The Recruiting Gods Must Be Crazy
posted by Scott Hood on Friday, August 10, 2007
Some USC fans were confident Willard, who nickname is “Tig,” by the way, would overlook his life-long love for Clemson and the fact his defensive coordinator at Loris High School is the brother of a former Tiger lettermen, and sign with the Gamecocks.
When it comes to recruiting, I have one rule:
When you think you have a recruit locked up, you don’t. And the moment you think a recruit is going elsewhere, he’s signing with your team.
When you’re dealing with 17-year old boys, you never know what’s going to happen.
I guess that’s what makes it exciting for some people. It’s the thrill of the chase.
But my job is to cover the players after they sign on the dotted line and put on the Gamecock uniform. So I’ve always been fascinated by how players handle the transition from high school to college.
This issue came to the forefront again with the decision of linebacker/defensive end Dakota Walker to transfer to Georgia Southern.
The number of stars attached to a player’s name while he’s still playing high school football is meaningless when it’s time to step into the weight room or run gassers on the football field when it’s hot and humid.
While the number of stars may measure a player’s physical ability, more often then not you don’t find out about a player’s mental makeup until it’s too late.
Determination, motivation, willingness to work and basic stick-to-itiveness are very difficult to measure.
Whenever a player departs, Steve Spurrier likes to say that some players just aren’t cut out for football.
We learned again Thursday about the fickle nature of recruiting when Sam Pope, a junior college transfer, decided to transfer to a I-AA program where he will likely start right away instead of staying at USC and battling for playing time.
Some guys want to take the easy road. Some guys understand it’s the hard round that gets them to where they want to go.
There are countless examples of four and five-star recruits, guys who dominated in high school, arriving on campus and discovering to their horror that the physical and time demands of major college football don’t jive with their expectations.
By all accounts, O.J. Murdock fell into that trap. But he’s certainly far from the only one. He’s just one of the recent glaring examples.
But for every Murdock or Walker, guys who failed to fulfill their potential at the major college level for a variety of reasons, there’s a Kenny McKinley out there, a guy who comes to college overshadowed by more celebrated players in his signing class but works hard and turns himself into a great player.
McKinley was a quarterback throughout his high school career in Atlanta but switched to wide receiver when he came to USC two years ago. At the time, Murdock was the overwhelming fan favorite when fall practice opened.
But McKinley, who never played a down at wide receiver in high school, quickly became the favorite of the coaches.
Wide receivers coach Steve Spurrier, Jr. quickly recognized McKinley’s talent and spent extra hours on the practice field with him.
The effort has paid off handsomely with 76 receptions and six touchdowns through McKinley’s sophomore year.
By the time his career is over, McKinley may be the top receiver in school history in terms of the number of receptions if he continues to show the same progress he had from the his freshman season in 2005 to last season.
Thank about that for a moment: the potential all-time leading receiver in USC history in number of receptions could turn out to be a guy who never played a down at receiver in high school.
As I said, you just never know what’s going to happen when these kids get to college.
McKinley is one of the survivors from the 2005 class. Currently, 10 of the 26 new players who enrolled at USC that fall are no longer with the Gamecocks.
A 27th signee, Jarriel King, is attending Georgia Military College and has recommitted to USC.
I equate recruiting to the stock market. You buy (please, no jokes about “buying” players) in hopes the “price” goes up in the future. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t.
As long as you have a lot more stocks in the black than in the red, you’re doing well.
Nobody pitches a perfect game when it comes to recruiting.
How different would the USC roster look today if these players were still with the Gamecocks: Mychal Belcher, Kerry Bonds, Brent Davis, Jonathan Hannah, Shea McKeen, O.J. Murdock, Cade Thompson, Dakota Walker, Jeremy Ware and Brandyn Young?
I’m fairly certain it would look quite dissimilar. And 2007’s highly ranked recruiting class might have been constructed a whole lot differently as well.
We'll never know for sure because when it comes to recruiting, surreal things often happen.
