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Recruiting Rumblings

282

It seems people are upset about the Jordan Stevenson situation and now saying this staff can’t recruit. Well it’s only July and they have five 3-star recruits. That’s better than Riley could do most years by this point, at least from my memory.

It’s definitely frustrating that they aren’t in the mix for Stevenson. It’s equally frustrating they can’t land a big name, breakthrough recruit. But these guys signed an entire class and now 8 good looking prospects this cycle without even coaching a game, so they’re doing okay. I think we need to let an entire season play out on the field to see if that generates any recruiting buzz. We think recruits should be as excited about GA as we fans are, but it doesn’t work that way. So yes, disappointing we’re not seeing a huge uptick (though I’d argue there is an uptick — GA is getting better players), disappointing they weren’t in the Stevenson mix, frustrating they can’t land a big name, frustrating that players de-committed, but let them coach a season first before getting worked up about it.

Unless the team looks awful during the season, I think come February the Beavs will have signed their best class ever. I’m going to say top 35 class when all is said and done.

282 COMMENTS

  1. concur. Beavs are fishing in deeper water now, which is encouraging. Wasn’t it just two years ago this time that Riley had ZERO recruits?

  2. I think so.
    Blitz and other sources would say not to worry even when Riley didn’t have a commitment deep into the cycle. It was always damage control and “this is the way he does it and things will work out”, yet with Andersen I sense more frustration. I can only assume this means fans expected immediate recruiting bump. I did, too, but when I saw Andersen didn’t = 4-stars signing with OSU I recalibrated. I think everyone needs to do that and let the guys coach at least a season before freaking out. There’s also a lot of negative press saying OSU will finish last in the PAC, so that isn’t helping

    • I think Andersen already has a 4* guy in Trevon Bradford. We’ll see where he’s rated by the end of his senior year. His current 3* rating isn’t based anything measurable and was just given to him as a placeholder for an unrated player who committed to OSU.

    • Hello!!!!!
      Why do you suppose the beavers are picked last in the pac 12???? Maybe the 11th in recruiting is closely linked…..Ya THINK!!

      • The media is lazy, and not only that, but they feed off one another. You think they analyzed the Beaver roster and watched film on all the recruits?

  3. I agree. Just because OSU wasn’t able to close Stevenson it’s only one recruit. It’s pretty ignorant to judge a coaching staff’s recruiting ability on one recruit. The upcoming show on the PAC-12 Networks “The Drive” will showcase OSU football, and give the program great exposure for the future. I think this will really help in recruiting. It will also help energize the fan base and future donors as well. Gary Andersen is a players coach, and has a commanding presence whenever he enters a room. I see no reason why he wouldn’t be a great closer. The position I will be paying more attention to, is Offensive & Defensive Line. That’s where the game is won.
    What will also help in recruiting is keeping journalists away from current players, and future recruits such as @Lindsay_Schnell, lol!

    • Thanks for mentioning The Drive. I had it in my notes to discuss in this post but somehow forgot. Agree totally that show will help. When does it begin airing? I can’t find the start date.

    • How do you know that Gary Andersen is a “player’s coach”? And what does that mean?

      Who would be an example of a coach that isn’t a player’s coach?

      I think we were all expecting an immidiate uptick in recruiting, but all I have seen is more offers going out to highly rated guys and finding ourselves in their top 7 or top 10.

      Andersen left Wisconsin becuase he couldn’t get his guys in to school. I don’t see why he wouldn’t leave Oregon State if he finds that he can’t get recruits to commit to Oregon State.

  4. Yeah, it’s a little slow compared to some of the elite programs, but the thing is that those programs are very firm and established. Recruits don’t know what they’re gonna get, so it’s fortunate our coaching staff is getting leaps of faith.

    What attracts 4 star recruits? Strong bowl games, like Alamo, Rose, Peach, and the like. In basketball? The NCAA tournament. Until we can overachieve and get to those points with strong coaching, we gotta realize that the big name guys don’t need to lock up their spot at OSU and let the coaches off the hook because they’re trying to see if something “better” is gonna come along. I think the coaches know that as well as anyone.

