Home Recruiting Washington, The Big "Dawg" In Hawaii?

Washington, The Big "Dawg" In Hawaii?

By
angry
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48

Ah, 1990. Seinfeld in, MC Hammer out.  Somewhere in the woods of the great Pacific Northwest, the word “nirvana” was muttered by an ugly, smelly, dying hippie who never quite attained it, while at a small club in Seattle, Washington, the word “Nirvana” was chanted by crowds of modern hippies, known as hipsters, in reverence of the most important rock band of my era. Seattle was on the map; grunge was king; I was rocking my flannel, and my 36 inch jeans lay on my 30 inch waist like Fogel’s “before” photo. That’s what size 32 belts are for, right? Thus began the great foray into The Emerald City.

What is the saying, every 20 years history repeats itself? Or is it every 30 years? Well, for the sake of this write up let’s say 20 and be historically inaccurate historians. Who doesn’t like irony!?  Ladies and gents, Seattle is once again relevant. Not only were the Huskies 41.666666% improved from the year prior, but according to recruiting services (I would disagree), they raked in one of the better classes in the conference. What is more disturbing is that the Dawgs seem to be hijacking our Hawaiian pipeline. Hawaiian recruits by team are as follows:

Washington-4

Arizona-1

Oregon State-1

UCLA-1

Arizona State-0

Cal-0

Oregon-0

Stanford-0

USC-0

Washington State-0

The Huskies with 300% more Hawaiian recruits than the Beavs? Hawaii was our lifeblood for a decade. Where do we regain that ground? The fertile mollisols of Oklahoma? Certainly not the cold gelisols of Alaska! Ah, nothing like soil references and blogging on a Wednesday night. Nevada dried up years ago. Maybe Texas. All I know is that the massive Pete Carroll creep tree is hanging over the conference…you either recruit dirty or you might as well not show up on Saturday. This conference is getting more and more competitive; what I don’t like to see is the Beavers losing ground in areas they historically dominate. And no, I don’t want to wait 30, or even 20 years, for history to repeat itself and the Beavs once again gain a stranglehold of The Aloha State.

48 COMMENTS

    • 2

      Oh I know, there’s a reason I said I disagree. It’s a good class…but pretty equal to ours in terms of talent level. They just have more bodies.

      Reply
  2. 1

    I’m really worried about the hawaii pipleine. OSu only really offered a few other guys other than Akuna. One of the guys they did offer, Elisra, they didn’t really focus on too much after Bibbee comitted.

    Definetley happy that the guy we did get was the best prospect from the state.

    Reply
    • 2

      Agreed on all counts!

      I’m actually pretty happy tonight. Not sure if it’s because I have the best girlfriend in the world or because I actually like this class.

      Reply
      • 1
        1

        In terms of recruiting sites I read that before this class is th highest rated in terms of star averages. So things do look bright for the future.

        Reply
  4. 2

    I’m loving it. It could have been better if someone knew how to color coordinate, but I’ll take it. The ‘highest rated class ever’ was before Akuna signed.

    I wouldn’t worry too much about the Hawai’i pipeline. You always hear that there are two types of kids in Hawai’i–homers and those who want to get off the Rock. Among those who want to go to the mainland are kids with family in a specific area (Epenesa), free spirits (Akuna) and LDS. Sark is BYU, so he’s lifting from their pipeline. It’s what he knows.

    OSU coaches have taken it to the next level. The Beavs are finding the premier Poly talent and targeting them with family values. Look at how many we offered versus who we got.

    We lost out on Epenesa, Elisara, Jamora, Potoae and Hemuli… without burning any bridges. We got Molesi, Akuna, Sapolu, Crichton, Tuivailala. Other than Potoae, I don’t think I’ll be missing much. I would have liked to see us go after Ioane, but it’s a nice story for BSU that they could pull him in over UW and Notre Dame.

    I really like Molesi, Akuna and Sapolu. Watching tape of Sapolu at OT was not the most fun, but you could see him working his feet. The tape on him at center was great. I guess it helps having a position coach sitting at the dinner table with you.

    If Crichton and Tuivailala are evaluated with half the consideration the other three were, then we might very well have the best class ever.

