bigger schools which is food for thought.

  9. Unfortunately, the quacks are still a national “brand.” The MBB Final Four run helped reinforce that.
    I see the yellow toilet seat all over in the Twin Cities. Kids like the flash. Slick Willie will be able to recruit. We had better hope he sucks at coaching. GA needs to step it up this year on the recruiting trail.

    • Wondering if all the flashy recruits won’t stumble over each other trying to be super stars. And what if they’ve all be promised they would “play right away.”

      Great to read about Myles Garrett – doesn’t do social media, stayed home with friends and family on draft day – studious, not just in school but in his personal life..

    • I’m not ready to connect the dots as you have, A@a. After all, it was the weekend of the toilet seat spring game and several recruits were announced. EDIT: to amplify that thought, this from the Big O: “Prior to this weekend’s spring game, the Oregon Ducks recruiting class had just one commitment, sat outside the top 70 nationally and was singled out by Rivals as one of the three coldest Pac-12 teams on the recruiting trail.
      That all changed in a span of less than 24 hours from Saturday afternoon to Sunday, as Oregon landed six commitments, including five four-star prospects.”

      That said, Jake is, in the words of “few small warts” Casey, “not even the same guy as … last year”
      While any pitcher can have off days, I find it hard to believe that if Rasmussen were ready to step into a starting roll today that he’d take Jake’s place, much more likely it would be Fehmel who’d step aside.

      BTW, certainly nice to see Max E. come in and face 2, notching 2 K’s !

    • At this rate their class will be full by the end of the week…lol

      Wonder how many of these guys are still around by signing day?

    • I posted this on the USC thread, so sorry for the repeat….but:
      Bryce Fehmel seems to be going through the Sophomore pitching slump in conference (Jorge Reyes, Andrew Moore). Conference teams have caught-up to him, hopefully he rights the ship in the postseason, and surprises some unsuspecting teams.
      Casey/Yeskie may need to look to Rasmussen for that Saturday pitcher….but is it too early yet to start him….? Be nice to see Rasmussen get the nod either way….against the Schmucks.

      • Caught up to him? Fehmel throws in the low/mid 80s. Looks like he’s lost his location touch. Leaving the ball up a little more. Wouldn’t demote him quite yet.

        Drew is not in any position to take over a starting role. Tweedt wouldn’t exactly be a savior either.

        With the team in a comfortable situation, letting Fehmel work things out is fine. But yes, when the postseason comes around, he may get the hook.

        What I could see happening is that Fehmel is skipped in the Oregon series, pitches the weekday game and gets another start in the final series of the year. A little more time off between starts might help.

  10. I’m not worried about Willie…yet. It seems whenever these big programs bring in a young/black coach it’s seen as a new “cool” hire around the country. Look at Charlie Strong at Texas or Randy Shannon at Miami for examples. Then what follows for a year or two is a huge spike in recruiting as the staff preaches a new player-friendly culture and the ability to return the program back to glory. High school kids eat up those narratives maybe more than any others. So yeah, he’ll get the players. We knew that coming in. But soon he’ll have to coach them and then he’ll have to draw up the right plays for them on game days. Until he shows me he can do the last 2 things, I like our chances with GA

  11. No denying Taggart has started out strong. We’ll see how many of these kids end up with the Ducks by LOI day though.

  12. Fantastic news! Next year will be a down year but won’t be for long we have some amazing talent coming in over the next few years.

  13. I believe there were recent reports that Willie had offered around 120 starry eyed kids, any chance his reputation as a recruiter takes a hit when he has to backpedal on many of them? Does he spin it to add to the lure of the ucks?

  14. Kids from NE go to NE if offered, no surprise. Little WRs from CA, undersized OL recruits, not really any different. Just a blue blood bump for some of those guys because they are going to NE.
    Question is can MR lose less than 4 games with any of his recruits?

    • leads from them just dried up. It was a decent idea when begun, but it’s a dinosaur now. Home Advisor is also slipping, and was never a good model anyway. I never liked them, so I never used them.

      Yelp is where it’s at for the moment. It’s just straight up democracy for all to see. Not surprisingly, the people I have a hard time talking to don’t like the site and just trash talk it. But they do so about the others as well.

      • My experience with Yelp has been much, much less than satisfactory. In fact, I think I’d really say that it’s much worse than that.

