|
Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Feb 2, 2016 3:59:34 GMT -6
Thinking maybe Anietie Etuk just committed to us. Tweets about an upfront player from 713 area code. 247sports.com/Player/Anietie-Etuk-81448Center 6'1 270 Dickinson Offers from SELA and New Mexico. 2 Star-247 Sports.* 247 mistakenly has him as a hard commit to New Mexico. Apparently 247 does not read Twitter. Etuk has said all along that while he was honored to receive an offer from UNM, he did not commit to them and would not be attending there.
|
|
|
Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Feb 2, 2016 5:17:14 GMT -6
247 Updated Top 10
On the eve of signing day, here is how we stand nationally and in the conference after 247 updated their list of commits to add Yandell.
National Rankings FCS Only
1 (112) Yale 2 (124) Columbia 3 (129) Lamar 4 (132) Harvard 5 (133) North Dakota State 6 (134) Cal Davis 7 (135) Samford 8 (136) Austin Peay 9 (137) Stephen F Austin 10 (138) Bethune Cookman 11 (139) Sam Houston 12 (140) ACU
Some observations about ACU's class: 247 shows only 8 recruits for ACU, fewest among the teams I have listed. My take.
1. While our top recruits are equal to as more highly ranked than peer schools, we recruit a larger number of players who are "under the radar, " ignored by ratings services and with no other D1 offers. I'm not sure of the reason for this but my hunch is that we don't yet have funding for the total number of scholarships allowed by FCS, which requires us to start splitting scholarships sooner than our peers in order to fill complete our roster of 85 guys on scholarship. Most of the guys with lots of stars are looking for a full ride. i'm sure there are other plausible reasons.
2. A bunch of FCS and SLC schools are tightly bunched in the ratings. What that tells me is that even if rankings are 100% accurate,which is doubtful, success on the field will depend on coaching and player development via strength and conditioning, two areas where North Dakota State has excelled over the past few years. Another major factor not included in the rankings, Mid term and August transfers. Some schools such as SELA and UCA rely heavily on guys who transferred in at mid term and over the summer and are not reflected in the rankings.
3. It is well worth noting that ratings are frequently wrong. All-everything Sam Houston Sophomore PJ Hall had no stars,for example. Our very own Sam Denmark was only a minor blip on the recruiting services screen. Seems like one service had him as a two star player, and the others ignored him. Tracy James didn't have a single star by any of the services. It will be interesting to see how he performs this year. I'm not saying the services never get it right....they liked Junior Henderson last year, for example, and he shows a lot of potential
Just for fun....lets check back in a couple of years and see how our top ranked guys are doing. According to the services these are the players that should stand out....
Dunn Giddens Qualls
But if the past is a good predictor, there will be others who emerge from ranks of "unknowns" to excel for us.....and the probability that at least one of our top ranked players won't live up to recruiting service expectations is high.
|
|
|
Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Feb 2, 2016 7:02:32 GMT -6
AJ Parker, CB that visited us early this year and was committed to Air Force is now committed to Kansas St. Verbal commitments don't count for much that's for sure. Please hurry up Wednesday. AMEN! Verbal commits aren't worth the paper they are written on. (see what I did there. LOL at my own joke).
|
|
|
Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Feb 2, 2016 7:05:35 GMT -6
Wednesday is just around the corner. I 'm hoping there are a few surprises in this recruiting class. I' d really like Connor Martin to commit as I think we really need someone to push Kilcullen and don't know how Grau will do after surgery. Etuk would be a good get as would Schafer. Another big body would be nice. Pleasant surprises would be nice. Just hope we have no unpleasant news about last minute switches from ACU to elsewhere.
|
|
|
Post by Wildcat90 on Feb 2, 2016 9:11:22 GMT -6
FYI, Slayde Anderson OL Abilene High is a Commit. Can play C/G/T will be more of an interior guy at 6' 2.5" good frame to add weight too currently around 275lbs.
|
|
|
Post by acutrackfan on Feb 2, 2016 9:20:07 GMT -6
I am thrilled to be in the top 12 of FCS recruiting! I am a tiny bit bummed to be ranked behind Bethune Cookman, but they are in talent-rich Florida. Oscar, those are very good observations. Denmark is a great example of the less-recruited kid who blossomed into a top player quickly - he was starting by his 2nd game on campus.
