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Interview: Brandin Cooks

By
angry
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32

How was Oregon State able to earn your commitment over large market universities like Washington and UCLA?

Oregon State earned my commitment over those types of schools because the program here is just built off character, and that's my type of people. And the system ran here fits my style.

Coach Brennan was hired after your commitment. Has that change amongst the staff affected your development in any way?

When Coach Brennan was hired it was still the same expectations as before.

When the Oregon State coaches were recruiting you, did they point out the negatives of competing universities, or did they focus on Oregon State’s positives?

When Oregon State was recruiting me they focused on Oregon State and nobody else.

On a similar note, do the coaches use the Oregon fiasco as a teaching experience? How much time do the coaches spend emphasizing how to stay out of trouble?

Coach Riley is a strong guy on character and the teaching of staying out of trouble.

Oregon State has recruited a large number of WRs the past few cycles. Will there be 4WR sets or an Air Raid attack in the future?

That question is out of my hands I have no info on that.

Going into fall camp, where are you listed on the depth chart? Do you think you’ll see the field this upcoming season?

Going into fall camp I know I will be competing for a spot, and as far as seeing the field this upcoming year that's in my hands on how I perform.

Cooks also added that God and his mother have been the biggest role models in shaping who he is today.

Overall, I am slightly disappointed with how this interview turned out. I was hoping Brandin would shed more light several topics. To be fair, when we first spoke he asked if his doing an interview would be illegal, so I think he might have been spooked by the fiasco down south. No worries. Goodspeed, Brandin Cooks.

Beavers (quietly) Collecting Rose Bowl Caliber Talent

By
angry
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61

I'll wait until after fall camp to make a prediction about the 2011 season, but on paper the 2012 team looks all-world.

Have a look at my predicted roster and see if you agree:

QB Ryan Katz, Sr. (The importance of an upperclassman QB cannot be overstated).
RB Storm Woods/Terron Ward, So. (hard to say, but I like this combo best, with Ward acting as a scat back).
FB/HB Tyler Anderson, RS So.
WR Markus Wheaton, Sr. (if he doesn't bolt for the NFL).
WR Jordan Bishop, Sr.
WR Obum Gwachum, RS So. (Tyler Trosin/Brandin Cooks, So. (or red-shirt freshmen) should be in the mix)
TE Tyler Perry, RS So.
OT Grant Enger, Jr. Darryl Jackson, So.
OG Michael Phillipp, Sr. Josh Andrews, Jr.
C Roman Sapolu, RS So.

K Trevor Romaine, RS So.
P ? Keith Kostol, So. (hopefully this problem gets rectified during the current recruiting cycle).

The offense looks explosive, but green at a few key positions.

The defense might be even better.

DE Scott Crichton, RS So.
DE Rusty Fernando, Sr. (not sold on this guy, but everyone else is so I'll roll with it until I see a better option).
DT Castro Masaniai, Sr.
DT Fred Thompson, So.
LB Michael Doctor, Jr.
MLB Tony Wilson/Feti Unga, Sr.
LB Shiloah Te'o, Sr. (Akuna and Welch will be in the mix)
CB Jordan Poyer, Sr.
CB Rashaad Reynolds, Jr.
S Anthony Watkins, Sr.
S Josh Lagrone, Sr. (or Ryan Murphy, So.)

Look at the combination of talent and seniority on the defense. It's impressive. Most of these guys weren't elite recruits, but they're solid 3-star athletes who will have prepared for two or three years in the system. This reiterates a key point: the Beavers don't need 5-star recruits. They just need legit 3-star athletes.

Also, guys like Wynn, Zimmerman, et al could step up and play early, but most likely they'll fill out the two-deep rather than win starting jobs.

While 2011 could be rough, 2012 looks to be a perfect storm of both talent and experience.

Dead Ducks: Beavers to Benefit?

By
angry
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136

Locally, I'm hearing some noise that the two remaining Arroyo Grande prospects (Seth Jacobs and Garrett Weinreich) favor the Beavs right now. Granted, neither has visited so there's a long way to go, but the person who told me this is an ex-coworker/HS football fan who lives in Arroyo Grande.

It got me wondering if the Beavers will benefit from all the negativity surrounding shady recruiting tactics, street agents, and pay for play. Mike Riley should be able to use that negativity to OSU's advantage. I originally wrote this post four days ago, but then the Lyles story blew up again, so I pulled it down until now. Since that time ESPN has published this article essentially confirming my hunch.

Granted, Oregon and Oregon State don't usually go after the same caliber player, but in the few instances where they do, I prefer the Beaver's odds during this recruiting cycle.

When the high-flying, tech bubble burst in 2000, where did investors go as a safe haven? Back to the "boring" blue chips and their quarterly dividends. Do these kids, who are investing in their future, have the savvy to go with the safe bet? We'll find out. Early returns are promising. Riley should be out there selling his story and specifically contrasting it against all the scandal. Parents don't want their kids getting dragged through the mud; parents don't want their kid to be the next Lache Seastrunk.

