Looked at the list for next year. Four of the top ten already committed elsewhere. Seems like the season keeps getting earlier. You need to be deep into next year's class before the current one is signed.
2018 Falling behind
- Thread starter Harambe_be_my_qb
- Start date
Naijee Jones committed in November and then we didn't get our next committ (Bo Melton) until April. Still early.
Actually yes 4 of the Top 10.... including the St. Peter's Prep twins going to Notre Dame.
It really is true that downtime is virtually nonexistent in recruiting these days. College coaches simply cannot focus on only one cycle at a time.
Overall 2018 rankings, followed by B1G teams, according to 247:
1. Penn State (7 verbals, 94.82 avg)
2. Florida State (6, 93.42)
3. Miami (7, 89.59)
4. Notre Dame (6, 92.15)
5. USC (5, 95.38)
6. Texas A&M (6, 91.05)
7. Clemson (5, 94.05)
8. LSU (5, 93.66)
9. Alabama (5, 88.90)
10. Louisville (5, 86.91)
- - - -
13. Michigan State (3, 92.26)
16. Nebraska (3, 91.50)
18. Ohio State (2, 97.79)
23. Michigan (2, 94.06)
24. Wisconsin (3, 85.66)
37. Northwestern (2, 78.35)
49. Iowa (2, 76.58)
52. Indiana (1, 80.00)
Other B1G schools are without a verbal for the 2018 cycle at this point.
Overall 2018 rankings, followed by B1G teams, according to 247:
1. Penn State (7 verbals, 94.82 avg)
2. Florida State (6, 93.42)
3. Miami (7, 89.59)
4. Notre Dame (6, 92.15)
5. USC (5, 95.38)
6. Texas A&M (6, 91.05)
7. Clemson (5, 94.05)
8. LSU (5, 93.66)
9. Alabama (5, 88.90)
10. Louisville (5, 86.91)
- - - -
13. Michigan State (3, 92.26)
16. Nebraska (3, 91.50)
18. Ohio State (2, 97.79)
23. Michigan (2, 94.06)
24. Wisconsin (3, 85.66)
37. Northwestern (2, 78.35)
49. Iowa (2, 76.58)
52. Indiana (1, 80.00)
Other B1G schools are without a verbal for the 2018 cycle at this point.
Going to be some eye opening surprises in next year's class. both in state and OOS noise we will make. but be prepared that it will be a small class
I trust your insight. I am concerned about New York City, however. At one point we were a very legitimate option for Quadir White (Cardinal Hayes), and Sean Ryan (Erasmus), and were being considered by Matt Jones (Erasmus). All three have pretty much moved on and are no longer considering RU. Yes, it is early and things change, but these are 3 big time recruits from NYC who have soured on us. Troubling.
We all need to relax about 2018. We literally just signed our 2017 class and were acting like the sky is falling for 2018. We will get players and we will get quality players. Sign a top 35 class next year and keep improving the talent on this team. Kids are looking at results kids cooling on us is going to happen after we go 2-10. If we show improvement this year say gain an extra 3 wins and finish 5-7 then these kids who are shutting us out will listen to what we have to say.
That's not true especially with Qadir White. He was literally just at junior day and requested a personal sit down with Ash before he left.
I know the kid very well. He is no longer legitimately interested in us. As others in this thread have correctly pointed out, perhaps those of us ticked off at the nonsense pulled by some of the 2017 kids and their coaches has some of us overly ticked off today. That said, it will take a monumental effort to turn White back towards us.
This proves there is no loyalty when we offer a kid with an injury and as soon as he gets a green light he bolts. I know the mods had said recruiting is not exactly a clean business for any school.
Let's see how many of those 4 end up where they are now come next Feb
Exactly! It's a year away from when commitments mean anything. Some here still fail to recognize how often kids flip.
Please drink in the moment before you start obsessing about '18?We all know that each class is critical and each season should build on itself but it is ok to take a breath or a drink or a smoke and look at what our sophomore coaching staff has done in the face of advetsity that most staffs never have to endure. Hope springs eternal in the winter.
The '18 class might be even more important than '17. I think progress will definitely need to be shown in the win-loss column for the next class to have any chance of being ranked higher than this one. If there isn't, I could see the class finishing somewhere ranked in the 50s.
I have faith in Ash and the rest of the staff to get it done.
I have faith in Ash and the rest of the staff to get it done.
I disagree. Ash has been VERY honest in his recruiting pitches. If recruits trust him, which I think they will, the W column will not make or break the class. Now if we are talking rankings, next years class will likely be smaller than this years class, so that could play a small factor. But, we will see!
Has anyone cheeked the 2037 rankings yet?
This is turning into what we see in lacrosse.
Schools are accepting commitments from 8th and 9th graders now. If you haven't verballed to a school by grade 11, you are an outlier. It's crazy.
Schools are accepting commitments from 8th and 9th graders now. If you haven't verballed to a school by grade 11, you are an outlier. It's crazy.
