08-19-2007, 08:38 AM
PLEASE DO NOT POST UNDER THIS THREAD! But your comments, observations, additional info, and corrections can be posted here:
http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=246000
The original post with 10 recruits is already rather long and will get MUCH LONGER as recruits are added. By not posting under this thread, the info can be printed out by anyone who wants it and not get a whole bunch of pages of comments. Please post under the post entitled TULSA RECRUITING COMMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS which I opened as a separate thread.
http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=246000
I have compiled a list like this over the years for my own pleasure. I would be the first to tell you that it is probably not 100% correct. I try to confirm with two sources but I do not subscribe to any recruiting info; the info is available free on the internet. My greatest problem in the past is that, once the player has committed to Tulsa, the other schools will deny recruiting or offering the player. In the past, I printed out the early recruiting lists and then held on to them thru recruiting season....because I knew the BCS schools would deny recruiting the Tulsa U commitment later in the recruiting season. This is not so much a problem now with more and more newspapers and sports writers providing recruiting info and you can pick it up off the internet. In addition, there are many individuals running a recruiting board with free info and so there are other recruiting boards in addition to Rivals and Scout....for example, Sooner Scoop and Texasfootball.com.
TRANSFERS:
SLICK SHELLY, WR, 6-4, 205, Fort Smith, Arkansas
Transfer from Tennessee
Offers: Many SEC schools
Accolodes: U.S. Army High School All-America, Rivals 4-Star
Comment: Applying for medical waiver for third year of elgibility
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article...hrece42140
http://story.scout.com/a.z?s=374&p=2&c=652089
ANDREW NORMAN, WR, 6-2, 175, 4.46, Springdale, Arkansas
Transfer from Arkansas
Offers: Florida, Arkansas, Kansas, Michigan State, Indiana, Louisiville
Accolodes: Arkansas Top 15 (#5), Rivals #49 WR, Rivals 3-Star
Comment: Has 3 years of elgibility
http://www.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?p...12&sport=1
http://www.arkansas.scout.com/2/374135.html
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/081707/h...5665.shtml
JUNIOR COLLEGE:
DERRICK "DEE" WILLIAMS, WR, 6-2, 200, 4.41, Ashdown, Arkansas
Offers: LSU, Arkansas, Nebraska, Iowa State, Houston, Arkansas State
Accolodes: Rivals 3-Star
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article...hrece42140
http://recruiting.scout.com/2/656850.html
ADE' MANGA, OLB, 6-2, 220, Coffeyville CC, KS
Accolodes: All JayHawk Conference, Honorable Mention
Comment: Rated 5.4 by Rivals; 5.5 is 3-Star
From PelicanPreps: "Linebacker Ade' Manga was all over the field with nine tackles. Somebody is going to get a steal out of the 6 foot 2, 220 pound outside linebacker." This written by Jeremy Crabtree, Rivals' Recruiting Editor.
http://pelicanpreps.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=736998
http://tulsahurricane.cstv.com/sports/m-...08aaa.html
KARPO SARKISSIAN, MLB, 6-1, 235, El Camino CC, Torrence, CA and Kamahameha, Hawaii
Accolodes: Mission Football Conference American Division First Team
Comment: Rated 5.4 by Rivals; 5.5 is 3-Star. Karpo weighed 190 pounds coming out of Hawaii high school football. It looks like he went JUCO route to develop as a IA football player.
http://tulsahurricane.cstv.com/sports/m-...08aaa.html
JACOB BOWER, QB, 6-4, 235, 4.75, Bakersfield, CA and Meridian, Idaho
Offers: KSU, SDSU, CSU, Hawaii, Fresno State, Troy, Arkron, BYU, USC, Oregon State, Texas Tech
Accolodes: Rivals #1 JUCO QB, Rivals 3 Star, Rivals #25 High School QB, Scout 4-Star
Comment: Dual threat QB fits Tulsa system. Three years of elgibility. Signed with BYU out of high school with offers from USC, Oregon State, and Texas Tech. Offers from North Carolina and Texas Tech to play basketball.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/murphy/story/216988.html
http://www.sltrib.com/byucougars/ci_7879541
http://tulsahurricane.cstv.com/sports/m-...08aaa.html
UN'TAVIOUS SCOTT, DE, 6-3, 235, Reedley, California College and Panokee Florida High School
Offers: Troy (coming out of high school)
Accolodes: First Team All-Conference
http://tulsahurricane.cstv.com/sports/m-...08aaa.html
KOLLIN HANCOCK, S, 6-0, 180, College of the Redlands, California and Columbus, Ohio
Accolodes: First Team All-Conference
http://tulsahurricane.cstv.com/sports/m-...08aaa.html
TAVITA HAHALOLO, OL, 6-5, 320, San Mateo Junior College
Accolodes: First Team All-Conference
Comment from collegeofsanmateo: He's a huge player for us. He's 6-5 or 6-6, 320 pounds and just a pure football player. He pulls well for a guy of his size and he's got great feet...Tavita is the leader of our line."
