11 replies to this topic

[mascho]

I know there are school-specific signings being reported in threads involving specific schools, but this story is just bizarre so I thought any other news today could be collected here.

 

5-Star RB Alex Collins Cancels his Announcement Ceremony

 

Money quote:

Five-star running back Alex Collins verbally committed to Arkansas on Monday and was expected to make it official at a ceremony on Wednesday. Instead, Collins cancelled his ceremony because he needed more time to think about his decision.

Which is somewhat different than the story from ESPN's RecruitingNation. Corey Long reported on Wednesday that Collins' mom "confiscated" his letter of intent and left the school with it. She reportedly did so because she doesn't want her son to leave the area to go to school.

 

Sorry abs

[sachmoney]

Bielema has recruited about as well as he did at Wisconsin from a pure stars standpoint, but there is a lot more talent in the South than there is in the frozen cheeseland. I know he's only been on the job for two months, but he probably could have done a better job with this class.

 

The big story today is and continues to be Ole Miss. They've racked up five star after five star including the top recruit in the country, Robert Nkemdiche, the top offensive tackle, Laremy Tunsil, and a five-star safety, Tony Conner. That's on top of already landing the nation's top wide receiver, LaQuon Treadwell. From program profile to recruiting noise, they've made the biggest splash. And yes, it's going to be very easy to say that there's something fishy going on there...

 

Alabama continues to be Alabama. They've picked up some big guys today like All-Name Team member, Dee Liner, who is a D-Lineman.They also picked up Reuben Foster, the kid with the Auburn tattoo.

 

Urban Meyer also continues to recruit well. After picking up the commitment of Dontre Wilson the other night, he has picked up the commitment of five-star safety, Vonn Bell. He did lose the commitment of a punter to Saban and the Crimson Tide though. The gap between Michigan and Ohio State and the rest of the Big Ten in recruiting has to be alarming to the other ten schools.

Edited by sachmoney, 06 February 2013 - 01:33 PM.

[JohnnyK]

http://espn.go.com/c...nsas-razorbacks

 

Earlier in the day, Collins' mother, Andrea McDonald, refused to sign the letter of intent papers. Sources said she preferred Collins stay closer to home and sign with the University of Miami.

...

Collins' older brother, Johnny, told the Miami Herald the family hoped Collins would re-consider Miami."I would prefer him to go to Miami, too, because it would be a better program for him, a better environment," Johnny Collins said. "He could get home faster and it's more convenient if Mom wants to go to a game -- instead of having to fly to Arkansas."

Emphasis mine.

I am sure they just have his best interests in mind...

[sachmoney]

SB Nation runs through the winners and losers of signing day. Bruce Feldman talks about Ole Miss recruiting, revisiting his book from '08, Meat Market. Treadwell's best friend that they mention (Anthony Standifer)...he was committed to Michigan before alleged academic issues made him decommit and look elsewhere...if only. Lastly, for abs, it looks like Collins is going to commit to Arkansas after all.

[sachmoney]

I really hope Collins' career isn't ruined by his mother.

Just before Collins announced he was carrying through with his plan and signed his letter of intent to play football at Arkansas, this time with his father's signature on the letter, Collins' mother Andrea McDonald hired an attorney, several outlets reported. A press release sent out said the law firm was hired to "represent the family's interests." Oh, and the law firm is the Cochran Firm, founded by the late Johnnie Cochran, famously O.J. Simpson's lawyer for his murder trial.

[SouthernBoSox]

Bielema has recruited about as well as he did at Wisconsin from a pure stars standpoint, but there is a lot more talent in the South than there is in the frozen cheeseland. I know he's only been on the job for two months, but he probably could have done a better job with this class.

 

The big story today is and continues to be Ole Miss. They've racked up five star after five star including the top recruit in the country, Robert Nkemdiche, the top offensive tackle, Laremy Tunsil, and a five-star safety, Tony Conner. That's on top of already landing the nation's top wide receiver, LaQuon Treadwell. From program profile to recruiting noise, they've made the biggest splash. And yes, it's going to be very easy to say that there's something fishy going on there...

 

Alabama continues to be Alabama. They've picked up some big guys today like All-Name Team member, Dee Liner, who is a D-Lineman.They also picked up Reuben Foster, the kid with the Auburn tattoo.

 

Urban Meyer also continues to recruit well. After picking up the commitment of Dontre Wilson the other night, he has picked up the commitment of five-star safety, Vonn Bell. He did lose the commitment of a punter to Saban and the Crimson Tide though. The gap between Michigan and Ohio State and the rest of the Big Ten in recruiting has to be alarming to the other ten schools.

