tOfficial 2008 Football Recruiting Thread

[Jason Grillis Sofa]

Originally Posted by AASpartan

Hondo at least has great contacts within the MSU organization and has interviewed every coach from Dantonio to Les Miles. His style may be lacking, but his info is pretty accurate.

Izzo to coach football... right?

[EMSP]

Originally Posted by AUAlum06

Perry and Ingram would make this class a turn around class

Since this is message 6834 in this damn thread, I think this same post has been made here 1326 times.

[burnsmi4]

Scout.com is showing that Rocko Khoury is taking an official visit this week to MSU

[nicho197]

Originally Posted by Natron the Spartan

No.... you're not just parroting every last thing you learn on SpartanMag.

uh, no. I got the beckford thing off a purdue site that said he reaffirmed his commitment with purdue. The other info I got from recruiting planet...

[msusnee]

Originally Posted by Big M

Ok, but that doesn't mean the only sources on Perry are MSU ones though right?

I do agree that most people are probably just going off of Perry's direct quote, but FWIW Josh H. seems to think MSU is fading as well (but again, I don't know if he's going off the quote or something else).

If distance is not a factor, then I would be shocked if Perry does not go to USC. They are in a class by themselves when you look strictly at football and what they can show a kid on an official visit.

However, if distance is a factor and he would like to stay close to home I expect that it would be 55/45 in favor of MSU right now just because he's taken an official here. Once he visits um I think it would be 50/50 if it comes down to MSU/UM.

[SpartanGA]

Originally Posted by burnsmi4

Scout.com is showing that Rocko Khoury is taking an official visit this week to MSU

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by burnsmi4

Scout.com is showing that Rocko Khoury is taking an official visit this week to MSU

That would a great get, especially since he is a solid verbal to scUM!

[Big Papi]

Wow, I hope Scout is right. It's time that we steal one from them! We need o-lineman. The game is won in the trenches.

[GRR Spartan]

Everyone is getting all excited while Pete Carroll calmly looks over his roster and cherry picks MI and other states with a late USC recruiting pitch to fill in or upgrade what he doesn't get from his SoCal back yard.

[Bruce Banner Ad]

What espn says about BT recruiting:

ESPN - Class of 2008 Big Ten recruiting overview, part two - Insider

And what they say about MSU's class, specifically... I don't know how you can talk about our class and not mention Ingram. I've also never heard of a couple of the guys they say we're looking at:

Michigan State

Signing Day Storylines: With one full year under his belt head coach Mark Dantonio is looking to sign his first true class at Michigan State come February 6th. For the first time in a while Michigan State heads into signing day with a little positive momentum. Yes it lost its bowl game to Boston College, but it was a small victory getting to a bowl after a three-year absence.

Also Dantonio was able to avoid yet another late season Michigan State collapse. The Spartans tried hard to fall apart again, losing three straight games in the second half of the season, but Dantonio was able to steer his Spartans to two wins over the final two weeks and into the Champs Sports Bowl.


Much work is still needed in East Lansing, but at least the new coach can sell some shown improvement and continue to preach the Spartans are headed for brighter days. His current class does not compare to in-state rivals Michigan or with Big Ten power Ohio State but does have some positives. There are also some possible late grabs out there if they can catch some breaks. While both are long shots, cornerback Neiko Lipscomb (Tucker, Ga.) and defensive end Nick Perry (Detroit/Mackenzie) give Spartan fans something to keep an eye on. Also underrated linebacker Steve Gardiner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin-Coffman ) and defensive tackle Dawan Whitner (Cleveland/Glenville) present some possible interesting late additions.


Top Prospect: The top prospect in the Spartans' class is a not only a good addition, but a needed addition. With the graduation of Terry Love, the defection of Devin Thomas to the NFL and Deon Curry entering his senior year, the Spartans can use some help at wide receiver, which was not a strong position to begin with. That help is coming in the form of in-state Fred Smith (Detroit/Southeastern), a big, physical, strong receiver. He is able to combine his size with good speed and could be a matchup problem in the red-zone. He needs to become better at the technique of the position like running better routes and being quicker out of his breaks, but he has the potential to develop into a big-play receiver. The Spartans have had some good receivers come through East Lansing in the past and Smith has the tools to be another good one for the green and white.


