Fonzale Davis update from Vito

Harry · July 10, 2014

Former South Oak Cliff standout Fonzale Davis couldn’t help but be disappointed when he found out a few weeks ago that his college football journey wouldn’t begin at UNT like he had hoped.

Davis waited through the summer to see if he could post a standardized test score that would make him eligible to play for the Mean Green.

The wide receiver has focused on a series of new goals since he found out that he didn’t qualify academically, including making the most of an opportunity to play at Kilgore JC.

Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/07/fonzale-davis-talks-impending-juco-journey.html/

hickoryhouse · July 11, 2014

Just to clarify, because I don't necessarily understand all things college football recruiting... He is back on the open market again after two years, and that means he cannot get out of JC after one year if he is eligible?

BillySee58 · July 11, 2014

Just to clarify, because I don't necessarily understand all things college football recruiting... He is back on the open market again after two years, and that means he cannot get out of JC after one year if he is eligible?

Because he did not qualify out of high school he just complete the requirements for an associate's degree before he can enroll at a D1 school.

greenit · July 11, 2014

And yes, he will be back on the open market once he gets his associates degree.

UNTLifer · July 12, 2014

Exhibit A as to why I do not get excited over a high school kid before he sets foot on campus or plays one down for us. I will be shocked if we ever see Davis in a NT uniform.

Meanwhile, two former 2 star athletes threw out the first pitch at The Temple as NT sport's alumni.

greenminer · July 12, 2014

Exhibit A as to why I do not get excited over a high school kid before he sets foot on campus or plays one down for us. I will be shocked if we ever see Davis in a NT uniform.
Meanwhile, two former 2 star athletes threw out the first pitch at The Temple as NT sport's alumni.

"The Temple"?

UNTLifer · July 12, 2014

"The Temple"?

The Ballpark in Arlington

GrayEagle · July 12, 2014

Color me crazy but I have this feeling that Fonzale Davis will play his last two years at Apogee.

Neither Oklahoma nor Texas Tech have much history on taking JUCOs because they don't need to. It could depend on the number of quality receivers that they have in 2016 but they get good ones and they don't run out. Boise State has lost some of the luster from their win over OU and is a long way off. Colorado State is a possibility but what's the advantage? And, they're not likely to have a game with a Texas team on their schedule. If it were me I'd prefer playing for Dan McCarney and his staff.

It's certainly not a sure thing but I like our chances.

Harry · July 12, 2014

Color me crazy but I have this feeling that Fonzale Davis will play his last two years at Apogee.

Neither Oklahoma nor Texas Tech have much history on taking JUCOs because they don't need to. It could depend on the number of quality receivers that they have in 2016 but they get good ones and they don't run out. Boise State has lost some of the luster from their win over OU and is a long way off. Colorado State is a possibility but what's the advantage? And, they're not likely to have a game with a Texas team on their schedule. If it were me I'd prefer playing for Dan McCarney and his staff.

It's certainly not a sure thing but I like our chances.

I hope you are fm right about Fonzale coming back but I would respectfully beg to differ about Tech and jucos. This may change with coach handsome but they have signed a fair amount of jucos to my recollection much like K State has in years past.

BillySee58 · July 12, 2014

One of the big opportunities Fonzale let slip away through this is that Jalen Adams will likely take his spot as a freshman ready to play right away behind Carlos Harris. Adams may very well have been our most athletic signee this year. Just from a pure athleticism standpoint. Adams is not as tailor-made for the slot as Fonzale is, but if he locks down that spot, as well as Turner Smiley and any other potential slot recruits we pull in, we really just may not need Fonzale. As good as he is, JUCO slot receiver is just not a high priority spot in a class.

Adams' best fit would've been at corner IMO. On offense he is kind of a tweener. He's more of a long strider, like an outside receiver, but at 5'10"/5'11" his height makes him more of a candidate for slot. Like I said, he is athletic and talented enough where he still has a great chance to thrive in the slot.

I'd love to have Fonzale back, but there's a good chance that we won't need immediate impact at slot for 2016, so we won't need to go JUCO there and we'd rather use the spot on a stud high school kid. But we'll see.

Edited July 12, 2014 by BillySee58

BillySee58 · July 12, 2014

Exhibit A as to why I do not get excited over a high school kid before he sets foot on campus or plays one down for us. I will be shocked if we ever see Davis in a NT uniform.
Meanwhile, two former 2 star athletes threw out the first pitch at The Temple as NT sport's alumni.

When our classes back then were 90% two-stars (70% at the lowest for Dunbar's year) you're going to have most of your best players be two-stars just by virtue of them out-numbering the three-stars.

Look at our defense last year. We started 7 two-star, or lower, rated players. But our leader in sacks, leader in tackles, and leader in interceptions were all three-star or higher.

Read into stars what you will, but I don't understand why people insist on making it seem like the stars are always wrong. Sometimes they will, sometimes they won't. Fonzale was a take despite his grade issues because of his film and ability, not star-rating.