        I guess you should add me to the “… people (you) have a hard time talking to …”

        • Yelp is fine if you know how to read it. You can tell which are fake and which are done by people who do it consistently and honestly. Some reviewers are excellent resources. I read Yelp like I read Amazon reviews.

          Word of mouth has always been the best way to find quality leads. I just see Yelp as a way of democratizing it. Choose your target audience. And remember the customer isn’t always right, but they have your future money in their pockets.

          • I can’t tell you how much I disagree with your assessment, Jack. Yelp can ruin a business with unfounded, false reviews. There is no way to counter them, either.

          • Adapt or die. The supply side world is collapsing. So businesses can’t cry caveat emptor any more.

            Boo fucking hoo.

            Flag fake or obscene reviews. Don’t piss people off. Write some honest reviews of your own about other businesses so you have some positive cache when you counter with what you think is a fair. But whatever you do, don’t whine and cry about it like you’re entitled to some special safe space on the interwebs.

          • You are talking in generalities, here. No one is whining or crying, but some are being bullies.

            Can’t even have a conversation anymore without the lefties and bullies attacking.

  15. A few things about Slocum,

    – Good on court addition. 3 years of eligibility. Different type of player than Rueck has recruited. Looks her primary game is scoring. Scored 23 on Uconn last year.
    – Game resembles Jordin Canada from UCLA.
    – She’ll really have to pick up the defensive mindset that Rueck preaches. Maybe spend most of her transfer year improving her defensive game.
    – Off court questions abound. The Oregonian article said that Rueck told he didn’t want a player who would cause issues. What did that mean?

    • Just guessing about the meaning of Rueck’s remark about not bringing in a player who would cause issues. Destiny, like Syd (and even Rueck) is pretty open about her personal spiritual beliefs; I’m wondering if maybe she didn’t feel completely accepted at Maryland because of that. Was he reassuring her that that wouldn’t happen at OSU?

      Whatever the remark meant, it did cause her to say she, “quickly felt a bond during two initial phone conversations…”. So it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Destiny causing “issues”.

      http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2017/05/destiny_slocums_transfer_bolst.html#incart_river_index

    • I took it to mean that Rueck was being up front with Slocum that he would not recruit and welcome in any player that does not mesh well with the current group. He has recruited high character ladies that get along well and Rueck has no desire to mess this up with the wrong type of player. I think it had zero to do with Slocum being a bad influence or anything like that.

  16. Through 4 full, it’s 3-0 good guys.
    Mighty Kwan, for the third out in the b4, had his bunt very well handled by Susnara to prevent a basehit.

    ADD: through 5 innings Britton has given up only 1 hit.

  17. Nice confidence enhancing stat line for both Britton and Eisert.

    Parker said both Mulholland and Engelbrekt were up at times, didn’t sound like enough to affect their availability for this weekend, still a little surprising.

    Both Harrison and Rutschman with two hits, nice to see.

    • Would have thought more guys would get some work in but those two pitched well enough where no one esle was needed. I assume the guys who didn’t work will throw bullpens today to stay sharp.

  18. Eggers up with a nice piece on Rutschman, includes this:

    “He catches just about every game,” Jenkins says. “For a freshman, that’s a real toll. Anybody who catches every day will tell you they feel it in their legs. We need to be attentive to that down the stretch.”

    And yet, he was left in for the entire game tonight. Casey’s warts??

    BTW: he is on a Football scholly

    http://www.pamplinmedia.com/pt/12-sports/357017-236364-as-a-rookie-rutschman-catches-a-break

    • He’s on a football scholarship? I guess that’s how it has to go.

      I know the rules say that if a player is on scholarship for any sport and plays football, the scholarship has to be a football one. Hurts the football team since they have to use it on a guy who only kicks off but helps the baseball team because they can give more dollars to another player.

      • It certainly does help the baseball team, as you say. However, I don’t see it hurting the FB team unless they have a walk-on who could handle kicking duties as well as Adley.
        Per the article, in addition to kick offs, Adley “will be in competition to handle all the place-kicking chores this fall. “

        Oh, and this, he doesn’t mind getting physical on ko’s. Per Jake Cookus, “”Adley tackled (Stanford’s) Christian McCaffrey on a kickoff return,” … “As McCaffrey got up, he told Adley, ‘You mean to tell me I got tackled by the kicker?'”

