Like the lions used in the Coliseum of ancient Rome, I know exactly what you want.
Red meat.
You don’t want a clever lede. You don’t want to be dazzled with words.
All you want to know who Texas is going to get on Signing Day, so I’m not going to patronize you with word play. Instead, I’m going to give you what is intended to be the final Nostraketchus predictions for the 2016 Texas recruiting class.
Quarterback (1): Shane Buechele (Arlington Lamar)
Quickie thoughts: Considering the epic importance of the needs of this position, I’m not sure the Texas staff has received enough credit for being able to land its top in-state target at the position. For all of the concern about the late commitments that will be arriving this week, Buechele is already on campus and ready to battle for playing time. Whatever is said about this class moving forward, this staff handled its business early and emphatically at the quarterback position.
Running Backs: None
Quickie thoughts: If the Longhorns land Katy’s Kyle Porter, I suppose I wouldn’t be shocked, but I don’t know that I’ve ever seen the Longhorns land a player with less boxes checked off in the clue department. Yes, Texas has been at the forefront of his recruitment for much of the recruiting process, but there’s usually a public sign or two that a kid is heading to the school he eventually heads to and that’s just not the case here. You want a difference-maker every year, and while it’s not a disaster if Texas doesn’t sign anyone at running back position in 2016, but it makes the position a top need in 2017.
Wide receivers (3): Davion Curtis (Temple), Collin Johnson (San Jose, Ca.) and Reggie Hemphill-Mapps (Manvel)
Quickie thoughts: A rock solid group of receivers, as each of the three has the upside to be a multi-year starting kind of player, while each of the three brings a different type of skill-set than the other. Johnson gives the group a very possible instant contributor as a true freshman, Curtis has underrated big-play skills and Hemphill-Mapps does a little bit of everything very well.
Tight ends (2): Peyton Aucoin (New Orleans, La.) and Lil' Jordan Humphrey (Southlake Carroll)
Quickie thoughts: Humphrey projects as more of a receiver right now than H-back/tight end, but he’s eventually going to grow into that type of athlete, which could give the Longhorns a hell of an athletic big receiver to run down the seams if he can reach his ceiling. Meanwhile, Aucoin fills the void in the areas that Humphrey doesn’t check off at the moment, as he’s a grit and grind guy that will prove to be a very useful situational player for the team in the coming years.
Offensive linemen (4): Tope Imade (Arlington Bowie), Jean Delance (North Mesquite) and Denzel Okafor (Lewisville) and Zach Shackelford (Belton)
Quickie thoughts: Another rock-solid effort, as the Longhorns have a group of four that brings a lot of versatility to the table, as the center depth was enhanced, the quality across the board improves the team’s guard and tackle depth, and the Delance/Okafor duo provide incredibly high starting upside if they reach their ceilings as prospects. As far as Patrick Hudson is concerned, our sourcing says he’s leaning Baylor and I feel good about our sourcing. The coaches have made a valiant effort, but sometimes valiant puts you in the bridesmaid position.
Defensive tackles (5): D’Andre Christmas-Giles (New Orleans, La.), Jordan Elliott (Houston Westside), Stephon Taylor (New Orleans), Gerald Wilbon (Destrehan, La.) and Chris Daniels (Euless Trinity)
Quickie thoughts: What the Longhorns probably didn’t add in terms of a no-doubt instant contributor and future star at the position is off-set by the potentially massive size of a class that will feature multiple four-star prospects. Not all of these kids will pan out, but the volume of players being brought in to a major area of need should ensure that this class produces several contributors, and potentially impact performers at that. You’d have to rate the class as one of the nation’s best, while giving a tip of the cap to Brick Haley for his impactful work in Louisiana.
Defensive ends (2): Andrew Fitzgerald (Flower Mound Marcos) and Malcolm Roach (Baton Rouge, La.)
Quickie thoughts: This isn’t a splashy group, although Fitzgerald might be the most underrated player in the entire state of Texas and I’ve come to believe he’s a four-star type of talent. Meanwhile, Roach looks like a guy that has a chance to be a multiyear contributor as run-stopping strong-side end. You’d love to have someone on the commitment list that is a little more of a rocket-off-the-edge type player, but it’s possible that those skills will arrive in the next position breakdown.