http://www.collegeofsanmateo.edu/footbal...lent.shtml
HIGH SCHOOL VERBALS:
BOBBY SMITH, CB, 5-10, 170, Putnam City, Oklahoma
Accolodes: Rivals Oklahoma H.S. Top 20 (#23), Sooner Scoop Top 20 (#25)
http://oklahoma.rivals.com/viewprospect....79&Sport=1
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article...Putna15376
BRIAN MOORE, LB, 6-1, 190, 4.5, Klein, Texas
Offers: Northwestern, Nebraska
Accolodes: Scout.com Texas All-Combine Team, Rivals 3-Star
Comments from Texas Insider.com: "Moore was one of the surprises of the combine. He tested extremely well and showed exceptional pass coverage skills for a linebacker. He's still a little on the light side, but a college strength and conditioning program will take care of that."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkcWw67GaEo
http://texashoops.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=690463
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recruiting...eason=2008
WILLIE CARTER, WR/LB, 6-2, 210, Crockett, Texas
Offers: Iowa State, Houston
From TexasHSFootball.com: "Crockett WR/LB Willie Carter has made his commitment to the University of Tulsa today. It is the second commit Tulsa has picked up from Texas in a few hours. Carter was named to the Texas H.S. All-Combine team in June and also placed on the roster of Max Emfinger's All-American All-Star Game to be held in January. As a rusher last season, Carter picked up 791 yards on 81 carries and scored 16 touchdowns. In the air, he picked up an additional 358 yards and 3 more touchdowns.
Comment: Will play RB (H-Back).
JARED GRIGG, OT, 6-6, 240, 5.0, Springdale, Arkansas (Har-Ber)
Offers: Auburn
Accolodes: Associated Press Super Arkansas Team (Top 25 Arkansas high school players)
http://nwaonline.net/articles/2007/08/09...hgrigg.txt
http://arkansas.rivals.com/viewprospect....46&sport=1
http://arkansas.rivals.com/quicklist.asp...1&school=6
TRENT WILKINS, S, 6-0, 188, 4.45, Duncan, Oklahoma
Comment: Plays QB and recruited as Safety, Arkansas Quick List as Safety. Offensive Player of the Oklahoma/Texas All-Star High School game won by Oklahoma.
Accolodes: Rivals Oklahoma H. S. Top 25 (#20), OklahomaPrepXtra Top 30 (#30)
http://okprepxtra.rivals.com/viewprospec...85&Sport=1
CORY DORRIS, OT, 6-4, 255, 4.9, Jenks, Oklahoma (Oct 2, 2007)
Offers: Iowa State, Tulane, Rice, TCU, Army
Comment: Listed as OT by recruiting services, he will play DE at Tulsa.
Accolodes: Rivals Oklahoma H.S. Top 25 (#16), OkPrepXtra.com Oklahoma H.S. Top 30 (#18), Scout All-Midlands Sleeper Team
http://arkansas.scout.com/a.z?s=10&p=8&c=1&nid=3232586
CLINT ANDERSON, OC, 6-2, 265, 5.08, Allen, Texas (Oct 3, 2007)
Offers: Washington State, Buffalo
http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8...id=3226388
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recruiting...eason=2008
ZACK WALLACE, LB, 6-2, 225, Muskogee (Hilldale), OK (Dec 18, 2007)
Offers: Ohio
Accolodes: Oklahoma H.S. Coaches All-State DE
Comment: Played as DE, recruited as LB. CO-Defensive Player of the Oklahoma/Texas All-Star High School game won by Oklahoma.
http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/sports/lo...11334.html
CORY LAMBERT, CB, 6-0, 179, Warren, Arkansas
Offers: Miss State, Missouri, La Tech
ALAN DOCK, LB, 5-11, 210, Giddings, TX
Accolodes: AP Texas 3-A Defensive Player of the Year. Texas Sports Writers Assn Texas 3-A Defensive Player of the Year. Austin Statesman All Central Texas Second Team.
JOHN FLANDERS, CB, 5-10, 175, 4.4, Midwest City, Oklahoma
Offers: Kansas State, Texas Tech, Rice, SMU, UTEP
Accolodes: Rivals Oklahoma Top 25 (#13), Oklahoma Prep Xtra Top 30 (#11), Oklahoma State Champion in the 100 Meter Run, Rivals #42 Running Back, Rivals 3-Star
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recruiting...eason=2008
DeAUNDRE BROWN, Safety, 5-11, 181, 4.47, Seguin, Texas
Offers: Louisville, New Mexico State
Accolodes: Rivals 3-Star, Rivals #75 Receiver
Comment: Committed as WR to NM State but will play Safety at Tulsa.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recruiting...eason=2008
CHRIS ADKINS, RB, 5-9, 180, Jenks, Oklahoma
Offers: TCU, New Mexico, AFA
Accolodes: Rivals Oklahoma H.S. Top 25 (#17), Oklahoma Prep Xtra Top 30 (#21)
MAURICE WHITE, DE, 6-6, 220, Del City, Oklahoma
Offers: Kansas, Colorado State
GABE MOYER, OL, 6-2, 305, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Bishop McGuinness)
Offers: Vanderbilt, Colorado State
Accolodes: Rivals Oklahoma H.S. Top 25 (#19), Oklahoma Prep Xtra Top 30 (#22)
KEVIN FITZGERALD, K, 6-1, 180, Jensen Beach, Florida
Offers: Arkansas State, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo
DERRICK JACKSON, DT, 6-2, 285, Del City, Oklahoma
Accolodes: Rated #2 Oklahoma Heavyweight H.S. Wrestler, Oklahoma All-State
BRIAN BURNHAM, DB, 6-2, 183, Mooreston, New Jersey
Offers: Villaasnova, Maine, Rhode Island
Accolodes: New Jersey All-State, Philadelphia Inquirere's Defensive Player of the Year
From Philadelphia Inquirer by Sam Carchidid: "Burnham also was on secondary recruting lists of Tennessee, West Virginia, Purdue, and Penn State. If those colleges didn't get a commitment from one of their preferred recruits, Burnham probably would have been offered. Instead, he chose Tulsa, a university with TERRIFIC FACILITIES...." (Emphasis added by capitalization is mine; no doubt TU's new Case Athletic Center and totally renovated Chapman Stadium boosted recruiting this year.)
http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt...ootball...
