[Redrum]

We\'ve been used to easy part of the ride.  The commits keep coming and our little car just keeps on going UP.  Well, babies, the ride is about to get like roller coasters are supposed to be.

Indiana RB Remound Wright,  not on the commit list for a month yet, is rethinking his whole situation.  Notre Dame came calling and Wright is listening.   No offer, yet, but they\'re making inroads.  Lots of reasons why Wright would be open to ND.  His family has, apparently, a history of involvement with ND  (xref lost WR Tai-ler Jones).  And, despite our Western bewilderment at the thought,  there is a lot of draw for an Midwestern, Indiana kid to play for the big dog of Indiana college football, close to home, friends and family.  And ND\'s depth chart at RB might look better than Stanford\'s to a guy who wants to play early.  But ND is also on a couple of 5-star RBs,  so maybe that possible advantage will vaporize.  That...and the question most good RBs must ask themselves:  "Am I going to be a star in a spread offense?"   Also,  at this point, none of our commits has been admitted...so maybe he\'s just hedging his bets.
 
Lots of reasons and possibilities.  Whatever,  Wright was considered a real get and now our upward chug to the first high point is over.  Everybody raise both hands, the nose is going over.  Let\'s all scream.  The ride is ON.   Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!


http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.d...TS/7070320

[Redrum]

We\'ve been used to easy part of the ride.  The commits keep coming and our little car just keeps on going UP.  Well, babies, the ride is about to get like roller coasters are supposed to be.

Indiana RB Remound Wright,  not on the commit list for a month yet, is rethinking his whole situation.  Notre Dame came calling and Wright is listening.   No offer, yet, but they\'re making inroads.  Lots of reasons why Wright would be open to ND.  His family has, apparently, a history of involvement with ND  (xref lost WR Tai-ler Jones).  And, despite our Western bewilderment at the thought,  there is a lot of draw for an Midwestern, Indiana kid to play for the big dog of Indiana college football, close to home, friends and family.  And ND\'s depth chart at RB might look better than Stanford\'s to a guy who wants to play early.  But ND is also on a couple of 5-star RBs,  so maybe that possible advantage will vaporize.  That...and the question most good RBs must ask themselves:  "Am I going to be a star in a spread offense?"   Also,  at this point, none of our commits has been admitted...so maybe he\'s just hedging his bets.
 
Lots of reasons and possibilities.  Whatever,  Wright was considered a real get and now our upward chug to the first high point is over.  Everybody raise both hands, the nose is going over.  Let\'s all scream.  The ride is ON.   Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!


http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.d...TS/7070320

[JohnR34231]

One more reminder (as if we needed it) that commitments mean absolutely zilch to recruits these days.

He may not be the last, but the good news is it works both ways and maybe we can steal a few ourselves a la Bret Nottingham and Blake Leuders.

[JohnR34231]

One more reminder (as if we needed it) that commitments mean absolutely zilch to recruits these days.

He may not be the last, but the good news is it works both ways and maybe we can steal a few ourselves a la Bret Nottingham and Blake Leuders.

[CowboyIndian]

NT

[CowboyIndian]

NT

[Farm93]

We\'ve been used to easy part of the ride.  The commits keep coming and our little car just keeps on going UP.  Well, babies, the ride is about to get like roller coasters are supposed to be.

Click, click, click, click, click, click...

Would you believe our JH 2011 rollercoaster has clicked and clanked all the way up to #4 in the 2011 scout.com team rankings?

Other programs are sure to pass Stanford as the 5 star recruits with the 2.0 GPAs start picking baseball hats off of tables in the next few months, but it was still nice to see.

[Farm93]

We\'ve been used to easy part of the ride.  The commits keep coming and our little car just keeps on going UP.  Well, babies, the ride is about to get like roller coasters are supposed to be.

Click, click, click, click, click, click...

Would you believe our JH 2011 rollercoaster has clicked and clanked all the way up to #4 in the 2011 scout.com team rankings?

Other programs are sure to pass Stanford as the 5 star recruits with the 2.0 GPAs start picking baseball hats off of tables in the next few months, but it was still nice to see.

