2019 Signing Class ... high hopes, whaddya got ?

[Redbird 4th & short]

Just finished 2nd of 2 signing days. I realize it is a crap shoot as to who will work out and everyone has that "hope springs eternal" attitude reading bios and watching tape. Nonetheless, I would like to hear people's general thoughts about strength of your incoming 2019 class and any specifically that you are excited about:

For my ISUr ....

Generally, our roster has gone big lately, very big. But I think Spack must have realized he may have overshot his mark a bit. So this class was smallish and much more athletic by comparison to our current roster. Also went after skill players much more so than interior players. Spack tends to recruit with certain position groups emphasis each year ... this years class has lot of RBs, LBs, Athletes. I assume he is trying to create healthy balance of cohesion and competition within each position group, as well as improve team with players who can play in space. In any case, I like our size, but you always needs guys who can play in space these days.

Specifically, what were most excited about is the RB group he brought in this year ... IMO, by far his best HS prospective RB group. Note, Coprich had no stars coming out of HS. Robinson had just 2 stars. Here's what we got this year ... and all had FBS offers or strong interest:


- Cole Mueller | RB | 6-0 | 190 | Wentzville, Missouri (Holt HS) ... 3 stars, FBS recruit

- Pha'leak Brown | RB | 5-10 | 200 | Chester, South Carolina (Chester HS) ... 2 stars, FBS recruit

- Nigel White | RB | 5-9 | 165 | Lauderhill, Florida (St. Thomas Aquinas HS) ... 3 stars, FBS recruit


Spack was asked and commented at press conference, he is having easier time convincing quality RBs to come to ISU. Obviously, it started with Coprich and now Robinson, but we've had several good ones in between those 2. Many of which eventually left for lack of time .. we lost 4 or 5 good RBs the last 3 years as a result. Mainly because Robinson quickly rose to top after his true FR year. Note, we just lost backup RB Markel Smith (announced he is grad transferring after spring).

But the 3 above look like they all have strong potential to emerge .. guessing at least 1 will play next fall. Mueller runs a true sub 4.5 and is very agile. Brown is not as fast, but very good field vision and agility. White has amazing quicks, just undersized or he would have gone FBS .. his HS is perennial top 25 in country. We'll see if they pan out.

[NEBison]

St. Thomas Aquinas is a bigtime HS program, isn't it? I know i've heard that name before.

[Redbird 4th & short]

St. Thomas Aquinas is a bigtime HS program, isn't it? I know i've heard that name before.

Yes, last year MaxPreps had them #23 in country and 3rd in FL. I didn't look at how they did in playoffs. This kid is 3 star, but obviously under-sized. If you watch his tape, you'll probably notice his quicks (and against top tier HS talent) but he goes down pretty easy once you get an arm or body on him. I'm sure that scared the FBS programs away. ISUr will need to put some weight and muscle on him .. or he probably won't do much at RB. But they will put him in space for sure. If he plays as true FR, he will get a shot at PR and KR if his hands hold up at this level.

If I had to choose just one of these 3 to succeed early, it might be Mueller .. his tape, measurables, and combine #'s are all very good ... sub 4.5, 37" vertical, 120" broad jump ... tape shows he is slippery fast, great vision/reads and can change direction on a dime .. somebody taught this kid to run effortlessly.

But I really like all 3 .. will be stunned if one or more aren't studs within 2-3 years.

It's offseason, so hope springs eternal ......

