NSD Predictions for Uncommitted CANE targets

Well, we are on the eve of National Signing Day and this past weekend we took some major hits. The biggest one being last night when Florida flipped RB Jordan Scarlett, the one recruit we could not afford to lose.

Anyway, here's who I think some uncommitted targets that we're still after end up:

CB Rashad Fenton (Carol City) - We came in the game late, but too late, according to Fenton and his people. The contenders are Florida, South Carolina, and Louisville. 

Prediction: South Carolina

ATH Marcus Lewis (Washington, DC Gonzaga) - Late last night, Lewis said he would delay his decision until early evening tomorrow because now FSU and Texas came into the game. That's not a good sign especially to have FSU in the mix. You know Jimbo will do anything to stick it to UM any way possible and this looks like a case of that here

Prediction: Florida State 

DT Kevin Scott (Los Angeles, CA Bishop Mora Salesian) - With Ole Miss out of it when they picked up Ross Donelly from TX last night. So it's between SC and us. This is one in play here, now that Rasheem Green is going to SC. This is one Golden, D, and Jethro personally have been on for a while. This is one we absolutely MUST have in this class. However, most of the indications believe Scott will end up staying on the West Coast. 

Prediction: SC

RB Dexter Williams (Winter Garden West Orange) - With Scarlett now at Florida, getting Williams in this class now becomes a MAJOR priority. With Louisville out of it, its really between Notre Dame (who has really made a push late), and us. I think in the end, Williams will not be in this class and we will have whiffed on the two prized backs in this class. 

Prediction: Notre Dame

WR Terrell Chatman (Baton Rouge, LA Central) - With Scarlett flipping to UF last night, this would be another devastating hit, if Chatman flips. Now, TCU is now the leader if he does flip, but the hat is making a push late to keep him home. I think he'll flip and we let another stud get away. 

Prediction: TCU

OT Tyree St. Louis (Bradenton IMG Academy) - Been committed since last year. Yes, he's still committed to us, but what's more concerning is that Florida has been making a strong play late in the game to get him to flip to UF. If I'm Kehoe, who has been on this kid during the process, I'm very livid that there's a chance this kid bolts for Gainesville, and those in the Hecht, it would be yet another hit if St. Louis bolts. In the end, I think we keep him.

Prediction: CANES

QB/ATH Torrance Gibson (American Heritage) - We made a push late to get him. An Ohio State commit for a while now. But realistically, if there's a flip to be made here, its going to be between LSU and Auburn. In the end, though, I can't see it happening

Prediction: Ohio State

QB Lamar Jackson (Boynton Beach) - A Louisville commit. Florida made a push here, as well as us, but in the end, look for him to stay put with commitment.

Prediction: Louisville

QB Evan Shirreffs (Jefferson, GA) - Consider the other schools that have recruited him (Georgetown, Brown, Columbia, and VMI), Coley has been recruiting this kid for a while now. In the end, look for him to end up in Coral Gables.

Prediction: CANES

WR Antonio Callaway (BTW) - Florida has been making a push late as well as FSU. But in the end, I think we'll end up with him

Prediction: CANES 

DT Kendrick Norton (Jacksonville Trinity Christian) - You figure with Scott likely not coming here, getting Norton becomes a MUST. We're the leaders to get him. Auburn is making a strong push in the end here. With Jethro recruiting him, there will be very glum faces in the Hecht Center if we were to strike out on Norton as well, with Green off the board and Scott likely off the board. Not getting another DT in this class would be completely devastating, especially when you consider after next season, it's going to be extremely thin there on the interior of the DL. Getting Norton is a MUST.

Prediction: CANES

DE Shelton Johnson (Delray Beach Atlantic) - Right now, FSU is the favorites for him. We're making a push here. But when you consider that when he was sick, the FSU coaches came down to visit him at home. That tells me a lot on where I think he'll end up and it sadly, won't be here.

Prediction: Florida State

DE Austrian Robinson (Pawling, NY Trinity Pawling School) - Maryland is the leader. Ole Miss is in the mix there. Jethro has been on this kid and made an OV here back on January 23rd and back on Friday, Jethro and D made an in-home visit to him. However, in the end, it won't be enough.

Prediction: Ole Miss

CB Sheldrick Redwine (Killian) - A Louisville commit. However, there's a good chance he flips here. Its been us and Auburn for that. I have to believe in the end, this is one to go our way.

Prediction: CANES

We'll see it all plays out tomorrow, but its realistically not looking very good right now. I want to see the interview on ESPNU with Al and look at the body language and the look on his face. That will be a tell tale sign of how this class rates. 

