Wiltfong says Sparty COULD Own the State of Michigan in 2015 Recruiting
In the long-term, I see 'normal' as Michigan beating MSU 7-8 times out of 10 (copyright Michigan Arrogance). In that case, it's in our interests to see MSU do well against other conferences. So bleeding local to other conferences isn't a good thing if you're a national title contending team.
In other words, Alabama fans don't cheer when a recruit picks Texas over Florida or whatever - they want SEC dominance.
August 7th, 2013 at 10:07 AM ^
win the battle in Ohio year in and year out which we did not under Tressel.
This proves that Rich Rodriguez doesn't get it.
The answer is that it doesn't matter - just as it doesn't matter if Rivals changes their ranking of one of your commits from 3 stars to 5 and that bumps your recruiting class from #7 to #5 nationally. It's just a fun thing to track that some people are going to take way too seriously. But in the real world, it matters not at all if a kid is from Toledo and not Traverse City.
That said, an argument can be made that getting 'local' talent is preferable to 'national' talent if for no other reason than lower inclination to transfer if the road gets rough.
I thought Sparty had moved beyond the state of Michigan toward intergalactic recruiting. Two stars will continue to be the norm in EL. Jayru Campbell is not going to EL tonight per twitter, probably a nice player but not really Michigan material.
Hoke had just gotten hired, when most kids had already committed or had narrowed it to a few finalists. He took one look at the QB depth, and probably shit his pants. Bellomy was a very SOLID pickup at that point, not only providing depth but also having enough talent that he could be average to above-average backup.
Look at it this way, in a year when the top talent in the state of Michigan (top 5) is arguably the best it's ever been the only player MSU might end up with didn't even have a UofM offer...
The only player to be disappointed about potentially losing next year is Cole. If there's anything we've learned during Hoke's tenure is that he and his staff know to identify/attract top talent, so don't fret.
Jim Lahey you are the oracle of RCMB.
MSU may end up with more Michigan recruits next year, and Wiltfong is just using provocative language about "ownership" to gain hits and chatter just like as seen here. Hoke and staff have far exceeded expectations to date on the recruiting front, so it is folly to begin questioning their judgment at this point as it regards in-state recruiting. Hoke assuredly knows it's important to protect your backyard, especially from tunnel-visioned maniacs like Dantonio who's entire lives revolve around the game against Michigan each year.
Plus honestly with the amount of talent Michigan produces, having large recruiting classes of mostly in state guys simply cannot be a good sign. We're not Ohio or Texas in terms of instate talent production.
the State players will be able to walk the streets in Michigan (whatever the hell that means).
It seems way too early to get worked up about 2015 for MSU. Everyone was wringing their hands over Marshall and all his visits to East Lansing, yet now he appears to be a solid verbal to Michigan. MSU thought they were locked in with Pittman ( an Ohio native) who flipped to tOSU (and is now at Akron fyi).
MSU is the kind of school you jump in on early so you have a safe school and then when you blow up at camp and getting an invite to The Opening, you decommit and move on up in the world. It's also the kind of place other coaches go raid when they strike out on a bigger name and need someone. If it is summer of 2014 and MSU still has a lock on a number of big names, then I'll take note.
Hello, my name is Drake Harris and I'm a former MSU lock.
Take Cole and leave the rest to Sparty. 2015 class is going to be tiny anyways.
Good luck to them. I'm sure they'll grab all of the great talent and will continue to be the national program that befits a 7-6 outfit.
I could not care less about who recruits a particular state "well". You recruit the best, whether they be next door or across the country. Elite programs do that; other programs trumpet about dominating a particular state.
that Will Campbell and Kevin Grady were top recruits
guys like Mylan Hicks, Lawerence Thomas, Larry Caper, and the all so famous inconsistant Tom Gholston ,and watching to see how DeAnthony Arnett does in his last two years.
Isn't Hicks only a sophomore? Or is time really going by that fast now
Edit: Nvrmind, he was a 2010 guy. I'm old
Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that the tweet is correct and MSU cleans up in the state during 2015. That's unequivocally not good, although it might not be crushingly problematic long term. Recruiting is the right proportion of relationships with players and families and relationships with schools and associated institutions, and the last thing you want is a recent history of recruiting success from an in-state rival at a former stronghold.
Michigan is obviously recruiting very well to start 2015, and the class will be small. But if - and remember, it's a big if - MSU nets the Cass Tech trio and Cole, that's a really, really big problem.