  19. When I heard Lockette was a great recruiter I was thinking he’d be along the lines of what The Buddha is doing.

    Don’t deduct I’m saying I have a problem with the Beav’s recruiting. It’s a step up from Riley & co and trending in the right direction, but Lockette has turned out to be average even with his “Florida connections”. The Buddha puts this into light even more so.

    • Apple’s to oranges. You can’t compare the two evenly. Willie has the Oregon brand behind him and all the resources in the world at his finger tips to throw at these recurits. Willie himself said he is winning battles now he could never win at his prior coaching job.

      • Yes, I understand that narrative and have heard it many times. But I watched baseball, wbb, and even men’s basketball sign top classes without the Oregon brand. So, I don’t buy it. There is a little truth that it’s maybe easier at Oregon. Maybe Lockette will be great in a few years when the Beavs start winning games. I’d say that’s a better argument — that Oregon has been a great program more recently than us so that success is fresh in the recruits’ minds.

        • Can you compare the head guy with an assistant? GA seems to be a straight shooter and not a hype guy. A good recruiter as an assistant can bring the recruits to the table but ultimately it is GA that needs to close the deal. The fortune cookie is obviously good at closing.

          • I think the talent that he’s brought in is good. Pierce is obviously good and it sounds like kee whetzel and irvine are looking pretty good. I can see turnier developing into a pretty good player. I think allen will be a big time playmaker hes one of tge guys im excited about. Thomas didn’t qualify and both davis and miller have flipped. I think when the wins come you’ll see more success.

        • Angry, I think the argument still holds merit, because Nike/Oregon really dump their resources into football rather than baseball or basketball. Sure, those programs have their share of flashiness, but football is where they really push the money/upgrades (like that gaudy football only center they built a couple of years back with rare hardwoods and mazerati leather)

          Baseball and basketball programs are much more comparable to other achools across the nation in this arena, if that makes sense.

  20. I think there is a philosophical problem with having a staff full of good recruiters. Obviously there is nothing that says a coach that is good at recruiting can’t be a good X and O guy. But, I do think that combo is not the typical. From my experience tacticians aren’t extremely comfortable with people. You need both people that can spread the vision and people that can implement the vision.

    Tedford at Cal and Romar from UW come to mind as examples of recruiting over implementation.

    • Strikes me that philosophical problem is worth some thought. Willie is a salesman, a “Mr Outside” in the business world. They all need a “Mr. Inside” if the business is gonna survive.

      How many problems and setbacks, failures to deliver what the buyer thought he was getting when the deal went down, can a fortune cookie verse smooth over?

      W/L record, off field incidents, backing off of implied promises of playing time………the list of pitfalls goes on. I think we’ll find out soon enough. Seems to me Willie has already used up the slack given a new guy with: the strength coach fiasco, duii, tiff with the writer.

      Leavitt is a whole other story; I could easily imagine him leaving for a HC spot or blowing his stack as he has been accused of before.

  21. Former Taggart recruits are finding themselves in legal trouble at USF this year.

    Today, LaDarrius Jackson, for an alleged kidnapping and sexual assault incident.
    (Jackson was a Juco recruit under Taggart)
    In March, Hassan Childs was shot in a road rage incident after pulling a gun on somebody.
    (Childs was a 2013 Taggart recruit)

    Charlie Strong is the one catching the heat for these guys, but that doesn’t seem justified considering they aren’t “his guys”

    Ducks should be back to their old form soon enough.

    http://deadspin.com/usf-football-player-ladarrius-jackson-arrested-on-sexua-1794860069

    • Yeah, I have no faith in Taggart running a program. The slimy salesman thing will work against him in the locker room. If he gets a ton of 4+ star guys it might not matter, though, and they’ll still win (ala USC every year). To me this is interesting to watch because it’s a question of whether his recruiting can overcome the slime ball personality. My hunch is no, but I’m nervous seeing the class he’s assembling.

      • Yeah Andersen seems to be very efficient at running a program and intalling a culture willie seems the opposite.

        • I don’t know if this means I’m old or whatnot, but I can’t see wanting to play for Taggart/Oregon over Andersen/OSU. Personally I’d never sacrifice my body or future for a slime ball coach.

          Is it like wanting to work at Google instead of Dell, because that I can understand. i.e. the new/flashy vs the boring second tier company.