Recruiting News 1/22/15

Another indictment on Al and the defensive staff from H.S. coaches in South Florida. This comes from Ryan Barlow on Joe Rose's show yesterday.

Bartow's Comments on Al and the state of CANES recruiting in South Florida to Joe Rose 1/21/15

That's not a good sign, especially with FSU doing very well down here and now UF, with Randy on their staff, they will do very well in the coming years.

If we don't get our act together soon, the 2016 class is in serious jeopardy.

Mario is getting who he wants to Bama, Strong is getting some recruits to Texas. Brewster is getting kids to FSU. Richt is getting kids to UGa. We didn't offer any of the kids that are going to UGa. That's a HUGE problem.

Bartow says that facilities are important and winning and being on TV. Urban winning a title in Columbus, they'll be coming here more and they already have Bosa coming in the '16 class.

Hearing Bartow's comments yesterday on Joe Rose's show, those in the Hecht Center think they can ride this out and it will go away. I have news for them, it won't. This is going to be something a New President at UM will have to tackle early on in his/her presidency, and that's addressing the football program and determining Blake's and Al's future. Right now, we are taking a huge beating and if we don't finish strong, the calls for Al's ouster will only get louder and louder if they aren't that already.

Its not looking good inside the Hecht football offices right now.

However, from StateoftheU.com back on Monday and my takes:

• Booker T. Washington CB Davante Davis visited campus, but in all likelihood will end up elsewhere. He's currently committed to Texas, but like Tim Irvin before him, Davis may be considering a flip to Auburn. I want to add that he will visit Gainesville tomorrow for his OV. However, I think he'll stay with his commitment to Texas here.
• A late riser on the recruiting trail, DT Kevin Scott (Los Angeles, CA) was visited by Al Golden on the first day of the contact period, was given a scholarship offer, and scheduled an official visit to Miami for next weekend. The 6'5" 280lb Scott is being hotly pursued by several teams. Like most kids from LA, USC is thought to be the leader. A strong visit to Coral Gables may change that. We'll have to see when he comes to campus tomorrow for the OV. Considering that we need DTs in this class, getting Scott is critical.
• WR commit Lawrence Cager visited Alabama this weekend and enjoyed it, but left still committed to Miami. Cager will be coming to Coral Gables for a visit tomorrow. With Gosier now decommitted, keeping Cager in this class is a MUST.
• There's talk that WR commit Terrell Chatman may be close to flipping from Miami. He's my personal favorite WR in this class, so I hope that those rumors are unsubstantiated. Chatman is scheduled to visit Coral Gables on January 30th.  This kid is committed to us, and will visit us for the last visit. He's in Tempe for his OV to Arizona State tomorrow. He visited TCU last week.
• After the decommitment of Dwayne Lawson, Miami has been looking for a QB in this class. And, after doing some searching, may have found one. Coming for a visit next weekend will be Evan Sherriffs (Jefferson, GA), a 6'6" 195lb player with great height and good developmental skills. As I said previously "don't be surprised if a lower ranked/unknown player from outside FL is the take for this class." Should Sherriffs, whose only current offers are Columbia and Virginia Military Institute, earn an offer and commit, that would most definitely be the case. But, before you go all doom and gloom, watch Sherriffs' highlights. You'll see some things you'll like. I suspect this kid will commit to us possibly as soon as his visit ends tomorrow.
• WR target Daylon Charlot (Patterson, LA) visited Alabama. Widely considered a heavy lean to the Tide, Charlot left uncommitted. He did, however, drop this cryptic tweet during his visit: "Seems like everything is coming together" Take it for what its worth, however, in the end, I believe Bama will end up getting him. That's really an LSU-Bama battle there.
• Former RB commit Dexter Williams visited Notre Dame and greatly enjoyed his visit ($). Williams says he is still high on both Louisville and Miami, in addition to Notre Dame. If he wants to play with friend Jalen Julius, the pick will be Louisville. If he wants to be close to home, the pick will be Miami. If he wants to go with the late charging school, the pick will be Notre Dame. In short, I have no idea which way Williams is going as of this moment. But, with a renewed sense that Jordan Scarlett will be in this class, Miami's pursuit of Williams isn't as important as it was a few days ago. With Scarlett now firmly in the fold, My gut tells me that in the end, it'll be Louisville that wins this battle holding off Notre Dame.
• DE Arden Key is on campus for his OV today. He is scheduled to make an announcement on February 2nd. But, in my mind, his recruitment will go until NSD. He visited us on Monday and is schedule to visit South Carolina tomorrow and Auburn next Friday for his final visit. That's really a UGa vs South Carolina battle there. In the end, my gut tells me that Key will end up with the Bulldogs.
• Targets LB John Houston and DT Rasheem Green, both 5-star players and teammates from Junipero Serra HS in Gardena, CA, visited Southern Cal this weekend. Each player brought multiple family members with them (Houston was said to have brought his grandparents along for the visit) and were on campus with 9 USC commits. I think that Houston is 100% USC, while Green is still in play for Miami. With Houston, SC is the favorite to get him and he has no other visits scheduled. I agree with StateoftheU on this, Houston likely ends up at SC. As for Green, that's a three-team race between us, SC, and Arizona State, whom he visits tomorrow for his last OV. In the end though, I think Green stays on the West Coast and ends up at SC.
• DL target Austrian Robinson enjoyed his visit and moved the Canes up his leader board. Even with that positive move, Maryland still leads. In the end, I see Robinson signing with the Terrapins come National Signing day. Robinson visited us last week, and is in Oxford for his OV to Ole Miss tomorrow and in Columbus next Friday for his final OV before NSD. I'm going to disagree and I believe Urban is going to make that late push in the end and land this kid.  
• DE target Russel Ude isn't likely to end up in this class. He's committed to Cal and will visit the Golden Bears next weekend. That visit should effectively end his recruitment. I'm going to disagree here. This might be a candidate for a flip here. He visits us tomorrow and visited Oregon last weekend. If we make a strong impression tomorrow on this end, we might be able to flip him to us.