|
|
|
Post by Cap'n on Feb 2, 2016 9:29:51 GMT -6
Another variable is geography. Most of SDSU's players are from SD, WIs, and Minn. Those small town farm boys are overlooked while more populous area prospects tend to get noticed. Same with WT, OK, and NM.
|
|
|
Post by Cap'n on Feb 2, 2016 9:32:29 GMT -6
FYI, Slayde Anderson OL Abilene High is a Commit. Can play C/G/T will be more of an interior guy at 6' 2.5" good frame to add weight too currently around 275lbs. Lives on our street, Oscar.
|
|
|
Post by MAVSMAN on Feb 2, 2016 9:32:47 GMT -6
By my count, we have 20 commits, though 2 of those appear to be walk-ons. Collums was hoping for around 22-23 commits. I still believe some of those will happen over the summer Here who has either visited ACU or who the staff is showing interest in- QB- Tanner Schafer- Canadian- has kept his recruiting process very quiet WR- Chase Cokley- Austin Westlake Greg Craddock- Converse Judson- Kingsville and Midwestern St in the mix too Garrison Mitchell- Blinn JUCO OL- Anietie Etuk- Dickinson- visited us this weekend. Has also visited SELA. Nothing official from him, but it appears that he is a WildcatDE- Carlton LaFrance- Saddleback JUCO- visited us this weekend Ty Shelby- Friendswood- with the additon of TK, I imagine our interest has died down DT- Dion Dawson- Dodge City JUCO Oddie Granger- Dodge City JUCO S- Jairon McVea- visited us January 22nd Jay Bias Jr. Prosper- announces today. It is between us, Commerce and Midwestern St. (signed with Commerce) K- Connor Martin- Frisco Centennial- between us and Baylor
|
|
|
Post by Cap'n on Feb 2, 2016 10:01:53 GMT -6
21 commits with the addition of Anderson from Abilene high. Probably a walk on. Family connections to ACU.
|
|
|
Post by bogeyman on Feb 2, 2016 10:48:40 GMT -6
I was beginning to think we had forgotten that Abilene has some very good players too. What has happened to our Wylie connection? And wasn't there discussion about the McMillon boys as possible (did the one at UT decide to stay?).
|
|
|
Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Feb 2, 2016 11:19:16 GMT -6
I was beginning to think we had forgotten that Abilene has some very good players too. What has happened to our Wylie connection? And wasn't there discussion about the McMillon boys as possible (did the one at UT decide to stay?). Good point about local kids. We don't seem to have much luck recruiting in our own back yard. We seem teo get walk ons every year from Abilene-Wylie but I don't think we have had a single scholarship kid since turning D1. Maybe that's because we have very little interest from the community in how the Cats are doing. Locals don't turn out much for games. Coverage in local media has improved. Maybe that will result in more local support. The other thing I have wondered about in terms of recruiting is that we don't seem to have tapped into the Church of Christ base much for recruiting, unlike schools such as Notre Dame or BYU. Neither of these schools limit recruiting to those of their faith, but they recruit their own pretty heavily. Maybe because our coaches are not from a C of C background, we don't seem to put any emphasis on recruiting from this population, which is, of course, not nearly as large as Mormons or Catholics...but is still there....... These are minor points though. We are doing a good job with recruiting. This year in particular looks strong.
|
|
|
Post by MAVSMAN on Feb 2, 2016 11:33:57 GMT -6
Sounds like Ethan Reed, MLB from Marble Falls committed- Big thank you to @acufootball for a great recruiting weekend! Can't wait to be a part of such a great program
Likely a walk-on
|
|
|
Post by bogeyman on Feb 2, 2016 12:30:36 GMT -6
Watched a little of Andersons HUDL film. Looks like after a year of weight and speed work he could be a player. Any word from Etuk? Would he and Anderson vie for work at center? Could Anderson' commitment mean we didn't get Etuk?
|
|
|
Post by mavsman53 on Feb 2, 2016 12:41:26 GMT -6
I'll try and answer Bogey- the coaches sending out a tweet last night about a commit from the 713 tells me the player, likely Etuk, committed to us. Some kids don't like to post their commitment on Twitter, which seems to be the case here.
Anderson appears to be a walk-on. Not sure that one impacts the other
|
|