- Permalink, Discuss, Blog Home
The dismay shown by some South Carolina fans over the decision of linebacker Jonathan Willard to commit to Clemson Wednesday shows yet again how much the recruiting business is a hit-and-miss proposition.
Some USC fans were confident Willard, who nickname is “Tig,” by the way, would overlook his life-long love for Clemson and the fact his defensive coordinator at Loris High School is the brother of a former Tiger lettermen, and sign with the Gamecocks.
When it comes to recruiting, I have one rule:
When you think you have a recruit locked up, you don’t. And the moment you think a recruit is going elsewhere, he’s signing with your team.
When you’re dealing with 17-year old boys, you never know what’s going to happen.
I guess that’s what makes it exciting for some people. It’s the thrill of the chase.
But my job is to cover the players after they sign on the dotted line and put on the Gamecock uniform. So I’ve always been fascinated by how players handle the transition from high school to college.
This issue came to the forefront again with the decision of linebacker/defensive end Dakota Walker to transfer to Georgia Southern.
The number of stars attached to a player’s name while he’s still playing high school football is meaningless when it’s time to step into the weight room or run gassers on the football field when it’s hot and humid.
While the number of stars may measure a player’s physical ability, more often then not you don’t find out about a player’s mental makeup until it’s too late.
Determination, motivation, willingness to work and basic stick-to-itiveness are very difficult to measure.
Whenever a player departs, Steve Spurrier likes to say that some players just aren’t cut out for football.
We learned again Thursday about the fickle nature of recruiting when Sam Pope, a junior college transfer, decided to transfer to a I-AA program where he will likely start right away instead of staying at USC and battling for playing time.
Some guys want to take the easy road. Some guys understand it’s the hard round that gets them to where they want to go.
There are countless examples of four and five-star recruits, guys who dominated in high school, arriving on campus and discovering to their horror that the physical and time demands of major college football don’t jive with their expectations.
By all accounts, O.J. Murdock fell into that trap. But he’s certainly far from the only one. He’s just one of the recent glaring examples.
But for every Murdock or Walker, guys who failed to fulfill their potential at the major college level for a variety of reasons, there’s a Kenny McKinley out there, a guy who comes to college overshadowed by more celebrated players in his signing class but works hard and turns himself into a great player.
McKinley was a quarterback throughout his high school career in Atlanta but switched to wide receiver when he came to USC two years ago. At the time, Murdock was the overwhelming fan favorite when fall practice opened.
But McKinley, who never played a down at wide receiver in high school, quickly became the favorite of the coaches.
Wide receivers coach Steve Spurrier, Jr. quickly recognized McKinley’s talent and spent extra hours on the practice field with him.
The effort has paid off handsomely with 76 receptions and six touchdowns through McKinley’s sophomore year.
By the time his career is over, McKinley may be the top receiver in school history in terms of the number of receptions if he continues to show the same progress he had from the his freshman season in 2005 to last season.
Thank about that for a moment: the potential all-time leading receiver in USC history in number of receptions could turn out to be a guy who never played a down at receiver in high school.
As I said, you just never know what’s going to happen when these kids get to college.
McKinley is one of the survivors from the 2005 class. Currently, 10 of the 26 new players who enrolled at USC that fall are no longer with the Gamecocks.
A 27th signee, Jarriel King, is attending Georgia Military College and has recommitted to USC.
I equate recruiting to the stock market. You buy (please, no jokes about “buying” players) in hopes the “price” goes up in the future. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t.
As long as you have a lot more stocks in the black than in the red, you’re doing well.
Nobody pitches a perfect game when it comes to recruiting.
How different would the USC roster look today if these players were still with the Gamecocks: Mychal Belcher, Kerry Bonds, Brent Davis, Jonathan Hannah, Shea McKeen, O.J. Murdock, Cade Thompson, Dakota Walker, Jeremy Ware and Brandyn Young?
I’m fairly certain it would look quite dissimilar. And 2007’s highly ranked recruiting class might have been constructed a whole lot differently as well.
We'll never know for sure because when it comes to recruiting, surreal things often happen.
- Permalink, Discuss, Blog Home
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.