U Recruit

After already landing a very good defensive end prospect in Michigan DE Anthony Zettel, the Penn State Nittany Lions continued to add to their recruiting class as they landed Philadelphia, PA. DE Deion Barnes. Rated a four-star prospect by rivals.com, Barnes has good size at 6″4, 225-pounds, and will likely grow well into his frame in college. Read the rest of this entry →

After recently flipping four-star talent Aaron Lynch from Florida State, Notre Dame lost a defensive line commitment of their own as Georgia Tech managed to gain the services of five-star defensive end Stephon Tuitt. Tuitt possesses great size at 6″5, 250 pounds, and had offers from schools all over the country, including Florida, Auburn, Clemson, Miami, Notre Dame, Tennessee, and Georgia among others.

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Fans love following recruiting rankings, and the newest and final versions of both Rivals.com and Scout.com have come out for the 2011 football class.

Rivals has the top 100 kids ranked, with three of the top five uncommitted so far, as does Scout’s top 300 list as well. They bare many similarities in that both have DE Jadeveon Clowney (South Pointe/South Carolina) ranked as the number one player overall. I think it’s safe to say that most analysts would agree with that assessment. Read the rest of this entry →

Each year there are many interesting recruiting stories. This year, Cape Coral, Fl. Defensive End Aaron Lynch has been the subject of many recruiting conversations. The 6″6, 245-pound prospect originally committed to Notre Dame, but then decided to drop the Irish for the Florida State Seminoles. Now, Lynch has committed to Notre Dame once again.

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Recruiting in the state of Florida is hard enough for the local schools. Between Florida, Florida State and Miami, there are plenty of power-

Lake Butler, Florida DT Lonnie Gosha

struggles over players each year. With the recent rise of UCF (who won 11 games this year) and a seemingly resurgent USF program, nothing is a given in the Sunshine state. Not to mention dozens of other teams from across the country annually reach into Florida and pull out talent as well.

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The Georgia Bulldogs have struggled the past two years, compiling records of 8-5 and 6-7 respectively. While you might consider going to bowl games “successful”, the Bulldogs were one of the most successful SEC teams of the decade, winning double-digit games numerous times earlier in the 2000′s. As a result, Mark Richt’s seat is continuing to get warmer, and recruiting has to keep Georgia going in the right direction.

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Each year, dozens of top-flight high school football players end their careers in various all-star games. The two most prominent games include the Army All-American Bowl and the Under Armour All-American Game as well.

This year was no different than others as numerous blue-chips prospects from around the nation competed in east vs. west and red vs. white games. While many players commit to schools throughout the year, some players use the All-Star games as platforms for commitments on national television.

There were plenty of big-names involved in both all-star games, with number of players making their commitments to schools official.

Here is a recap of some major names, and what schools they committed to.

Florida Safety Wayne Lyons – Lyons had a final three of Michigan, Stanford, and UCLA, all great academic institutions. Michigan was rumored to be in the lead, but with Rich Rodriguez gone Lyons chose Stanford (who ironically lost their coach as well). Lyons is a terrific athlete who played both safety and cornerback in the All-American Bowl, though he will likely play free or strong safety in college. His versatile is an obvious plus.

Atlanta, Georgia Athlete Damian Swann – A tall cornerback prospect with offers from all over, Swann was down to Alabama and Georgia. After Georgia lost out on two in-state prospects earlier in the week, Swann was a must-get for the Bulldogs. Like Lyons, Swann is a versatile player that could play cornerback but is probably a better safety prospect at the next level. Whichever position he ends up playing though, Swann is an excellent pickup for Mark Richt and the Bulldogs.

Orlando, Florida RB Demetrius Hart – Hart was a Michigan lean and commit for quite some time, but after Rich Rodriguez was fired decided to head in a different direction. He was down to Florida, Auburn, and Alabama, and chose the Tide, joining teammate Ha’Sean Clinton-Dix in Tuscaloosca. Hart is a compact back (5″8, 190 lbs) with terrific speed and agility, and a dangerous threat in the open field. He’ll have plenty of competition at running back for the tide, so look for Hart to get involved in the return game early at Alabama.

Miami, Florida Safety Gerrod Holliman – Holliman is another terrific Florida talent who was courted by all the Florida Schools, but ultimately chose Louisville, and head coach Charlie Strong. Holliman is excellent in reading both the pass and run, and will be a very good player once he adds some more size. You have to be impressed with the job Charlie Strong has done on the field at Louisville, as he continues to pick great players out of Florida .

Some other notable names and their respective commitments include..

Kris Frost, LB/WR: Auburn

Tobias Singleton, WR: Ole Miss

Harvey Langi, RB/DB: Utah

Colt Lyerla, LB/TE: Oregon

James Sample, DB: Washington

Donovan Smith, OL: Penn State

Purdue’s football team struggled this year, mainly due to so many injuries to their offense. Numerous quarterbacks, running backs, and receivers went down early and often, leaving the Boilermakers a ragged, thin group. With an off-season ahead they will get many of those players back, as well as another group of talented young players.

Marcus Caffey, is a 6″0, 190-pound running back prospect. Ranked a 3-star prospect Caffey caught the attention of many schools, gaining offers from Minnesota, Arkansas, Illinois, West Virginia, South Carolina, Wake Forest, Purdue, Maryland, and Vanderbilt among others. In October Caffey trimmed his list down to five schools – Arkansas, Kentucky, South Carolina, Purdue and Illinois.

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The recent news that recently hired head coach Mike Haywood was arrested on domestic violence charges, and eventually relieved of his duties at Pitt has resonated strongly within recruiting. Pitt lost a key commitment from DB Kyshoen Jarrett to Virginia Tech the first go around when then head coach Dave Wannstedt was fired, LB Ben Kline to Penn State, DE Deonte Gibson, ATH Bill Belton, DE Desimon Green, QB Gary Nova, and they have also lost RB Jameel Poteat to Cincinnati. Read the rest of this entry →