Class Highlights: The Spartans have verbal commitments from a trio of talented athlete prospects. All three could play on offense or defense. Charles Burrell (Detroit/Southeastern) and Johnny Adams (Akron, Ohio/Buchtel) could both help fill needs at wide receiver. With some youth needed at safety though, we would not be surprised to see Burrell, a teammate of Smith's, moved there. The third athlete of the group is Glenn Winston (Detroit/Denby), a physical player on defense and a slashing, power running back on offense. All three give the Spartan coaches some good options.

Michigan State had a good ground attack in 2007, but Jehuu Caulcrick was a senior and Javon Ringer is heading into his senior year. The time to start looking for future Spartan backs is now, and they have added one in Caulton Ray (Bloomfield, Mich./Brother Rice). Ray is a thickly-built runner with good vision and balance. The incoming freshman may remind Spartan fans some of their current star running back Ringer.


Again, youth is needed at safety, and while Burrell could be an option, they have also landed top-50 safety Brynden Trawick (Marietta, Ga./Sprayberry). He is a good-sized, physical player who could develop into an outside linebacker.
This Michigan State class is heavy with in-state prospects as 12 commitments hail from Michigan. The Spartans have shown an effort to recruit their own turf hard. Another interesting aspect of this class is no junior college additions. Michigan State has relied on the JUCOs in the past, but Dantonio seems to be taking a bigger picture route with his recruiting and working to build with prep players.


Could See the Field in 2008: WR Smith, athlete prospects Burrell, Adams and Winston.

[Stats]

Originally Posted by GRR Spartan

Everyone is getting all excited while Pete Carroll calmly looks over his roster and cherry picks MI and other states with a late USC recruiting pitch to fill in or upgrade what he doesn't get from his SoCal back yard.

True, but how the hell do you stop it? He's got the easiest sales pitch in the history of college football.

[Robbub]

Originally Posted by StatsETC

Did Scout actually scoop Rivals?

Scout.com: Football Recruiting

No. Khoury is not visiting EL. Scout has that wrong. That's per "the other board" a few days ago.

[DantonIzzo]

Originally Posted by Robbub

No. Khoury is not visiting EL. Scout has that wrong. That's per "the other board" a few days ago.

Nice job again, Scout.

[Natron the Spartan]

Originally Posted by nicho197

uh, no. I got the beckford thing off a purdue site that said he reaffirmed his commitment with purdue. The other info I got from recruiting planet...

Recruiting planet is a summary of what's on scout and rivals. I thought you had all these sweet contacts, just call em up rather than relying on recruiting planet!

[Gods03]

So who is left on the table for us right now? Here is the current list I can think of:

Rhonne Sanderson
Nick Perry
Mark Ingram
Steve Gardiner
Yourhigness Morgan
Greg Scruggs
Cameron Jude
Ryan Jude
Will Fleming
Quincy Barr
Tre Bishop

Then you have the guys who are commited elsewhere that have (possibly) shown some interest:

Rocko Khoury
Christian Wilson
Connor Bradford

So we are at 18 verbals right now, and "could" sign 7, but I would only bet on 4-5 at this point.

I think we get Ingram, Scruggs, Morgan and Bishop. Anyone beyond that would be a surprise, and I am just fine with that. If we do somehow end up with a full class, I will be impressed, especially since Dantonio has said that we will not just take someone to take someone. Adding FB CHristian Wilson as that 5th kid would be a real nice way to close things out.

[spartan80]

Originally Posted by StatsETC

True, but how the hell do you stop it? He's got the easiest sales pitch in the history of college football.

Yeah, there are always going to be some schools, like USC, Miami, UCLA, etc. that have some advantages that MSU is unable to match. Dantonio and the staff have already started to fix the most important factor, on field performance, but MSU has to make sure that every other factor the school has control over is top tier. Stadium, locker room, weight training, etc. all have to compare or beat the best. Otherwise MSU is at a disadvantage with recruits.

