Vito's Mean Green Blog

NT03 · June 27, 2007

Lanear Sampson, a wide receiver from North Mesquite who is a member of Rivals.com's list of the top 100 prospects in the state, orally committed to Baylor on Tuesday night. Sampson had offers from several Division I schools, including North Texas.

UNT has loaded up on wide receivers since Todd Dodge took over as the Mean Green's head coach in December. Dodge signed six wide receivers in his 2007 recruiting class and has already landed a soft oral commitment from Mart wide receiver Kenny Barrett for his 2008 class.

Barrett committed to UNT, but said he will still listen to other coaches and another scholarship offer could change his mind.

UNT already has seven solid players in the fold for 2008, but there is little doubt Sampson would have been the best of the bunch. Rivals.com has Sampson rated No. 59 among wide receivers nationally and No. 61 among all players in Texas.

Posted by Brett Vito at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Edited June 27, 2007 by NT03

DeepGreen · June 27, 2007

LAZER · June 27, 2007

Lanear Sampson, a wide receiver from North Mesquite who is a member of Rivals.com's list of the top 100 prospects in the state, orally committed to Baylor on Tuesday night. Sampson had offers from several Division I schools, including North Texas.
UNT has loaded up on wide receivers since Todd Dodge took over as the Mean Green's head coach in December. Dodge signed six wide receivers in his 2007 recruiting class and has already landed a soft oral commitment from Mart wide receiver Kenny Barrett for his 2008 class.
Barrett committed to UNT, but said he will still listen to other coaches and another scholarship offer could change his mind.
UNT already has seven solid players in the fold for 2008, but there is little doubt Sampson would have been the best of the bunch. Rivals.com has Sampson rated No. 59 among wide receivers nationally and No. 61 among all players in Texas.
Posted by Brett Vito at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Make anyone else uneasy? :ph34r:

NT80 · June 27, 2007

I'm just glad to hear we are going after State Top 100 players early instead of waiting to see who's left after everyone else is done.

untbowler · June 27, 2007

can't win them all, to bad the kid chose Baylor.

As for Barrett it is old news we have discussed him ad naseum in other posts already.

island eagle · June 27, 2007

Lanear Sampson, a wide receiver from North Mesquite who is a member of Rivals.com's list of the top 100 prospects in the state, orally committed to Baylor on Tuesday night. Sampson had offers from several Division I schools, including North Texas.
UNT has loaded up on wide receivers since Todd Dodge took over as the Mean Green's head coach in December. Dodge signed six wide receivers in his 2007 recruiting class and has already landed a soft oral commitment from Mart wide receiver Kenny Barrett for his 2008 class.
Barrett committed to UNT, but said he will still listen to other coaches and another scholarship offer could change his mind.
UNT already has seven solid players in the fold for 2008, but there is little doubt Sampson would have been the best of the bunch. Rivals.com has Sampson rated No. 59 among wide receivers nationally and No. 61 among all players in Texas.
Posted by Brett Vito at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Remember it is a commitment, not a signing. Lots of things could happen between now and February that would cause a change.

Green Lantern · June 27, 2007

I'm just glad to hear we are going after State Top 100 players early instead of waiting to see who's left after everyone else is done.

Ditto.

Harry · June 27, 2007

All of us need to be prepared for the disappointment of losing verbals to bigger schools. It is a reality of our improved pro-active approach. It takes courage to do what this staff is doing but the long term payoff for the program is huge.

Green Lantern · June 27, 2007

All of us need to be prepared for the disappointment of losing verbals to bigger schools. It is a reality of our improved pro-active approach. It takes courage to do what this staff is doing but the long term payoff for the program is huge.

Agreed. I'm preparing myself for the over-reaction here on GMG when we do end up losing one. Just remember...We all wished that the previous regime would conduct recruiting the way that Dodge and Co. are right now (ie. going after local talent, recruiting against the "big boys" without fear, and selling the positives of the program). Well, were getting that now. We need to be prepared for the way that things work when you are more visible with your recruiting efforts.

Baby Arm! · June 27, 2007

What??? You mean to tell me that Todd Dodge can't ink every top 100 player in the state?!!!!! That's what we get for hiring a high school coach!! Ok, I'm going to approach this the same way posters on other boards do when they lose a recruit to UNT ...