  5. I just thought of this! Is Jordan Stevenson related somehow to Jovan Stevenson, father of Mike Riley’s grandson Eli?

  6. Not seeing Top 35 or honestly even Top 50. Things seem to be slowing for a bit here. We are currently ranked 11th of 12 in recruiting in the Pac-12. Recently I think I may have seen a publication have us around #68. I am expecting we end up in the 54-69 range. A couple upsets and being very competitive will help. No more getting dominated in nationally broadcast games. Keep that Michigan game close or go in there and lead it for awhile and OSU will win some fans and positive press.

    • You’re not seeing top 50? These coaches put together a top 50 class during the last month of a recruiting cycle after they got hired, and half of that time was a quiet/dead period when athletes weren’t allowed to communicate with coaches or have in home visits. It only took them a few weeks to put together a typical Riley level class, after most athletes in the country were already set on where they wanted to go.
      They’re ahead of a typical Riley class for 2016 already too, and nobody has seen them coach a single game unless you count the Spring game. I wouldnt commit to a school unless I knew what their product on the field looks like. There’s a full season of football ahead before signing day. Alot can change.

  7. I think the impending earthquake apocalypse is scaring them off. Andersen hasn’t learned to sell braving the doom as a feat of strength. Just like he couldn’t sell the bitter cold winters at Wisconsin. The only place he apparently could promote was Logan, Utah. I have to assume by offering free magic underwear.

  8. If GA is on par with an ave Riley recruiting year, then he is doing fine. Riley worked from a position of coaching stature (deserved or not) and a very established program (despite fading of late) that did send players to the NFL on occasion. GA is working with a fading OSU program and has yet to demonstrate anything. Its a tough situation.

    If this team can play hard and look good, win or lose, I bet he can start recruiting better. We’ll see, but I sure as hell feel better now than if Riley were still here …

  9. I would be really happy with a top 35 recruiting class. I distinctly remember the last 3 recruiting classes and none of them had more than 3 by July. I am 98% certain this is true. So it definitely seems that the Andersen staff has some ability in getting earlier commits. Just think Andersen has had more commits decommit by July in his first year than Riley probably ever had committed by July.
    Also, there are a fair amount of recruits out there that like to decide late even signing day. Last class Andersen had good success in the late committing recruits (by my count they obtained all but one that they were in the running for late) and is currently in the top 5 to 10 of at least a handful of recruits that have made some kind of statement that they will decide late.
    Put all these things together it seems like a good picture. I am definitely hoping for the best.

  10. For now, I’m content with the staff bringing in several quality players into the program that will fill the holes on the roster and be best utilized in their offensive/defensive systems. I don’t have massive expectations the next couple of seasons, but eventually, Andersen needs to land that difference-making recruit that will bring the program to the national spotlight. I look at the impact that RG3 had on Baylor as an example of the difference a great coaching staff and a nationally recognized player can have for a program. The former doormat of whatever conference they were in at any given time, they’ve been able to gather funds to build a new stadium and facilities and are actually winning recruiting battles against the Texas/Alabama juggernauts of the world, all in a few short years. If Riley was truly the coach to bring OSU to the next level, he should have been able to build off of the program hype from the Rodgers brothers era. Of course, a couple of Civil War losses with the Rose Bowl bid on the line took the wind out of those sails, and the program still hasn’t recovered. Here’s to hoping Andersen doesn’t keep us waiting too long.

  11. Some good words from Sitake in today’s piece by Gina, she says a more extensive Q&A will be up later. It is only words at this point, but words we didn’t hear much of from Banker.

    “When you add depth, you add competition…Whether they’re freshmen or JC guys, I don’t care. I don’t care if you’re a walk-on or a scholarship guy.”

  12. Are we really upset we didn’t get Stevenson? Or are we irritated because the competitive juices just got recharged, and for a bit that became the only thing going on?

    Sure, it would have been nice to add one to fill a vacancy in the 2015 class and essentially give us another slot for 2016, rather than picking up another 5-7, 190#, APB type. And sure, he looks good. But other than suddenly getting caught up in some competition for validation, it’s just another win some, lose some.

