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Owa Situation

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I’m not sure what to think of this.

On the 15th he comes back from the Army Navy game and writes off Oregon State, saying, “I just didn’t feel like I could see myself there.” Then, on the 18th, there’s a report saying Oregon State is back in the mix and Owa is searching for a reason to write off one of the 4 schools he’s still considering. To compound issues, Mike Riley has been rumored to have an in-home visit for about 3 weeks now but never seems to take the in-home. Oregon, ruled out about a month ago, is now rumored to be the favorite.

So what happens?

I still stick with my contention that having two Oregon schools in the top 4 means he wants to stay local. And you heard straight from the man’s mouth that he can’t see himself at OSU, which leaves Oregon standing.

I have to say…this is a really strange recruitment. The way Oregon shot into the picture, and Owa being pulled in every direction, well, it screams foul play to these eyes. You can bet there is some shady recruiting going on behind the scenes. The kid doesn’t seem able to see through it, though.

34 COMMENTS

  1. be nice to see that kid in corvallis tho wouldn’t it? Awesome to watch him dominate on our d line. Whats the story with Heimuli?

  2. be nice to see that kid in corvallis tho wouldn’t it? Awesome to watch him dominate on our d line. Whats the story with Heimuli?

  3. Obviously it’s a pipe dream but how cool would it be to have Owa and Gio end up playing for the Beavers?

    Any word on Christian Thomas? Didn’t he visit last weekend?

    And who is John Cullen (JC OT out of California)? He’s listed on Scout as medium interest but no offer from OSU. What gives?

    It’s going to be an interesting two weeks…

    • Thomas is taking two more visits and is going to decide on signing day. It’d be cool to get him since he was one of the Army All Americans, but TE isn’t really a position of need and I like the looks of TE Tyler Perry.

      John Cullen is an JC OT and OSU already has enough guys at that position and at the O-line in general, which is probably a reason why OSU never offered

    • Thomas would likely switch to DE, but even if he remained at TE, it would be nice having Katz throwing to him and Perry down the middle.

      • “Palmdale (Calif.) Highland tight end Christian Thomas took his second official visit, this one to Oregon State, and he’s got two more on the docket. “It was wonderful up there… Oregon State is definitely a place I could see myself at the next 4-5 years,” said the 4-star prospect rated No. 8 nationally at his position.”

        I don’t know if it’s standard for recruits to say stuff like this even if they don’t really mean it but that sounds like a pretty good sign.

        Btw, I can’t read the whole article so maybe the full version has him elaborate a little more.

        http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=2&c=939370&ssf=1&RequestedURL=http://recruiting.scout.com/2/939370.html

      • That’s the gist of it. He goes on and raves about the Chef/food. It sounds like he really enjoyed it…he seems like a bright kid with a good personality. I’d like to get this guy and think there’s a realistic shot. Think of the UCLA commit Sermons a few years back…probably the same type of situation.

      • I’m still convinced OSU is going into the DE building business. Tom Osborne recruited ‘speed and frame’ guys and did the same thing. He also recruited the best RB’s, and whomever didn’t make the depth chart made the chart as a LB.

        Remember that we run two tight end sets a lot. The H-back is the glory position, but the in-line TE gets action as well.

        If a great athlete were truly looking to make the biggest paycheck on the next level, they might look at the pay difference from DE to TE… as well as longevity. I know Steven Levitt wrote about the data in Freakonomics, and I’ve seen a couple other studies. Being the complete number crunching geek that I am, I even ran the numbers a couple seasons ago… for fun. TE’s are well down the list on pay, and they are more often injured. The top four paid starting positions in the NFL are (in order) QB, LT, DE, #1 WR. They also happen to have the greatest longevity.

      • The common parameters for these studies are the average salaries of each position as paid to the starters. And RB was a surprise to everyone who did the study. Because of injury, most RB’s did not start a full season, and their back-ups’ salaries became the necessary data within the parameters. But RB’s were 6th on the list (DT’s were 5th) for opening day salaries as well.

        If you consider that the bulk of a RB’s career in terms of ability and production are within the first four or five years, and then you consider that much of that is consumed on rookie contracts. And then you consider that NFL teams have had the propensity to draft RB’s later in the first round every year if at all. That would probably account for much of the difference right there.

  4. If what you say about shady behind the scenes recruiting of Owa is true then there is no way OSU lands him… lol. Maybe Oregon will forge his LOI on signing day again.

    • I don’t know if it’s true, but you have Weasel and Nike after him coupled with his mind changing every day–it just seems something is up.

    • To be fair, that incident was a coerced falsification of a LOI by the player… I know… JJ said he wasn’t coerced. Arrington forged his father’s signature and lied about the time-stamp as well.

      I wonder what would have happened to the Ducks if it was not Tedford calling Bellotti with the big WTF Mike?

      Double secret probation was probably a little light for those violations.