    Reply
  5. 1

    I’m also going to side with Tom Luginbill when he says that it’s almost impossible to determine recruiting class rankings by using any parameters other than gross numbers. Even then it’s hard to distinguish between 15 and 25. The top 15 are somewhat clear, but beyond 25 is not only a waste of time to try to rank… it’s disingenuous. There’s no way any recruiting service has actually evaluated all the talent properly and assessed the needs of each school with priorities in mind. Anyone who tells you that they’ve ranked as far as 84 is just plain lying.

    Reply
    • 1

      Ok, I am going to test this – am I an angrybeaver personality? Your answer will let me know if you are as full of shit as I think you are.

      Reply
      • 1

        WordPress would be in quite a bit of trouble if they made IP addresses available to anyone with a blog. Just common sense should tell everyone this guy is bluffing to support the burden of proof fallacy (i.e. “the necessity of proof always lies with the person who lays charges.”) that he created.

        Reply
  7. 1

    So what are the grey shirt priorities? I see 16 signatures, 12 spots and have heard about possibly five or six kids grey shirting.

    I see it like this:

    1. Will Storey – he’s in good academic standing and will be a P/T student in the fall. He’s a student of the game and will learn it quickly, but he needs the training table and weight room work.

    2. Connor Hamlett – I know little about the kid other than his tape. The staff is already making noises like he’s going to convert to OL. I think once he meets Cav and gets the ‘how would you like to play in the NFL?’ speech he goes with the flow. His skills are easily convertible to the line, but I don’t see him developing into a TE unless he’s a short yardage in-line/H-back blocker or maybe a red zone jump-baller.

    3. Mana Tuivailala – There’s tape of him out there, and I hear it’s rough but impressive in terms of strength and athleticism. I understand he needs to take a couple more classes… summer?… fall? If the classes he needs are in the fall, then he just goes to the bottom of the priority list because he just will not be here in any way.

    4. Trevor Romaine – Maybe another P/T student this fall? It makes sense for him to grey shirt and take advantage of the five to play four once Kahut graduates. Then again… I wouldn’t mind seeing more touchbacks.

    I’ve heard that Welch might have academic issues which force him onto the list, but I’ve also heard that he caught up with those issues a while ago.

    I think it’s funny that the Fink moved late to secure himself a #1 recruiting ranking. The guy just can’t help himself.

    Reply
      • 1

        I’d be impressed if that were the case. From what I read in the Monterey paper his dad knocked some sense into him last fall. Maybe that’s all he needed.

        Now we just need to figure out how tall he really is.

        Reply
    • 1

      Then there’s Terron Ward…

      He really wants to play at OSU, but I don’t think we’ll offer him. I think he’s going to stick with his back-up plan as a preferred walk-on at Cal.

      I just think if you’re actually turning over every rock you’re finding Ward under one of them… big, bright and shiny. There’s a reason he was a finalist for Mr. Football in California.

      Consider this…

      He played for a storied HS team in the same league as our touted QB recruit. His team won through their play-off run… including a bowl win versus what everyone thought was a heavily favored Crenshaw… a game in which he ran wild.

      Btw… I wouldn’t mind getting Crenshaw’s RB next year. But I digress.

      Now consider that he missed most of one game due to a severely sprained ankle and played poorly against a ‘nationally ranked’ HS team on that same bum ankle. Then consider that he didn’t play much in the second half of most of his games.

      This is not the same De La Salle team that sent entire offensive lines to D-I schools just ten years ago. This kid has to have something special if he averaged 10.5 yards per carry while gaining 2000+ yards on the season.

      I just get a bad feeling that Cal gets a star in the making without lifting a finger.

      Reply
      • 1

        That may be so, but I get the feeling this is Dion Lewis all over again.

        Only we get to be Rutgers, and Cal gets to be Pitt.

        Maybe if he had an older brother who flew under the D-I radar because of height… until he showed up on the field…

        It’s too bad we don’t have a story like that on our roster. We could boast about finding these stars when no other school gave them a chance. We could even use it as a matter of pride in our coaches and their abilities.

        Reply
      • 1

        Besides, even if he slips on the RB depth chart he would give us two things we need… depth at the RB position and more than skill enough to be a special teams star.

        Reply
      • 1

        One last thing before I give up the Terron Ward rant… not that it really means anything, but…

        Terrell Ward was listed as 5’8″, 178# on the 2004 De La Salle roster.