      • Does anyone know where all of these poly players are from? Did a bunch of kids just visit from American Samoa or something?

  22. Plus you get to live in Corvegas where ANYTHING GOES!!! LOL
    And the teachers? Well? Let’s say we used to just call them ‘passers* because you can’t do no wrong and no matter what you pass! They grade on that *athletes curve* LOAL :-/

      • The people of New Jersey are smart enough not to let Trump do business in their state any more. Can’t blame him.

        I don’t see any in-depth reporting here. But if the paper itself is saying there’s human trafficking, then there’s a ton more to this story than this rag scribble.

        On the flip side, it sounds like Aquino is squared away.

        • None of his rhetoric is new, anybody remember our first black president? https:// youtu.be/eYwKSanUm8U
          Everybody’s favorite rapist strikes again.

          • People don’t realize how GOP Clinton was. He was a more successful version of Reagan, probably because he didn’t raise taxes on the bottom four quintiles as much as Reagan did. But he also didn’t need to since GHW Bush was pragmatic.

            But still… that tape doesn’t say what you want it to say. He did slip verbiage in there that blamed corporate hiring practices for illegal immigration. IIRC, he also had enforcement help Kansas crack down on employers in meat packing. When that happened, they just closed shop and moved their operations to friendlier violating states like Oklahoma and Nebraska. Then the industry paid someone’s campaign to stop enforcing those laws, and those pesky regulations that keep the job creators from job creating and shit went away… in a de facto sense.

            Obama was the same amongst Dems. Overcompensate by deporting more than any other POTUS. Look the other way for the large industries who make billions on the backs of underpaid immigrant labor who take jobs Americans can do.

          • idiot boy’s presidency was literally in bed with some of his campaign contributors. They just didn’t have enough time or personnel to slip everyone the old Georgie Porgie.

    • I like that Puerto Rico has become its own country.

      Now we can just invade them in order to make them pay back the big banks.

      • “Obama was the same amongst Dems. Overcompensate by deporting more than any other POTUS.” Jack-O, nice little lie. Crime rate goes down when certain crimes are no longer included, caught at border and returned now a deportation – never before included in deportation numbers. Like all other leftist you are intellectually dishonest.

        Did you ever discuss the dims little enforcement army (KKK)? For such a smart guy (in your mind) idiot boy is kicking your ass for accomplishments.

        • I’ll give it to you on a numbers basis.
          http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/331867-republicans-can-exempt-themselves-from-obamacare-rollbacks-in-new-legislation

          What I won’t do is concede that Obama did use law enforcement with vigor in some sectors that made it appear he was overcompensating to pander to the lizard brains. And I would also like to point out that I don’t stay connected to the tabloids of tit and tat beyond looking at the numbers. So thank you for the clarification, even if you did only do it in the form of groupthink.

          Um… crime rate? Why are we talking crime rate? I was talking enforcement rate. It’s not a distinction without a difference.

          Yes, I did discuss the KKK. I was taught by my parents that when I ask a question, I listen to the answer.

          Your parents must have sucked at parenting.

          idiot boy accomplished nothing his father and his cronies didn’t want him to accomplish. You would probably wish his misfortune upon me. I imagine the weight of his conscience about what he did comes to him in waves of guilt and depression. People are still dying because of him just being a willing idiot.

          • I would also like to point out that the selective enforcement of immigration laws to shift most of our resources to the individual level is about as efficient as the war on drugs. It’s wholly cherry picked in order to protect campaign financing.

            If you’re hunting a problem, do you chase an individual, or do you go to a honey pot?

            Corporations who employ undocumented workers can be fined for their unlawful ways. This would lessen demand for undocumented workers, thus lessening the migration of that class.

            But that would be regulation. And we don’t like regulations.

            And it would remove a lot of the money the for-profit prison industry was promised by their lackeys in Congress.

          • Refresh our memories on KKK being the enforcement arm of the democrat party in USA. Touch on democrats being the party of segregation. Still waiting for you twisted take on Johnny Fucking
            Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs fiasco. How about Planned Parenthood being dedicated to the killing of black children. Speak of the founder’s racial beliefs. Misogyny and Kennedy’s. Spin baby spin. Fuckin Kennedy and Johnson and all the little group think democrats like you nearly got me killed. Assholes.

          • So not only were you parented badly. You’re lazy as well.