Linebackers (4): DeMarco Boyd (Gilmer), Jeffery McCulloch (Aldine Davis), Dontavious Jackson (Alief Elsik) and Erick Fowler (Manor)
Quickie thoughts: As good as any linebacker class I’ve seen signed at Texas in the last 20 years. At the end of the day, I had Fowler projected as a Horn last summer and I’m sticking with that call in January, despite flinching for a moment last week. Meanwhile, McCulloch and Jackson are coming along for the ride as well.
Defensive Backs (3): Chris Brown (Houston Elsik), Eric Cuffee (Waco) and Brandon Jones (Nacogdoches)
Quickie thoughts: Yes, when the dust settles, I believe the Longhorns get one of the big three safety prospects on Signing Day.
Final Breakdown
If things were to go down exactly as I've projected at this point, the final Texas recruiting class would break down like this:
Number of signings: 24
Five stars: 1
Four stars: 11
Three stars: 12
Two stars: 0
6.1: 1
6.0: 0
5.9: 4
5.8: 6
5.7: 6
5.6: 5
5.5: 2
5.4: 0
Average star ranking per prospect: 3.54
Average Rivals ranking per prospect: 5.74
Projected national team ranking: No. 10-15
It’s a little hard to pin down exactly where the class would fall in the Rivals rankings because things are so fluid in the final days in terms of the number of commitments that are poised to be made, but to give you an idea of the threshold the Longhorns are chasing, Clemson currently has the No. 8 class in the country with three five-stars, eight four-stars and a average star ranking of 3.71.
If the Longhorns can flip Patrick Hudson and another four-star to top out at 26 commitments, a top-10 class is very possible. If they don’t flip Hudson, miss out on Fowler and I’m wrong in a bad way about anything else, a national ranking right around 13-15 in the nation is probably more realistic.
No. 2 – One thing to keep in mind this week …
As commitment after commitment is made this week, I thought I’d remind everyone that this is easily the most agonizing part of the recruiting process for a lot of kids because they are terrified of telling coaching staffs the dreaded one-word rejection.
No.
After months and sometimes years of relationship-building, these kids have to find a way to not feel terrible at the break-up stage of the relationship. Imagine breaking up with your first girlfriend and multiply the manipulation on the other side by 100.
Some of these poor kids will cry their eyes out this week when delivering the news, not realizing that 24 hours later they’ll be forever an afterthought in that coach’s world.
This is the part of the recruiting process when we need to remind ourselves now more than any other time that these are teenage boys making very public manhood decisions. It would be great if decisions were made without outside pressures, but that’s not how the game works in major college football. That’s not why sites like Orangebloods exist in the first-place.
Don’t be too hard on these kids, trust me, the final days of this process are rarely fun.
No. 3 – Scattershooting on Texas recruiting …
… I thought I’d expand a little on my line of my projecting Erick Fowler to Texas. If things are air-tight as they seem to be going into this final week, I’m going to lean towards momma every time. Add in the fact that he’s close with a number of Texas commitments and that he has a chance to create a real legacy in participating in a rebuild in Austin instead of being just another great player at LSU, I think the kid picks Texas. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong, but I’ve felt this way for almost a year and the reasoning has only become stronger in my mind.
… Perhaps more than any other kid in the state, section two has to apply to Nacogdoches safety Brandon Jones. If he doesn’t think he’s going to A&M two years ago, in my estimation he never lets TexAgs do a documentary on his college decision. I’m not going to say he was a lay-up, but there were those who thought he would commit there as early as his sophomore year and if the rough waters at A&M hadn’t been so rough, I think he’d be an Aggie. Under the current circumstances, I think the Longhorns lead, but man, I can’t imagine how hard it’s going to be on that kid when informing the losing coaching staffs.