DAMARIS JOHNSON, WR, 5-8, 170, 4.41, Norco, Louisiana
Offers: Minnesota, Memphis, TCU, ULL, Northern Illinois. Many BCS offers at Punt and Kick Returner
Accolodes: Rivals 4-Star, Rivals #28 Athlete
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article...spanc86666
RECRUITING THOUGHTS, AUGUST 19, 2007
I would like to put in my two cents. First, Guz Malzahn has proved to be a recruiting machine. The following from 2007 Scout College Football Review Magazine: "Joining Todd Graham at Tulsa will be co-offensive coordinator Guz Malzahn, a mad scientist who gained national notoriety last year despite never getting a chance to implement his no-huddle spread attack at Arkansas. This year, however, the shackles come off his playbook, meaning the Hurricane offense may never again be the same. Beyond the potential for installing a high powered offense, Malzahn is one of those charismatic figures who's going to pay immediate recruiting dividends on the recruiting trail."
Second, there is lots of opportunity in the states of Arkansas and Oklahoma for TU. The main rivalry for recruits in Oklahoma will be Big 12 schools other than OU and OSU...plus supposedly Arkansas is making a big push in Oklahoma. CUSA/West schools and TCU have been getting Oklahoma kids recently. It works both ways...TU recruits Texas...Texas schools recruit Oklahoma. As of August 19, 2007, the following status exists:
*Arkansas is filling up with 20 commitments, with 10 Arkansas kids. There are lots of good Arkansas kids left out there.
*Oklahoma is filling up with 16 recruits, with only 1 from Oklahoma (a kicker).
*Oklahoma State is filling up with 18 recruits, all from Texas and none from Oklahoma. I have never seen OU and OSU with this many verbals
and only 1 Oklahoma high school recruit.
*Tulsa has 8 recruits, with only 2 from Oklahoma. Together, TU, OU, and OSU have 42 recruits and only 3 of them are from Oklahoma. I have
never seen these three schools with so many recruits and so few Oklahoma kids.
*Of the Rivals Top 20 Oklahoma H.S. recruits, only six have committed, one to TU, one to OU, 2 to Texas Tech, 1 to TAMU, and 1 to KSU.
*Each year, about 30-35 Oklahoma H.S. kids receive I-A college offers.
*So, in summary, there are lots of Oklahoma kids, as well as Arkansas kids, left for TU to pursue.
Third, there is the colussus of Texas recruiting. This Tulsa staff seems to have placed a greater emphasis and to be doing a better job of evaluating and getting higher quality Texas recruits. Tulsa won the CUSA Championship in 2005 and the Liberty Bowl....yet, all that didn't boost Texas recruiting for TU that year. Tulsa, unlike TCU, has not been able to get the Texas kid with competing BCS offers. In 2006, only 1 Texas recruit out of 14 Texas H.S. players recruited by Tulsa received a competing BCS offer; RB Charles Operseyitan from Allen, Texas received many BCS offers. This year, it was a bit disheartening to see Tulsa lose two early verbals to Mizzouri and Oregon. But, the other side of the coin is that this Tulsa staff identified and offered those two Texas H.S. players and offered early. Obviously, this staff knows how to identify talent...and I just may have to eat my words regarding the 2007 Tulsa class. Still, the 2008 Texas recruiting situation remains very bright. Two of the four Texas verbals to Tulsa have BCS offers. Current verbals RB Marcus Wright was offered by Miami of Florida and TAMU and LB Brian Moore had an offer from Northwestern.
Fourth, Tulsa must not lay an egg to begin the football season as it did with Minnesota in 2005 and BYU in 2006. Blow out losses and/or unimpressive games like these two games would, in 2007, kill Tulsa's strong recruiting momentum. It can't be all Malzahn. A strong early showing would boost 2008 recruiting and help the TU staff attract quality recruits.
Fifth, TU has appeared to solve one of its two glaring weaknesses, WRs that can go deep and get free. The other glaring weakness is pass rushing DEs and LBs. It wouldn't surprise me to see some more JUCO help. Tulsa recruited two JUCO DEs in last year's class. JUCO Defensive ends Eliot Allen and Wilson Garrison along with true freshman DE Odrick Ray are contending for playing time and all will contribute. The flip side is that two JUCOs and one true freshman readily illustrate the lack of pass rushing DEs on the Tulsa roster. DE Garrison has been moved to DT to provide depth.
Sixth, on the other hand, I have never seen TU so deep with quality reserves in all other positions. In the old days, especially the Mizz Valley days, one injury could be a disaster and could affect more than one position. For example, if the starting OG on the right side went down, the next best OG might be the second string LT. So you would see that starting LT moved to OG and the second string LT promoted to first string; thus, two positions were affected...and the experience and timing and cohesion all lost. Thank god those days are gone.
