There's been a lot of talk that January 14th will be the biggest recruiting weekend in program history.
Let's get some things straight.
First, there are only two 4-star athletes visiting (Todd Peat Jr and Viliami Moala). Of those two, one might be off the board and cancel his visit, as Peat is on the record saying he will announce a school before January 14th. So unless it's Oregon State, a school he will not have officially visited before then, you can forget about him. That leaves one 4-star athlete, Moala, who is now has OSU and Cal 50/50.
The rest of the list is okay, but the highest remaining players are 3-stars Byron Moore and Ryan Nowicki. Moore recently crossed Ohio State off his list. Nowikici has not raved about the Beavs as he has Penn State and others, but they're in the mix.
After that we're into the normal C-list guys. Marcus Peters, Walton Taumoepeua (grade issues), Vivii Teofilo (underrated prospect who should be at least 3-stars), Michael Thomas (another WR??), and Akeem Gonzales. While the C-listers are solid players, and I'd be happy with any one of them, they're the norm for OSU. What the team needs is the level of talent above these guys, and the odds of landing those blue chips looks low.
Two other blue chips in player are Stefan McClure and Torian White. White has soured big time on the UCLA turmoil, so I believe he commits to OSU following his official visit (January 21st). McClure has always loved UCLA, so he's going to have to find a reason not to sign with them. The turmoil might be enough to make that happen, but will he see through Rick's sales pitch?
The idea that all four Grant preps will sign at OSU now seems like a long shot. Sample isn't visiting with Moala, and he's looking to be a Washington lean with Cal in the mix. OSU is third right now. That ship sailed when their high school team advanced in the playoffs. Had they all visited for the Civil War, the odds of them all signing would have been high.
I guess my point is that while the weekend has a couple 4-star DTs, something the team desperately needs, there's also a lot of the standard talent. Biggest recruiting weekend ever? Maybe, but that says more about recruiting standards of the past than the current visitor list.
Nowicki’s final 4 is Oregon State, Penn State, USC, and Washington. Not sure how you think he is an ASU lean.
I read so much stuff I either (a) confused him with someone else or (b) forget who told me that. I am pretty positive that was where he was leaning, though. Makes sense, he’s a local.
On his profile at Scout, that is his final four. He also doesn’t have an ASU visit scheduled. ASU only has 2-3 schollies left because this is a really small class for them.
I removed my Nowicki comment since I can’t find or remember where I read/hear it.
Nowicki to Penn State per ESPN.
I’ve also heard that if Thomas committed, he would greyshirt. So, we wouldn’t have to worry about him counting towards this class.
I think our biggest need is the big guys on both sides of the ball. Moala looks like a monster… if he plays like he looks the coaches should just give him a starting spot now.
I’ve actually heard that Moala will actually commit to OSU shortly after his visit. Oregon State has let it be known they will take him and Lopa together and Moala much prefers that he and Lopa go to the same school. Cal just wants Moala individually. So I expect to see him commit to OSU which would be a huge get.
Also I’ve heard, Todd Peat really likes Oregon State and that his top 3 schools are Oregon State, Nebraska and Stanford. It looks like though that it will probably come down to OSU and Nebraska.
I would love to get Teofilo, White and Nowicki they’re much better than what OSU has currently.
Peat is a great player, but I want his brother more. Andrus will be a high four star if not a five star.
He will definitely be a great player and I heard it is very likely that if Todd Peat picks OSU his brother will do the same next year. So, it is basically a package deal with a year difference between the two.
Where did you hear that?
Does it make sense to you that a player would commit to a school before taking an official?
He did take an unofficial, but at the time didn’t say a whole lot. He’d have to be gloating about OSU for me to believe your scenario.
I’m not saying he will commit to OSU, Nebraska is the favorite right now for Peat and probably will be where he’s heading I’m just saying he definitely has OSU in his top 3.
Also there’s talk Peat will postpone the announcement and reach a decision after visiting OSU.
maybe Peat will commit during the Army game to us, and then visit the next weekend and recruit for us. Doubtful, but it would be sweet if it happened. I feel that with a lot of big names in play, we’re bound to land a couple of them.