[hoidOfYolen]

Caleb Ogunmola
Wide Receiver | 5-10 | 186
Charlotte, N.C. | Providence
- Checked in with a 116.64 SPARQ rating and a 4.45 40-yard dash time
- 3 stars

Trey West
Tight End | 6-2 | 205
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. | Saint Thomas Aquinas
- Helped Saint Thomas Aquinas to the state championship as a sophomore in 2016 and to the state title game in as a senior in 2018.
- Hybrid WR/TE

Ryan Wilkins
Long Snapper | 6-0 | 180
Blairsville, Pa. | Blairsville-Saltsburg
- Posted a 4.5-star Kohl's camp rating and placed 11th nationally at the Kohl's Senior Challenge

Luis Duarte
Defensive Lineman | 6-5 | 360
Greensboro, N.C. | Dudley
- This guy is a beast

Ty Sponseller
Linebacker | 6-3 | 220
Cincinnati, Ohio | Cincinnati
- Transferring to Elon from Cincinnati after three years as a member of the Bearcats program.
- Saw action in all 13 games in 2018 as a redshirt sophomore
- Was a three-star prospect out of high school and played safety at Mason

Those are the highlights. But we got a lot of good guys this week plus some studs in December. REALLY looking forward to seeing what this new coaching staff can do with the developing the talent we have.

[Redbird 4th & short]

Caleb Ogunmola
Wide Receiver | 5-10 | 186
Charlotte, N.C. | Providence
- Checked in with a 116.64 SPARQ rating and a 4.45 40-yard dash time
- 3 stars

Trey West
Tight End | 6-2 | 205
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. | Saint Thomas Aquinas
- Helped Saint Thomas Aquinas to the state championship as a sophomore in 2016 and to the state title game in as a senior in 2018.
- Hybrid WR/TE

Ryan Wilkins
Long Snapper | 6-0 | 180
Blairsville, Pa. | Blairsville-Saltsburg
- Posted a 4.5-star Kohl's camp rating and placed 11th nationally at the Kohl's Senior Challenge

Luis Duarte
Defensive Lineman | 6-5 | 360
Greensboro, N.C. | Dudley
- This guy is a beast

Ty Sponseller
Linebacker | 6-3 | 220
Cincinnati, Ohio | Cincinnati
- Transferring to Elon from Cincinnati after three years as a member of the Bearcats program.
- Saw action in all 13 games in 2018 as a redshirt sophomore
- Was a three-star prospect out of high school and played safety at Mason

Those are the highlights. But we got a lot of good guys this week plus some studs in December. REALLY looking forward to seeing what this new coaching staff can do with the developing the talent we have.

I'm always very suspect of HS forty times ... SPARQ is usually as legit as they come, and legit 4.45s are very fast for HS and FCS level. You hear people and see sites that put garabage out there about kids running 4.4 or 4.5. But after a couple decades of paying close attention to this stuff, I have concluded you can add .10 to .20 to about 80/90% of the forty times that get reported on HS kids. But again, SPARQ takes this very seriously and doesn't usually allow BS times .. so I believe this one.

Colonial will be interesting to follow next season .. the depth is back, but the very top is still a question mark. I'm looking forward to keepratings site getting updated to see who's got what.

http://www.keepratings.net/

Thanks for posting, sorry for tangents ... but it's offseason.

[JALMOND]

Portland State went with speed at all positions. Barnum calls it "The Year of the Cheetah", as we tried to get more speed. A couple notables are Justus Legg, 6-4 240lb DE from Riverside HS in Auburn, WA, a 4-star recruit who had offers from most of the Pac-12 as well as looks from Michigan. A couple publications had him leaning towards Utah but he is coming to Portland State. Also Jalen Chatman, a former 3-star QB from Narbonne HS in Inglewood, CA who redshirted at Rutgers last year, is transferring to Portland State as well. Also of note is John Krahn, a 6-10, 420lb OL (those are the correct dimensions) transfer from Riverside JC in California.

[Redbird 4th & short]

Portland State went with speed at all positions. Barnum calls it "The Year of the Cheetah", as we tried to get more speed. A couple notables are Justus Legg, 6-4 240lb DE from Riverside HS in Auburn, WA, a 4-star recruit who had offers from most of the Pac-12 as well as looks from Michigan. A couple publications had him leaning towards Utah but he is coming to Portland State. Also Jalen Chatman, a former 3-star QB from Narbonne HS in Inglewood, CA who redshirted at Rutgers last year, is transferring to Portland State as well. Also of note is John Krahn, a 6-10, 420lb OL (those are the correct dimensions) transfer from Riverside JC in California.

