P Shane Tripuka, Allen HS

[Harry]

“Shane is a very talented punter. He is big, tall, strong, and
athletic. He has the perfect frame to develop and dominate at the D1
level. He has shown outstanding improvement from camp to camp. He is
consistent and shows huge potential. He’s a fine young man with a great
attitude and work ethic. A bright D1 future awaits Shane. Outstanding
prospect. Offer now!”

Tripucka is no stranger to performing in front of large crowds. He
punted before 40,000 fans at the Under Armour All-American game while
Allen high school routinely plays in front of contingents that would
make certain collegiate programs jealous.

“Some of those guys (at the Under Armour game) were nervous, but I’ve
played in front of 50,000 people at Cowboys stadium,” said Tripucka.
“So it wasn’t that tough for me. But it was a lot of fun and I was
really honored to play in that game.

“At Allen, we average around 20,000 fans at our home games. Our
stadium holds 18,000 but we had 23,000 at our first game, last season.”

The talented punter averages 42 yards per punt with an average
hang-time of 4.2 seconds. His uncanny ability to provide depth, yet not
out-kick the coverage has FBS institutions battling for his services.

“One punting stat that I really stick to - and it’s my favorite one -
is over the last two seasons, I haven’t had a single punt return yard
against me,” he said. “And we’re talking over 100 punts and not a single
return yard.”

Tripucka holds an
offer from Sam Houston State, and was offered preferred walk-on
opportunities by Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Boston College.
North Texas and UCLA have also expressed interest.

Read more: http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2013/02/rutgers_recruiting_rutgers_rec_1.html

[GrayEagle]

Tripucka sounds great. A scholarship for a good/great punter >one for a third team player at any position. Just do it.

[Harry]

We seem to have forgotten that we lose an outstanding punter in Atterbury.

[UNTexas]

Field position, field position, field position...

[JesseMartin]

Field position, field position, field position...

Yep. With a great punter and an above-average kick returner, a so-so team can be a 10-win team just because their drives aren't as long and their opponents' field is longer. Special teams are painfully underrated, probably because so few truly excel in those areas. But if you do grab a couple of guys who make your special teams a bit extra special, it can mean the difference between a couple of close games putting you over .500 instead of under, or between being a 6-6 bowl-eligible team and a conference champion with a much bigger berth. We've had our fair share of great kickers at UNT (most of whom were also Honors students, if I'm not mistaken), but I'd love to couple that with an awesome punt/kickoff returner. An average of 4-5 more yards per return, along with somebody who can pin opponents back a few yards, will likely give us the momentum to win at least 2 more games per season.

[GreenBat]

Allen punter and Under Armour All-American Shane Tripucka (@ShaneTrip17) commits to Texas A&M. #txhsfb

[GrayEagle]

I brought Tripucka to Coach Perry's attention last night and he is aware of his ability. For now, Coach Perry has to be assured that Blake Macek cannot consistently produce the distance and hang time before he can pursue Shane Tripucka. He doesn't have the scholarship at the moment but thinks that maybe adjustments can be made if absolutely necessary.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Allen punter and Under Armour All-American Shane Tripucka (@ShaneTrip17) commits to Texas A&M. #txhsfb

He doesn't show up on A&M's commit list . . . he must be going as a preferred walk-on.