I didn't add Richard MacIntosh from Cardinal Gibbons because he's committed to us firmly and he visits us tomorrow.

Latest recruiting tidbits 1/20/14

According to a source close to the BTW and Ice Harris Camp, here's some interesting information that will be very interesting to discuss: 

1. This source confirmed what I thought all along about the Kirkland Fiasco last year 72 hours before NSD. The Kirkland fiasco is was on Al Golden's head. What I was told was that Ice TOLD Al and our staff that we had Kirkland lock, stock, and barrel. However, Kirkland wanted to do the whole hat deal, and Al wasn't very happy about it ata all. From what I was told by this source, Al sent Barrow there after their championship parade, to give him an ultimatum, either commit right there and then and dump the whole ceremony, or we pull your 'ship. 
You know what happened after that. Denver was devastated!! and you could see Al's face on ESPNU that day when he was interviewed. You could see the beaten look on his face. 

2. I had always though we were the favorites for #6 Matthew Thomas. However, I was told by my source, that Ice said to Al that #6 was never coming. The Thomas camp was very stubborn and thought they could get him to change his mind and come to the U, but that was not to be at the end of the day. As for Skai Moore, he really wanted to come here, but we never offered him a 'ship and that was another mistake by Al and the staff.  

3. As for Ice's son, Treon. his committment to FSU, was all Jimbo, as he personally recruited him.  This was his baby. In Treon's workouts, Jimbo spent an entire Day with him getting to know him better and in the film room, office showing him how he would use them in their offense--as a QB (to me is unlikely considering there's Jameis Winston that will be starting for another 1-2 years up there). Jimbo personally assured the family, over and over how he can be effective in their offense--as a QB 

4. Here's something to watch here: It seems that Auburn is about to get in the game for Treon at QB and from what I'm told, he will visit the Plains very soon.  Gus (Malzahn) loves Treon and he loves Gus. Watch that one very closely in the final weeks leading up to NSD, though I read this morning that UF is also in the mix here for Harris. In Malzahn's offense, Harris could be a great one that people talk about after he leaves for the League.  

5. On Mark Walton. this kid loves our team, the school and wants to stay home. However, according to my source, unfortunately, he will NOT be able to re-classify. From what I'm told, Ice said that Mark is a good student, but there's still much he needs to do here, more on the mental end, than physical. This young man was given very bad advice that those inside the Walton camp. This kid will be an animal to deal with. He will be on the track team this offseason in order for him to get FASTER and once fall camp starts, this kid will be pounding the rock very often. 

On the issue of who the better recruiter is, this source said that it's clearly Randy. He likes Al a lot, but when it comes to in-homes, Randy was better "in the home" and also he was the one who was able to get momma, grandmother, daddy, uncle, aunt - whoever - on board. When it comes to Al, he's more about the media and PR. Al wins the media game, and can win over the Mom and Dad through the Media, as opposed to in the homes. 

As for the one of the two grand prizes in this class, Chad Thomas: Ice was very funny when asking about Chad. He said, to my source, you guys don't have to worry about Chad. in his words-- "He was at the UA Game throwing up The damn U every chance he could get. He told Al, you don't have to worry about Chad, he's in, you good." I was told by this same source yesterday not to worry about Bama, Texas, and FSU getting involved possibly. At the end of the day, I was told emphatically that at the end of the day, Chad will be a CANE.