[TrumpCard]

New Rivals250 out this morning. Stanford target David Long upgraded from outside the 250 to #133. The flip side is several downgrades of about 20 slots, including current commits Yarbrough, Bisharat and Edmonds, plus target Treyjohn Butler.

[TrumpCard]

New Rivals250 out this morning. Stanford target David Long upgraded from outside the 250 to #133. The flip side is several downgrades of about 20 slots, including current commits Yarbrough, Bisharat and Edmonds, plus target Treyjohn Butler.

[socalstanfan1]

These top 100, 250, 300 lists will change several more times between now and national signing day.  And, of course, there is the variation among the different services at any given moment in time. Personally, I find them interesting but I try not to get too caught up in them.  I also find myself saying, particularly with regard to DBs: "If Duane Akina thinks highly of this kid, I'm totally upgrading him" This has been the case with someone like Makik Antoine, who seems right now to be a consensus 3* DB, but I figure he probably has the skills of a stronger player if Akina really wanted him.  And Stanford has had such a good track record of getting production throughout the defensive front 7 from 3* recruits or lower (Anderson, Mauro, Parry, Tarpley, Martinez, etc) that I'm just trusting the coaches.


The ratings are nice for the attention they bring to the program, and I'm sure in some way that positive star ratings can add to recruiting momentum as prospective student-athletes see Stanford rated up there with places like Alabama, Ohio State, and others on the recruiting board.  But I'm still betting big on the ability of Stanford coaches to find the right kinds of players in terms of physical skills, mentality, work-ethic, etc, to continue to build this program

[socalstanfan1]

These top 100, 250, 300 lists will change several more times between now and national signing day.  And, of course, there is the variation among the different services at any given moment in time. Personally, I find them interesting but I try not to get too caught up in them.  I also find myself saying, particularly with regard to DBs: "If Duane Akina thinks highly of this kid, I'm totally upgrading him" This has been the case with someone like Makik Antoine, who seems right now to be a consensus 3* DB, but I figure he probably has the skills of a stronger player if Akina really wanted him.  And Stanford has had such a good track record of getting production throughout the defensive front 7 from 3* recruits or lower (Anderson, Mauro, Parry, Tarpley, Martinez, etc) that I'm just trusting the coaches.


The ratings are nice for the attention they bring to the program, and I'm sure in some way that positive star ratings can add to recruiting momentum as prospective student-athletes see Stanford rated up there with places like Alabama, Ohio State, and others on the recruiting board.  But I'm still betting big on the ability of Stanford coaches to find the right kinds of players in terms of physical skills, mentality, work-ethic, etc, to continue to build this program

[stupac2]

work-ethic

I'm wondering if this is something that explains part of the gap between recruiting rankings and results for us (and possibly some other teams). It seems like there are a lot of players out there who are coasting by on their natural abilities in high school, only to get a very rude awakening once they get to college and realize that they're not special and need to put in a lot of work. (So basically the athletic equivalent of what happens to a ton of students at academic schools.) It seems like Stanford could get around this somewhat by targeting recruits who are less-heralded athletically, but far more "gritty" (the popular term for this right now).

Just idle speculation on my part, but it makes some intuitive sense.

[stupac2]

work-ethic

I'm wondering if this is something that explains part of the gap between recruiting rankings and results for us (and possibly some other teams). It seems like there are a lot of players out there who are coasting by on their natural abilities in high school, only to get a very rude awakening once they get to college and realize that they're not special and need to put in a lot of work. (So basically the athletic equivalent of what happens to a ton of students at academic schools.) It seems like Stanford could get around this somewhat by targeting recruits who are less-heralded athletically, but far more "gritty" (the popular term for this right now).

Just idle speculation on my part, but it makes some intuitive sense.

[StannyBoy]

[quote author=Publius link=topic=9617.msg119825#msg119825 date=1433254148]
As others have pointed out the number to watch is the average rating due to our lower attrition rate.  In that regard, we rank 5th on the 247Sports Composite, and just ahead of Ohio State and ahead of Alabama.

Do any of these recruiting sites allow sorting by avg. star rating?  If not, does someone on this board know of a good way to share this data here?  A spreadsheet could do it, but is there any other alternative.
[/quote]

They all allow sorting by average star rating.

[StannyBoy]

[quote author=Publius link=topic=9617.msg119825#msg119825 date=1433254148]
As others have pointed out the number to watch is the average rating due to our lower attrition rate.  In that regard, we rank 5th on the 247Sports Composite, and just ahead of Ohio State and ahead of Alabama.

Do any of these recruiting sites allow sorting by avg. star rating?  If not, does someone on this board know of a good way to share this data here?  A spreadsheet could do it, but is there any other alternative.
[/quote]

They all allow sorting by average star rating.