RECRUITING THOUGHTS AND DECOMMITS, DECEMBER 28, 2007
Coach Todd Graham stated that TU would pursue higher ranked recruits and this has proved true. In addition, TU has verballed recruits as early as I have witnessed in following TU recruiting over the years. One of the prices to be paid is the competition is more intense and TU has experienced a number of BCS and NonBCS schools recognizing the high quality of TU recruits and coming in with offers. So while TU is experiencing excellent recruiting success...TU is also experiencing a number of decommits: QB Tyler Wilson (Arkansas), OL Taylor Davis (Mizzouri), QB Kelly Page (Oregon), and WR/LB Willie Carter. Nebraska has offered LB Brian Moore and TCU has offered CB Trentson Hill. That is a total of 6 TU verbals.
Tulsa and TCU are involved in an interesting battle for three recruits, CB Trentson Hill, RB Chris Adkins, and, QB Kody Spano. Surprisingly, CB Trentson Hill has not commited to TCU and the recruiting battle for him continues. From Killerfrogs recruiting blog: "TCU on him early before he originally committed to Tulsa. He has decommitted after Coach Patterson continued after him." So there are some other interesting battles going on out there. Oklahoma State verbal QB Kody Spano, according to a Daily Oklahoman article, has reopened his recruiting and narrowed his final two choices to Nebraska and Tulsa. Oklahoma State ran out of scholarships and tried to get Spano to wait a semester when the Cowboys would have a scholarship available. RB Chris Adkins from Jenks, Oklahoma has offers from TCU, New Mexico, Air Force, and Tulsa. Adkins is the #19 ranked player in Oklahoma by Rivals.
Here is a very good TCU recruiting link that I have just discovered that is equivalent to the "Hot List" kept by many recruiting boards. If you know of others, please let me know and I will add them:
http://www.killerfrogs.com/blog/recruiti...ruit-list/
I am going to keep the decommits on the board. It provides insights into the recruiting wars and, in my opinion, demonstrates what Coach Graham stated early on...TU is going after higher quality athletes to win CUSA Championships and Bowls.
My guess is that TU will have a large number of open scholarships going into the last days of recruiting in Febuary...as Tulsa pursues and waits out the highly recruited athletes it is seeking. OU and OSU are almost full, only waiting out one or two recruits at best. A large number of highly ranked Oklahoma High School recruits remain. This has proved to be a very, very interesting recruiting year.
JANUARY 24, 2008 UPDATE
Just found this football recruiting website. Click on school and then click on player for detailed player info.
http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/recru...ball/index
FINAL RECRUITING THOUGHTS, FEBRUARY 22, 2008
Yesterday's announcement the addition DE Untavious Scott and Safety Kollin Hancock provided a good boost to TU's 2008 recruiting class and really brightens the prospects for the 2008 football season. TU's main two weaknesses were speedy WRs and that issue has been more than resolved. Adding DE Scott helps out with TU's second weakness, pass rushing from the defensive line. Admittedly, I would like to have seen another DE recruit or two in this class and the DE position remains thin. TU had missed out on DE recruits like DE Alonzo Horton (http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=276701). DE Scott rectifies the situation.
In addition to WRs and DE/LB, Tulsa has fortified its kicking game, one of the worst in CUSA and TU's third weakness. TU added Kicker Keven Fitzgerad and WR Damaris Johnson, who received many BCS offers as a kick and punt returner.
The best summation of TU's recruiting class was provided by the Daily Oklahoman which which quotes TU Coach Todd Graham "Never, since I've been here, have we competed for more guys that had big time offers than we did this year."
http://newsok.com/article/3201697/1202385651
Coaching hires and changes may be as significant as the high quality of this recruiting class, perhaps even more so. This Tulsa World article outlines the defensive issues confronting the defense.
TULSA ADDS TWO JC FOOTBALL PLAYERS
By Eric Bailey, World Sports Writer, February 21, 2008
"Kollin Hancock (6-0, 195) a defensive back from College of the Redwoods and Untavious Scott (6-3, 245), a defensive end from Reedley California Community College have signed with TU.
"They are the guys that we were searching hard for," Golden Hurricane Coach Todd Graham said. "Our goals were to be more explosive up front and defend the pass better. These two are going to help us."
"Graham also spoke about switches in staff duties, which included moving co-defensive coordinator Keith Patterson's responsibilities from linebackers to defensive backs."
"One of the main reasons for the shift was we wanted to shore up the back end," Graham said. "We gave up 28 touchdown passes last season and we've never given up that many. In 2005, my last year, we gave up nine. Last year, in Keith's season (as defensive coordinator), he gave up 13. We gave up too many cheap touchdowns."
"The Hurricane hired Galen Scott, Illinois State's former defensive coordinator, to fill a vacancy. He will assume linebackers coach."
"Bill Blankenship will become the special teams coordinator, with an emphasis on the kicking game. Last Season, the unit was one of the poorest in Conference USA with field position becoming an issue in many games."
That is the end of the Tulsa World article. Looking back on this season, the last few years, and perhaps back to the 1940s, I must say I have never seen TU football in such a positive situation. It appears TU will have a very good football team to put on the field in 2008....just in time to coincide with the opening of totally renovated Chapman Stadium plus Case Football Athletic Center is only one year old. Someone, please pinch me! Am I dreaming or is this all true?
PLEASE DO NOT POST UNDER THIS THREAD!
