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- Oct 13, 2011
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This class has eight players. Seven of them are blue chippers. The class average is .9165. That’s good for 7th in the nation. But it’s still only eight players.
Why is Mario is choosing quality over quantity? It’s simple- he knows what it should look like. This isn't about recreating Temple. This is about building a roster to compete with Bama. It will take time, but you need to have high standards. Even in a transition year.
There were four transition classes between Coker and Mario. They followed the same pattern- new coach comes in, rushes evaluations, signs some sleepers and we fall in love with the grainy film. I was the worst culprit. Over four classes, at least 24 kids fell into this "lottery ticket" category:
2007 (Shannon)
Daniel Adderley, Shawnbrey McNeal, Tyler Horn, Jared Campbell
2011 (Golden)
Darius Smith, Ricardo Williams, Gianni Paul, Olsen Pierre, Antonio Kinard, Thomas Finnie, Eddie Johnson, Corey King, Junior Alexis, Hunter Wells, Thurston Armbrister
2016 (Richt)
Tre Johnson, Tyreic Martin, Jeff James, Dayall Harris
2019 (Diaz)
Adam El-Gammal, Jakai Clark, Zion Nelson, Peyton Matocha
Only five of the 24 ended up as quality players: Zion, Pierre, Armbrister, Clark and Horn. The rest gave us next to nothing. That's a 20% hit rate.
Mario is taking a different approach. He doesn't want excess fat weighing down the roster. Instead, he's laser focused on blue chip players, and made numerous references to recruiting rankings during his press conference. The Portal (which his predecessors didn't have) allows him to sign blue chippers while filling the rest of the spots with developed veterans.
This class, while small, is loaded with blue-chip athleticism and body types. Chris Graves and Nyjalik Kelly are prototypical. Wesley Bissainthe is fluid and has stopping power as a tackler. Jacurri Brown is built like an oak with nuclear athleticism. Isaiah Horton and Jaden Harris opened eyes on their visits through sheer size. Khamauri Rogers and Markeith Williams have been stacking INTs and offers since they were high school freshmen. And there are many names yet to come.
Enjoy these next couple months. This program will continue to stack blue talent, either from high school or the Portal. We have money, along with a coach and an AD who know how to spend money. Clemson is sputtering. The time is right to build a sustainable monster that reloads every year. Wednesday was just the first step.
Why is Mario is choosing quality over quantity? It’s simple- he knows what it should look like. This isn't about recreating Temple. This is about building a roster to compete with Bama. It will take time, but you need to have high standards. Even in a transition year.
There were four transition classes between Coker and Mario. They followed the same pattern- new coach comes in, rushes evaluations, signs some sleepers and we fall in love with the grainy film. I was the worst culprit. Over four classes, at least 24 kids fell into this "lottery ticket" category:
2007 (Shannon)
Daniel Adderley, Shawnbrey McNeal, Tyler Horn, Jared Campbell
2011 (Golden)
Darius Smith, Ricardo Williams, Gianni Paul, Olsen Pierre, Antonio Kinard, Thomas Finnie, Eddie Johnson, Corey King, Junior Alexis, Hunter Wells, Thurston Armbrister
2016 (Richt)
Tre Johnson, Tyreic Martin, Jeff James, Dayall Harris
2019 (Diaz)
Adam El-Gammal, Jakai Clark, Zion Nelson, Peyton Matocha
Only five of the 24 ended up as quality players: Zion, Pierre, Armbrister, Clark and Horn. The rest gave us next to nothing. That's a 20% hit rate.
Mario is taking a different approach. He doesn't want excess fat weighing down the roster. Instead, he's laser focused on blue chip players, and made numerous references to recruiting rankings during his press conference. The Portal (which his predecessors didn't have) allows him to sign blue chippers while filling the rest of the spots with developed veterans.
This class, while small, is loaded with blue-chip athleticism and body types. Chris Graves and Nyjalik Kelly are prototypical. Wesley Bissainthe is fluid and has stopping power as a tackler. Jacurri Brown is built like an oak with nuclear athleticism. Isaiah Horton and Jaden Harris opened eyes on their visits through sheer size. Khamauri Rogers and Markeith Williams have been stacking INTs and offers since they were high school freshmen. And there are many names yet to come.
Enjoy these next couple months. This program will continue to stack blue talent, either from high school or the Portal. We have money, along with a coach and an AD who know how to spend money. Clemson is sputtering. The time is right to build a sustainable monster that reloads every year. Wednesday was just the first step.
