2021 Recruiting Class Thread
- Thread starter Statewise
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So Wiltfong is raising his crystal ball level from 5 to 8 (I’m embarrassed to even type that out) based on nothing in particular? The reasons he gives are the same as they were before the shutdown. The fact that the kid has not committed to Wisconsin despite all of the reasons he gave (never having been around Trautwein and Ciarrocca) would seem to be a better reason to drop the confidence level. Who knows? I thought the kid had committed to Wisconsin a while ago so I’d already written him off.
It seems like it's more of a situation where Wiltfong thinks Wisconsin is the leader, and he thinks the only way another school can pass Wisconsin is if the visit embargo is lifted and Rucci can get on campus for visits. In the event that those visits can't happen this fall, the confidence in Rucci to Wisconsin would grow.
Honestly what do these grown men at the recruiting services do to post these scintillating reports. Make friends with the players girlfriend, hang out at the local barbershop, get a clean up job at McDonald’s, inspect the high school coach’s pockets at the dry cleaning store, or just hang at the playground like perverts. I guess like most reporters they just make it up as they go along and hope that some of it is accurate. I do find it interesting though, what does that say about me.
That’s funny. It’s like sitting in the bar and being disgusted by all the alcoholics as you order another drink.
That's a believable theory. But I believe you are giving Wiltfong or whoever he is too much credit.
kid most likely wants to play with his brother and its probably that simple...hope i'm wrong but playing against your brother in conference seems like a big ask of a kid even with all the PSU ties...and most people respect Wiltfong...a lot of PSU fans always mention him when he has a recruit going to PSU...just recently it was Gilliam to PSU (from Wiltfong) and everyone was saying how important that was...
Yep.
I get it -- fans are going to find reasons to confirm a positive CB pick and explain away a negative CB pick. Even by the same prognosticator with a 99% success rate.
I think the explanation above makes the most sense. He is really drawn to the idea of playing with his brother at a school that churns out high-profile OL. And while PSU has a chance, that chance is predicated on face-to-face interactions, getting him on campus again, etc. The more time that elapses in which we can't have that face-to-face interaction, the more remote our chance becomes.
I wouldn't get our hopes up on this one. I realize it's not an either/or, but I'd be perfectly happy getting Gilliam, Davis, Pounds, and Warren to round out this class.
He’s usually correct in his predictions and usually doesn’t make one if he doesn’t have a pretty good idea where a kid is going.
That’s not true. He usually is right in the end but he changes his predictions more often than the other 247 guys I see
honestly PSU's best chance might be if Nolan's brother doesn't get much playing time and doesn't like the outlook at TE for Wisconsin going into the future...he's still only a RS FR so this is unlikely to happen but as long as he's happy and there's no scandal at Wisconsin, Nolan's probably gonna join his brother unfortunately
I'm sure he finds those things attractive. The problem is there are too many excuses for losing top players in our own back yard. Talented players ahead of him, coaching change, family ties, etc. PSU isn't going to get all of these kids but we've been losing far too many.
McCord, Trotter, and possibly Rucci
Fleming, Carmody
Kristofic
Jurkovec and Parsons if not for a recruiting violation
Swift, Ford
I've repeatedly said that 11 other BiG teams wish they had our recruiting classes but this has to change if PSU hopes to be elite.
A friend of mine follows Wisconsin Football closely and he said that Hayden Rucci is buried on the depth chart and he is not seen as an up and coming player. In fact, he said the other Tight End in Rucci's class, Clay Cundiff, is spoken about more than Rucci. They took 2 Tight Ends in the 2020 recruiting class, and they have a Tight End (Pugh) that we were closely after verbally committed in the 2021 recruiting class.
We've had this collective conversation 10,000 times...but it's still worth pointing out (as it always is) that PSU didn't even offer Trotter and Kristofic, and McCord doesn't even live in Pennsylvania.
A few years ago when I was coaching at a different School we had a pretty high profile recruit. As he was taking his visits normally his position coach would take him as he didn't really have a means to get there from his family. One of the visits was during the spring game in which the schools rivals reporters offered our coach gear and a free subscription if he would keep him in the loop with any new news from our recruit.
Yeah, that's who I was referring to when I mentioned Davis. Gilliam, Derrick Davis, Pounds, and Warren........with or without Rucci, that would be a nice way to round out a smallish class.
(though that gives us 17, and we'd probably take 1-3 others.....assuming we're looking at 18-20 for this class)
PSU, Georgia & Maryland. Let's close this one out.
yes they do...i still like PSU's chances though...i mean i know kids nowadays in recruiting say really good things about all the schools going after them but man, Gilliam has been recruited by PSU since 14 years old...has never even visited Oklahoma (i believe)...calls PSU "family"...and not "like family" when mentioning another top school like South Carolina...calls Seider an "uncle"...loves PSU's and the Big Ten's tradition for defense...heck we even just had a guy who had a great career and drafted in the 2nd round from his home state who plays along the DL which will be his position...i mean, for him to say no after all the things he has said about PSU (family, uncle, having a really long close relationship etc...) that would kinda be like a slap in the face
Seems to be a situation where the kid is saying the right stuff to both schools, which is giving both schools' insiders a degree of confidence. Oklahoma's definitely the hotter brand right now on the trail, but the connections and history would seem to favor PSU.
One thing is for sure.....OU seems to be recruiting the DMV well lately. Gilliam has multiple friends from the area who committed to OU for this cycle.
OU recruits well wherever they go. In Texas they drive the Horns and Aggies crazy.
i would think IF they were a package deal then why not commit on the same day together?...they r teammates and i would imagine they talk regularly...now if they were going to different schools then committing almost a full month apart makes more sense...
OU is recruiting well in DC, Maryland, and Virginia.
(Anton Harrison and Aaryn Parks in 2020, and Caleb Williams, probably Jalil Farooq, and possibly Gilliam in 2021).
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I’m betting most of those guys are in the transfer portal in 2 years and end up at UMD
Not only is it not moving — but it’s also on nice paper.
State of the Union summary on the 2021 class by the Collegian:
https://www.collegian.psu.edu/football/article_5503efba-d67b-11ea-bc6f-cfa65c2aa87b.html
https://www.collegian.psu.edu/football/article_5503efba-d67b-11ea-bc6f-cfa65c2aa87b.html
Pretty detailed evaluation of the Safety commit Zakee Wheatley:
https://www.si.com/college/pennstate/football/penn-state-football-recruiting-spotlight-safety-zakee-wheatley
https://www.si.com/college/pennstate/football/penn-state-football-recruiting-spotlight-safety-zakee-wheatley
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