… The most fascinating aspect of this Texas class surrounds the defensive tackle position. In my mind, D’Andre Christmas-Giles and Jordan Elliott are in the bank, so it’s a question of what happens with Chris Daniels, Mike Williams, Stephon Taylor and Marcel Southall. There’s no way Texas pulls off a clean sweep with six defensive tackle commitments, at least my mind tells me no way. So, how the Texas staff juggles the conversations with all of these kids is crazy interesting to me because none of the remaining six have announced anything to the public. I’ve had Daniels chalked up as a Longhorn for about a month now, but his comments following his visit to A&M about the SEC being the best conference ring out a little curious to me. Meanwhile, I wonder about how the numbers might impact Williams (one of the crown jewels of the Stanford class) and Taylor (with Florida State’s offer out there). As for Southall, who the hell knows? If Texas can get one of Daniels, Williams, Taylor and Southall, you’d have to call that mission accomplished and anything more is a cherry on top of the recruiting sundae.
… If I had to bet $100 on the prospect in the class of 2016 that ends up being the highest-drafted NFL prospect, I’d put my money on Manvel’s Deontay Anderson.
… Here’s my current scouting report on new UT WR/H-back commit Lil’Jordan Humphrey: “He might not be as college-ready for the position as Kaden Smith, but my goodness, good luck trying to find a kid with his size, athleticism and playmaking ability because this kid can absolutely put pressure on a defense. He’s more of a basketball player in terms of his physicality at this point, so there’s a lot of projecting taking place, but he’s every bit of 6-4 or 6-5 and once he starts to add some size to his frame, he has Jace Amaro-like upside as a receiving target. Every time I watch him, I like him more and more. Quite frankly, his upside suggests that he needs to be moved up in the rankings.
… Here’s are the rise and falls of a few selected Texas commitments and key targets from July of 2014 through the end of January 2015.
* Shane Buechele: Was ranked No. 188 nationally in July, currently ranked No. 116.
* Lil’Jordan Humphrey: Was ranked as a low-three star in July/unranked in Texas, currently ranked as a high three-star/No. 61 in Texas.
* Denzel Okafor was an unranked two-star in July, currently ranked No. 244 nationally.
* DeMarco Boyd was a high three-star in July, currently ranked as a four-star in January.
* Dontavious Jackson was a non Rivals250 member in July, currently ranked No. 168 overall nationally.
* Jeffrey McCulloch was ranked No. 214 nationally in July, currently ranked No. 169 .
* Erick Fowler was ranked No. 62 nationally, currently ranked No.13.
* Eric Cuffee was a low three-star/unranked in Texas in July, currently a high three-star/No. 79 in the state.
No. 4 – My favorite part of the 2015-16 Texas basketball team ...
For the better part of 3 ½ seasons, I’ve always felt there was more inside of Prince Ibeh on the basketball than we’ve seen during those three-plus seasons.
An occasional flash here and there, Ibeh seemed to ooze athletic basketball upside, yet outside of his impact on the defensive side of the floor, which was often prematurely negated because of foul trouble, he seemed destined to go down on a list of mine of players who never quite realized his potential as a college basketball player.
A couple of months into this season, Ibeh seemed to embrace Shaka Smart’s vision of defensive basketball, which certainly created a niche within the new tea framework, but you couldn’t really suggest that his game had evolved.
And then … almost out of nowhere (or until Cam Ridley went down with an injury) ... a new Ibeh emerged.
After failing to register double-digits in minutes played in six of his first 10 games this season, he’s become a player the Longhorns need to have on the floor as much as possible, as evidenced by the 30 minutes per game he’s averaged in his last three games. Along the way, he’s starting to add some scoring punch and a lot more defensive reliability.
Hell, he’s even made 10 of his last 12 free throws attempted.
Smart has fielded a fun and ultra-competitive team in his first year at Texas, but his greatest achievement might be his willingness to get out as much as possible from every player on his roster. It’s taken some time to get there with Ibeh, but this is what his upside as a player looks like.
He’s realizing it and it’s a beautiful thing to witness.
(Note: If you haven’t read Dustin McComas’ piece on Ibeh from Friday, it’s a must-read.