The original post with 10 recruits is already rather long and will get MUCH LONGER as recruits are added. By not posting under this thread, the info can be printed out by anyone who wants it and not get a whole bunch of pages of comments. Please post under the post entitled TULSA RECRUITING COMMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS WHICH I opened as a separate thread. Here is the link:
http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=246000
http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=246000
The original post with 10 recruits is already rather long and will get MUCH LONGER as recruits are added. By not posting under this thread, the info can be printed out by anyone who wants it and not get a whole bunch of pages of comments. Please post under the post entitled TULSA RECRUITING COMMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS which I opened as a separate thread.
http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=246000
I have compiled a list like this over the years for my own pleasure. I would be the first to tell you that it is probably not 100% correct. I try to confirm with two sources but I do not subscribe to any recruiting info; the info is available free on the internet. My greatest problem in the past is that, once the player has committed to Tulsa, the other schools will deny recruiting or offering the player. In the past, I printed out the early recruiting lists and then held on to them thru recruiting season....because I knew the BCS schools would deny recruiting the Tulsa U commitment later in the recruiting season. This is not so much a problem now with more and more newspapers and sports writers providing recruiting info and you can pick it up off the internet. In addition, there are many individuals running a recruiting board with free info and so there are other recruiting boards in addition to Rivals and Scout....for example, Sooner Scoop and Texasfootball.com.
TRANSFERS:
SLICK SHELLY, WR, 6-4, 205, Fort Smith, Arkansas
Transfer from Tennessee
Offers: Many SEC schools
Accolodes: U.S. Army High School All-America, Rivals 4-Star
Comment: Applying for medical waiver for third year of elgibility
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article...hrece42140
http://story.scout.com/a.z?s=374&p=2&c=652089
ANDREW NORMAN, WR, 6-2, 175, 4.46, Springdale, Arkansas
Transfer from Arkansas
Offers: Florida, Arkansas, Kansas, Michigan State, Indiana, Louisiville
Accolodes: Arkansas Top 15 (#5), Rivals #49 WR, Rivals 3-Star
Comment: Has 3 years of elgibility
http://www.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?p...12&sport=1
http://www.arkansas.scout.com/2/374135.html
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/081707/h...5665.shtml
JUNIOR COLLEGE:
DERRICK "DEE" WILLIAMS, WR, 6-2, 200, 4.41, Ashdown, Arkansas
Offers: LSU, Arkansas, Nebraska, Iowa State, Houston, Arkansas State
Accolodes: Rivals 3-Star
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article...hrece42140
http://recruiting.scout.com/2/656850.html
ADE' MANGA, OLB, 6-2, 220, Coffeyville CC, KS
Accolodes: All JayHawk Conference, Honorable Mention
Comment: Rated 5.4 by Rivals; 5.5 is 3-Star
From PelicanPreps: "Linebacker Ade' Manga was all over the field with nine tackles. Somebody is going to get a steal out of the 6 foot 2, 220 pound outside linebacker." This written by Jeremy Crabtree, Rivals' Recruiting Editor.
http://pelicanpreps.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=736998
http://tulsahurricane.cstv.com/sports/m-...08aaa.html
KARPO SARKISSIAN, MLB, 6-1, 235, El Camino CC, Torrence, CA and Kamahameha, Hawaii
Accolodes: Mission Football Conference American Division First Team
Comment: Rated 5.4 by Rivals; 5.5 is 3-Star. Karpo weighed 190 pounds coming out of Hawaii high school football. It looks like he went JUCO route to develop as a IA football player.
http://tulsahurricane.cstv.com/sports/m-...08aaa.html
JACOB BOWER, QB, 6-4, 235, 4.75, Bakersfield, CA and Meridian, Idaho
Offers: KSU, SDSU, CSU, Hawaii, Fresno State, Troy, Arkron, BYU, USC, Oregon State, Texas Tech
Accolodes: Rivals #1 JUCO QB, Rivals 3 Star, Rivals #25 High School QB, Scout 4-Star
Comment: Dual threat QB fits Tulsa system. Three years of elgibility. Signed with BYU out of high school with offers from USC, Oregon State, and Texas Tech. Offers from North Carolina and Texas Tech to play basketball.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/murphy/story/216988.html
http://www.sltrib.com/byucougars/ci_7879541
http://tulsahurricane.cstv.com/sports/m-...08aaa.html
UN'TAVIOUS SCOTT, DE, 6-3, 235, Reedley, California College and Panokee Florida High School
Offers: Troy (coming out of high school)
Accolodes: First Team All-Conference
http://tulsahurricane.cstv.com/sports/m-...08aaa.html
KOLLIN HANCOCK, S, 6-0, 180, College of the Redlands, California and Columbus, Ohio
Accolodes: First Team All-Conference
http://tulsahurricane.cstv.com/sports/m-...08aaa.html
TAVITA HAHALOLO, OL, 6-5, 320, San Mateo Junior College
Accolodes: First Team All-Conference
Comment from collegeofsanmateo: He's a huge player for us. He's 6-5 or 6-6, 320 pounds and just a pure football player. He pulls well for a guy of his size and he's got great feet...Tavita is the leader of our line."