We never offered this kid anything...

He's way over rated! He's really not that good... We weren't really interested in him anyway .

or their most favorite... It's too dangerours to offer a scholly based on junior year performance...

Yada, yada, yada :lol:

Seriously though, I would have loved to see him at UNT but we can't win em all. Good luck to the kid and I wish him every success.

UNTLifer · June 27, 2007

I love the talent we are going after, but it really doesn't surprise me to lose out on this young man. We signed 6 receivers last year and have another that has made a committment, although soft, this year. Maybe he looked at the numbers and thought he had a better shot to play early at Baylor. While disappointed, I wish him the best.

meangreendork · June 27, 2007

If some kids back out, that's expected. I'm really happy to see the volume of quality players and the approach the new coaching staff has. If we lose some, I'll be disappointed but I won't think that will kill our season.

MeanGreenBuzz · June 28, 2007

When was the last time DD went after top 100 in state talent? Heck when was the last time DD went after any players the caliber of what Todge is going after? I don't care if we lose out on guys like this because I know it will help us to land players of this caliber in the future just by having out name out there. I would much rather have our name next to every top 100 player in the state saying we offered than never see out name next to any state top 100 player (or area top 100 player for that matter). Kids read papers, check the internet, look at recruiting sites and if they don't see you going after the top talent then they won't want to play there either.

good_ken · June 28, 2007

keep in mind that this commitments could also have to due with the 6 wideouts that have already signed, and the 1 that has committed for 2008. Baylor's WR cupboard is just about empty, and this kid probably thinks he can hed to Waco and step right in. Which is a compliment to the quality of WR that TD is bringing in.

Stan R · June 28, 2007

When was the last time DD went after top 100 in state talent? Heck when was the last time DD went after any players the caliber of what Todge is going after? I don't care if we lose out on guys like this because I know it will help us to land players of this caliber in the future just by having out name out there. I would much rather have our name next to every top 100 player in the state saying we offered than never see out name next to any state top 100 player (or area top 100 player for that matter). Kids read papers, check the internet, look at recruiting sites and if they don't see you going after the top talent then they won't want to play there either.

I don't remember which season - 1999? but DD had like 5 state top 100's. Anyone remember the names and which season? This would include the group with BKennedy, Buckles, etc. I believe.

GrandGreen · June 29, 2007

2001, Jonas Buckles, Gardner, Casey, Kennedy, Ridgeway, and Hall. It must be realized though that you may be talking apples and oranges. TD actually recruited 5 or 6 players in some state 100 last year (Fort Worth, San Antonio newspapers). Now most focus on the rivals list as many papers and other media no longer create their own separate lists, but use Rivals. It will be very difficult for NT to get many players on the rivals 100 list, which IMO is primarily created based on "Big Boy" recruiting. A real catch 22 situation, if a player signs with a lower tier team then he by definition could not be considered a top level recruit.

Edited June 29, 2007 by GrandGreen

Stan R · June 29, 2007

2001, Jonas Buckles, Gardner, Casey, Kennedy, Ridgeway, and Hall. It must be realized though that you may be talking apples and oranges. TD actually recruited 5 or 6 players in some state 100 last year (Fort Worth, San Antonio newspapers). Now most focus on the rivals list as many papers and other media no longer create their own separate lists, but use Rivals. It will be very difficult for NT to get many players on the rivals 100 list, which IMO is primarily created based on "Big Boy" recruiting. A real catch 22 situation, if a player signs with a lower tier team then he by definition could not be considered a top level recruit.

good points.

island eagle · June 29, 2007

good points.

Or sign a player late who is so highly rated that they can't drop him much. Case in point=Buckles. He was an Austin American-Statesman Top 55 (in the state) which is highly reflective of how UT rates the recruits. When we signed him, it was difficult for the recruiting services to suddenly "discover" he shouldn't have been rated so highly.

In the old days, once the high school senior season was finished, a players rating stayed the same no matter who they signed with. Now, it jumps up and down like crazy. Heck, if UH were to sign the equivalent of Warren McVea today, he'd drop at least one star.