[terry]

I\'m all in favor of recruits keeping their options open. I think it\'s insane for these kids to commit so early. They should wait as long as they can. One thing the NCAA does right is to prohibit binding football commitments until February of the senior year. These kids deserve a chance to make a well considered, fully informed decision. I know that a number of the "factory school" coaches are pushing for an early commitment date. I hope that doesn\'t happen. It\'s against the interests of the athletes. They should have as much time as they need to make a decision.

[terry]

I\'m all in favor of recruits keeping their options open. I think it\'s insane for these kids to commit so early. They should wait as long as they can. One thing the NCAA does right is to prohibit binding football commitments until February of the senior year. These kids deserve a chance to make a well considered, fully informed decision. I know that a number of the "factory school" coaches are pushing for an early commitment date. I hope that doesn\'t happen. It\'s against the interests of the athletes. They should have as much time as they need to make a decision.

[Leftcoast]

Hmmhhhh ..... Terry as usual makes a lot of sense.       Darn, I guess I\'ll just have to sit back and (I hope) enjoy the ride.

[Leftcoast]

Hmmhhhh ..... Terry as usual makes a lot of sense.       Darn, I guess I\'ll just have to sit back and (I hope) enjoy the ride.

[Spiny_Norman]

There is a proposal under consideration by the NCAA to bar early verbal offers of financial aid to students in all sports until July 1 before their senior year.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-0706...723.column

[Spiny_Norman]

There is a proposal under consideration by the NCAA to bar early verbal offers of financial aid to students in all sports until July 1 before their senior year.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-0706...723.column

[Farm93]

There is a proposal under consideration by the NCAA to bar early verbal offers of financial aid to students in all sports until July 1 before their senior year.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-0706...723.column

Restricting verbal offers seems really difficult.  If a player is at a camp and the current HC says, "We would love to have 20 players like you sign with us in 2012."  Is that a verbal offer?  If the HC says to the parents, "I wouldn\'t bet against your son getting an important phone call from this school in a few months."  Is that a verbal offer?  How and where would these questionable verbal offers get documented for later review?  

The staffs would almost certainly be able to say that the player or the parents misunderstood the conversation.  The HC would love to have 20 players like player X, but of course they would not extend offers to anyone until July 1.  Or the HC could claim that he told the parents Player Y may get an important call.  A call to help guide them through the prospective student application process from a university staffer in July.

Seems pie in the sky to think one could restrict conversations, and the attempt likely would only hurt the programs least willing to test the boundaries of the rule.

From a Stanford perspective I think the early non-binding verbals are actually helpful.  The 3.1 GPA type can know they should try to get that up to 3.4, or whatever, and have enough time to have realistic shot at making it happen.

[Farm93]

There is a proposal under consideration by the NCAA to bar early verbal offers of financial aid to students in all sports until July 1 before their senior year.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-0706...723.column

Restricting verbal offers seems really difficult.  If a player is at a camp and the current HC says, "We would love to have 20 players like you sign with us in 2012."  Is that a verbal offer?  If the HC says to the parents, "I wouldn\'t bet against your son getting an important phone call from this school in a few months."  Is that a verbal offer?  How and where would these questionable verbal offers get documented for later review?  

The staffs would almost certainly be able to say that the player or the parents misunderstood the conversation.  The HC would love to have 20 players like player X, but of course they would not extend offers to anyone until July 1.  Or the HC could claim that he told the parents Player Y may get an important call.  A call to help guide them through the prospective student application process from a university staffer in July.

Seems pie in the sky to think one could restrict conversations, and the attempt likely would only hurt the programs least willing to test the boundaries of the rule.

From a Stanford perspective I think the early non-binding verbals are actually helpful.  The 3.1 GPA type can know they should try to get that up to 3.4, or whatever, and have enough time to have realistic shot at making it happen.

[JohnR34231]

Whatever rule the NCAA comes up with on early verbals, coaches and recruiters will find a way to get around it. Then there will be another rule, more draconian, and the game will continue.