http://www.collegeofsanmateo.edu/footbal...lent.shtml
HIGH SCHOOL VERBALS:
BOBBY SMITH, CB, 5-10, 170, Putnam City, Oklahoma
Accolodes: Rivals Oklahoma H.S. Top 20 (#23), Sooner Scoop Top 20 (#25)
http://oklahoma.rivals.com/viewprospect....79&Sport=1
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article...Putna15376
BRIAN MOORE, LB, 6-1, 190, 4.5, Klein, Texas
Offers: Northwestern, Nebraska
Accolodes: Scout.com Texas All-Combine Team, Rivals 3-Star
Comments from Texas Insider.com: "Moore was one of the surprises of the combine. He tested extremely well and showed exceptional pass coverage skills for a linebacker. He's still a little on the light side, but a college strength and conditioning program will take care of that."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkcWw67GaEo
http://texashoops.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=690463
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recruiting...eason=2008
WILLIE CARTER, WR/LB, 6-2, 210, Crockett, Texas
Offers: Iowa State, Houston
From TexasHSFootball.com: "Crockett WR/LB Willie Carter has made his commitment to the University of Tulsa today. It is the second commit Tulsa has picked up from Texas in a few hours. Carter was named to the Texas H.S. All-Combine team in June and also placed on the roster of Max Emfinger's All-American All-Star Game to be held in January. As a rusher last season, Carter picked up 791 yards on 81 carries and scored 16 touchdowns. In the air, he picked up an additional 358 yards and 3 more touchdowns.
Comment: Will play RB (H-Back).
JARED GRIGG, OT, 6-6, 240, 5.0, Springdale, Arkansas (Har-Ber)
Offers: Auburn
Accolodes: Associated Press Super Arkansas Team (Top 25 Arkansas high school players)
http://nwaonline.net/articles/2007/08/09...hgrigg.txt
http://arkansas.rivals.com/viewprospect....46&sport=1
http://arkansas.rivals.com/quicklist.asp...1&school=6
TRENT WILKINS, S, 6-0, 188, 4.45, Duncan, Oklahoma
Comment: Plays QB and recruited as Safety, Arkansas Quick List as Safety. Offensive Player of the Oklahoma/Texas All-Star High School game won by Oklahoma.
Accolodes: Rivals Oklahoma H. S. Top 25 (#20), OklahomaPrepXtra Top 30 (#30)
http://okprepxtra.rivals.com/viewprospec...85&Sport=1
CORY DORRIS, OT, 6-4, 255, 4.9, Jenks, Oklahoma (Oct 2, 2007)
Offers: Iowa State, Tulane, Rice, TCU, Army
Comment: Listed as OT by recruiting services, he will play DE at Tulsa.
Accolodes: Rivals Oklahoma H.S. Top 25 (#16), OkPrepXtra.com Oklahoma H.S. Top 30 (#18), Scout All-Midlands Sleeper Team
http://arkansas.scout.com/a.z?s=10&p=8&c=1&nid=3232586
CLINT ANDERSON, OC, 6-2, 265, 5.08, Allen, Texas (Oct 3, 2007)
Offers: Washington State, Buffalo
http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8...id=3226388
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recruiting...eason=2008
ZACK WALLACE, LB, 6-2, 225, Muskogee (Hilldale), OK (Dec 18, 2007)
Offers: Ohio
Accolodes: Oklahoma H.S. Coaches All-State DE
Comment: Played as DE, recruited as LB. CO-Defensive Player of the Oklahoma/Texas All-Star High School game won by Oklahoma.
http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/sports/lo...11334.html
CORY LAMBERT, CB, 6-0, 179, Warren, Arkansas
Offers: Miss State, Missouri, La Tech
ALAN DOCK, LB, 5-11, 210, Giddings, TX
Accolodes: AP Texas 3-A Defensive Player of the Year. Texas Sports Writers Assn Texas 3-A Defensive Player of the Year. Austin Statesman All Central Texas Second Team.
JOHN FLANDERS, CB, 5-10, 175, 4.4, Midwest City, Oklahoma
Offers: Kansas State, Texas Tech, Rice, SMU, UTEP
Accolodes: Rivals Oklahoma Top 25 (#13), Oklahoma Prep Xtra Top 30 (#11), Oklahoma State Champion in the 100 Meter Run, Rivals #42 Running Back, Rivals 3-Star
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recruiting...eason=2008
DeAUNDRE BROWN, Safety, 5-11, 181, 4.47, Seguin, Texas
Offers: Louisville, New Mexico State
Accolodes: Rivals 3-Star, Rivals #75 Receiver
Comment: Committed as WR to NM State but will play Safety at Tulsa.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recruiting...eason=2008
CHRIS ADKINS, RB, 5-9, 180, Jenks, Oklahoma
Offers: TCU, New Mexico, AFA
Accolodes: Rivals Oklahoma H.S. Top 25 (#17), Oklahoma Prep Xtra Top 30 (#21)
MAURICE WHITE, DE, 6-6, 220, Del City, Oklahoma
Offers: Kansas, Colorado State
GABE MOYER, OL, 6-2, 305, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Bishop McGuinness)
Offers: Vanderbilt, Colorado State
Accolodes: Rivals Oklahoma H.S. Top 25 (#19), Oklahoma Prep Xtra Top 30 (#22)
KEVIN FITZGERALD, K, 6-1, 180, Jensen Beach, Florida
Offers: Arkansas State, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo
DERRICK JACKSON, DT, 6-2, 285, Del City, Oklahoma
Accolodes: Rated #2 Oklahoma Heavyweight H.S. Wrestler, Oklahoma All-State
BRIAN BURNHAM, DB, 6-2, 183, Mooreston, New Jersey
Offers: Villaasnova, Maine, Rhode Island
Accolodes: New Jersey All-State, Philadelphia Inquirere's Defensive Player of the Year
From Philadelphia Inquirer by Sam Carchidid: "Burnham also was on secondary recruting lists of Tennessee, West Virginia, Purdue, and Penn State. If those colleges didn't get a commitment from one of their preferred recruits, Burnham probably would have been offered. Instead, he chose Tulsa, a university with TERRIFIC FACILITIES...." (Emphasis added by capitalization is mine; no doubt TU's new Case Athletic Center and totally renovated Chapman Stadium boosted recruiting this year.)
http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt...ootball...