        He’s now listed as 5’10”, 201# as a NFL third round prospect.

        His older sister Tierra is a sprinter/hurdler for UCLA at 5’3″.

        His father had the same height issues as a DB for SDSU in the late 70’s, but he at least was drafted by Dick Vermeil in 1980.

        Terron is listed as 5’8″, 193#, and his speed is documented with a best of 10.8 in the 100m.

        Reply
        • 1

          Ok… one more last thing…

          We could make great strides in opening a pipeline to De La Salle. Ladouceur likes his boys to get their due credit. And next year we’re going to want in on Dylan Wynn and Blake Renaud.

          Reply
  10. 1

    I know it’s a week old, but…

    Two kids California First Team:
    http://myespn.go.com/blogs/calhisports/0-14-43/All-State-Football–First-Team.html

    One Second Team, and four Third Team:
    http://myespn.go.com/blogs/calhisports/0-14-42/All-State-Football–2nd—3rd-Teams.html

    The two fastest in our class (Murphy, Welch) did not make the cut (do we care?), and Tuivailala understandably just wasn’t on the radar.

    I think it’s nice to see that Sapolu gets credit from those who watched Ca football this year if not from the recruiting sites. I think he’s one of the steals in this class.

    Reply
  11. 1

    Ward was 1st team and beat Jones Drew records? Why not offer this kid instead of the 2 star TE. That guy is such a reach and puts a tangible damper on the class.

    Malcolm Jones is the most overrated player I’ve ever seen. He should be a 2 star. Quote me on that; the guy will have zero career in college or pro.

    Reply
    • 1

      I know… I’m still steamed about Ward. And his teammate Tyler Anderson is a D-I caliber CB with similar speed and great ball skills. In fact, he was the other tailback on the team with Ward and rushed for 13-1400 yards himself.
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciFXOR5Ragc
      Notice that the first play on his highlight reel is against Sean Mannion?

      Did these guys get pinched for mugging people at the local mall or something? What are we and every other college and high school football fan missing that college coaches are not?

      Cal fans think they’re getting the biggest steal of the year by getting these two as walk-ons. They also think they’re opening a pipeline to De La Salle that can be mined for years to some… without giving up a scholarship. They’re almost as excited about these two as they are about a good recruiting class.

      I don’t know about the two stars for Jones. I think he’s got great athletic ability, but I agree that he’s highly overrated at RB. His lack of fundamentals will make him a LB at UCLA. I would put Jordan James on the same list. I’m less than impressed with his performance given his ability.

      Reply
  12. 1

    Scott Crichton was First Team DE in 4A Washington, and Connor Hamlett was Hon Mention 3A:
    http://blog.thenewstribune.com/preps/2009/12/23/ap-all-state-football-teams/

    Michael Bibbee was Hon Mention 5A at RB and LB… probably because he was on a terrible team:
    http://highschoolsports.oregonlive.com/news/article/-3025346208471089998/the-oregonian-2009-class-5a-all-state-football-team/

    Will Storey wasn’t all state at QB/WR/TE/RB or DB. But he was First Team 6A as a LB last year… deservedly so:
    http://www.oregonprepsports.net/football/all-stars/2227-2008-football-all-state-teams
    Anyone want to guess where he plays at OSU?

    Shaydon Akuna missed too many early games with an injury to make all state in Hawai’i… well… he did make Second Team as an AP player:
    http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2009/Dec/27/sp/hawaii91227003.html

    Reply
  13. 1

    Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez said Akuna can bench press 415 pounds, squat 525 and dead lift 505.

    “He can easily build up to (weighing) 240,” Hernandez said. “Oregon State was in the game from the beginning, since the end of his sophomore year, and they never wavered. They have so many coaches with Hawai’i ties and they’re really good with the Polynesian kids. They were enthusiastic about him and were on him from the get-go.”

    http://hawaiipreps.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100204/SPORTS03/2040372&template=PrepSports/Isle+standouts+make+11th-hour+decisions
    This kids strength is pretty ridiculous. Defeinly not worride about the hawaii pipeline.

    As for Ward I did think the coaches would offer him a greyshirt by now if they were going to offer him at all. I guess they don’t want to have too many greyshirts that’d limit the amunt of scholarships they could offer for next years class.