Yeah that could happen but doubtful. He will most likely postpone his announcement for a week or so after his visit to OSU and then announce his commitment. He will most likely commit to Nebraska but there is a chance he will commit to OSU based on how his visit goes. Plus, these are 18 year old kids you never know what they will do so anything can happen.
OSU usually has about 4 or 5 big names this time of year, but rarely lands any. At some point they need to get over THAT hump if they’re to get over the on the field hump.
If Oregon State wants to start getting the big time talent coming to Oregon State they need to start making rose bowl berths. They don’t have “resources” like certain schools do so they need to be a consistent winner on the field to get big time talent more than once in awhile. This team starts making BCS Bowls and winning 10 games a season the talent level on the team will go up quite a bit. So Riley has got to get it done on the field so us as fans don’t hope and pray to get big time talent, rather expect it to happen.
Chicken and egg, and I feel you have it backwards. You first need the talent before making a Rose Bowl. There’s a reason the Beavers are peaking at the Sun Bowl. Much of it is dumb coaching (wrong players, etc), but a lot of it is max talent is too low.
Also, there’s a lot more to this formula, like team chemistry etc. The Beavers need more intense football players…born leaders. I love Trosin for that reason. If you’re going to recruit 2 and 3 stars, make them those types. Boise State does this, and it’s done them well.
I think in last year’s class and this year’s class, the coaches have started to recruit better players. But that’s just IMO. I think in 2-3 years we will be really good. 2011 might be good depending on who’s play calling and who’s starting on the OL and D.
Moala has said so many different things it’s hard to know what is up. What’s becoming clear is the Grant 4 will not be a package deal as originally thought. I’m pretty sure Sample is going to Washington. I think these guys had a reality check after looking at depth charts and each will pick the best fit.
I think we’ll get Lopa/Moala, and Paulo will go somewhere else like SDSU and Sample will go to UW.
Jaswha James who is a 3-star on ESPN and Scout.com is also scheduled to visit on the 14th. This kid is really bigger than I expected move to LB is very likely.
Anyone watching Air Force man handle GaTech? Can we please hire their D coordinator!!!?
A service academy shutting down a BCS triple option. 7 points.
GA. Tech did have 4 turnovers so if they wouldn’t have turned it over they would probably of had 400+ yards. So Air Force didn’t exactly “manhandle” the yellow jackets.
Byron Moore just eliminated Ohio State, so he is definitely not a lean there.
Good news. It’s strange his 3 other choices are in the south…
IMO, I think Miami came on too late, Ole Miss already has a lot of DB’s committed including another JUCO DB who committed today, and Tennessee has brought in 7 DB’s over the past 2 years with 3 more committed this year. I’m starting to like our chances a lot, as I thought tOSU was our main competition.
Did the suspensions (and soon to be departures) of Pryor et al. have anything to do with Moore scratching off tOSU?
Probably had something to do with it. But there was also reports that Tressel would step down after the Sugar Bowl so that could have been another big factor.
Was reading that Stanford’s Harbaugh may have an offer coming from Michigan and/or the 49ers. Stanford has already re-offered a new and Riley like contract.
Would Harbaugh leaving open the door to any recruits jumping ship?
Harbaugh isn’t looking at Stanford’s offer until after his bowl game.
Is Lopa coming along w/ Moala on 1/14? Where are we w/ available schollys and any guesses as to who will greyshirt or won’t qualify?
So what’s going on with Stefan McClure and Rahmel Dockery?
Is OSU out of the running for McClure?
I though Dockery was going to commit soon.
WOOT! LAVONTE BARNETT COMMITS!
http://cliffkirkpatrick.mvourtown.com/2010/12/28/cliff-latest-football-commit/
how many schollies left?
Personally, I’d guess we have 3-4 more spots to offer.
But…I found an interesting update from Dec. 9th of 2008 that gave an update of how many offers we had given. Riley said that we had 3 more scholarships to offer at that point. Here were the kids that had, at that point, given their verbals and their 2010 status…
Joshua Andrews – RS Fr
Michael Beaton- Greyshirt Fr
Conroy Black- ended up at Utah
John Braun- RS Fr
Dax Dilbeck- RS Fr
Michael Doctor- Greyshirt Fr…academic reasons
Grant Enger- RS Fr
Micah Hatfield- RS Fr
Kyrell Hudson- signed pro baseball contract
Josh Kaiwi- really not sure what happened to him. Didn’t end up here though.