            It’s all here, lazy dum dum.

            Tell me about inoculations. That’s not yet out in the open.

            I wonder why. Nobody ever asks why. I bet if we asked why, Andrew Jackson would be able to tell us.

          • lazy, dum dum, idiot boy! That all you got? I want a rant!! A real crazy eyed, slobbering, ridiculously funny rant! Followed by some funky music. See slick, I control the conversation, not you. You get played like a drum every time you spout off about anything except college football.

          • Hold on. We’re not at the conclusion part of the debate yet.

            You still have to tell me all about inoculations. You brought them up in one of these ^^^^ funny little spooges.

            I want to know which kind of crazy I’m dealing with here. There are a couple different reasons for someone to bring up inoculations in the middle of a “you think you’re so smart, you don’t know nuthin” spooge.

  23. Baseball America out with new draft rankings.

    Heimlich now tops the OSU prospects at #31.
    Harrison at 56.
    Thompson at 85
    Rasmussen at 115.

    Commit – Kevin Abel at 193. Getting him to enroll would be a huge win since it’s the rotation will be almost all brand new next year.

    • Huskies had Rutgers, Idaho, Portland State last year. Still got into the CFB playoffs with a weaker non con.

      Their non con is also weak this year with Rutgers, Montana and Fresno St.

      No bonus points for scheduling tougher games.

      • Yup….I got sick of the losing on the road to the likes of Cincinnati, Louisville, LSU, Penn State so that we could say we have a respectable schedule — body bag games with nice paycheck, maybe. Fuck that, the SEC has proven that you don’t need to play anybody in the non-con sched — just win baby.
        I’ll take a Colorado State, and Minnesota every year.

        • And year to year, Minnesota and CSU are respectable opponents. Not like you can predict 4 years out if either will have a down year.

          Portland State has beaten WSU recently, so they have that potential to upset. Maybe not like an EWU, but they can still field decent teams at PSU.

          • “Minnesota will be one of the bottom three teams in the Big Ten.”
            The writer obviously knows shit. Should be solidly in the middle and perhaps better if Fleck can find a QB to replace the legendary Mitch Leidner. I can’t wait to see an actual spiral.
            The funny thing is Minnesota gets downgraded in these same stupid ratings for playing Oregon State.
            The press is anti Rodent.

    • They aren’t taking into account the relative expected strength of each team. Unless the writer expects OSU to be good next year.

    • I think we’re in the conversation, mostly because of Tyler being his teammate, but nothing I’ve seen makes me think we will land him.
      Too bad, he has a good offer sheet and is one of the fastest(if not the fastest) guys in Texas.

  24. Yeskie was quoted earlier as saying he needs to be careful not to overwork Adley as the season wears on, here is the story on why he didn’t sit out the game vs the ucks:

    GT says” he lobbied to be in the lineup for Tuesday’s nonleague matchup with Oregon, and quotes him as saying, “The fact that we’re playing Oregon, it’s a big game,” Rutschman said. “I always want to be out there and help the team as best I can. (Coach Pat Casey) allowed me to do that and it was just a good experience, great atmosphere and fun game to play in.”

    http://www.gazettetimes.com/sports/beavers-sports/baseball/osu-baseball-notebook-rutschman-wasn-t-going-to-miss-civil/article_176921f4-5b89-53c7-a261-8e7382706fa3.html#tncms-source=article-nav-next

      • He either doesn’t like school, his team or his coach. I don’t see how he makes an NBA roster next season, but it’s his choice.

        • He’s talking to NBA front offices, and he’s 20.

          I would have had fun talking to all these different people directly. Since he’s in flier territory, he could get an offer for a sign and stash with a guarantee of future schooling. That would be my bottom line if I were to balance the short term gains of development and exposure within the professional setting and the fun of just being a kid for another year or two, while solidifying the long term.

          He has until May 24. If he doesn’t comport himself in a professional manner with these front offices, then why would they take him seriously next year, let alone this year? They will have a ton of advice to give him going into the summer workout months. And he has exponentially developed each year thus far. If he gathers all the knowledge of this process and that advice and throws it at his game, he comes back next year as a 20/10 forward with a lot of intangibles.

          So next year he has all these relationships with front offices, and he gets to show that, yes, he was serious. If I’m a GM, I’m looking at that discipline combined with freak physical tools, and I’m moving him up my chart because of his upside… from a 20/10 guy.