[JohnR34231]

Whatever rule the NCAA comes up with on early verbals, coaches and recruiters will find a way to get around it. Then there will be another rule, more draconian, and the game will continue.

[JohnR34231]

More unenforceable and meaningless than they are now?

IMHO, that would be tough to do.

[JohnR34231]

More unenforceable and meaningless than they are now?

IMHO, that would be tough to do.

[washingtonismoney]

Say, how many scholarships do we have available this time around anyway? I remember some speculation that we wouldn\'t be able to fit everyone in last class, but--as it turned out--we had room to spare. How does that impact this class?

[washingtonismoney]

Say, how many scholarships do we have available this time around anyway? I remember some speculation that we wouldn\'t be able to fit everyone in last class, but--as it turned out--we had room to spare. How does that impact this class?

[Redrum]

The Harbaugh Zen of football is:  Depends on how many guys leave after 4 academic years.

It used to be that most players who had 5-yrs. of eligibility due to injury or redshirt actually played 5 years.  I guess that was because the old paradigm of Stanford football was that our 2-star guys would eventually start playing like 4-star guys if we just let them practice enough.

Now the emphasis is on moving them through.  When you have good caliber recruits in the wings, you can do that.   Just like the big boys.
Too bad.  Wouldn\'t it be great to have Ryan Whalen or Marecic around for a 5th season?  But after the season, we\'ll know.   Senior Day and the Awards dinner are to football what the lineup on Lenin\'s tomb was to Kremlin watchers.  My bet is on 25, the max allowable, minus one or two slots that will have to go to this or last years walk-ons/ grayshirts.   Better noggins than mine actually keep track of this floating number and can assign names to most of the total departing.

[Redrum]

The Harbaugh Zen of football is:  Depends on how many guys leave after 4 academic years.

It used to be that most players who had 5-yrs. of eligibility due to injury or redshirt actually played 5 years.  I guess that was because the old paradigm of Stanford football was that our 2-star guys would eventually start playing like 4-star guys if we just let them practice enough.

Now the emphasis is on moving them through.  When you have good caliber recruits in the wings, you can do that.   Just like the big boys.
Too bad.  Wouldn\'t it be great to have Ryan Whalen or Marecic around for a 5th season?  But after the season, we\'ll know.   Senior Day and the Awards dinner are to football what the lineup on Lenin\'s tomb was to Kremlin watchers.  My bet is on 25, the max allowable, minus one or two slots that will have to go to this or last years walk-ons/ grayshirts.   Better noggins than mine actually keep track of this floating number and can assign names to most of the total departing.

[Farm93]

The Harbaugh Zen of football is:  Depends on how many guys leave after 4 academic years.

It used to be that most players who had 5-yrs. of eligibility due to injury or redshirt actually played 5 years.  I guess that was because the old paradigm of Stanford football was that our 2-star guys would eventually start playing like 4-star guys if we just let them practice enough.

Now the emphasis is on moving them through.  When you have good caliber recruits in the wings, you can do that.   Just like the big boys.
Too bad.  Wouldn\'t it be great to have Ryan Whalen or Marecic around for a 5th season?  But after the season, we\'ll know.   Senior Day and the Awards dinner are to football what the lineup on Lenin\'s tomb was to Kremlin watchers.  My bet is on 25, the max allowable, minus one or two slots that will have to go to this or last years walk-ons/ grayshirts.   Better noggins than mine actually keep track of this floating number and can assign names to most of the total departing.

Getting 25 commits year after year requires a fair number of guys to dropout or transfer away each year.  (25 X 4 = 100)

With Stanford\'s graduation rate and infrequent transfers I would expect Stanford\'s commit target has to be 21 or 22 even if the program restricts the allocation of 5th years.  

Stanford and JH are at 20 at the moment for 2011, so I would look for Stanford to net 2 or 3 more additions.  Of course determining the Verbal yield is quite a trick, so JH may need to get 30+ to verbal at one point or other to ultimately get those 22 commits.