    The 2015 class is more than solid. It addressed a lot of our weaknesses and filled out some very quality depth. Some of those kids are grossly underrated. And all of them except for Sands and Thomas are bigger and more athletic than the typical OSU recruits. We’re not hanging our hats on the one or two headliners and feeling like we got a bunch of players good at one or two positions but still needing development… and the low hanging fruit on top of that. We have to wait two years to see Folau. But there are some kids who are just great athletes in that group. And they can play football too. We’re adding bigger, stronger, faster and more agile athletes who play many sports, let alone positions. Now they get to concentrate on just school and football. I’ll take every one of them, and I’m excited to see how they mature in both their lives and in their games. That’s because I think they’ll all be successful at both.

    What I saw in that group was a bunch of kids who saw what OSU and Corvallis were about. For the first time, I saw our coaches selling a great college town and a top flight education at a place where players could also play at the highest level. And I saw kids buying it… and still doing so. I’m starting to think I was wrong about even reserving some of the knocks on Corvallis as being something a city kid wouldn’t want. I’m now thinking that what I want are kids who know enough that they want to find a place different from home so they can expand their horizons… someplace quiet from all the distractions of home or some big city and all its bells and whistles… somewhere a serious student athlete can hone both their mind and body before going out into the big bad world.

    If that’s not what you want as a prospective SA, then maybe you have some growing up to do. If you knock that as a graduate of some other school, then I will say the same.

    Facilities? Yeah… a hoopster needs a safe place to go put up shots at any time of the day… even at three in the morning when you can’t sleep. It’s therapy. I’m sure football players need a place to unwind because of the nature of their craft at practice and in games… and a nice big soaker for aches and pains. But esthetics in Gill or on the west side are our deal, not theirs. As long as we’re there in force, they don’t care.

    I expect the 2015 class to be the baseline. But I also expect the baseline to gradually rise year after year. I don’t need to get rich quick. I just need to know that I’m getting better with every year put behind me. The players for 2016 tell me that will not be a problem so far. And since 2015 was really just our coaches showing us what they could do during closing, I think January might be a lot of fun for us.

    If it comes with some high ranking, so be it. So long as I never see another team be first wholly unprepared then give up, I think we’ll be good in the win/loss columns as well.

  13. Anyone know how Tago is rehabbing? I don’t like the hurry back approach for his type of injury, especially with his size. Maybe he’ll redshirt now that Peko is a go? We also have Vakameilalo and Houston coming off redshirt and Aydon incoming. And where will Moala play?

  14. If anybody cares, Stevenson is rumored to be visiting either Alabama or Miami now that he’s been to Nebraska. First Miami’s been in the conversation.

  15. Sitake takes a shot at Riley/Banker:

    “They just seemed hungry for our arrival. It just seems like they want to be challenged a little bit.”

    • I’m with Jack here. After Riley and crew made their abrupt departure it would be natural to be “hungry” for the arrival of their replacements. As for wanting “to be challenged”, any athlete worth a spot on the team should feel that way in light of a new staff and new schemes.

  16. Chris Brown will miss part of the season with a hip injury. Luck O da Beavs. The one player I was really excited to see in the new offense.

  17. It seems like the Beavs are in more 4 star recruits top 5 or top 10, whatever that’s worth, with decent company. E.g. safety Christian Wallace putting OSU with texas, tcu, OK and Miss State. It beats competing with Southern Alabama, Idaho, and Northwest South Dakota State.

    • Bates was a close 1B to Kizer at 1A. I like Bates better because of the athleticism. Kizer is more polished and ready made in terms of size. But I can tell you that putting on the frosh 30 is no problem when you’re a rail coming out of high school… and not a major (thus restricted) part of your parents’ grocery bill.

      Eletise finally went Zony yesterday. I was thinking ASU with Auwae. Zony’s not in Auwae’s top 10. It would make sense that a commit today would be some beef?

    • Broken news lol. I’m waiting for the full non-con to drop personally. We know so far:
      Nov 19 @Rice
      Nov 21 @UCSB
      Nov 24 vs. Valparaiso
      Dec 5 vs. Nevada
      Dec 12 @Kansas
      Dec 18 vs. CSUF (Far West)
      Dec 19 vs. Tulsa (Far West)
      Dec 21 vs. Quinnipiac

      I personally hope they get a home and home starting away at like a Georgia Tech or Virginia Tech or Clemson, Florida or Bama or UGA. A major conference opponent that isn’t an impending powerhouse.