Jack Lomax- RS Fr
Sean Martin- RS Fr
Rueben Robinson- SO
Mana Rosa- RS Fr
Zeke Sanders- RS Fr
Tyler Thomas- Did make the team, but now doing the three point stance in jail I assume.
And here are the guys we got to commit AFTER Riley said we had 3 scholarships to offer…
Reggie Dunn – See Kuli, Simi
Jordan Poyer – SO
Michael Philipp – SO
Markus Wheaton- SO
Kevin Cummings – Greyshirt Fr
Rashaad Reynolds- Greyshirt Fr
Obum Gwacham- Greyshirt Fr
Ashton Jefferson – Kicked off team after Fr. season.
Tramaine Thompson- ended up at K. State.
About a month ago, Riley said we had 8 or 9 offers left to give. I think we’ve gotten 5 or 6 commits since then, so that would leave 3 or 4 more offers to make…but we offered 9 guys with 3 spots in 2008. So who knows.
My guess is we just try to get as many talented players in as we can and greyshirt anybody we have to greyshirt.
Ugh, Lamar De Rego committed too, not sure what to think of this one
Damn… What if Moala, Lopa, Moore, Dockery, Thomas, Moreland, McClure, and Peat all want to commit?
You can’t greyshirt everybody!
Are we stuck with the likes of Harrah, Collins and Clute?
IMO, that’d be a wonderful problem to have.
Nothing is final until the paper is signed. We can pull scholarship offers the day before LOI day.
But my guess is that some of these guys have been told well in advance that their offer is either contingent upon us NOT getting certain players or that if we get a certain number of commits, we’re going to have to greyshirt them.
Did anyone notice Rivals up-dated/graded Jashwa James and Darrlyn Jackson from 0 stars to 3 stars? Probably long over due… and I hear all the criticism of this recruiting class not being that good, but this is certainly better than most of the previous classes.
From what I understand there is no reason why we can’t rescind some of these offers before the signing period if better athletes commit.
Yeah, we can take offers away from commits. It will just hurt OSU’s reputation and pipelines to certain geographical areas and schools.
I heard some guys will be transferring, so the coaches might already know about those guys.
Is Kevan Walker for sure going to transfer do you know? UCLA could actually use him right now.
Who else are candidates to transfer? Lomax, Micah Hatfield, Keynan Parker?
Nothing is set in stone, but I’m willing to bet that a couple will transfer. Then I think that guys like Robins, Scott, Barnett, Collins, and maybe a couple more have the potential to greyshirt.
Lavonte Barnett is gonna be a player. I love this get.
He doesn’t appear that fast in his video, but my intuition thinks he will be great… the same intuition I had about Wheaton before he commited.
Barnett is a nice pick up. I am not stoked about the JC guy. He was on the radar a while back just like Harrah, and I was praying neither would commit. Ugh. I doubt he ever sees the field, so it’s just wasted roster space and money. These guys are not cheap. Guess someone has to fill out the practice squad, though.
I cannot see Lomax being content with being a 4 year back up. He is going to want to play somewhere.
I’m guessing that 4-5 guys will greyshirt along with a couple transfers, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we took 6-7 more guys.
Probably 8 more max.
If I had my choice for the last 8, they would be:
1. Dockery (aka DeSean Jackson)
2. Moala
3. Moore
4. White
5. Peat
6. Nowicki
7. Moreland
8. McClure
De Rego’s film. OLB/DE? No way. He looks best suited for MLB.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUA63F_dbNc
I couldn’t find any stats or production numbers. He looks like the stay puft marshmallow man in his film. Bad signing.
I find it interesting that we’ve landed another 3-4 DE. (Harrah played almost exclusively in the 3-4 and De Rego’s team looks like it played about 75-80% in the 3-4)
Both kids fail to impress me with their speed, which makes me thing they may be more suited to DT if either can gain 20-30 lbs. Frahm and Olander were listed at about 275 this year. Oregon’s DTs are listed at an absurd 253 average for their starters. So maybe both could be okay inside?