DAMARIS JOHNSON, WR, 5-8, 170, 4.41, Norco, Louisiana
Offers: Minnesota, Memphis, TCU, ULL, Northern Illinois. Many BCS offers at Punt and Kick Returner
Accolodes: Rivals 4-Star, Rivals #28 Athlete
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article...spanc86666
RECRUITING THOUGHTS, AUGUST 19, 2007
I would like to put in my two cents. First, Guz Malzahn has proved to be a recruiting machine. The following from 2007 Scout College Football Review Magazine: "Joining Todd Graham at Tulsa will be co-offensive coordinator Guz Malzahn, a mad scientist who gained national notoriety last year despite never getting a chance to implement his no-huddle spread attack at Arkansas. This year, however, the shackles come off his playbook, meaning the Hurricane offense may never again be the same. Beyond the potential for installing a high powered offense, Malzahn is one of those charismatic figures who's going to pay immediate recruiting dividends on the recruiting trail."
Second, there is lots of opportunity in the states of Arkansas and Oklahoma for TU. The main rivalry for recruits in Oklahoma will be Big 12 schools other than OU and OSU...plus supposedly Arkansas is making a big push in Oklahoma. CUSA/West schools and TCU have been getting Oklahoma kids recently. It works both ways...TU recruits Texas...Texas schools recruit Oklahoma. As of August 19, 2007, the following status exists:
*Arkansas is filling up with 20 commitments, with 10 Arkansas kids. There are lots of good Arkansas kids left out there.
*Oklahoma is filling up with 16 recruits, with only 1 from Oklahoma (a kicker).
*Oklahoma State is filling up with 18 recruits, all from Texas and none from Oklahoma. I have never seen OU and OSU with this many verbals
and only 1 Oklahoma high school recruit.
*Tulsa has 8 recruits, with only 2 from Oklahoma. Together, TU, OU, and OSU have 42 recruits and only 3 of them are from Oklahoma. I have
never seen these three schools with so many recruits and so few Oklahoma kids.
*Of the Rivals Top 20 Oklahoma H.S. recruits, only six have committed, one to TU, one to OU, 2 to Texas Tech, 1 to TAMU, and 1 to KSU.
*Each year, about 30-35 Oklahoma H.S. kids receive I-A college offers.
*So, in summary, there are lots of Oklahoma kids, as well as Arkansas kids, left for TU to pursue.
Third, there is the colussus of Texas recruiting. This Tulsa staff seems to have placed a greater emphasis and to be doing a better job of evaluating and getting higher quality Texas recruits. Tulsa won the CUSA Championship in 2005 and the Liberty Bowl....yet, all that didn't boost Texas recruiting for TU that year. Tulsa, unlike TCU, has not been able to get the Texas kid with competing BCS offers. In 2006, only 1 Texas recruit out of 14 Texas H.S. players recruited by Tulsa received a competing BCS offer; RB Charles Operseyitan from Allen, Texas received many BCS offers. This year, it was a bit disheartening to see Tulsa lose two early verbals to Mizzouri and Oregon. But, the other side of the coin is that this Tulsa staff identified and offered those two Texas H.S. players and offered early. Obviously, this staff knows how to identify talent...and I just may have to eat my words regarding the 2007 Tulsa class. Still, the 2008 Texas recruiting situation remains very bright. Two of the four Texas verbals to Tulsa have BCS offers. Current verbals RB Marcus Wright was offered by Miami of Florida and TAMU and LB Brian Moore had an offer from Northwestern.
Fourth, Tulsa must not lay an egg to begin the football season as it did with Minnesota in 2005 and BYU in 2006. Blow out losses and/or unimpressive games like these two games would, in 2007, kill Tulsa's strong recruiting momentum. It can't be all Malzahn. A strong early showing would boost 2008 recruiting and help the TU staff attract quality recruits.
Fifth, TU has appeared to solve one of its two glaring weaknesses, WRs that can go deep and get free. The other glaring weakness is pass rushing DEs and LBs. It wouldn't surprise me to see some more JUCO help. Tulsa recruited two JUCO DEs in last year's class. JUCO Defensive ends Eliot Allen and Wilson Garrison along with true freshman DE Odrick Ray are contending for playing time and all will contribute. The flip side is that two JUCOs and one true freshman readily illustrate the lack of pass rushing DEs on the Tulsa roster. DE Garrison has been moved to DT to provide depth.
Sixth, on the other hand, I have never seen TU so deep with quality reserves in all other positions. In the old days, especially the Mizz Valley days, one injury could be a disaster and could affect more than one position. For example, if the starting OG on the right side went down, the next best OG might be the second string LT. So you would see that starting LT moved to OG and the second string LT promoted to first string; thus, two positions were affected...and the experience and timing and cohesion all lost. Thank god those days are gone.