      • gopherhole.com used to have a nationwide schedule thread on their message board where non-cons for everyone were posted as news was fresh. I haven’t caught it in a while.

    • I’m a life long hunter and I’ll freely admit to hunting the the deer or elk with the largest rack or trying to catch the biggest fish.

      That said, you have to be a special kind of fuckstick to travel to another continent to kill an elephant/rhinoceros/lion/whatever just to mount it on your wall.

    • I usually go with the George Castanza “I’m an architect” line.
      I actually know who this guy is and the fuckstick evaluation is spot on. A slimeball.

  18. The Eggers piece referenced above by Jack includes this about the THREE QB candidates, giving hope to those who favor McMaryion:

    “The talent is there, but the three guys are all young,” Baldwin says. “They’ve done a lot this summer in film study and working with their receivers. The terminology of our system has gotten easier for them. They’re doing now instead of thinking. “

    • Also of note in the piece:
      “And the other thing is, as an offensive unit, we want to be physical and let the opponent know (it’s) been in a football game. We want them to walk off the field knowing the Beavers have beaten the crap out of you.”

      Funny, every time I watched Biley teams get blown off the field these last few years, I felt like the beavers beat the crap out of me

      I’m digging the more aggressive tone this coaching staff has.

    • Do you really think a playbook that doesn’t require any thought or brains is BETTER??????Maybe Stanford’s or the rest of the Pac 12 won’t think either….WOW!!!!!

  19. “I think come February the Beavs will have signed their best class ever. I’m going to say top 35 class when all is said and done.”

    Hope you’re right! I hear angry^2 and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Nutbutter! (Spread w trans fat) printing your prediction out and nailing it on their walls

  20. Do you know who is going to be the surprise team in college football? I hate to tell you this, but it is the California Bears. Nobody knows this but me. Remember.

  21. OH GOD KYLE WONT STOP CELEBRATING HIS “VICTORY OVER READIN’ BOOKS” HES BEEN HOLED UP EVER SINCE AND SPENT HIS ENTIRE STIPEND CHECK ON CORNDOGS AND FROZEN FOODS. HE JUST ATE ANOTHER TUB OF ICE CREAM! IM CONCERNED CALL HIS MOM I DONT GET PAID FOR THIS THANKS

  22. Are ya’ll excited about the football season? Ya’ll should be. GA is a great football coach. Da Beavs are gonna be some tough sumbitches.

    • I normally don’t mind the trolls when they’re funny or have an opinion but this one just takes up space. I wouldn’t miss her

      • Yeah I agree.
        Hey fake beavbutter, you have until midnight to become funny or get an opinion, else your sock monkeys turn to glass and you get banned.

        • Why do Ducks have to go all misogynistic? They do it on their own sites amongst themselves with regularity. I don’t get it.

    • I would say yes on principle. But then I went and read all the Duck fan clutter. Perhaps you can edit his comments until he actually says something. Replace them with “what?” on single responses. And when he has a stream of brilliant consciousness, replace that stream of four or five comments with “what?x5”

      At the very least, put him on the “comments that need to be approved first” list.

      Banhammers become a plaything for nastier trolls. This Duck might be a dummy, but he’ll go back and brag to other, smarter idiots about being banned. Then you’ll get to see a bunch of losers come out of the woodwork.

      Going back and telling the smarter Ducks, “I got put on the “comments that need to be approved first” list. Hell yeah!” That doesn’t float the smarter Ducks’ boat. Those morons who we are just completely jealous of will just look at this dummy and think he’s dumber than they are. “How can you suck so badly as a troll so as to only be put on that list,” they’ll ask him. “You should be good enough to be banned before you “Hell yeah!” us.”

    • Hypothetical (since it’s not going to happen):

      If Nikegon hosts the Pac Championship Game, does the Pac 12 shoe sponsor take a prominent place on the stadium and in background shots, covering all other shoe company logos?

      I know there are eight schools that might face that issue. But this one would be the funniest to watch.