[TrumpCard]

I think the rankings are interesting because they reflect how the Stanford commits and targets are performing in the off-season.  It's probably redundant to follow the rankings if you also follow what happens at the 7-on-7 tournaments and at the Nike camps.  For example, the big moves in the Rivals rankings by Smith and Long were the direct result of those guys winning position MVPs against major competition at the Dallas and Oakland Nike camps.  Likewise, Robinson's move was the result of his performances in 7-on-7 tournaments.  (His performance at the LA Nike camp was just good, not great.) 


The downward moves of 20 spots are not all that relevant to watch.  Those happen mostly as the result of other guys skyrocketing up the charts, not as a result of bad performances by the Stanford targets. 

[TrumpCard]

I think the rankings are interesting because they reflect how the Stanford commits and targets are performing in the off-season.  It's probably redundant to follow the rankings if you also follow what happens at the 7-on-7 tournaments and at the Nike camps.  For example, the big moves in the Rivals rankings by Smith and Long were the direct result of those guys winning position MVPs against major competition at the Dallas and Oakland Nike camps.  Likewise, Robinson's move was the result of his performances in 7-on-7 tournaments.  (His performance at the LA Nike camp was just good, not great.) 


The downward moves of 20 spots are not all that relevant to watch.  Those happen mostly as the result of other guys skyrocketing up the charts, not as a result of bad performances by the Stanford targets. 

[BostonCard]

Interesting Twitter conversation last night between KJ Costello, Curtis Robinson and a couple of prospects.

Last night, Costello tweeted:

[color=rgb(41, 47, 51)]I hope my boy Dcraw quits playin and joins the '16 CardClass[/color][color=rgb(0, 132, 180)][color=rgb(102, 181, 210)]@[/color][/color]kekoa_cRAWford

Dcraw would be Dylan Crawford, Costello's classmate and a consensus 4-star WR at Santa Margarita Catholic. Theo Howard, an Oregon 4-star WR commit from Westlake in SoCal, then replied with an emoji that I don't comprehend. Both Robinson and Costello replied to Howard encouraging him to flip to Stanford.

Rivals doesn't show Howard with a Stanford offer, but I am curious to know what chance we have of landing Crawford. He has offers from just about every Pac-12 school, Michigan, ND, Tennessee, Miami, etc.

Howard's emoji response was 😴, the "sleeping face" emoji.  Basically, he thinks the conversation is boring or Stanford is boring. #twittertealeaves

BC

[BostonCard]

Interesting Twitter conversation last night between KJ Costello, Curtis Robinson and a couple of prospects.

Last night, Costello tweeted:

[color=rgb(41, 47, 51)]I hope my boy Dcraw quits playin and joins the '16 CardClass[/color][color=rgb(0, 132, 180)][color=rgb(102, 181, 210)]@[/color][/color]kekoa_cRAWford

Dcraw would be Dylan Crawford, Costello's classmate and a consensus 4-star WR at Santa Margarita Catholic. Theo Howard, an Oregon 4-star WR commit from Westlake in SoCal, then replied with an emoji that I don't comprehend. Both Robinson and Costello replied to Howard encouraging him to flip to Stanford.

Rivals doesn't show Howard with a Stanford offer, but I am curious to know what chance we have of landing Crawford. He has offers from just about every Pac-12 school, Michigan, ND, Tennessee, Miami, etc.

Howard's emoji response was 😴, the "sleeping face" emoji.  Basically, he thinks the conversation is boring or Stanford is boring. #twittertealeaves

BC

[TrumpCard]

Seems like Plan B in the event one or more of the current NT targets don't work out:
[tweet]605768771949576192[/tweet]

[TrumpCard]

Seems like Plan B in the event one or more of the current NT targets don't work out:
[tweet]605768771949576192[/tweet]

[washingtonismoney]

https://twitter.com/rivals/status/605776229782847488

[washingtonismoney]

https://twitter.com/rivals/status/605776229782847488

[Bruce Wang]

To put this in historical context, one more Rivals Top 50 would tie the 2012 class, which had 10 Top 250 players that came to Stanford.

[Bruce Wang]

To put this in historical context, one more Rivals Top 50 would tie the 2012 class, which had 10 Top 250 players that came to Stanford.

[TrumpCard]

The class of 2012 has some work to do if it's going to come close to meeting expectations. Murphy and Garnett need to make an all conference team. Shittu needs to be a stalwart on the DL. The team is counting on Whitfield to step up as well. Davis is young for his class and has an extra year of eligibility, but it's time for him to crack the stating lineup.  All this just reinforces that rankings aren't everything.

