Recruiting Update

VT - looking better and better to land Tyrod Taylor...their main competition was UVa, UNC and UF...UVa picked up Lalich, UNC got Paulus and UF has Tebow...he is looking to get his recruitment over with earlier than expected so he may be the next big qb to make a commitment...as i posted earlier, LeSean McCoy is talking to tech coaches again, i dont think VT will land him, but we need 2 good RB's in this class...Tech has put out a ton of offers this year in comparison to years before, the place it is seen the most is at Offensive Line, Tech is looking to take as many as 6 prospects here...DEnd and DT arent as much of a priority with Ajiboye and all the DE's tech brought in this past year, but look for VT to make a push to land a higher number of linebackers (outside linebacker types) and a couple corners

UNC is building a good class in Chapel Hill, they already have Paulus in the fold and he is working Greg Little who is being recruited by everybody and their brother...also they have a RB about to commit in Ryan Houston who is 6'2 260 (think a poor man's Michael Bush)...they also have Jarrell Miller from last year's class to anchor down the middle of the defense at LB

Texas - already has a boat-load of commitments for this year as they always do, but as always they will have a couple de-commit to go elsewhere...they only have 2 in-state offers left in Texas and it looks like the kids they do have are pretty solid, especially the QB out of FL

UVa - on a roll with Lalich and J'Courtney Williams committing, if they can land a couple others before summer is over and have a 7-8 win season they could land a pretty good class



ill go ahead and make some early early early predictions on where some of the bigger name players will wind up or where they are leaning right now

Greg Little - UNC
Caleb King - Auburn
Arrelious Benn - ND
Marvin Austin - FSU
Tyrod Taylor - VT
Cameron Newton - Auburn
Armando Allen - UF/Miami
Noel Devine - Miami
Travaris Cadet - VT
Harrison Smith - UT
Mark Barnes - ND/SC
Brian Maddox - SC
Jay Smith - NC State
Kris Burd - UVa
Chris Little - FSU
Barquell Rivers - PSU
Aaron Taliaferro - UVa
Tydreke Powell - UNC
Ryan Houston - UNC

John Brown-UF
Deonte Thompson-UF

*puts gun to head*

Marvin Austin

Yeah... I don't like the fact that a DT moves like that and could be playing for FSU... How would you like him rushing your Q every down?

Austin is a freak, reminds me of Warren Sapp, obviously not as fast, but definitely one of the faster DTs at over 300lbs youll ever see

you [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wall.gif[/img]

[img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/007.gif[/img]


me [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beer1.gif[/img] [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]



at least UF is your second fav. team [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Some good news for FSU fans.

Marcus Ball recently got news that he scored a 19 on the ACT, and is on track to enroll at FSU this summer.

Recruiting national titles never impressed me, Mack Brown has been the champ for years. I'll wait to see what the Gates do on the field first. The canes still have the best defense in the nation going into this season, Id be willing to bet miami gets #6 before Florida gets #2. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beer1.gif[/img]

Id say Noel Devine is a nole signed sealed and delievered. Miami isnt recruiting him with his grades being as bad as they are. I would like to have Armando Allen though. I dont think Easterling is nearly as good as either of those two. I would say Easterling is closer talent wise to Rainey.

Every recruiting analyst and college coach knew how good Marcus Ball was. The Stone Mountain, Georgia native made it on just about on everyone's prep All-American list. Early on in the recruiting process, Rivals.com even ranked the speedy defender as the nation's top linebacker and the No. 1 recruit in the state of Georgia. However, once word got out that he was unlikely to qualify, Ball dipped slightly in the rankings but still finished as a Rivals100 member and the No. 3 rated outside linebacker in the country.

Despite the odds being stacked against him making the grade, the Seminole coaching staff took a chance and signed the blue chip linebacker to a scholarship. Now it looks like that gamble will pay off in a big way.

Over the past few months, the Parade All-American buckled down in the classroom, improved his ACT score and as a result is on track to enroll at FSU this summer. Ball's grades improved steadily over his senior year but it was a test score that held the key to him getting qualified. Last month, he took the ACT and recently got the good news that he scored a 19.

"Man O man it just feels so good," Ball said. "I was so happy when I got that test score back. I took the test like four or five times and it was increasing two or three points every time. It was really the last test I had to take so it was all or nothing. I pulled it out... It took me a couple years to see that so I buckled down and got that taken care of. Now I should be in Tallahassee right away. I just have to graduate."

Ball, who is up to 210 pounds, heard it from everybody since he recruitment began. Despite his lofty ranking and rare ability on the football field, many colleges shied away from the Stephenson High School star because of his academic shortcomings. He doesn't blame the schools and coaches that gave up on him but does want to reward those that believed in him.

"I expected all of that and had no choice but to accept it because of the mistakes I made in 9th and 10th grade," he said. "They wrote me off but it's all good and I would write off somebody too. Now that I made the score it's just motivation. I'm not trying to make those people happy, the ones that wrote me off. What drives me is I'm trying to get on Mel Kiper's list (laugh)."

One school that wrote him off late in the recruiting process was Miami. The Hurricanes were involved for a while but after the late coaching shakeup in Coral Gables, Ball dropped off UM's radar. That has him very much looking forward to that annual clash between the instate rivals.

"I just can't wait for Miami," Ball said. "That what everybody says, 'you are a 'Cane in your heart' and I'll tell you I'm a 'Cane really. They've always been my first love but if I can't play with them I'll beat the hell out of them.

Ironically, Ball's situation is similar to Neefy Moffett's last year. Late in the recruiting process, Miami decided they didn't have a scholarship for the four-star defensive end and as a result he signed with the Seminoles. All he did last season was record the huge sack on UM's final offensive drive which was a big reason why FSU pulled out the 10-7 win. Ball would love to make a similar impact against his childhood favorite because he knows the road to the the national championship goes through South Florida.

"I'm always about the national championships," Ball said. "Everything you do you motivate yourself to beat Miami. You can't win a national championship if you can't beat Miami. You just take those steps to get to that game. That's what it's all about. I kept telling myself, 'I just want to play in front of Keith Jackson' but it's too late now."

Ball will graduate on May 26th and plans to be in Tallahassee next month to take part in the summer workouts. He hasn't been assigned a jersey number yet but says he would like to wear No. 6.

I would have loved to have had Neefy too, but thats just how it goes Blue, the football program is big but not bigger than the admissions department, what do you do?

Im sure Ball will be good and Moffett will too, we took one linebacker last year who has similar ability to Ball when we took Colin McCarthy. Either way, I think youll admit, your team and my team can get all of the Marcus Ball's they want, but if they dont get any better on offense, we are going to be stuck in mediocrity.

Our problem can finally be diagnosed, Art Kehoe recruited bust after bust on the offensive line since McKinnie and all of those guys graduated. Cristabol has done a terrific job with a solid class last year and already getting Harland Gunn this year. I believe if Miami gets back to getting good offensive line play, the offense will take care of itself.

Whoever plays left defensive end for FSU should have a good game against miami, our RT sucks, hes the weak link in the team.