  23. So GA gets on and doesn’t say, “Heh heh… yeah… um,” or, “Oh! Well you know,” or, “I… um… I think.”

    How did that guy even get a final interview?

  24. Conforto in a mini-slump going 0 for his last 9, with some good at-bats mixed in.

    (Someone had to say it so he can turn it on.)

  25. I’m also a sandwich artist. Stop by and say hi. Top 3 sales people in the Northwest during the month of August win a special paid trip to the Woodburn outlet stores and I could use some things lol.

    The second place goes on a community bus tour of the Brownsville, Halsey, and Lebanon historic districts which comes with a small milkshake voucher and a sack lunch so that’s cool too.

    Top 5 sandwiches ranked:

    5. Meatball
    4. Italian BMT
    3. Chicken Bacon Ranch
    2. Subway Club
    1. Spicy Italian

    The more meal deal upgrades I report also can qualify me to win an iPod nano or beats headphones.

    Thanks for your consideration.

    • Are you the dude that sent the pictures to Jared.
      The investigation into ‘Subway diet’ spokesman Jared Fogle is still a mystery
      Business Insider? – 1 day ago
      Subway suddenly cut ties with longtime spokesman Jared Fogle on July 7, just hours after …

  26. Alot of recruiting is upon the coach there r letters asking about talent at there school and for tapes and what not and
    Going to camps which cost $.I personally was a teacher aid for my high school coach as well as a player (the best) he admitted in front of the team after a big win when i was injured that i could be a game changer at the next level. aThis isnt bragging nor a sob story but only to say guys don’t always get noticed just because they’re not good but don’t understand how the whole recruiting thing works. I was so fast would catch up to guys on big plays just to strip the ball. Fastest guy on field honestly playmaker were talking about .maybe not the same at next level. That being said give some slack to the under the radar recruits. And i think it’s truly sad that there r coaches that would hamper ones skills. Sorry for my drunk ramblings thx for listening go breavs!
    Local school any guesses lol!

  27. Watched the guy throw them in the trash in front of me after saying d1 talent. It just concerns me about other kids. Its not just sliding under the radar but how the system works. I know alot about football but just found out about hudl

    • I think I see what you’re saying? Let’s see if I get this right.

      Kids from all over send in highlight tapes and show interest in certain schools or all schools just hoping to get picked up somewhere. We always hear that coaches need to see live play, not the tapes on HUDL or YouTube. Fair enough. We also know there are limitations to said tapes. And even whole game tapes don’t tell the story you can see and hear from the stands.

      So a local university goes out and gladhands local high schools by doing a one-off game when the HS coach give a call about this or that kid. It’s less about the kid for the university than it is about patronizing the HS coach. And because some measurable doesn’t equate, or because the local university’s coaches are predisposed, the kid gets patronized as well?

      I’m going off what hoops coaches have to do for their evaluations here. They don’t just show up to AAU games so the recruits see them in the stands. They watch to see if they just had an outlying good game last time they saw the kid… if the kid is strong or weak versus this or that type of player… how the kid responds to adversity in different situations. There is absolutely no way to gauge a hoopster based on tape and one or two games. The coaches have to go back time and again, talk to teachers, counselors, coaches and the kid himself.

      One of the weird things about Riley and local schools was that it appeared to me they simply disregarded kids unless they did go and do all the recruiting game things. The obvious kids with measurables get noticed from day one. But it took Owa a couple good summer combines to get noticed. And it seems the only time we got the local players was when those kids actually played in front of our coaches… in Reser… in their HS championship games. Everyone else who was decent got a walk-on offer. Most went elsewhere (non-P5, 1AA, D2) on scholarship. A couple stuck around. There was always a disconnect about how I always thought to go and put together a football team. Most other schools go around their own state and make sure there is absolutely nobody they miss. Those local kids who don’t quite have the measurables are a bird in the hand in terms of work ethic and grounding your system. When you add them, you also get residuals like walk-ons following teammates instead of taking ship opportunities elsewhere. And local HS coaches get to point at local university and tell their own kids how hard work pays off.

      It was always a simple miss on the grass roots level for me. I would watch local kids with similar measurables get passed over for kids from SoCal or Zony. I’m thinking this is because our coaches only scouted those areas with any regularity. I’m feeling like the new staff is going out to local schools and seeing what there is in terms of talent and getting what they can from the start.