[TrumpCard]

The class of 2012 has some work to do if it's going to come close to meeting expectations. Murphy and Garnett need to make an all conference team. Shittu needs to be a stalwart on the DL. The team is counting on Whitfield to step up as well. Davis is young for his class and has an extra year of eligibility, but it's time for him to crack the stating lineup.  All this just reinforces that rankings aren't everything.

[washingtonismoney]

All this just reinforces that rankings aren't everything.

Not everything, sure. But reasonably predictive of who the best players and teams are? Sure.

[washingtonismoney]

All this just reinforces that rankings aren't everything.

Not everything, sure. But reasonably predictive of who the best players and teams are? Sure.

[BostonCard]

Typically, you don't start seeing widespread impact of a class until it's third year, and last year we did, in fact, start seeing the impact.  Our entire offensive line last year was from the class of 2012, and we had important contributors throughout.  This year, I expect the impact to be even greater.  It will be hurt a bit by the early departures of Carter and Peat, but that just underscores how good those players were.

BC

[BostonCard]

Typically, you don't start seeing widespread impact of a class until it's third year, and last year we did, in fact, start seeing the impact.  Our entire offensive line last year was from the class of 2012, and we had important contributors throughout.  This year, I expect the impact to be even greater.  It will be hurt a bit by the early departures of Carter and Peat, but that just underscores how good those players were.

BC

[TrumpCard]

I am curious who will attend the Junior Day in 2 weeks. 

I note that the following recruits who have made nice public statements about Stanford have not yet visited the campus:

David Long--called Stanford his dream school
Robbie Robinson--Stanford in top 3, others not named
Ikenna Okeke--Stanford, Tenn, and UDFG in top 3
Demetris Robertson--Stanford, Alabama, and UGA in top 3

Just for reference, here is a list of recruits who have offers and who have visited Stanford.  I welcome any corrections or additions.

QB:
Costello--committed

TE:
Smith--committed

RB:
Bisharat--committed
Malepeai
Brown--committed to Duke

WR:
Fehoko--called Stanford dream school; going on mission
Crawford--not showing much interest in public comments
McKinley--eliminated Stanford
Imatorbhebhe--comitted to u$c

OL:
Yarbrough--committed
Hamilton--Stanford and Michigan in top 2
Farniok
Raridon--committed to Nebraska

DL:
Peek--committed
Williams--"Stanford will be tough to beat"
Rand--hasn't mentioned Stanford in public comments recently, but Hulk says Rand favors Stanford if admitted
Okonya--committed to Tenn

LB:
Robinson--committed
Simms--called Stanford dream school
Kelly--Stanford in Top 10

DB:
Edmonds--committed
Antoine--committed
Butler--Stanford, kal, and ASU in top 3, and 100% of the crystal ball predictions say Stanford
Ulloa--Stanford in top 5
Fuller

[TrumpCard]

I am curious who will attend the Junior Day in 2 weeks. 

I note that the following recruits who have made nice public statements about Stanford have not yet visited the campus:

David Long--called Stanford his dream school
Robbie Robinson--Stanford in top 3, others not named
Ikenna Okeke--Stanford, Tenn, and UDFG in top 3
Demetris Robertson--Stanford, Alabama, and UGA in top 3

Just for reference, here is a list of recruits who have offers and who have visited Stanford.  I welcome any corrections or additions.

QB:
Costello--committed

TE:
Smith--committed

RB:
Bisharat--committed
Malepeai
Brown--committed to Duke

WR:
Fehoko--called Stanford dream school; going on mission
Crawford--not showing much interest in public comments
McKinley--eliminated Stanford
Imatorbhebhe--comitted to u$c

OL:
Yarbrough--committed
Hamilton--Stanford and Michigan in top 2
Farniok
Raridon--committed to Nebraska

DL:
Peek--committed
Williams--"Stanford will be tough to beat"
Rand--hasn't mentioned Stanford in public comments recently, but Hulk says Rand favors Stanford if admitted
Okonya--committed to Tenn

LB:
Robinson--committed
Simms--called Stanford dream school
Kelly--Stanford in Top 10

DB:
Edmonds--committed
Antoine--committed
Butler--Stanford, kal, and ASU in top 3, and 100% of the crystal ball predictions say Stanford
Ulloa--Stanford in top 5
Fuller

[Rally]

Just curious.  I understand the school cannot pay for an unofficial visit.  Is there anyway, short of hitchhiking for a recruit whose family cannot afford to send him, for example across the country, to visit prior to an official visit?

[Rally]

Just curious.  I understand the school cannot pay for an unofficial visit.  Is there anyway, short of hitchhiking for a recruit whose family cannot afford to send him, for example across the country, to visit prior to an official visit?