[Farm93]

The Harbaugh Zen of football is:  Depends on how many guys leave after 4 academic years.

It used to be that most players who had 5-yrs. of eligibility due to injury or redshirt actually played 5 years.  I guess that was because the old paradigm of Stanford football was that our 2-star guys would eventually start playing like 4-star guys if we just let them practice enough.

Now the emphasis is on moving them through.  When you have good caliber recruits in the wings, you can do that.   Just like the big boys.
Too bad.  Wouldn\'t it be great to have Ryan Whalen or Marecic around for a 5th season?  But after the season, we\'ll know.   Senior Day and the Awards dinner are to football what the lineup on Lenin\'s tomb was to Kremlin watchers.  My bet is on 25, the max allowable, minus one or two slots that will have to go to this or last years walk-ons/ grayshirts.   Better noggins than mine actually keep track of this floating number and can assign names to most of the total departing.

Getting 25 commits year after year requires a fair number of guys to dropout or transfer away each year.  (25 X 4 = 100)

With Stanford\'s graduation rate and infrequent transfers I would expect Stanford\'s commit target has to be 21 or 22 even if the program restricts the allocation of 5th years.  

Stanford and JH are at 20 at the moment for 2011, so I would look for Stanford to net 2 or 3 more additions.  Of course determining the Verbal yield is quite a trick, so JH may need to get 30+ to verbal at one point or other to ultimately get those 22 commits.

[dabigv13]

Not that it means anything, but Stanford is 4th in the scout.com recruiting database rankings, behind Oklahoma, Ohio St, and Texas. USC is the next P10 team, at 10th.

Lofty heights.

[dabigv13]

Not that it means anything, but Stanford is 4th in the scout.com recruiting database rankings, behind Oklahoma, Ohio St, and Texas. USC is the next P10 team, at 10th.

Lofty heights.

[Farm93]

Not that it means anything, but Stanford is 4th in the scout.com recruiting database rankings, behind Oklahoma, Ohio St, and Texas. USC is the next P10 team, at 10th.

Lofty heights.

The point total is what counts for Scout.com.  The mix of 3s and 4s has Stanford around 2700.  That is #4 right now because most programs only have 10-15 commits, at the moment.  If JH finds 2 or 3 more guys that will likely place Stanford between 2900-3000.  The final 22+ may not include all 20 Stanford has now, but the star average hopefully will stay at that 3.5 range.

If Stanford is at 2900-3300, then the final ranking would be between 15 & 25 again.  And in this context "again" is a good thing, IMHO.

[Farm93]

Not that it means anything, but Stanford is 4th in the scout.com recruiting database rankings, behind Oklahoma, Ohio St, and Texas. USC is the next P10 team, at 10th.

Lofty heights.

The point total is what counts for Scout.com.  The mix of 3s and 4s has Stanford around 2700.  That is #4 right now because most programs only have 10-15 commits, at the moment.  If JH finds 2 or 3 more guys that will likely place Stanford between 2900-3000.  The final 22+ may not include all 20 Stanford has now, but the star average hopefully will stay at that 3.5 range.

If Stanford is at 2900-3300, then the final ranking would be between 15 & 25 again.  And in this context "again" is a good thing, IMHO.

[slide]

on the 3.5 average, I think that is where Harbs et al are doing better.  not only do we have contingency recruiting plans but we appear to be reaching deep into them with less frequency these days.  on the other side, a few more recruiting whales like Vaughters would be nice.

[slide]

on the 3.5 average, I think that is where Harbs et al are doing better.  not only do we have contingency recruiting plans but we appear to be reaching deep into them with less frequency these days.  on the other side, a few more recruiting whales like Vaughters would be nice.

[dabigv13]

Oklahoma has 18, and they\'re essentially tied with us for total points. So yeah, we won\'t stay as high as we are now, but this is still a lot better than we\'re used to.

[dabigv13]

Oklahoma has 18, and they\'re essentially tied with us for total points. So yeah, we won\'t stay as high as we are now, but this is still a lot better than we\'re used to.