      There are a bunch of potential football players who will simply stop playing because they never received enough encouragement to love the game. There are many who will continue to play simply because they love the game, and they’ll shine somewhere else. These were the biggest misses of the last regime. And it should be noted that the coaches who were responsible for the region in and immediately around Oregon did a really poor job. I’m thinking it wasn’t because they were poor at evaluating talent in the area. I’m thinking it was because they just didn’t bother doing so.

      • When I say most went elsewhere above, I forgot to say some of them went on to be good players at other P5 schools as well. But watching Petersen grab all the talent Riley should have been getting by default was on that always bugged me.

  28. Beavbutter is gone. 2nd ban in history of AB. My mom is old and not doing so great, so talking about licking her asshole is cause for ban.

    • That’s a good trade for both teams. Norris and Boyd can both be very good. I’m not sure about the other guy the Tigers got. I’m not a big Price fan…I know he’s good, but he’s kind of shaky for an “ace”.

      • I’d take Cole Hamels over Price. Plus you still have him under contract for the next 3 years as opposed to basically a 60 day rental. I can’t see Price re-signing with the bluejays

        • Price over Hamels. Price can actually throw post-season, is doing better this season and is playing for a contract. Plus, you’re not stuck with Hamels for three more years.

          Oh… and Phuck the fillies.

  29. “I’ve never thrown up in a workout before — ever — and Coach (Evan) Simon got me,” Scott said

    From Boregonlive, OSU pac-12 media day

    • Again he implies the players were too weak. I wonder if this is one reason the Beavs seem to have more injuries than other teams.

      • The team is also pretty young which I think could really contribute to the lack of strength. 55% of the current roster has only one or fewer seasons under their belts.

        Taken from the osubeavers.com roster.

        FR: 5

        SO/RS FR: 39

        JR/RS SO: 20

        SR / RS JR: 16

      • I remember a game against Stanford when they first started getting good, we punted and they took over. They put the parabolic mic on the Stanford line as they came up to the line of scrimmage, one of the Stanford players yelled ‘Let’s grind some meat!’ Of course, they did grind meat and destroyed our D line the entire game.

        Weakness, mentally and physically, was a huge part of our problem. I think it’ll take a couple years to get our guys ready to go, but I think we’ll be better in the long run.

        As for the injuries, hell yes. Muscle is a coat of armor that helps shed off injuries and helps recovery time too.

      • Do the beavers have more injuries than other teams? I would like to see some data to support this claim. I believe the reason we SEEM to have more injuries is because we have never had as much depth as the blue blood programs that have dominated college football. When we lose a star, the impact is felt much more than a program like USC, Ohio State, or Alabama who can plug in another 4 star stud at the same position. The best teams we have fielded in the modern history of our program (2000, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012) were all top heavy teams. Bottom line is when you lose a star at any position at Oregon State the loss feels magnified. Only way to fix the depth problem here is to recruit. If Andersen is the answer, only time will tell, but it is an uphill battle here and if you disagree the only person you are fooling is yourself.

        • You went from asking a question to asking for data to hypothesis to “you’re wrong” in one long breath.

          I can’t really say if we did or didn’t have more injuries. It sure seemed like we did. There are those who think pace of play yields fewer injuries. Someone might think it’s just the pace itself.
          http://cfbmatrix.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/The-CFBMatrix-Pace-of-Play-Summary-Report.pdf
          I think it’s indirectly because of the pace, related more so to the type of athlete recruited to play this pace. Old timey football gets people hurt more often. We played old timey football in a league that does not do so and hasn’t for a while. I would say Utah and Stanford also seem to have a higher rate of injury (to the two-deep). USC seemed to be lesser in this, but there is the fact they had a habit of intentionally sidelining the players on the other team who might make them hurt over the course of a game.

          • Maybe the “type of athlete” AND the conditioning of said athlete to play fast. The study (p.11) seems to indicate that lard assess are more likely to be injured.

            Interesting POP ranking info from page 10:
            Nike #12, Utah 45, Beavs 84, Tree 114, and Wiscy 116.

    • The money quote?