3 stars are impressive gets for FCS, how do you figure you landed the 4 star ??

[Schism55]

Portland State went with speed at all positions. Barnum calls it "The Year of the Cheetah", as we tried to get more speed. A couple notables are Justus Legg, 6-4 240lb DE from Riverside HS in Auburn, WA, a 4-star recruit who had offers from most of the Pac-12 as well as looks from Michigan. A couple publications had him leaning towards Utah but he is coming to Portland State. Also Jalen Chatman, a former 3-star QB from Narbonne HS in Inglewood, CA who redshirted at Rutgers last year, is transferring to Portland State as well. Also of note is John Krahn, a 6-10, 420lb OL (those are the correct dimensions) transfer from Riverside JC in California.

Sounds like this guy ate a cheetah

[cx500d]

Portland State went with speed at all positions. Barnum calls it "The Year of the Cheetah", as we tried to get more speed. A couple notables are Justus Legg, 6-4 240lb DE from Riverside HS in Auburn, WA, a 4-star recruit who had offers from most of the Pac-12 as well as looks from Michigan. A couple publications had him leaning towards Utah but he is coming to Portland State. Also Jalen Chatman, a former 3-star QB from Narbonne HS in Inglewood, CA who redshirted at Rutgers last year, is transferring to Portland State as well. Also of note is John Krahn, a 6-10, 420lb OL (those are the correct dimensions) transfer from Riverside JC in California.

A 4 Star recruit with offers from all the PAC12, and he chooses Portland State?

[clenz]

A 4 Star recruit with offers from all the PAC12, and he chooses Portland State?

This kid definitely falls into the article I posted.

I can't find him as a 4* anywhere.

Rivals has him a 2*.
247 has him at a 3* on their site and composite. Also outside of the top 800 in the country - far from a 4*
Scout has him at a 3* and outside of the top 100 at the WDE position in the 2019 class.

Anything that does link him as a 4* is from 2016 or 2017 - his sophomore and junior seasons. All of those major offers came before his junior year of high school - 2017. For real - this article is from June 2017 when Michigan "offered" him.

These "offers" after his sophomore year a hell of a lot more like camp invite offers that were never committable than anything else. Hell, they were 2 years ago at this point.

I would put a hell of a lot of money I don't have on this kid keeping his 3* status simply because of those "offers" 2 years ago, rather than actually being a full 3 or 4 star kid.

The funny thing is, I can't find a single other D1 offer for him outside of Portland State I would consider real. If I were him I would keep the 4* thing on his Twitter bio too - but he had only D2 offers as of December.

December 21st, 2018 - D2 Central Washington
April 3, 2018 - Utah State - which was 100% uncomittable even in December from what I can find.

That's the entirety of his recruiting in 2018 that he made public. Before that you have to go all the way back to when that article I posted was written - even on his social media - which is June 2017

I'm also a Michigan fan, and I'm calling his Michigan offer bull****. It was 1000% one of those bull**** offers Sports Illustrated highlighted. Why do I know this? Kids who get "real" Michigan offers have official Michigan branded graphic offer letters to post on social media. He has a generic homemade 3 picture graphic he made on PicCollage using a logo Michigan doesn't use, an old ass photo of the Big House and a generic Jim Harbaugh photo. That isn't how Michigan actually offers kids. I also ran a search through the most connected Michigan recruiting blogs. His name never once appeared.

Again - this kid seems like the epitome of that SI article.

IF he truly was a 4* kid he wouldn't be signing with Portland State with the only other active offer a regional D2. I'm sorry, he wouldn't. He could be a baller. He could be an All American at Portland State. Maybe he goes on to get drafted and become the next FCS name player in the NFL.

I just...I mean....just no.