  5. Nike probably already has Owa’s shoe line ready to go after he graduates, and his endorsement deal in a trust fund ready to pay out in 2015. Or they’ll just go with it and leave his name off it until he’s a pro.

    Until the kid signs. I don’t believe any of what anyone says. As a current Nebraskan, I’ve seen kids swear on the bible the last few years then back out last minute (read: Both Gabbert Brothers).

      • David Ross will perhaps best be remembered for some ignorant moron who made a huge fuss about the fact that he thought Ross should be starting as a freshman over Lewis or Hughes simply because he loved his star rating.

        • Stars are nice, but it gets you little. When Callahan was with the Huskers he had a very high, touted recuiting class with the likes of Harrison Beck, Marlon Lucky, et al.

          They are nowhere now and both under acheived. I know some guys are just the ‘coaches’ guys too, but how these guys get it done on the field should matter the most. If you want to win anyway.

  6. I’m more interested in what Sark is doing up at UW. He’s already been hit for some minor infractions. It seems that USC didn’t have a systemic problem. It was viral.

    But Sark now has 30 verbals. I think the reports have two enrolling early or already enrolled. Fouch left on Monday, making attrition due to transfers a total of three. And they gain another scholarship for a medical case. So for next year’s roster they have a total of 13 seniors, 24 juniors, and 24 who were listed as frosh plus the two early enrollments. That leaves 22 scholarships available for the remaining 28 verbals. Consider also that UW is trying to get a 6th year waiver for one player. So that would leave 21 scholarships available.

    It’s not unreasonable to assume that six or seven guys could grey shirt–more if they get a couple more verbals as expected. But I have to wonder how many of these guys just aren’t expected by the Husky staff to make it past the NCAA Clearinghouse. I also have to wonder how many of them have been told that they are going to grey shirt. I already know that Keanon Lowe is upset that his recruitment has gone from WR to ATH to CB–all while he’s been verbally committed. So I’m not sure he’s going to stay.

    But let’s say they all make it, they’ve all been told honestly where they stand, they add two or three more commits, and they all enroll when expected. If they add 33 players to the current roster between fall and winter entries, that leaves them with a 2011 recruiting class of 4 players.

    Now that’s funny!

    • They could keep signing more and pushing back with greyshirts…it’s not a bad strategy and one OSU uses. It depends if you think there are better guys (who you can land) coming out the current year or next. Maybe Sark doesn’t like next year’s talent and that’s when he makes up for the huge class. Though, he’s more salesman than coach, like all the USC guys, so I’d just assume something smells rotten in the state of Washington.

  7. I wish Beaver fans would stop clinging to faint glimpse of hope. Reminds me of the infamous line from Dumb and Dumber…”so you’re saying there’s a chance!” It just comes off as sad and desperate.

    • Agreed. I just hope for an occasional Erickson Fiesta Bowl type team here and there. They compete for the most part seemingly every year. But it’s going to be a very very steep uphill battle to ever get into the elite. They just need to get the most out of their kids, hope for a few sleepers and keep finding some diamonds in the rough and some system, good College Player, type kids. Then throw in some luck.

      Frankly, I don’t know what it would take to get them there, but I think it involves a lot of currency that this school, in this community, in this state, will likely never have.

  8. From an article in the Lincoln (NE) Journal Star:

    “This week may be just as big as the final one of this recruiting season for Husker coaches. For starters, Carl Pelini and John Papuchis are scheduled to visit five-star defensive end Owamagbe Odighizuwa (picking between NU, Oregon and UCLA) at his home in Portland, Ore., on Thursday night.”

  9. Faint hope and desperation for Owa? Give it up. One look at his facebook page tells you what he’s thinking.

    And I don’t know what to think of Gio’s situation. Brian Kelly had an in-home with him recently, and he visited UNC last weekend. He also has family issues to deal with due to natural disasters. I think if MR makes it to his front door on the 25th that we may have a pretty good shot at landing him. I will take the liberty to project Yve’s demeanor, intelligence and class to his brother. Gio doesn’t let MR make the cross-country trip if it’s going to be a waste of OSU’s time and money.

    I’m told Akuna is likely in, and I keep my fingers crossed for Taula. Who’s left? Chrichton? Thomas? Vainuku?

    Do we have room for 18? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

    • You don’t have to anymore. If you don’t have a fb account and the person doesn’t set their privacy to uber-secret then a quick google search of their name drops the link in front of you, and ‘groups’ that they are a part of are displayed.

      And… ex-girlfriends? I either still know them, or I don’t want anything to do with them. Stalking sounds like a tweener activity that takes too much time and could result in an arrest. No thanks.

  10. OWA..Suh almost left Nebraska for Oregon State. The Beavers will get to the Rose Bowl with you. Be a loyal Beaver Stater and lead this team to the grandaddy. They are a great family down there and Riley is a class act and great teacher. He gets his players to play up and someone like you would bring national attention to a program ready to be great.

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