Absolutely. Not sure if anyone noticed, but our schedule in 2017 isn't any easier than it was in 2016. But we're suddenly going to be competitive based on the play of a bunch of true freshmen? Just like in the offseason last year, the expectations are getting out of control again. Ash needs to communicate that we're gonna lose again a lot and we're going to be ugly at times. I'm sure he's better at doing that than our fans are. But he needs to find a way to recruit solidly again afrer another 2-10 season or if we get really lucky, maybe a 3-8 season.
But the fact is we probably did lose a couple guys this year and fell behind on others for next year because of our record this year. It doesn't matter how honest Ash is, kids want to play for a winner.
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"The fact is" and "probably" don't really go my man.
Look, you're saying the more games you win, the better recruiting ceiling. No one will argue that. But dude, Rutgers is not going to win more than 2-4 games again next year.
He's selling a future while being honest with recruits where the team currently stands in his long term plan. All the while, he can show the next bunch a few different positives;
1. He is selling himself.
2. A 2017 recruiting class - the best since 2012
3. New practice facility.
4. Improved program infrastructure.
All tangible signs of him coming through on his word and following his plan.
The twins are barely committed to ND. Long way to go with them and I would say we have just as good of a shot to land them.
Not sure what any of that has to do with Ash's word, or how that's relevant to what I said.
Sure, we had our best recruiting class since 2012, but that wasn't a very high hurdle to clear. And the 40th ranked recruiting class still puts us way behind the majority of the division. Another 2-3 win season isn't going to improve that.
Sure, we've got a new weight room and are putting a shiny brick wall around some existing fields, do you think that even remotely compares to the infrastructure of OSU/Mich/PSU/MSU? Think the RWJBarnabas sports medicine facility gives us such a big advantage? Marlyand's already doing something similar. Plus, they're spending $155M on a brand new practice facility, and they have UA in their pocket. We can't even raise $45M in private donations.
So yes, we are falling behind.
Some very good points both ways on this thread. 2018 recruiting needs to be solid, no way this thing gets turned around without a steady influx of B1G capable players. Some of the 2017 class will get to see the field early and contribute, whereas they might have redshirted or be buried at the top schools in our division. Kids want to see the field. They also want to win, can't blame them. They want a system that puts them in a position to succeed. A great RB likes to see a history of strong OLs. Ash needs to show that he can develop talent and improve game day results. That is going to take a few seasons unfortunately. Time will tell but 2018 recruiting will give us a good indication.
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This is a marathon not a race.
They are trying to build something here, once it is built then we have have threads like this.
We will get there in time.
They are trying to build something here, once it is built then we have have threads like this.
We will get there in time.
You (and many other people) keep making the assumption that having the 40th ranked class wasn't a "big hurdle to clear". I'm glad Ash kept us from facing the reality that that assumption was ill-formed.
As for the 40th ranked class "putting us way behind the majority of the division" - I'm not sure what you expected in coach Ash first class repping the second "worst" program in the division. Reality check people, we are RUTGERS, and we don't have Schianos gap toothed smile to shield the world from the true perception of our athletic brand nationally. And in any case, last I looked, Mich St, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, Rutgers, and Illinois all finished 13 spots apart - yes Ohio St, Michigan, and Penn St are way ahead, but if you read that out loud again, how could you expect to be on the same field after one year?
People are worries about Maryland, which is a different situation than Rutgers, but all that really happened was they swapped with Mich St.
It makes me happy that we didn't slip into the abyss this year, which like it or not, was more likely than this alternative we are actually living.
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this **** is stupid.
These kids don't even get to enjoy high school anymore, now it's a rush to attend all these for-profit camps, train like professional athletes starting in 9th grade, get life advice on their social media by people they don't know, and then get pressured into making life decisions before they're ever ready.
Sites like 247 that have become garbage click-bait make it even worse. ESPN makes these recruits feel like celebrities when they haven't done a damn thing yet, but of course that's what our culture worships.
I hate the entire process.
/rant
These kids don't even get to enjoy high school anymore, now it's a rush to attend all these for-profit camps, train like professional athletes starting in 9th grade, get life advice on their social media by people they don't know, and then get pressured into making life decisions before they're ever ready.
Sites like 247 that have become garbage click-bait make it even worse. ESPN makes these recruits feel like celebrities when they haven't done a damn thing yet, but of course that's what our culture worships.
I hate the entire process.
/rant
1)This class is one spot higher then 2013.
2)Ash did very well early, before the season started, when the most recent thing on his resume stated D-Coordinator Ohio State. And Of coarse he had the ring. But once the season began, and the bad losses were the most recent thing on his resume, he was no longer recruiting big time names, in fact he was losing a fair share.
It's way early for the 2018 recruiting class, so I won't really comment on the "slow start" but I'm a little skeptical that he can have another solid class without winning 4+ games.
And call me crazy, but I think winning more then 4 games is entirely possible. And in fact should, at the very least, be the goal.
You missed my point about the hurdle. You're judging Ash's recruiting by saying it was better than Flood's. And in that case it was 44th, not 40th. If it got worse than his classes we might as well have dropped down to FCS because we'd be perennially in last.
It doesn't matter what I expect. What matters is where we are. And where we are is fighting for 6th in our division.
Imagine Ash recruiting after being ranked during the season and playing in a defacto championship game! Such a waste. Our schedule is tougher this year than last year. Show me 5 wins? I don't see it.