CUSA Recruiting

Cerebus · February 3, 2016

I've always believed the best way to measure a class at non powerhouse schools is to compare that schools class with other IN CONFERENCE. Those are your de facto peer institutions. Note, all the rankings I am about to talk about come from 24/7, also note that 24/7 hasn't updated LOI information for CUSA yet, so this is subject to some change.

No CUSA School Landed a Five Star

Not surprise, there are only 25 of them. They went to the usual suspects Michigan, LSU, Alabama, USC, etc. Houston did manage to land a 5* DT, and if that isn't a sign of the end times, I don't know what is.

CUSA Landed a Single Four Star

Marshall had the #1 class in the conference, headed up by ILB Jaquan Yulee. Now being a North Texas fan, you might be confused and frightened by strange and unfamiliar term "four star." They are HIGHLY rated recruits, with offer sheets that look like this:

Look upon it and despair, fellow Mean Green brethren.

CUSA Landed 112 Three Stars

Here is where the CUSA level stars reside. Getting these guys is what leads to bowl games and CUSA championships. UAB led the way with 21, however I am going to throw them out of the pool because of their strange circumstances. Lets take a look at the other 91 recruits, spread across the other 13 schools.

Marshall 13
MTSU 12
USM 10
LaTech 9
FAU 7
ODU 7
FIU 6
WKU 6
UTSA 6
Charlotte 5
North Texas 5
UTEP 3
Rice 2

UNTLifer · February 3, 2016

We know what a 4-star HS recruit looks like. We had one playing MLB last year.

Cerebus · February 3, 2016

Just now, UNTLifer said:

We know what a 4-star HS recruit looks like. We had one playing MLB last year.

We didn't recruit him out of HS, and he wasn't a 4* when he came here.

I think the last HS 4* was Jamario Thomas.

BillySee58 · February 3, 2016

10 minutes ago, Cerebus said:

We didn't recruit him out of HS, and he wasn't a 4* when he came here.

I think the last HS 4* was Jamario Thomas.

I don't think we've ever had a 4-star out of high school, as long as there have been recruiting sites. Can Montgomery was a 4-star out of juco on scout.

Ben Gooding · February 3, 2016

I have a strategy and it may sounds crazy, but we have to poach every FCS and DII program of every single 3* athlete that commits to them. We should be hovering over those programs like they are roadkill. There is no reason as to why Mcneese State has three 3* and we have 5. We should have done everything in our power to take their 3 away from them and have 8. Then move on to the next FCS/DII program. To me, position doesn't matter. Pick up as much talent as you possible can across the board from whoever you can from wherever you can. Of course if there is a huge glaring hole that needs attention then give it attention. But we should be racking in 10 three star recruits each year and an easy way to start that approach is poaching these guys from the "lesser" programs.

Wag Tag · February 3, 2016

18 minutes ago, Cerebus said:

I've always believed the best way to measure a class at non powerhouse schools is to compare that schools class with other IN CONFERENCE. Those are your de facto peer institutions. Note, all the rankings I am about to talk about come from 24/7, also note that 24/7 hasn't updated LOI information for CUSA yet, so this is subject to some change.

No CUSA School Landed a Five Star

Not surprise, there are only 25 of them. They went to the usual suspects Michigan, LSU, Alabama, USC, etc. Houston did manage to land a 5* DT, and if that isn't a sign of the end times, I don't know what is.

CUSA Landed a Single Four Star

Marshall had the #1 class in the conference, headed up by ILB Jaquan Yulee. Now being a North Texas fan, you might be confused and frightened by strange and unfamiliar term "four star." They are HIGHLY rated recruits, with offer sheets that look like this:

Look upon it and despair, fellow Mean Green brethren.

CUSA Landed 112 Three Stars

Here is where the CUSA level stars reside. Getting these guys is what leads to bowl games and CUSA championships. UAB led the way with 21, however I am going to throw them out of the pool because of their strange circumstances. Lets take a look at the other 91 recruits, spread across the other 13 schools.

Marshall 13

MTSU 12

USM 10

LaTech 9

FAU 7

ODU 7

FIU 6

WKU 6

UTSA 6

Charlotte 5

North Texas 5

UTEP 3

Rice 2

There are quite a few 3 stars with no offers, D2 offers and only one offer the school they have signed with. I really think Billy is on to something with the offer sheet philosophy! A 3 star from a Texas 5A is going to be a lot different than a kid from a tough area in Mississippi! It would be interesting to see a kid ranked on just offers. Thanks for all your work!

Cerebus · February 3, 2016

8 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

I don't think we've ever had a 4-star out of high school, as long as there have been recruiting sites. Can Montgomery was a 4-star out of juco on scout.

Jamario was on some sites and not on others, he was on rivals but did drop when it no longer looked like OSU was going to sign him. The problem with that period is that most of that information has gone into the bit bucket.

MeanGreenTexan · February 3, 2016

34 minutes ago, Cerebus said:

I've always believed the best way to measure a class at non powerhouse schools is to compare that schools class with other IN CONFERENCE. Those are your de facto peer institutions. Note, all the rankings I am about to talk about come from 24/7, also note that 24/7 hasn't updated LOI information for CUSA yet, so this is subject to some change.