          If you play with the numbers, you won’t see any like or dislike for anything or anyone except make the fun of being connected to a business you watch constantly on TV, for however long that may last.

          • I think that makes sense from a numbers perspective but I don’t know how that would fly from a team perspective. As it is, his teammates may consider his actions as an affront to what they are working for; that he isn’t “all in” and would rather be somewhere else. If all the guys are looking at it as a business then maybe they get it. I’m not sure how prevalent this kind of “testing the waters” is. Perhaps it’s common enough that no offense will be taken. I could be convinced either way.

    • Plenty of guys have ended up playing on contracts in Europe. I could think of worse things than getting a paycheck to play ball in Italy in my 20’s. Isn’t that what Roberto Nelson is doing these days?
      Either way he decides to go, i wasnt expecting osu basketball to do much next year regardless. Still no answer at point guard. I’d be happy to see Drew go if his spot could be filled with a capable game manager who plays defense.

      • If Drew wants to be a better basketball player, he should turn pro. If he wants to make it to the NBA, he should stay. Turning pro now basically means a career in the d league or overseas. Guys don’t come back from overseas to play in the NBA.

        His best shot at the NBA is to stay and lead the team to the NCAAs. That should get him an outside shot at the 2nd round his senior year.

      • I can’t think of anything better than being 20-something, living in and playing basketball somewhere in Europe. I think Eubanks is really unhappy playing for Tinkle and the Beavs. Has he ever mentioned transferring?

        • You only get to be a college kid once. Being a BMOC would be pretty sweet.
          You have the rest of your life to work. Why rush the process?

          • I think Tinkle is wanting Eubanks to be a typical, back to the basket, post player. Eubanks knows that he need to add a mid-range shot to his game (at a minimum) to give himself the best opportunity to get to the pro’s. Tinkle’s unwillingness to develop Eubanks’ range may be at the root. I have read that Eubanks has been working on his outside shot and 3 pt shot with personal coaches which may lend some credence to this. Completely speculative at this point though.

          • Yeah… let’s go through that scenario.

            Tinks: Drew, I don’t want you to be able to score when you find yourself open in the mid-range.

            Drew: Coach, your unwillingness to develop my range makes me hate you, this school and the college experience in general. Can we run now?

          • Jack, do you just enjoy being an asshole?

            Maybe Tinkle wants a true low post scorer to open up the perimeter for his guards. Considering we don’t have another inside presence that he can plan along side this might make some sense. I’m sure all knowing Jack will have a different take.

          • Yes.

            The guy who made up some cockamamie conspiracy theory (because someone has to be blamed for this… because there’s somehow something bad going on?) that defies the words said by any sources, publicly and privately, is calling the person who didn’t just make up shit about everyone, that doesn’t make sense if bent in any direction, an asshole… and assuming motive while he’s at it.

            That’s gotta be worth at least 10 points.

    • You only get to declare once then come back to school… might as well take all of the allowed time no matter what his decision is.

  25. Cal preview –

    Decent hitting team but pitching struggles have hurt their season. Second highest walks allowed and lowest srikeouts in the pac 12. 5-15 on the road. Only 2 road wins in conference play yet have a winning conference record.

    Fehmel is a question mark to start on Sat but I think if the Beavs win Friday, then Fehmel gets the start. If they lose, Tweedt gets the start.

    Expecting 2 out of 3. Though on paper it looks like a sweep.

    Insanely low chance – But there is a shot at clinching the PAC12 outright this weekend. Beavs need to sweep. Stanford needs to get swept, UCLA needs to lose 2 and UW needs to lose two.

    • And, this reminder from Danny’s preview piece in the big O this morning:

      Last year, Cal swept Oregon State in Berkeley. During the first game of the series, starter Drew Rasmussen left the mound early with arm discomfort. He later learned he had a fully torn ulnar collateral ligament and underwent Tommy John surgery. Rasmussen returned last Friday against USC in a relief appearance, 13 months after the surgery.

  26. Curious why is the baseball is playing Abeline Christian four times at the end of the season, Thursday – Sunday?

  27. There’s an odd number of teams since Colorado doesn’t have a baseball team. That happens to be our week without a conf opponent. Hopefully, we’ll have the #1 seed already wrapped up by then.

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