I think that MLB is out of the question for either Harrah and De Rego. Neither of those guys will get sideline to sideline stringing out the outside run in the Pac 12, so I’m not worried about that possibility.
PS- Look at this De Rego kid’s arms. He’s not soft and I’m guessing he’s not 255lbs anymore either. Hard to tell for sure though.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Lamar-De-Rego/1235794929#!/profile.php?id=1235794929
So the Beavers now have 8000 WRs and 500 OLBs. How about an offensive lineman, DT, CB, or MLB!?!
Barnett’s film is so good, and it’s only from his junior year. He and Johnson are high 3-star if not low 4-stars.
Still enraged about De Rego unless they feel he can play MLB. That’s the only position I see him fit to play, and even that is a stretch. UGGH#$(#($#%$#(OIR#$
If we get some blue chippers in he next month *cough* Moreland, Moore, Moala, McClure *cough* I will forgive the staff for signing these JC guys. I’m actually excited to see what Fernando can do if he adds some bulk, he’s the only JC I could see getting a decent amount of PT.
Does anyone know what happened to these prized recruits of the past? From the 2010 class: Thomas Molesi, Happy Iona, Mana Tuivailala, Fred Thompson, and speedster Donell Welch? Whatever happened to the infamous ghost named Simi Kuli?
Scratch Mana Tuivailala off of the list. He’s listed on the 2010 OSU football roster.
Side note: My friend who is an Oklahoma Sooner living in Oklahoma asked me “What happened to OSU’s Linebackers this year?” “They usually have fast, hard hitters, that fly to the ball like their hair is on fire, but this year it looked like they just filled the positions with a bunch of duds.” Why?
No joke, that is exactly what he asked me. What do you guys think, will OSU play their best LB’s or will we see the same lame defense next year? I told him OSU has some great LB’s in the waiting who redshirted this last year, and they waited until the end of season to play their best lineup with Doctor and Unga playing more.
Thomas Molesi – At JC in AZ. I’ve read he may sign with us out of JC but not from a credible source (Scout free msg board). He may go on a mission.
Iona – Pretty sure he didn’t graduate high school.
Tuivailala – On the roster.
Thompson – In the directory.
Welch – In the directory.
Kuli – Ship sailed, playing at a JC in TX.
SIMI KULI Update:
To everyone (myself included) who ever wondered what happened to Simi Kuli here it is: He ended up playing at West Texas A&M University a DII school, and this….
http://arrestnation.com/2010/09/22/simione-kuli-arrested/
It appears OSU dodged a bullet!
Same school where Ryan Leaf was the golf coach and had his freak out. Must be something in the water. I think Kuli still players after this incident, but his stats were very average.
Happy Iona ended up at Hinds CC in Mississippi
http://www.hindsccsports.com/roster.aspx?path=football
Is there any chance Happy Iona could still end up at OSU?
Thanks for the link, glad he’s still after it.
On January 13th Juda Parker visits. He’s a DE from Hawaii, he’s the teammate of Na’Alii Robins and was named an Army All American yesterday. Angry, What’s your take on this guy?
Wasn’t he a Tennessee commit?
Maybe the plan all along was to offer Robins just to get this guy. If so, and Parker verbals to OSU, then I can forgive the recruitment of Robins.
When was the last time OSU had an Army All-American commit?
So many DEs!!!!
Yes but the rumor was that Derek Dooley told him to decommit so Tennessee could get a more highly rated DE. He didn’t have a high amount of interest in OSU till about the last month or so. and not sure about who they’ve gotten who has played in the Army All American Bowl, they do have a pretty good shot to have 3 in this class though.
They do have a lot of DE commits but IF they were to get Torian White, Peat and Moala I guarantee nobody will be too worried about all the DE Commits =)
Before last season, OSU signed a JC cornerback that looked good on film. I didn’t think he’d fit in because he could play that ball and make INT’s.
Any idea how he progressed throughout the season and if he sees any PT next year? Moving Hardin could give him some opportunities. I’d like to see him get a chance, as Reynolds seems awfully light/thin for PAC-12 play.