No. 5 – Three thoughts on the Texas women’s win over Kansas State ...
1. Texas is playing some u-g-l-y basketball right now and it’s a testament to its defense that it could beat a solid Big 12 foe on the road by 15, despite shooting 37.7-percent from the floor, while also turning the ball over 16 times. That shooting number is pretty much an anomaly, but I feel like I’ve written about the turnover crisis every weekend for the last month.
Check out the number of turnovers from Texas in the last five games: 16, 14, 25, 16, 21.
I said it last week, but if this team doesn’t start taking better care of the ball, it’s going to haunt it at the end of the season in the games that matter the most.
2. Of course, as I nitpick a 20-1 team, let’s acknowledge once again that this team’s hellacious and free-throw shooting can cover up a host of sins. There were times on Saturday, especially in the second and third quarters, when it was fair to wonder why Kansas State was even trying to score.
3. Texas was +18 in the rebounding department and has won the rebounding battle in 19 of 21 games this season.
No. 6 – Buy or sell …
(As always, these are questions submitted by Orangebloods subscribers)
BUY or SELL: Charlie Strong delivers a ricochet ball punch to Sumlin, Briles, and Stoops on NSD so mind-numbing brutal that the International Criminal Tribunal feels the need to file chatges against him for Crimes against Humanity ... and sheep?
(Sell) That seems like a little too emphatic for me, but yes, I believe Strong sends a statement in the next three days.
BUY or SELL: Texas ends up with best recruiting class in Big 12?
(Buy) It’ll be close, but it will edge out in front of the Bears.
BUY or SELL: These two classes can eventually win a championship (assume we get everyone we want by NSD)?
(Sell) It takes more than two classes to win a championship and this program isn’t that close.
BUY or SELL: By 2018 season, three of five of Briles, Strong, Sumlin, Stoops, and Miles are not coaching at their respective schools.
(Sell) Baylor will never fire Art Briles and he ain’t ever leaving. They are perfect for each other. For different reasons, you can probably say the same thing about Oklahoma and Stoops.
BUY or SELL: One of Shane Buechele or Kai Locksley is starting by the end of the season.
(Buy) Charlie’s best hope is to sell that the future is bright and that includes the quarterback position.
BUY or SELL: Taking off work on Wednesday will be a great decision?
(Buy) It’s going to be wild.
BUY or SELL: The University of Texas is a destination job for Shaka Smart and he does not have visions of a higher profile basketball program or even the NBA?
(Sell) I believe this is a destination job, but if he ever wins a national title or makes a Final Four or two, thus leading to one of the true blue-bloods of the sport to offer him a job, I think you’d have to prepare yourself for the fact that there are destination jobs and then there are destination jobs.
BUY or SELL: Rivals crashes on NSD?
(Buy) But Internet Server gods willing, not for more than a few minutes. Part of the reason you’ve seen so much of the site transitioned over to new page formatting is that Rivals wants to be completely free of the old servers and archaic data coding that so much of the old Rivals was running on. The amount of traffic that Rivals receives on Signing Day is pretty bananas, so I have my fingers crossed, but the plan is for the network to be very stable.
BUY or SELL: Charlie is absolutely reloading the roster, but if he is unable to solve the QB position, this is his last year? However, because of his recruiting, the next guy takes UT back to the promised land?
(Buy) There’s very much a Will Muschamp legacy that could be left behind for Strong if he can’t get this team to eight or nine wins (and the right kind of three or four losses). If that can’t happen, the program will be better off for his presence and the next coach will be much better off than he was when Mack Brown departed.
BUY or SELL: If I go to Walgreens with $20 in my pocket and a little girl tries to sell me some girl scout cookies, I buy them for myself or my wife?
(Buy) Just once, though. Once is enough.
No. 7 – Baylor University’s serial rape enabling ...
What we’ve learned in the last seven months in the rape trial of Sam Ukwuachu and the reporting done this weekend from ESPN’s Outside the Lines is enough to question whether the world’s largest Baptist university has lost its soul, sold its soul or worse yet, whether it ever had one to begin with.