      “I’m always going to go where I think I can affect kids lives, and at this spot I believe I can do that consistently. I had great kids at Wisconsin, but any time I’m in a position to compromise what I believe in coaching, that’s hard for me to be in the middle of it.”

    • I think I’ll chalk this one up to individual responsibility. It does slightly taint one of their strongest programs. But this looks like an individual process… that results in a retraction and his needing a QA whenever he does any future research.

    • That must have been easy to spot. Nothing puts up a fishier red flag than “University of Oregon” and “research” being used together

  30. I’m very surprised and pleased McLaughlin put OSU in his top 5 along with Gonzaga, Wisconsin, Utah, and Washington. I like the company we’re in because the first three all were Sweet 16 teams and Washington is his hometown program. Now I just need Andersen to do his part and make sure we don’t crap the bed against Weber State since that’s his visit date (I get nervous playing FBS opponents in odd years…just lil Riley aftershocks).

    I saw him play at the Les Schwab this past year. He’s cat quick and is creative in getting to the rim and can finish with both hands, his jumper is aight at best from 7 months ago. His team wasn’t very good, so he shouldered most of the load and I didn’t get to see how he performed as a facilitator. He’s a bouncier version of Andrew Andrews at Washington.

    Apart from him and Kone, I wonder who else we’re *really* in play for.

    • He already was a Beaver commit at one point, but decomitted when Robinson left. Sounds like Tinkle has done a good job of rebuilding that relationship.

  31. OT: Anyone else think it’s weird that Andersen doesn’t wear a wedding ring? Guy is pretty religious and is a very small town, family oriented guy yet doesn’t wear a ring. Yeah, I know, must be a slow time of year:-)

  32. A couple quotes from the GT piece on PAC12 media day, “cake”?…really?

    “Andersen said Barrs-Woods needs to have the ball in his hands 20-25 times a game and carry the load for the Beavers.”
    And, Barrs-Woods said, “When you’re at seven and a half, eight (yards) you get more time to read…The thing I think is very neat is opposed to those two-tight end sets where you have nine in the box, sometimes 10, now it’s going to be a six-man box and with that, that’s cake.”

  33. I wonder what “Gameday” improvements the OSU athletic department has in store for 2015? I’m hoping whatever they have in mind, it will be professional looking, and not cheesy. Do it right or don’t do it at all.

    • I hear they have ended the endless popcorn, although that hasn’t been confirmed. The new AD staff doesn’t have much time to put things together before the first game.

    • I think the PA system needs to be louder, the band needs to play more modern songs and Benny needs to get more involved with the crowd. The band seems out of it, disconnected if you will, to me. Also the Dam Cam aka JumboTron needs to be full size during plays and replays. What do you guys think?

      • Regarding the band, i’d like to see an emphasis on growing the size of the band and giving it a bigger presence. Thats one of the major things separating college sports from the pros. I’d love to see more marching band half-time entertainment. Less piped in music and more band.

        But on the other hand, the whole first down marker tomahawk chop/chant needs to go. Fans cant do it in unison anyway and its always half-assed. Plus its boring. Huah!!

        • I guess I’m not on the same page as many here (and that is ok). I like the chainsaw, and the 1st down chant. I agree the Band needs to be bigger and play more and I agree the piped in music is just too much I hate it when they start the music as the crowd is getting the OSU four sides chant going.

        • Ha ha! It’s not “Huah” it’s supposed to be “MOVE” as in move the chains! But, yes in regards to the band, I’d like to see them have a bigger role and become more involved. That was the point I was trying to make. Out of all of the bands in the Pac12, OSU’s appears way behind the rest. The band must be present by the first game of the season, not in October. Let the “alumni band” appear during halftime performance or something? All in all, I think the product on the field will have a trickle-down effect with the Reser Stadium fan experience. The band will play louder and faster. The fans won’t be able to sit down, Reser will rock and be intimidating once again, packed house etc… For the kiddos, they LOVE Benny! I’d like to see Benny get more involved with the future of Beaver Nation. I like the Tartan idea a buddy suggested, the cheerleaders wearing Tartan Plaid skirts!

          • Helps prove my point that its halfassed. I’ve been going to games since 97 and never knew it was “move” and nobody around me has ever corrected me or even sounded like they were saying that.