Played wisely, Oregon State could benefit tremendously while USC is in detention and Oregon dons the "Dunce" cap. This is about recognizing the opportunity and understanding how to take advantage, which hasn't been a strong point of this staff. There is renewed energy and urgency in the program, however, so perhaps they can expend it to capitalize on others' misfortune.

Duck’s Recruiting Trend in Texas

By
angry
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86

Nothing too ground-breaking, but I thought these numbers were interesting in a circumstantial kind of way.

From 2002 to 2007 (six recruiting cycles), the Ducks signed a whopping two players out of Texas. Both were 2-star athletes.

In the four recruiting cycles since Kelly was hired, they have signed 11 players from Texas, including:

Lache Seastrunk: 5-star/#3@his position
Anthony Wallace: 4-star/#6 at his position
Darron Thomas: 4-star/#6 @ his position
Josh Huff: 4-star/#7@ his position
Dontae Wiliams: 4-star/#12@his position
LaMichael James: 4-star/#12 @ his position

(Note: I’m not counting 2012 since it is incomplete or 2007 since Kelly was hired after LOI day).

So, the Ducks go six years and sign 2 players from Texas, and after Kelly is hired, over a four year span they sign 11 players from Texas, including six 4+ star guys. Kelly knew Lyles in 2008 when the Ducks suddenly went from being shutout in Texas to landing some of the best in-state talent. Fishy? Coincidence? I’m sure Duck fans will have a plausible explanation, such as the coaches finally decided to recruit Texas that year. Okay, fine. That’s not really how recruiting pipelines work, but okay.

One interesting observation: The Ducks were completely shutout of Texas in 2009. I wonder why?
Cal signed two 4-star recruits out of Texas that year, and it’s the same year Gabe King–who was being paraded by Otis Yelverton, another shady cat–suddenly shifted from an Oregon lean (which enraged Tedford) back to Cal. Hm.

I’d be a little worried if I were a Cal fan. But it also makes one wonder what Tedford has on Oregon.

On last thing: the bizarre recruitment of Ricky Heimuli has never been discussed. When Ducks Sports Authority calls his signing a “huge surprise” you have to do a double take. Utah was a big favorite during most of his recruitment, with UCLA a distant second. However, after an in-home with the Oregon coaches, he left strong family ties and moved to Eugene, citing vague reasons like, “something told me Eugene was where I was supposed to be.” I realize things like this happen, but “something” and “God” tell Oregon recruits where to sign much too often.

Duck Tipster & Other Rumors

By
angry
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147

Well, I never intended to cover the Ducks, but I keep getting information that's too good to ignore, so here we go.

What I am hearing is there's a medical marijuana dealer in Oregon exchanging marijuana for players' memorabilia. These are high profile players, folks. And some of the memorabilia is from the National Championship Game. I'd say this source is %99.9999~ reliable and is in possession of a (figurative) smoking gun. To avoid any legal issues I'll leave a little room for "doubt", if you catch my drift.

A second tipster added his own marijuana story to the one above, and also linked me to an eBayer selling game-worn Duck gear. With his approval, I'm sharing a portion of our email exchange:

So the story as I heard it…a buddy of mine has a medical marijuana card. My friend, a big football fan, was here in Portland hanging out at a marijuana dispensary and chatting up the guy that worked behind the counter about football. This is probably early February? Evidently the guy behind the counter installs grow light operations for people who have medical marijuana cards. So he got a call one day to install some new grow lights in some other guy's basement. He goes to the guys house and there's TONS of Oregon memorabilia. Signed jerseys, helmets, shoes, gloves, you name it. Tons of stuff from what I heard – like a museum. And going back just a few years – like Dennis Dixon era on, but nothing older than that. The grow light installer asks how this guy got all this stuff – and without directly stating anything, the other guy indicated he traded marijuana for it. This morning I heard from a 2nd source that is basically the same story as what I had heard originally. I deliberately haven't told anybody about this, so I know I didn't hear it from somebody who heard it from me. I doubt my friend has really told anybody.  He told me because he knows I'm an OS fan but he said he hadn't really spread it around, so I don't think it's coming from the same source. There's a possibility though that it's from the same source.

Now, I heard that this story happened in Portland (making Cliff Harris' recent midnight run pretty interesting to me). Today the other source told me that the house was in Eugene – in fact the same house that Kiko Alonso broke into back in April/May.  

In addition, I found this…

[Note: Ebay link removed at user's request]

This person, with a Eugene address, seems to have quite a bit of Ducks memorabilia for sale. Now, i know…you can buy SOME of this kind of stuff at the annual Oregon 'garage sale', but never game worn jerseys or helmets. Never autographed items.

Other rumors that appear true, but I cannot confirm:

  • Jabari Brown's AAU coach accepted payment upon delivery from Phil Knight.
  • The scandal and payments span the entire athletic department and multiple coaching staffs.
  • Several big donors are involved.

Wow. The Ducks must feel like they're on that game show Press Your Luck? "No Whammies, no whammies!"

If you have information you'd like to share contact me: angry@angrybeavs.com

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