What we know now with certainty is that officials at Baylor, ranging from the school president to its football coach to investigators, protected football players at the expense of victims of rape and sexual assault, which directly led to more rapes and victims of sexual assault.
Among the claims in the Outside the Lines piece ...
1. When the mother of one of the women Tevin Elliott allegedly raped called the school to report the incident, she was told, “If a plane falls on your daughter, there’s nothing we can do to help you.”
2. When a former Baylor student called Associate Dean for Student Conduct Administration Bethany McCraw to report her rape, McCraw reportedly told the victim she was the sixth girl that had called her to report a sex crime committed by Elliott against them.
3. When the victim and her mom asked McCraw about the six incidents and whether Baylor head coach Art Briles knew about them, McCraw reportedly confirmed that Briles was aware of the incidents. McCraw then told the girl and her mother that nothing could be done about it because it was a “he said/she said” event.
4. Federal law mandates that all sexual assault claims on campus be promptly investigated by the school, but Outside the Lines found zero evidence that Baylor investigated the incidents.
5. The victim also claimed that McCraw asked that she not press charges or ask for a restraining order, but she was offered help with her finals.
6. McCraw claims that all of the remarks attributed to her are not true, but refused to comment further or add any specifics.
7. Two weeks after the Baylor student reports Elliott to Baylor officials, another Baylor student is raped by Elliott. She reported the incident to the police and pursued help from Baylor councilors, but she reports being turned away from Baylor officials and being told it was impossible to get help from them. Federal law mandates that schools provide victims with counseling services and academic support.
8. The victim’s grades fell to the point where she lost her academic scholarship and was forced to leave school.
9. Two weeks after the victim in point No. 7 stepped forward, Art Briles suspended Elliott from the team. Three days later, he was arrested.
10. The story reached the first victim that speaks in the story, who hadn’t reported her rape, she finally steps forward after 2 ½ years.
11. Elliott’s trial revealed two more sexual assault allegations while he was at Baylor, including one involving a woman who attended a nearby community college. He was eventually convicted of two counts of sexual assault in the situation with the community college student. In January of 2014, Elliott was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his attack on the victim in point No. 7.
12. Elliott calls all of the women liars, while doing an interview in prison. He refuses to go into any details in defending himself. He claims they did it to make him look bad.
13. Elliott claims that the first time anyone from Baylor approached him about the allegations was in April of 2012 after the victim in No. 7 came forward, but sources told Outside the Lines that Baylor’s Judicial Affairs Department was aware back in November of 2011 of Elliott’s assault conviction involving the community college student.
14. Five months after Elliott’s sexual assault conviction, another Baylor player (Sam Ukwuachu) was indicted for sexual assault of a Baylor soccer player.
15. In Baylor’s investigation of Ukwuachu, the school found zero wrong-doing. Asst. Criminal District Attorney at McLennan County Hilary LaBorde scoffs at the notion that Baylor did any real investigation, claiming they ignored sources and victim-blamed the accuser.
16. Baylor head coach Art Briles and school president Ken Starr refused to comment on anything related to the story and the school released new Title IX coordinator Patty Crawford, who wasn’t hired until November of 2014, despite federal law mandating in April of 2011 that all schools have such a position filled. Crawford claims that her hiring and her request that Baylor hire an outside investigator is proof that Baylor “cares.”
17. Following Ukwuachu’s indictment, he remained with the team for another full year and received his degree.
18. On November 3, 2015, the first victim in the story wrote Starr, Briles and numerous other Baylor officials an email titled “I was raped at Baylor” and not a single person replied back to her.
19. According to a McLennan County Nurse Examiner, at least half of the sexual allegations involving Baylor students comes from members of men’s athletics.
20. Baylor is not currently under Title IX investigation because no one has filed an official complaint with that department.
There are not enough words in the dictionary that describe my disgust on what has transpired in Waco.
Losing jobs simply isn’t enough. Frankly, as far as I’m concerned the school has blood all over its hands and it’s not ever coming off.
