@yothn I think we've gotten a pretty respectable # of guys from the ones we've had on campus. I'm not a recruitnik, but from what I've seen, I don't think we really could have had a top 15 class, just because we're not going to have enough commits. Everyone wants the highest rated kids we can get, but with the changing dynamics involved (primarily being the increase in NIL funds HS kids are getting), it sounds like we've maybe restricted the # of kids we're pursuing. I can only recall 1 defection and that was Torbert, who was an OH kid and is likely ending up at OSU. I think we're at 16 right now, and hoping to still add Sales. Believe that will put us around top 25. You also have to trust the staff. Seems ridiculous to me that we get a commitment from Caleb Pugh and it actually hurts our rating. I trust Cig and Co far more than I do the ratings folks!
I just can't get worked up in June about high school recruiting rankings in this era of college football. Until they limit transfers, it's not even on my radar about things to be upset or disappointed in.
Thank you for reading Hoosier Huddle
@kkott - I am not saying we don't have great talent or that I don't trust Cig, or that I am worried. All I am saying is you can't be shocked that someone would think we fell short of expectations based on who we have become and who we got on campus. Again, that could be by design and the rankings, as Sammy put it, are more fluff than proof of some concept. But There are top 10 recruiting classes with just 14 commits right now. So its certainly possible to still have a high class with a lower volume of commits. Not a big deal, we are on the same page, but we shouldn't be shocked by that POV. Thats all.
Indiana got Kellen Wyatt and Roman Hemby from Maryland because Mike Locksley made the decision to give money to incoming freshmen instead of veterans. Cig isn’t going to make that mistake.
Interesting that Elijah Kimble, the four star running back from New York, announced he's committing on July 3.
He changed his profile pick to IU and one of his two pinned tweets are his official here.
Thought that was interesting.
Locksley is a recruiter 1st and foremost. Any level above and he's he is 2 steps forward and 4 steps back. Very poor HC and above average OC.
@hoosier-clarion - Great, if he is let go after this season, we can hire him as an assistant. 😎
@hoosier-clarion - Great, if he is let go after this season, we can hire him as an assistant. 😎
Why?
@inigo-montoya Don't know if we need the coach to do it, but that MD QB was one of my top hopes for an xfer QB this year. If he has another good year, he'd be an interesting option with (I believe), 2 years of eligibility.
But There are top 10 recruiting classes with just 14 commits right now.
1) not according to the site I looked at. The 2 with 14 commits I think were like 14/15 (maybe USC and LSU?), and I think the top 10 were all 20+ deep. I don't know if you can find it, but I'll bet they are close to double what they are paying for those guys in NIL, vs our class. If we get Sales, this is the best class we've ever had (and I think already is), and we still should have a significant amount of $$ to put towards better experienced transfers. I totally understand why someone might be disappointed with this class, coming off an undefeated NC, but as someone else said, I think they had unrealistic expectations given the priorities and beliefs of our coaching staff.
@kkott - Rivals has OSU at 5th with 18 commits. Miami at 3 with 19. Texas Tech at 8 with 17. USC and LSU at 10 and 11 with 14. Indiana has 16 commits.
@kkott It’s a good point we don’t know what we are paying for who we are getting. I’d guess all the intangibles at IU right now help.
It’s just so hard to assess this class from afar. At this point l only care what Cig says about it when the class is signed.
@yothn are you sure you're not a little disappointed? Anyway, as I said, that's only part of the equation. Wanna guess at how much those teams have committed to those players in NIL versus IU? I'll bet on average of the schools you mentioned, it's in the range of 180% or more. So, would you rather have their class of guys who mostly won't contribute for a couple years, if ever; or say our class with next year's Nick Marsh and Joe Brunner thrown in? It's different calculus, and what allowed us to go undefeated and win an NC last year. At this moment, almost everyone else is playing checkers and our staff is playing chess. Trust in their process.