I know we all love Cass Tech around here because PIPELINE, but honestly how many productive players have we gotten from there?
Really Cass Tech is awesome because it is the Costco of depth for the defensive backs. Show up and leave with a trunk full of them (and with them all being so small, you can get a lot in).
If terms of success, I'd say Gordon has been valuable, Jenkins-Stone did the normal freshman debut on special teams and appears to have some long term value, while Hill and Lewis strike me as having potential. Everyone else just goes in the "nice to have around when someone goes 4 or 5 wide against you" bin.
Blackwell can't turn MSU into a premier program. He can get more kids in the door, and certainly has a relationship with some of the families, but he can't make MSU a better school, improve their facilities, or give them B1G Championships.
That said, I expect MSU will get a bump from his hire, and pick-up a few more in-state kids than usual. Make no mistake--this is not good for us, but it isn't that bad either.
We need to beat them on the field. Then the Blackwell hire won't matter much.
Ok, I will say it. If we never take another undersized corner from Cass Tech, I will be quite alright with that. Jayru is not a pro style QB and Weber is good but not Harris good. As far as the DE goes, we know only accept commitments from the top player at the position in the nation.
but I think of those five, there's only two that Michigan really wants: Josh Alabi and Brian Cole. No doubt those would be loses head-to-head against MSU if they got them but I haven't heard a thing about Jayru or Stallworth and I would guess that Weber has seen the writing on the wall if Hoke hasn't told him already. So to say MSU could get all 5 in-state is true, but I think it's reasonable to say that Michigan only cares about two of them right now
when it comes to recruiting...I think hes EARNED that trust..If the best players arent from in-state in any given year so be it...Our goal should always get THE BEST recruits regardless of where they reside..
when it comes to recruiting...I think hes EARNED that trust..If the best players arent from in-state in any given year so be it...Our goal should always be to get THE BEST recruits regardless of where they reside..
Honest question...
Has MSU signed a single player (or do they have any current commitments from players) in the 2012-2015 classes who could have committed to Michigan on the day that they committed to MSU? One definition of a head-to-head recruiting victory would be that a kid chose School X over School Y when he first committed. I can't think of a single one.
We've offered guys shortly before signing day who had been long committed to MSU - and who stayed committed to MSU (Reschke and Dennis Finley). We've "offered" guys and then pushed them away because of grade issues, leading them to turn to MSU (e.g., Burbridge). We've filled up at spots leaving them to take guys who missed their chance with us (e.g., Shane Jones). We've taken a guy back who initially chose MSU over Michigan (Drake Harris).
Am I missing any straight up losses (maybe Madaris, that WR a couple of years ago?)? There must be dozens of those that have gone our way since 2012.
Based on 247, State recruits with M offers
2014: None
2013: Reschke, Finley, Jones-- discussed above
2012: Burbridge, Madaris-- Burbridge discussed above, maybe Madaris?
2011: Lawrence Thomas, Ed Davis-- I know we wanted Thomas, pretty sure we wanted Davis too but not certain about that.
In other years, losing in-state guys to State (if that is what might happen) would be a concern, but as this year's class is going to be small, a lot of guys that might have gotten an offer aren't going to get one leaving them for State.
Kyonta Stallworth is a four-star guy with offers from UCLA and Florida. He probably would get an offer if we had a 20+ member class, but we can't even offer Chuma Edoga, who appears to be a much better player who loves(ed) Michigan because of small class size. You could go down the list with guys like Campbell and John Kelly who might not get offers or guys like Weber or Alabi that might not get recruited as hard. Doesn't mean they can't play or that State won't be better having them-- it's just the circumstance of a smaller class.
What would be totally Sparty though would be to have Michigan pass on those guys and have them go out-of-state. That meltdown would be fun to watch.
The only guy that would really both me if we lost to State would be Cole, but when was the last time State beat us for an in-state Plan A guy without academic issues? Lawrence Thomas in 2011? We lose one in-state battle every four years, I can live with that.
I read this and went back through the last few cycles (including this one to date) of recruiting for in-state recruits offered versus committed for both schools, and even then, the in-state record rather speaks for itself regardless. From 2011 to 2014 (to date), Michigan has offered 45 kids from the state of Michigan and 25 committed to Michigan. In the same period, Michigan State offered 47 in-state kids and hauled in 15 of them.
In any case, I am not worried about our ability within Michigan or outside of Michigan. This staff has a well-developed system of targeting and recruiting talent that gives it a nominal shot at far more recruits than I think Michigan State could claim.