[DantonIzzo]

Originally Posted by Gods03

So who is left on the table for us right now? Here is the current list I can think of:

Rhonne Sanderson
Nick Perry
Mark Ingram
Steve Gardiner
Yourhigness Morgan
Greg Scruggs
Cameron Jude
Ryan Jude
Will Fleming
Quincy Barr
Tre Bishop

Then you have the guys who are commited elsewhere that have (possibly) shown some interest:

Rocko Khoury
Christian Wilson
Connor Bradford

So we are at 18 verbals right now, and "could" sign 7, but I would only bet on 4-5 at this point.

I think we get Ingram, Scruggs, Morgan and Bishop. Anyone beyond that would be a surprise, and I am just fine with that. If we do somehow end up with a full class, I will be impressed, especially since Dantonio has said that we will not just take someone to take someone. Adding FB CHristian Wilson as that 5th kid would be a real nice way to close things out.

IMHO, I think we get Ingram, Scruggs, Bishop, Jude and maybe Gardiner. Maybe a surprise. All in all, a rock-solid but not spectacular class. Without Ingram, it definitely loses some of it's luster, but it'd still be good.

[Larry Harrisons Lotion]

Originally Posted by DantonIzzo

IMHO, I think we get Ingram, Scruggs, Bishop, Jude and maybe Gardiner. Maybe a surprise. All in all, a rock-solid but not spectacular class. Without Ingram, it definitely loses some of it's luster, but it'd still be good.

Me thinks we are counting too much on Ingram being a legacy recruit. I hope that I'm wrong, but Ingram is going to Bama.

[Gods03]

Originally Posted by DantonIzzo

Without Ingram, it definitely loses MOST of it's luster, but it'd still be good.

Fixed it for you.

[Natron the Spartan]

Originally Posted by Gods03

Fixed it for you.

eh, i disagree. The guy doesnt even play a position of need. Sure, he's a great recruit and would add to the class for many reasons, but it'd be much worse if he played at a position in which we need bodies.

[Gods03]

Originally Posted by Natron the Spartan

eh, i disagree. The guy doesnt even play a position of need. Sure, he's a great recruit and would add to the class for many reasons, but it'd be much worse if he played at a position in which we need bodies.

I guess I should have clarified. I agree that he does not play at a position of need, and in that respect, doesn't ruin our class from a talent perspective, but he is a highly sought after recruit that most analysts assumed (in the begining) was an MSU lock for legacy reasons. Now that he has snowballed into this blue chip prospect, if we lose out, our class will be looked at as below average (which I do not agree with, we have an average/slightly above average class at this point), and our coaching staff a recruiting failure (which is an unfair label). Think about the amount of thought and research that goes into recruiting rankings by guys at ESPN and DiNardo (not much). All they need is something like MSU losing out on Ingram to call our class sub-par to a national audience. I think for this reason, Ingram is more important than...dare I say it....Perry.

[DantonIzzo]

Originally Posted by Gods03

I guess I should have clarified. I agree that he does not play at a position of need, and in that respect, doesn't ruin our class from a talent perspective, but he is a highly sought after recruit that most analysts assumed (in the begining) was an MSU lock for legacy reasons. Now that he has snowballed into this blue chip prospect, if we lose out, our class will be looked at as below average (which I do not agree with, we have an average/slightly above average class at this point), and our coaching staff a recruiting failure (which is an unfair label). Think about the amount of thought and research that goes into recruiting rankings by guys at ESPN and DiNardo (not much). All they need is something like MSU losing out on Ingram to call our class sub-par to a national audience. I think for this reason, Ingram is more important than...dare I say it....Perry.

Well said again, Gods.

[green night]

Can anyone break down the verbals to this point by position / strengths? Strengths of the class, etc. Very much appreciated!!

[Natron the Spartan]

Originally Posted by green night

Can anyone break down the verbals to this point by position / strengths? Strengths of the class, etc. Very much appreciated!!

Michigan State Spartans Football: SpartanMag.com

[calispartan]

Lets say we only get 18-20 commitments. Do we fill the class w/ some kids that should be walkons and waste the scholarship or do we bank the extras and hope we have some kids that want to be Spartans next year?