            Skirts sound cool, but having a young daughter, i’m not a huge fan of women only having a role of being sex objects at sports. Its f’d up that we watch blazer games and the only women she sees are half naked dancers shaking their asses for Paul Allen. She mimics the dance moves when she sees them, so i usually change the channel.

            If I was a single guy still, i’d love it, but now i have to think of the bigger picture. Really dont want my daughter swinging on the pole when she gets older.

          • Nope … no leap at all. Women ARE sex objects, all of them. This is built into the human condition. Without sexual attraction there would be little or no procreation, and no more species. And cheerleaders are only slightly removed from the same action, but in a bar with less clothes. Same action — being a sex object. Its genetic.

          • You took a major leap there, pal. Plus women should be in control of their own sexuality.

            Personally, I’m single but I really get irritated by the cheerleaders/dancers because I’m watching a highly competitive sport (basketball, football) and they just start dancing. Plus I’m sort of Pavlovian conditioned to the point where if I see them, it reminds me of the fact that college sports have a crapload of timeouts. Like…why? I just look away or use timeouts to read my book or something. I got through a significant portion of The Autobiography of Malcolm X that way.

  34. Ok oh man learned a lesson tonight! If a bouncer tells you to leave just go. Your options are pretty limited if you refuse turns out. They literally used my head and right shoulder to open the doors.

    Then the fat Polynesian dude proceeded to land cheap knees and blows to the body.

    I managed to get back on my feet only to have to pussy little guy I had a problem with in the first place break out fucking mace or pepper spray or whatever that shit was.

    I really wanted a piece of that smaller bouncer guy and thought I was going to kick his ass, but I’m bleeding out of every limb and several spots on my face and neck now.

    Top 5 worst places to get punched by a 350+lb Polynesian:

    5. Thigh/leg
    4. Shoulder front/back
    3. Direct stomach shot
    2. Jaw or temple
    1. Ribs/liver

    I need to take classes or I fear the beatings may continue.

  35. Conforto recalled to the Mets one day after being sent down to AAA Vegas; never even left NYC! Collins says, “”He wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t going to play,…I just think if he’s here, you’ve got to play those guys. If you’re going to sit the bench, we can go find somebody to sit the bench.”

    Another Collins quote,

    “I heard he was a below-average defender in college. I’ll tell you what, whoever had him in the Minor Leagues did a good job, because he’s played left field very well.”

    As discussed here, it is hard to believe MC had a bad rap for his D, but it seems to be so in some quarters. He’ll rapidly educate the doubters!

    http://m.mlb.com/news/article/140675276/mets-recall-conforto-put-nieuwenhuis-on-dl

    • I always felt that was an ignorant evaluation. For those of us that watched him in college, how many times did he throw a guy out at home plate???? The standing joke was “you do not test Conforto’s arm. Ever. Or you lose.” I don’t recall him making many errors.

      • Casey agrees, and said so more than once. Guess Collins wasn’t listening.

        Wonder how this kind of mistaken info gets started…and perpetuated.

  36. Parker said one time on JoeBeaver that Conforto was a good defender and his special strength in that area was the strength and accuracy of his arm. He went on to say that he thought Nobach was a BETTER defender, which is high praise in my opinion.

    • His best asset is his read off he bat and his being in position to make those throws. Yes, he does have an accurate arm. But so often he’s already headed in the right direction as soon as the ball is in play. That allows him to have great body control once the ball is caught.

      • In other words, he does all the work before your eyes move to him as the defender. Everything ends up looking like a routine fly ball when headed his way. Therefore, he’s never really challenged. Therefore, the book on his D is “questionable.”

        • Good observations, Jack, but it seems to me that his jump (while overlook-able) is only part of his D. Collins said “below average” and Conforto’s arm alone should put him better than that.
          Anyway, a great Beav!

  37. Looking for conformation about Javonte Ferguson running a 10.5 (guess it was closer to 10:6) I came across a site saying Paul Lucas ran the 4th fastest 100 in the country last year at 10:68.

    If we can hold onto Ferguson that would be 2 years in a row getting about the fastest dude in the country. Sounds like fun times ahead on offense.

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