[PrinceLightfoot]

Few more linemen to add:

John Raridon (OG) - Nebraska commit but received Stanford offer after commitment

Parker Braun (OG) - Distance and fit was a concern for the father in an interview who is also an OL coach, but recently moved to Texas from Florida so distance is somewhat mitigated

Matthew Gutwald (OG/OC) - Local boy from Dublin has a walk-on offer, but his recruitment has recently gained steamed adding offers from Arizona, Wazzu, Oregon State, and Oregon on top of holding ivy league offers. (my opinion: most likely to be in this class if offered).

Sterling Strother (OT/OG) - Stanford legacy who has OT size and length with offers from Utah, Wazzu, Colorado, Cal, some ivies, and Vandy. I believe he also offered a walk-on spot.

Thomas Schaffer (DE) - from the same school as 2015 commit Wesley Annan. Originally from Austria.
Daniel Joseph (DE) - also from the same school as 2015 commit Wesley Annan but seems more interest in staying in the midwest

Both Matthew and Sterling will most likely try to earn an offer this summer at Stanford Camp and may receive it if other options do not pan out.

[PrinceLightfoot]

Few more linemen to add:

John Raridon (OG) - Nebraska commit but received Stanford offer after commitment

Parker Braun (OG) - Distance and fit was a concern for the father in an interview who is also an OL coach, but recently moved to Texas from Florida so distance is somewhat mitigated

Matthew Gutwald (OG/OC) - Local boy from Dublin has a walk-on offer, but his recruitment has recently gained steamed adding offers from Arizona, Wazzu, Oregon State, and Oregon on top of holding ivy league offers. (my opinion: most likely to be in this class if offered).

Sterling Strother (OT/OG) - Stanford legacy who has OT size and length with offers from Utah, Wazzu, Colorado, Cal, some ivies, and Vandy. I believe he also offered a walk-on spot.

Thomas Schaffer (DE) - from the same school as 2015 commit Wesley Annan. Originally from Austria.
Daniel Joseph (DE) - also from the same school as 2015 commit Wesley Annan but seems more interest in staying in the midwest

Both Matthew and Sterling will most likely try to earn an offer this summer at Stanford Camp and may receive it if other options do not pan out.

[TrumpCard]

Thanks, PrinceLightFoot.
Should I take it that these linemen are all coming to the next junior day?
Raridon already meets my two criteria (visit and offer). The others meet only 1 so far.
I would be happy to see all of those guys on campus in june.

[TrumpCard]

Thanks, PrinceLightFoot.
Should I take it that these linemen are all coming to the next junior day?
Raridon already meets my two criteria (visit and offer). The others meet only 1 so far.
I would be happy to see all of those guys on campus in june.

[yvonne]

I like ferrari's question. In fact, I've been thinking about it myself. If I had had a brother, he would not have been able to afford all these camps, much less the college visits. Are there scholarships? Are the high schools involved?

[yvonne]

I like ferrari's question. In fact, I've been thinking about it myself. If I had had a brother, he would not have been able to afford all these camps, much less the college visits. Are there scholarships? Are the high schools involved?

[Spiny_Norman]

Sterling Strother (OT/OG) - Stanford legacy who has OT size and length with offers from Utah, Wazzu, Colorado, Low APR U, some ivies, and Vandy. I believe he also offered a walk-on spot.

I believe that his dad is my '83 classmate (and former Stanford rubgy player) Keller Strother.

[Spiny_Norman]

Sterling Strother (OT/OG) - Stanford legacy who has OT size and length with offers from Utah, Wazzu, Colorado, Low APR U, some ivies, and Vandy. I believe he also offered a walk-on spot.

I believe that his dad is my '83 classmate (and former Stanford rubgy player) Keller Strother.

[PrinceLightfoot]

Thanks, PrinceLightFoot.
Should I take it that these linemen are all coming to the next junior day?
Raridon already meets my two criteria (visit and offer). The others meet only 1 so far.
I would be happy to see all of those guys on campus in june.

Ah! I jumped over your criteria statement. I do not know if you want to consider walk-on offers as an offer, but both have been to campus several times and have heard both will be part of summer camp. Gutwald was there for the most recent Junior day as well.

I do not have information on the two DEs visit plans.

[PrinceLightfoot]

Thanks, PrinceLightFoot.
Should I take it that these linemen are all coming to the next junior day?
Raridon already meets my two criteria (visit and offer). The others meet only 1 so far.
I would be happy to see all of those guys on campus in june.

Ah! I jumped over your criteria statement. I do not know if you want to consider walk-on offers as an offer, but both have been to campus several times and have heard both will be part of summer camp. Gutwald was there for the most recent Junior day as well.

I do not have information on the two DEs visit plans.

[TrumpCard]

And Raridon?

[TrumpCard]

And Raridon?