...

Marshall had the #1 class in the conference, headed up by ILB Jaquan Yulee. Now being a North Texas fan, you might be confused and frightened by strange and unfamiliar term "four star." They are HIGHLY rated recruits...

Marty-McFly-Confused-In-Back-To-The-Futu

Wait, do you mean a three star guy, but he has an extra star? Or are you talking about two 2* players, because that's pretty common dude.

UNTLifer · February 3, 2016

46 minutes ago, Cerebus said:

We didn't recruit him out of HS, and he wasn't a 4* when he came here.

I think the last HS 4* was Jamario Thomas.

True and this player that Marshall signed might also not be a 4 star by the time he takes the field. Just sayin'

36 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

I don't think we've ever had a 4-star out of high school, as long as there have been recruiting sites. Can Montgomery was a 4-star out of juco on scout.

Exactly. I wouldn't rate him as a 4-star based upon his production with us. I would place him behind Dunbar, Cobbs, Thomas, Galbreath, Wilburn, etc... as greatest in our history meaning these star systems are just a look in the crystal ball. The true measure of each class comes three to four years down the road.

Stan R · February 3, 2016

25 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Wait, do you mean a three star guy, but he has an extra star? Or are you talking about two 2* players, because that's pretty common dude.

Next thing you know he's going to make up some nonsense about players with "five" stars!!! *Spits milk out of nose*

Cowtown · February 3, 2016

Pretty sure Jamario was 3*. Riley might have been a 4* athlete...but I cant remember

BillySee58 · February 3, 2016

1 hour ago, Cerebus said:

Jamario was on some sites and not on others, he was on rivals but did drop when it no longer looked like OSU was going to sign him. The problem with that period is that most of that information has gone into the bit bucket.

He was a 2-star on scout

http://www.scout.com/player/47797-jamario-thomas?s=108

and it wasn't really "some sites but not others" back then, because I think it was just Scout and Rivals. This was before ESPN did recruiting, and 247 didn't exist yet. Unless there was another recruiting site I'm unaware of. I know Rivals had him at 3-stars, but I didn't know they dropped him from 4. If we go by a player's highest rating at any point in high school then Kevin Dillman was a 5-star QB at one point.

1 hour ago, UNTLifer said:

Exactly. I wouldn't rate him as a 4-star based upon his production with us. I would place him behind Dunbar, Cobbs, Thomas, Galbreath, Wilburn, etc... as greatest in our history meaning these star systems are just a look in the crystal ball. The true measure of each class comes three to four years down the road.

That's also a big difference between a player who just barely achieves a 4-star rating on one recruiting site on the juco level and a player who gets it out of high school. The high school player will have a much better offer list, and usually much more potential.

Heck, Dunbar and Thomas as high-2 and low-3 stars had better offer lists out of high school than Montgomery did out of juco. I expect something similar out of William Johnson. A good, consistent starter for two years. Similar level of play to Montgomery who had a similar rating, and similar level of play to Andrew Power who had a similar offer list.

Edited February 3, 2016 by BillySee58

Cerebus · February 3, 2016

1 hour ago, UNTLifer said:

Exactly. I wouldn't rate him as a 4-star based upon his production with us. I would place him behind Dunbar, Cobbs, Thomas, Galbreath, Wilburn, etc... as greatest in our history meaning these star systems are just a look in the crystal ball. The true measure of each class comes three to four years down the road.

Cam wasn't a four star HS recruit for us. Wallace was a 4 star HS recruit for Oregon, not North Texas. Marshall signed a 4 star HS recruit over a ton of P5 offers. How can you not see a distinction? Huge win for them. If Billy is right about Jamario not being a 4* anywhere (and I believe him) then that means we have never had one since we returned to 1A.

Ibleedgreen · February 4, 2016

Jamario's production was amazing until he suffered the hamstring injury. Remember the Colorado game? Remember his freshman year?

greenit · February 4, 2016

FYI, UNT is now up to #9 in overall CUSA recruiting ranking based on only 17 signees, 247sports.

Edited February 4, 2016 by greenit

Wag Tag · February 4, 2016

28 minutes ago, greenit said:

FYI, UNT is now up to #9 in overall CUSA recruiting ranking based on only 17 signees, 247sports.

This morning this was a goal 9 or better! Let's get under 100!

Ben Gooding · February 4, 2016

31 minutes ago, greenit said:

FYI, UNT is now up to #9 in overall CUSA recruiting ranking based on only 17 signees, 247sports.

Pretty good all things considered. Still room to snag up some guys late. There are always kids left without a chair to sit in. We have about 5 empty chairs.

MeanGreen22 · February 4, 2016

Has anyone gone and looked through Marshall's commits? Holy crap some of those are impressive. They got a RB from Athens, GA with an offer from Georgia (and many other P5s). That is some crootin right there.

Mean_Green09 · February 4, 2016

6 hours ago, MeanGreen22 said:

Has anyone gone and looked through Marshall's commits? Holy crap some of those are impressive. They got a RB from Athens, GA with an offer from Georgia (and many other P5s). That is some crootin right there.

Doc Holliday is a great recruiter and has a great program. Its not a surprise they did so well.