"Just a bunch of 3-stars"
While I admit to being concerned about our current lack of success with recruiting DEs, I wonder if the complaints I see about WM's recruiting in general are overdone, especially when comparing his recruiting with Steve Spurrier's early classes.
Looking back, I think the first sign that our program had turned the corner was the wonderful upset of Clemson in 2009 - Spurrier's fifth season at South Carolina. That was also the year that we had on the field for the first time many of the players who would be key to our 42-14 run over the subsequent four seasons, including Stephon Gilmore (4-star), DeVonte Holloman (4-star), Demario Jefferey (4-star), Alshon Jefferey (4-star), DJ Swearinger (3-star), Chez Sutton and Rokevious Watkins (2-star).
But what kind of recruiting success did Spurrier have at USC prior to that? Many of the best players in the 2006-2008 classes were 3-stars or less (I'm going by the ratings in the "commitments" section of this site). Here are players who I recall as playing big roles for us.
2006:
Darian Stewart (2-star)
Captain Munnerlyn (2-star)
Emmanuel Cook (0 stars listed)
Jasper Brinkley (0 stars listed)
2007:
Cliff Matthews (4-star)
Chris Culliver (4-star)
Ladi Ajiboye (3-star)
Travian Robertson (3-star)
Melvin Ingram (3-star)
Antonio Allen (3-star)
Patrick DiMarco (2-star)
2008:
CC Whitlock (4-star)
Akeem Auguste (3-star)
Devin Taylor (3-star)
Shaq Wilson (3-star)
TJ Johnson (2-star)
Tori Gurley (0 stars listed)
The point of this post is to argue with those folks who denigrate Muschamp's recruiting to date with the remark that we're "only signing a bunch of 3-stars." I think the Spurrier years showed that he did not have immediate success hauling in highly ranked recruits; however, many of the 3-stars turned into excellent players.
I know that the 2007 class got a high national ranking. But a lot of the 4-star recruits who got us that failed to live up to their rankings. I'm thinking particularly about Stephen Garcia (great talent, but lacked committment and focus), Weslye Saunders (ditto), Mark Barnes and Joe Hills. But also, were Quintin Richardson, Jamire Williams, Brian Maddox and Dion LeCorn really dominant college football players?
Will Muschamp needs to fix the problem with DE recruiting. Otherwise, I say it's time to lay off the "bunch of 3-stars" comments.
Anyone who wants to correct me is welcome to do so.
While I admit to being concerned about our current lack of success with recruiting DEs, I wonder if the complaints I see about WM's recruiting in general are overdone, especially when comparing his recruiting with Steve Spurrier's early classes.
Looking back, I think the first sign that our program had turned the corner was the wonderful upset of Clemson in 2009 - Spurrier's fifth season at South Carolina. That was also the year that we had on the field for the first time many of the players who would be key to our 42-14 run over the subsequent four seasons, including Stephon Gilmore (4-star), DeVonte Holloman (4-star), Demario Jefferey (4-star), Alshon Jefferey (4-star), DJ Swearinger (3-star), Chez Sutton and Rokevious Watkins (2-star).
But what kind of recruiting success did Spurrier have at USC prior to that? Many of the best players in the 2006-2008 classes were 3-stars or less (I'm going by the ratings in the "commitments" section of this site). Here are players who I recall as playing big roles for us.
2006:
Darian Stewart (2-star)
Captain Munnerlyn (2-star)
Emmanuel Cook (0 stars listed)
Jasper Brinkley (0 stars listed)
2007:
Cliff Matthews (4-star)
Chris Culliver (4-star)
Ladi Ajiboye (3-star)
Travian Robertson (3-star)
Melvin Ingram (3-star)
Antonio Allen (3-star)
Patrick DiMarco (2-star)
2008:
CC Whitlock (4-star)
Akeem Auguste (3-star)
Devin Taylor (3-star)
Shaq Wilson (3-star)
TJ Johnson (2-star)
Tori Gurley (0 stars listed)
The point of this post is to argue with those folks who denigrate Muschamp's recruiting to date with the remark that we're "only signing a bunch of 3-stars." I think the Spurrier years showed that he did not have immediate success hauling in highly ranked recruits; however, many of the 3-stars turned into excellent players.
I know that the 2007 class got a high national ranking. But a lot of the 4-star recruits who got us that failed to live up to their rankings. I'm thinking particularly about Stephen Garcia (great talent, but lacked committment and focus), Weslye Saunders (ditto), Mark Barnes and Joe Hills. But also, were Quintin Richardson, Jamire Williams, Brian Maddox and Dion LeCorn really dominant college football players?
Will Muschamp needs to fix the problem with DE recruiting. Otherwise, I say it's time to lay off the "bunch of 3-stars" comments.
Anyone who wants to correct me is welcome to do so.