Ben Terry?
http://rivals.yahoo.com/oregonstate/football/recruiting/player-Ben-Terry-67173;_ylt=AuHbfSIqzX_Rm_DCUDLEba1FtZB4
Ryan Handford I believe you’re referring to and I’m not sure how he progressed exactly but I expect him to compete with Reynolds for a potential starting spot. That’s only if Hardin is moved to Safety which he should be but knowing this staff he will be a starting CB next season.
Reynolds needs to have a shot to compete for the starting QB spot. Lets roll out some option next season.
Starting QB? No he doesn’t need a shot BUT the Beavers can put a wrinkle in there have him in the wildcat with him being a dual threat. He would give opposing teams when he’s in there.
“Give opposing teams nightmares when he’s in there” is what I meant to say.
I’d like to see Poyer run the wildcat. He’s football smart, has enough arm to make the downfield pass a legitimate threat, and has decent speed.
In using him, I’d put Quizz in at “QB,” Poyer at “RB,” have Quizz move out to receiver, than have the ball snapped to Poyer. Than you also have a legitimate receiving threat in Quizz.
However, if Reynolds has the speed and experience from high school, I’d welcome that too. Put your threats on the field, diversify, make the defense face tough choices. Some playmaker will be open.
Completely agree. Put them both out there at different times and you’ll give opposing defenses problems. Plus it adds a little more excitement and creativity to the offense which is something they need. Could you imagine you have Reynolds out there and James Rodgers comes in motion? it would essentially be a triple option ran by one of the teams CB. Probably be the only team in America doing that.
I’d like to see Poyer and Reynolds as the starting CBs. Best combo IMO. But as others have said, we know it will be Hardin.
The SacBee has the four Grant kids coming on Jan. 21st and visiting Wazzu on the 28th.
That’s a better weekend for a visit. Civil War at Gill should have the campus buzzing.
Do people “buzz” anymore for the Basketball team?
If they sweep the Arizona schools they will be buzzing. I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that this team starts out 5-2 in conference play. It would be nice to have fans who aren’t diehards fill Gill and be excited to watch this team. A start like that in conference play would certainly do that.
Speaking of Quizz, does anyone else agree with me that he is not a strong leader? Not only for the 0-line comments he made this past year. I just feel he never puts the team on his back and takes over a game. Maybe he can’t with that crappy line, but even his first two years I can only think of one occasion where he did it (USC in 2008). He seems to come up small in big games.
I think he’s a decent leader not great but his brother to me is the leader of the team and is the heart and soul of the team. He doesn’t hit on his chest a whole lot like Quizz. I like that about James. He’s a leader on the field and does it by example and not by drawing attention to himself by yelling and screaming all the time.
Quizz’s posts are a little bothersome because of the lack of conviction. If he’s being evaluated and gathering information to make a decision, why not wait until that process is done? He’s less mature than his brother that seems clear, but he’s just a junior college kid.
While the prospect of James/Quizz/Wheaton/Halhuni et al was/is promising, I am beginning to wonder if OSU wouldn’t benefit from Quizz’s departure in the long run; the offense is a predictable one-trick pony. 99% of the carries?
By the same token, I am glad OSU is NOT in a medicore bowl game this year; it would be the justification for complacency.
This program needs change; OSU’s staff has not maximized the value of Quizz in recruiting either OL or RB’s. Admittedly Woods and Ward are interesting prospects, and Woods is from Texas so there’s a relationship to OSU’s acquisition of Rodgers there, but neither back has the look/impression of a Steven Jackson/Quizz Rodger’s game changer who simply has physical ability that cannot be coached. I suspect Woods would average less than 4 YPC with the quality of play of OSU’s O-line.
This staff will not make change unless it is forced upon them; they’re not proactive. Quizz’s departure might force them to diversify.
One young running back who could have an immediate impact is Terron Ward. He is the typical OSU back 5’7 190 but runns a 4.4 and is explosive. Don’t be surprised if this kid see’s the field as a Greyshirt Freshman.
A lot of people like Ward…I’m neutral on his talent, and a bit skeptical that he’s an every down back.
I’d like to see him on some 3rd downs and screen plays. I see him as a Sproles kind of guy.