Edited July 12, 2014 by BillySee58

Danish43 · July 12, 2014

BillySee58: There are many of us here that appreciate your analysis and knowledge in the recruiting battles and behind the scenes that go on. Personally I would find it very frustrated in guessing who will sign with NT, being that some of these commitments change their mind in an instant or get disqualified due to grades, criminal acts, etc.

greenminer · July 12, 2014

The Ballpark in Arlington

I gathered it was the Ballpark, I've just never heard that nickname before.

UNT90 · July 12, 2014

I gathered it was the Ballpark, I've just never heard that nickname before.

Really?

Must not listen to The Ticket. I think Mike Rhyner assigned the nickname.

Greenrex · July 12, 2014

BillySee58: There are many of us here that appreciate your analysis and knowledge in the recruiting battles and behind the scenes that go on.

I appreciate your comments too, BillySee58...always generous, clear, knowledgable, and without any personal vendettas. Thanks again!

Edited July 12, 2014 by Greenrex

UNTLifer · July 12, 2014

I, too, appreciate your feedback and insight, and I don't totally dismiss the star system, but I have also seen these happen too many times. I love signing day but I like to see how things pan out

BillySee58 · July 12, 2014

I, too, appreciate your feedback and insight, and I don't totally dismiss the star system, but I have also seen these happen too many times. I love signing day but I like to see how things pan out

Every research that has ever been done on stars shows that a higher percentage of 5-stars make it to the NFL than 4-stars, a higher percentage of 4-stars make it to the NFL than 3-stars, and so on. It doesn't affect each individual player, but the numbers average out over time, over all the players.

There are also many other factors. Coach Mccarney developed and evaluated a bunch of 2-star guys and kicked a team who had been pulling a very high amount of 3-stars and beat them 55-14. Also, stars focus on measuring a player's athletic ability. Not taking into account the mental aspect. And even then, it's impossible to always be right.

All those factors make it ridiculous to reduce a recruit to his star-rating, especially if you're just using his star-rating from 1 of the 4 major recruiting websites. Stars don't matter individually, but they do average out over time over many players.

H-towngreen · July 12, 2014

Stars do matter, but so do offers, and highlights. All 3 of those factor in to how you should view a recruit

UNT90 · July 12, 2014

Stars do matter, but so do offers, and highlights. All 3 of those factor in to how you should view a recruit

Agree with offers, but not highlights (except for QBs, where you can get a feel for their arm strength).

Highlights are just that.

BillySee58 · July 12, 2014

Agree with offers, but not highlights (except for QBs, where you can get a feel for their arm strength).
Highlights are just that.

Not to sound like a want-to-be evaluator, but you can tell a lot from highlights. If you just look at things as good play vs. bad play, then yeah, they aren't going to be that different. They're all good plays. You have to evaluate much deeper than that Edited July 12, 2014 by BillySee58

H-towngreen · July 12, 2014

Agree with offers, but not highlights (except for QBs, where you can get a feel for their arm strength).
Highlights are just that.

But you can gauge speed, hands, strength, how quick the get off the ball, etc.

GrayEagle · July 12, 2014

I realize that highlights are usually just that...the best performances of the year. I realize that we aren't seeing the warts and we don't know how many bad plays the particular recruit had over the years. But...if he's capable of those good plays then with good coaching and conditioning that player should be able to nearly duplicate those highlights consistently. With good coaching you get better recognition, more desire and focus and conditioning makes you stronger, faster and have more stamina. For those reasons, I believe that highlights are important.

All of these measurable qualities are important and the best measuring device that we have in an inexact science. The one intangible that cannot be measured is heart. Some have it, some develop it and unfortunately some never get it to the level of being a quality FBS or pro athlete even though they have the physical tools.

Ben Gooding · July 13, 2014

Billy indeed does a good job with recruiting. I'm always looking to read his write ups on recruits.

Development is essential to having a quality team. However, the rating system, pending the source, is highly regarded and more times than not very accurate. Aside from the exceptions such as Southern Miss, more cumulative stars on the field will equate to more wins. 33 stars on offense will be a far more efficient offense than say 22 stars.

GMG24 · July 13, 2014

Data?

UNT90 · July 13, 2014

Not to sound like a want-to-be evaluator, but you can tell a lot from highlights. If you just look at things as good play vs. bad play, then yeah, they aren't going to be that different. They're all good plays. You have to evaluate much deeper than that

To be able to evaluate fairly, you need to know the ability of each and every player that the recruit goes up against in the highlight video. If there is one person on here that would know that, it would be you, but it definitely isn't me or the many others that casually comment on highlight videos.

Does the player take plays off? Does he have a constant motor? Can't tell from a highlight video.

A full game video would give you a much better feel for the ability of the recruit.

I think offer list is the most viable source to rate recruits, because you can bet your anus that those schools have done this work to evaluate that recruit.