You think Bielema should have done better?  This program didn't have a head coach, or any coach really, for 10 months.  We were giving out offers to anyone who would commit.  Bielema has been here for 2 months.  His coaching staff has been together for one month.  He had to A)evaluate all commits B)Let go commits that didn't fit with his style or simply weren't deemed good enough C) evaluate for new offers and finally D) Recruit

 

He had 3 recruiting weekends.  Three.  The success rate of kids that visited Fayetteville was like 80%.  He landed 2 studs out of south Florida in Collins and Kirkland.  We have never signed blue chippers out of south FL.  Never. Ever.  He went into HI and got a stud guard in Khoeler.  CO with monster tackle Dan Skipper who he beat out Ohio State, Ole Miss, and Tenn for.    He was also able to flip NJ Damon Mitchell in the last week.  Got solid Texas prospects in Dean and Evans the last 2 weeks.

 

The class went from ranked 62 to 26 in 2 weeks on rivals.  (Most other sites are pretty comparable to that as well).  

 

I have no fucking clue how one could expect more than that given the circumstances.  Most people in the know are extremely impressed with what he was able to do in such a short period of time for a program that had like 9 legitimate commits before he got there.

[Royal Reader]

I have no fucking clue how one could expect more than that given the circumstances.  Most people in the know are extremely impressed with what he was able to do in such a short period of time for a program that had like 9 legitimate commits before he got there.

 

The issue is, while it's a gigantic improvement on what they looked like they'd get (heck, it was looking like one of the best players in the state was going to Arkansas State) it's still the eleventh-best class in the SEC per Rivals, better than only Mizzou, Vandy, and Kentucky.  Hard to see Coach Bielema doing too much better than that given the situation, but I guess people recall how quickly Urban Meyer got Ohio State to fourth in the nation from a relatively low base last year.

 

Kinda have to pinch myself when I think that Alabama pulling in the #1 class no longer even seems to be newsworthy.

[SouthernBoSox]

Jesus Christ. Is it a great class comparable to the SEC? No, absolutely not. But he pulled in one of our higher ranked classes recently and given a complete shit show of a situation. I really can't stress the limitations he had coming in. This isn't like Auburn that had quality commits to keep and add from there. We had Hunter Henrey, some decent instate guys, and okay JUCOs. That's it. He let like 10+ recruits go after he got here, 2 months ago.

The staff he's assembled is badass. Make no mistake about it. Sam Pittman, Randy Shannon, Patridge are fantastic recruiters. The rest of the staff is good too.

Essentially, what in saying is, saying he "should have done better" is dumb as fuck regardless of competitions success.

Oh yea, Ole Miss is cheating their balls off, but I'm beginning to think it doesn't matter anymore. NCAA is a joke.

[sachmoney]

Yeah, sorry, I was looking at the class as a whole and not what Bielema has done once he got in, which is mighty impressive. You could say that he took too long to get coaches in place, but getting the right coaches is as important as recruiting. Bielema got a ton out of not a lot at Wisconsin. He'll do better in Fayetteville.

[Poulsonator]

The issue is, while it's a gigantic improvement on what they looked like they'd get (heck, it was looking like one of the best players in the state was going to Arkansas State) it's still the eleventh-best class in the SEC per Rivals, better than only Mizzou, Vandy, and Kentucky.  Hard to see Coach Bielema doing too much better than that given the situation, but I guess people recall how quickly Urban Meyer got Ohio State to fourth in the nation from a relatively low base last year.

 

Kinda have to pinch myself when I think that Alabama pulling in the #1 class no longer even seems to be newsworthy.

 

You can't seriously be comparing Arkansas to Ohio State when it comes to recruiting.  What Bielema has done in his 2 months has been incredible.

[Royal Reader]

No, that's the point, I'm examining why people who are not thoroughly acquainted with the situation might underestimate the job Bielema has done. You see a great coach at a top-8 all time program, and compare, and that sets the bar unreasonably high because of a) those two factors b) he's not competing directly with the SEC all the time and c) Luke Fickell at least recruited in a manner worth two shits, which John L. singularly failed to do.

[Poulsonator]

Ah, I got ya.  

 

I'm always excited for the Hogs, and with an actual competent coach now, things are really fun.  Hopefully he can continue trending upward and not do something completely dumb to mess it up.