Around the Big Ten

[Hannibal]

Strong recruiting year for the conference, thanks to keeping guys at home and Harbaugh bringing in national guys. I'm sure that Notre Dame's 4-8 season didn't hurt matters either. We probably have that to thank for Donovan Jeter. B1G overall was better than a few previous years. There were some years there where Purdue and Illinois were scraping the bottom of the barrel in Bowling Green territory.

[entropy]

Maryland made their mark with quantity, which is what they needed to do.. PSU had their standard PSU class which has some really good players. UNL had a small class with good talent and a few projects. Needed another OT and WR, but overall, one of the better classes they've had in a while. If it was a larger class, you're looking at around 15th.. I'm ok with that. Next, btw, will be something like 15 or 17 commits only.

[Wild Hoss]

Agree on MD....their class is sneaky-good. Signed a boatload of 3.5-4.0 kids that should provide a nice base for them a few years down the road.

Our class was a good start. Hoping to do better next year, especially on defense with a new DC and some new ACs who are more recruit-savvy. Problems recruiting RBs and OTs are becoming acute. Landed some speed guys who can play outside the hashes on offense, which was badly needed.

[entropy]

I like UNL's RB... I guess we will see.

[Wild Hoss]

He has the potential to be a good player...but he was a clear Plan C kid for this staff. And he's the only back we signed.

Those are both issues.

[entropy]

I'm not sure he was plan C.. he had grade issues for some time. Maybe B, but plan C sounds like someone you don't stay in contact with and keep tabs on their progress. jmo

[Wild Hoss]

If he was from Bellevue, WA instead of Bellevue, NE they wouldn't have kept in contact with him IMO. Hoping he can be a Damon Benning-type guy...good off the bench. If he's our front-line back 2 years from now, we'll be in trouble.

[entropy]

BIG Rankings by Average Stars (per scout)

1) OSU - 4.19
2) Mich - 3.83
3) PSU - 3.57
4) UNL - 3.45
5) Maryland - 3.31
6) MSU - 3.27
7) NW - 3.11
8) Wisky - 3.06
9) Ill - 3.00
10) Iowa - 3.00
11) Minn - 2.96
12) Rutgers - 2.81
13) Indiana - 2.78
14) Purdue - 2.48

[entropy]

Rivals really like southern recruiting.. scout seems biased to the west coast.. I'm not sure about ESPN

[entropy]

just saw CBS/247 purchased Scout...

[entropy]

http://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/michigan-state-recruit-cannot-sign-on-national-signing-day-because-hes-in-jail/

MSU recruit could not sign his national letter of intent... because he was in jail

[entropy]

Saw this on a scout board:

The ones that got away.............


The top recruits who live in the B1G footprint, but went to other schools. 24 kids...
Calvin Ashley – Washington, DC – OT – Auburn
D’Andre Swift – Philadelphia, PA – RB – Georgia
Isaiah Wilson – Brooklyn, NY – OT – Georgia
Hunter Johnson – Brownsburg, IN – PRO – Clemson
Jeff Thomas – East Saint Louis, IL – WR – Miami
Paris Ford – Pittsburgh, PA – S – Pittsburgh
Cole Kmet – Arlington Heights, IL – TE – Notre Dame
Joshua Lugg – Wexford, PA – OT – Notre Dame
Lynn Bowden – Youngstown, OH – ATH – Kentucky
Mark Webb – Warminster, PA – WR – Georgia
Tyrell Ajian – Mansfield, OH – ATH – Kentucky
Michael Warren – Toledo, OH – RB – Cincinnati
TreSean Smith – Cincinnati, OH – S – Louisville
Dalyn Wade-Perry – Englewood, NJ – DT – Stanford
Joshua Paschal – Olney, MD – SDE – Kentucky
Nathan Proctor – Indiana Head, MD – OLB – Virginia Tech
Ben Petrula – Jersey City, NJ – OG – Boston College
JaVonte Richardson – Maple Heights, OH – WR – Kentucky
Tommy Devito – Ramsey, NJ – PRO – Syracuse
Evidence Njoku – Wayne, NJ – WR – Miami
Joshua Fedd-Jackson – North Arlington, NJ – North Carolina State
Dalton Wagner – Richmond, IL – OT – Arkansas
Isaiah Robertson – Naperville, IL – S – Notre Dame
Johnathan Lovett – Burlington, NJ – Baylor* (has not signed)

[AlabamAlum]

I don't think they should have included the ones who went to ND. Yeah, the kid is from the B1G footprint, but so is ND.

And Washington DC is in the footprint? Because of Maryland/Rutgers, I am sure, but the Terps and Knights aren't big players and those areas just don't scream B1G.

[hack]

Good morning from Our Nation's Capital, AKA the heart of Big Ten Country. Seems like the expansion strategy's raison d'etre was based entirely on footprint expansion, at the cost of conference round-robin scheduling in basketball, a coherent identity, on and on.

[entropy]

AA... if you exclude ND, you'd have to exclude Pitt and Cincy, too