RECRUITING THOUGHTS AND DECOMMITS, DECEMBER 28, 2007
Coach Todd Graham stated that TU would pursue higher ranked recruits and this has proved true. In addition, TU has verballed recruits as early as I have witnessed in following TU recruiting over the years. One of the prices to be paid is the competition is more intense and TU has experienced a number of BCS and NonBCS schools recognizing the high quality of TU recruits and coming in with offers. So while TU is experiencing excellent recruiting success...TU is also experiencing a number of decommits: QB Tyler Wilson (Arkansas), OL Taylor Davis (Mizzouri), QB Kelly Page (Oregon), and WR/LB Willie Carter. Nebraska has offered LB Brian Moore and TCU has offered CB Trentson Hill. That is a total of 6 TU verbals.
Tulsa and TCU are involved in an interesting battle for three recruits, CB Trentson Hill, RB Chris Adkins, and, QB Kody Spano. Surprisingly, CB Trentson Hill has not commited to TCU and the recruiting battle for him continues. From Killerfrogs recruiting blog: "TCU on him early before he originally committed to Tulsa. He has decommitted after Coach Patterson continued after him." So there are some other interesting battles going on out there. Oklahoma State verbal QB Kody Spano, according to a Daily Oklahoman article, has reopened his recruiting and narrowed his final two choices to Nebraska and Tulsa. Oklahoma State ran out of scholarships and tried to get Spano to wait a semester when the Cowboys would have a scholarship available. RB Chris Adkins from Jenks, Oklahoma has offers from TCU, New Mexico, Air Force, and Tulsa. Adkins is the #19 ranked player in Oklahoma by Rivals.
Here is a very good TCU recruiting link that I have just discovered that is equivalent to the "Hot List" kept by many recruiting boards. If you know of others, please let me know and I will add them:
http://www.killerfrogs.com/blog/recruiti...ruit-list/
I am going to keep the decommits on the board. It provides insights into the recruiting wars and, in my opinion, demonstrates what Coach Graham stated early on...TU is going after higher quality athletes to win CUSA Championships and Bowls.
My guess is that TU will have a large number of open scholarships going into the last days of recruiting in Febuary...as Tulsa pursues and waits out the highly recruited athletes it is seeking. OU and OSU are almost full, only waiting out one or two recruits at best. A large number of highly ranked Oklahoma High School recruits remain. This has proved to be a very, very interesting recruiting year.
JANUARY 24, 2008 UPDATE
Just found this football recruiting website. Click on school and then click on player for detailed player info.
http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/recru...ball/index
FINAL RECRUITING THOUGHTS, FEBRUARY 22, 2008
Yesterday's announcement the addition DE Untavious Scott and Safety Kollin Hancock provided a good boost to TU's 2008 recruiting class and really brightens the prospects for the 2008 football season. TU's main two weaknesses were speedy WRs and that issue has been more than resolved. Adding DE Scott helps out with TU's second weakness, pass rushing from the defensive line. Admittedly, I would like to have seen another DE recruit or two in this class and the DE position remains thin. TU had missed out on DE recruits like DE Alonzo Horton (http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=276701). DE Scott rectifies the situation.
In addition to WRs and DE/LB, Tulsa has fortified its kicking game, one of the worst in CUSA and TU's third weakness. TU added Kicker Keven Fitzgerad and WR Damaris Johnson, who received many BCS offers as a kick and punt returner.
The best summation of TU's recruiting class was provided by the Daily Oklahoman which which quotes TU Coach Todd Graham "Never, since I've been here, have we competed for more guys that had big time offers than we did this year."
http://newsok.com/article/3201697/1202385651
Coaching hires and changes may be as significant as the high quality of this recruiting class, perhaps even more so. This Tulsa World article outlines the defensive issues confronting the defense.
TULSA ADDS TWO JC FOOTBALL PLAYERS
By Eric Bailey, World Sports Writer, February 21, 2008
"Kollin Hancock (6-0, 195) a defensive back from College of the Redwoods and Untavious Scott (6-3, 245), a defensive end from Reedley California Community College have signed with TU.
"They are the guys that we were searching hard for," Golden Hurricane Coach Todd Graham said. "Our goals were to be more explosive up front and defend the pass better. These two are going to help us."
"Graham also spoke about switches in staff duties, which included moving co-defensive coordinator Keith Patterson's responsibilities from linebackers to defensive backs."
"One of the main reasons for the shift was we wanted to shore up the back end," Graham said. "We gave up 28 touchdown passes last season and we've never given up that many. In 2005, my last year, we gave up nine. Last year, in Keith's season (as defensive coordinator), he gave up 13. We gave up too many cheap touchdowns."
"The Hurricane hired Galen Scott, Illinois State's former defensive coordinator, to fill a vacancy. He will assume linebackers coach."
"Bill Blankenship will become the special teams coordinator, with an emphasis on the kicking game. Last Season, the unit was one of the poorest in Conference USA with field position becoming an issue in many games."
That is the end of the Tulsa World article. Looking back on this season, the last few years, and perhaps back to the 1940s, I must say I have never seen TU football in such a positive situation. It appears TU will have a very good football team to put on the field in 2008....just in time to coincide with the opening of totally renovated Chapman Stadium plus Case Football Athletic Center is only one year old. Someone, please pinch me! Am I dreaming or is this all true?
PLEASE DO NOT POST UNDER THIS THREAD!
The original post with 10 recruits is already rather long and will get MUCH LONGER as recruits are added. By not posting under this thread, the info can be printed out by anyone who wants it and not get a whole bunch of pages of comments. Please post under the post entitled TULSA RECRUITING COMMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS WHICH I opened as a separate thread. Here is the link:
http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=246000