O/U 9.5 4 star HS commits for 2022?
RJ- Under. Let’s take a look at who signed 10 four-stars or more last cycle, to give you a bit of a reality check-
Alabama
Oregon
USC
LSU
Texas A&M
Ohio State
Clemson
Michigan
UGA
UNC
Miami
Notre Dame
Next, let’s look at some (maybe) surprising programs that did not sign 10-
Texas
Oklahoma
Penn State
Florida State
Tennessee
Auburn
Nebraska
By the time you answer these it might be close to the draft deadline. Hypothetically,if you’re Jose’s “agent” what advice would you give him? Now if you’re not comfortable answering because of your relationship feel free to pass.
KQ- If we have offer X from overseas does that work for you and your family. If the answer is yes, then stay in and let's see if we can get a NBA team to bite and get you in the G-league.
Tre Donaldson, where does he stand with both programs me and the level of interest from the coaches. And if either of you have spoken with him is there interest in the Institute?
Also, does he have a preference of which sport he’d like to play if it comes down to choosing only one.
RJ- On Tre Donaldson, yes there is still some interest there in Georgia Tech. Getting him out of the state of Florida may be a real challenge, though.
I do not expect that decision to be forced onto him, but many around him think he would play football. No Riley Quick situation here.
As a “None Well-Know Member” I’m still learning how rivals work on several fronts. I have two situations with FCs that hopefully you can help me with.
1. I see where FCs were put in for Carlton Madden, I’ve seen reports that while he does have an offer he is not at the top of that schools list. Is this a case of him wanting to commit and being told to wait? If so, can anyone truly put a FC in because the school has different priorities at the time. How often do you guys know where a kid is going before the sites that cover a specific school knows?
2. Azareyeh Thomas, the only FC is from Russell (nothing from an LSU publisher). Is this a case where you have a relationship with the player and he feels comfortable telling you.
RJ- 1. A combination of both, to be completely honest. Madden wants in so bad at UGA that he is willing to wait, big-timing other schools in the process if that makes sense. He will have some bridge building to do if UGA takes someone other than him in that spot. As for your second question, more often than you would think. Especially when it is a kid like that who made it very clear that an offer from UGA would be completely game-changing for him. I put in the FC and I am sticking to it. I doubt he makes it to his scheduled announcement date. After losing Kojo Antwi among several others the last several weeks, the Bulldogs are in need of a boost.
2. When it comes to recruiting, there are so many other people that I talk to besides the player. TBH, sometimes the player himself has no idea what is truly going on in his recruitment. In this case, I spoke with numerous sources throughout the SEC and in the state of Florida, and many expected Thomas to commit at some point during that week. Georgia Tech weathered the storm, as did Florida, and the race to get him back on campus is ON. Something Georgia Tech has that other schools don’t is the ability to still have him on campus and around the program despite it being the dead period. The longer that one goes, the less confident I am (in my FC)
You two have talked about limited spots for recruits due to the COVID year. Combined with approximately half of all football players in the portal (give or take a player or two), do you get the sense that most athletes understand that they can be left without a spot if they wait to long? If so do you anticipate a flood of commitments before August?
RJ- Absolutely. Did you see the amount of commitments on the 4th of July? It is going to be a crapshoot this month as everything goes down. It isn’t really squeezing as much as it is guys understanding what the situation is, especially with all of the different factors that you listed above.
An additional note is guys like Carswell, who could blow up and end up being forced to either take a spot at a lower-level school OR the schools are going to drop kids they took early in the process who may not be developing, whether it be their body or their game, the way that their staff would like.
KQ- So I have friends at G5 schools and basically their plan right now is to hang back and wait to see who is available come October or November as the numbers stay tight. No one is expecting relieve from the NCAA on cap space either. There will be kids who would normally sign at a factory ending up at normal schools and that will cascade across the board where P5-level kids end up at high G5s in great numbers and even FCS teams will cash in if they have spots.
Do we take Goodwin as a sixth OL if someone else like Flip commits first and Goodwin wants to come?
RJ- Yes
KQ- Remember the rule of thumb (Chan/PJ/Geoff/whoever), an extremely talented large person, you find room for if they want to come even if it is late.
What is the pecking order (ie what is the order on our board) for the remaining OL-recruits in play as well as the DL-recruits? Are we doing any kind of contingency plays here (first wait for X to commit to us or not and then press for Y), or is it truly first come, first served with all the known offers at those positions.
RJ- Falentha Carswell is the top uncommitted OL target. Drew Bobo is up there, as well as Preston Cushman.
There are contingency plans going on on the OL, but now is not the time to reveal those…
DL, on the end it feels like Tomiwa is the top target. They don’t have to sign one, but from the conversations I have had with Tomiwa and people near Middletown recently, they want him badly.
DT, Horace Lockett is the top guy, with Tarber and Hastings right behind him. Quentel Jones is someone they are trying to get on campus later this month, so it will be interesting to see if anything happens there.
They could take two more DT.
