I know I've already mentioned this a few times already, but I am extremely impressed by how this staff is recruiting. It is absolutely night and day when compared to how the previous regime approached recruiting.
Scout.com has evaluated and rated 17 of our current prospects. Those 17 prospects have ALL been given a rating of 3 stars. Compare that to last year's recruiting class (and the 5 classes before that) where we were lucky if we signed a single 3 star player. Desmond Tautofi, one of our verbal commitments, is one of the prospects who has been given a rating of 3 stars by scout. ESPN.com has given him a rating of 74. To put that in persepctive, that is the same rating that Carta-Samuels was given last year. He was our prize recruit last year, and this year, one of first two commitments is just as highly touted. What gets me really excited is that our other verbal commitment, Sonny Puletasi, is an even better football player than Tautofi is. Puletasi has not yet been evaluated by scout, but ESPN.com has given him a rating of 77. A rating of 79 and higher usually means the player is on ESPN.com's 150 Watch List (150 best football players in the nation). It is a pretty sure bet that Puletasi will be given three stars by both scout and rivals at the time of his evaluation.
Of course, we can't expect all of these guys, or even a majority of them, to commit to the Pokes. When we recruit higher level prospects, we can expect a lot more competition for the players services. Nearly all of the prosepcts we have offers out to have at least one other offer from a BCS school. Although the MWC has certainly gained nation attention in the past few years, it is still going to be tough for the staff to convince a player he should pass up an offer from a BCS school to come play for the Pokes, especially with the Pokes recent struggles. That being said, I like the fact this staff isn't afraid to go after some of the big boys. It is still very early in the recruiting process, so why not go after the best and see what happens. I know we were the first team to offer a lot of these guys before the BCS schools came calling with offers, and I'm hoping that may give us an advantage with some of these guys. Hey, the worst that can happen is that these guys decide to sign with another team. I have a feeling come next February on signing day, this class may be the best we have ever had.
Scout.com has evaluated and rated 17 of our current prospects. Those 17 prospects have ALL been given a rating of 3 stars. Compare that to last year's recruiting class (and the 5 classes before that) where we were lucky if we signed a single 3 star player. Desmond Tautofi, one of our verbal commitments, is one of the prospects who has been given a rating of 3 stars by scout. ESPN.com has given him a rating of 74. To put that in persepctive, that is the same rating that Carta-Samuels was given last year. He was our prize recruit last year, and this year, one of first two commitments is just as highly touted. What gets me really excited is that our other verbal commitment, Sonny Puletasi, is an even better football player than Tautofi is. Puletasi has not yet been evaluated by scout, but ESPN.com has given him a rating of 77. A rating of 79 and higher usually means the player is on ESPN.com's 150 Watch List (150 best football players in the nation). It is a pretty sure bet that Puletasi will be given three stars by both scout and rivals at the time of his evaluation.
Of course, we can't expect all of these guys, or even a majority of them, to commit to the Pokes. When we recruit higher level prospects, we can expect a lot more competition for the players services. Nearly all of the prosepcts we have offers out to have at least one other offer from a BCS school. Although the MWC has certainly gained nation attention in the past few years, it is still going to be tough for the staff to convince a player he should pass up an offer from a BCS school to come play for the Pokes, especially with the Pokes recent struggles. That being said, I like the fact this staff isn't afraid to go after some of the big boys. It is still very early in the recruiting process, so why not go after the best and see what happens. I know we were the first team to offer a lot of these guys before the BCS schools came calling with offers, and I'm hoping that may give us an advantage with some of these guys. Hey, the worst that can happen is that these guys decide to sign with another team. I have a feeling come next February on signing day, this class may be the best we have ever had.