    Reply
  14. 1

    I’ve linked to Akuna’s highlights a couple times in previous posts. It starts with all those lifts, and they are impressive. What’s nice is that it’s natural strength. But you can see that his coaches are juicing.

    Without attrition, we have 20 spots opening next year. Minus the three grey shirts (as I count scholarship players now), that leaves 17 spots. We will never have a top recruiting class just because of the numbers we have to offer. So I’m fine with that. It leaves the staff with a more selective mentality as well.

    And what we need in next year’s class will be RBx2 (at least), WR, TEx2, OTx2, DE, DTx2 and DBx2.

    What’s nice is that James and Paea are the only players I’ll really miss after next year. People will point to us losing Olander, LaGrone, Miller, Linnenkohl, Pohl, Dockery, Roberson, Pankey… and maybe Camp, Kjos, Catchings and Kahut. Maybe they use all that as an excuse to rank us in the bottom half of the Pac 10 for 2011. But except for James and Paea we have better talent in the underclass. I can’t remember the last time that’s happened here.

    Reply
    • 1

      Good, better, best
      Never let it rest
      ‘Til your good is better
      And your better is best!

      Having grown up in Antioch and attending De La Salle during high school I can tell you that the school instils respect and honour in all aspects of life, from academics to athletics. Ward is just being a kid, and you can’t judge him to harshly based off his myspace page. Granted I don’t know him but historically the school has turned out some quality men on and off the field.

      Saint Baptist De La Salle
      PRAY FOR US!
      Live in our hearts
      FOREVER!

      Reply
  18. 1

    That’s a pretty tame myspace compared to some current players’ HS myspaces. But they grew up just fine.

    He’s coming from a system unlike that of our usual recruits… so is Molesi. These guys play in systems that expect extra commitment to hard work and extra commitment to winning. I think that dovetails perfectly with the attitude and image we want to portray in future years.

    I’m pretty happy with this pick-up. Now we can concentrate next year’s RB search for the big, downhill runner type instead of turning over every rock to find the next Quizz… unless Murphy becomes that RB. Then we need more safeties.

    Btw… Maurice Jones-Drew came out of De La Salle in 2003 at 5’8″, 190# with 4.45 speed, All State First Team, four stars, and ranked #6 nationally as a RB. He is now listed as 5’7.5″ and 210#. He played behind some great offensive lines, and DLS’s defenses were also pretty outstanding.

    That’s not to say that they’re a poor team now. But since they were sort of busted for recruiting players they have fallen off a little. I think that’s why Nick Montana transferred out.

    Anyway… Terron Ward comes out of De La Salle now at 5’8″, 193# with 4.43 speed, All State First Team, two stars, and ranked #141 nationally as a RB… while breaking MJD’s and others’ records.

    Reply

    • Definitely like the talent, but don’t like the thug myspace. I never look at players’ myspace pages, though, so maybe this is tame like you said.

      Actually, I remember Quiz had a pretty thugish myspace while in HS and he turned out okay.

      Reply

    • Yeah… I noticed that there’s not much out there when I punch Terron Ward into the google.

      There’s write-ups about winning the state championship, a couple game summaries, all-league/region/state honors, some fluff pieces about him at the beginning of the season which I’m sure Ladouceur set up for his recruiting benefit (how did that work out?), and his myspace and highlights.

      Maybe you should start a new post so the kid can get some google action. :)

      Reply

      • Come to think of it, that’s a lot of stuff for one kid in a major metropolitan area. The thing that’s missing is all the recruiting articles speculating about what kind of signing day freak show he might produce.

        Reply

      • Yeah, he’ll be in the prospect write ups I’m working on. So tired and lazy right now…watching Richard Pryor.

        Is it me or have 10 different Beaver blogs popped up in the past month? I see a new one every few days. Everyone thinks they can be Angry, huh?? Bring it, chumps.

        Reply

  19. I am mildly optimistic about Ward. I guess if he flames out its no loss to us, and if he turns out to be a diamond in the rough… Well then we may have another Quizz. Exciting stuff..

    Reply

    • Mildly?

      At the very least he has great straight-line speed. That translates to KR and PR duties in the worst case.

      OSU is now a good enough team that we’re recruiting RB depth/special teams specialists and kickers.

      Reply

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