No. 8 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
… If Calvin Johnson retires, is he a no-doubt Hall of Fame player? I’m really on the fence with this one.
… I didn’t watch a second of the Pro Bowl. Not a second.
… Nothing has changed my thoughts on the Super Bowl … Carolina 27 - Denver 17
… I know Tim Duncan didn’t play, but Spurs fans should be slightly concerned about the beatdowns given to them by the Warriors and Cavs this week.
… With a chance to tie Steffi Graf on the all-time list for career majors, Serena losing with her C-game in the championship was really disappointing. No aces in the opening set? Six for the match? 46 unforced errors? Yikes. See you in France.
… Djokovic>>>Nadal>>>Federer. Right? All of you Federer fans can scream until your face turns blue, but Djokovic is six behind Feds and making up ground in a hurry. Nadal or no Nadal, Djokovic is winning the French Open this year.
… Should I be concerned as an American soccer fan that the national team was only a goal better than Iceland?
… Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev sent home the point emphatically that we never need to see a third Jean Pascal fight. That discussion is settled. Step on up, Adonis Stevenson.
… I guess Ryan Bader can shut his trap after this weekend.
… Sage Northcutt might be the UFC wonder-boy, but the UFC wonder-boy needs more time in the oven to develop.
No. 9 - The List: Kool and the Gang (Subscribe to the list or listen via Spotify)
This list was long overdue, so let’s not waste any time.
10. Hollywood Swinging
One of the songs that set it off for the group back in 1973.
9. Too Fresh
I’m just going to let you know right now that this list trends heavily towards the 1980s.
8. Too Hot
A personal favorite.
7. Ladies Night
Am I underrating this 70s classic?
6. Cherish
It’s quite possible that I have this song underrated and it is also possible that I am overranking this song because I loved it when I was eight.
5. Misled
The best song off of the all-time classic 1984 album Emergency
4. Joanna
I had to be careful when singing this song in the third grade because the least popular girl in school’s name was Joanna.
3. Get Down on It
The first Kool and the Gang song I can remember hearing when I was very young.
2. Jungle Boogie
One of the group’s first hits.
1. Celebration
The bottom line is that it is one of the most iconic songs of the 20th century.
No.10 - And finally… life as the father of 22-month old twins…
Red meat.
You don’t want a clever lede. You don’t want to be dazzled with words.
All you want to know who Texas is going to get on Signing Day, so I’m not going to patronize you with word play. Instead, I’m going to give you what is intended to be the final Nostraketchus predictions for the 2016 Texas recruiting class.
Quarterback (1): Shane Buechele (Arlington Lamar)
Quickie thoughts: Considering the epic importance of the needs of this position, I’m not sure the Texas staff has received enough credit for being able to land its top in-state target at the position. For all of the concern about the late commitments that will be arriving this week, Buechele is already on campus and ready to battle for playing time. Whatever is said about this class moving forward, this staff handled its business early and emphatically at the quarterback position.
Running Backs: None
Quickie thoughts: If the Longhorns land Katy’s Kyle Porter, I suppose I wouldn’t be shocked, but I don’t know that I’ve ever seen the Longhorns land a player with less boxes checked off in the clue department. Yes, Texas has been at the forefront of his recruitment for much of the recruiting process, but there’s usually a public sign or two that a kid is heading to the school he eventually heads to and that’s just not the case here. You want a difference-maker every year, and while it’s not a disaster if Texas doesn’t sign anyone at running back position in 2016, but it makes the position a top need in 2017.
Wide receivers (3): Davion Curtis (Temple), Collin Johnson (San Jose, Ca.) and Reggie Hemphill-Mapps (Manvel)
Quickie thoughts: A rock solid group of receivers, as each of the three has the upside to be a multi-year starting kind of player, while each of the three brings a different type of skill-set than the other. Johnson gives the group a very possible instant contributor as a true freshman, Curtis has underrated big-play skills and Hemphill-Mapps does a little bit of everything very well.
Tight ends (2): Peyton Aucoin (New Orleans, La.) and Lil' Jordan Humphrey (Southlake Carroll)
Quickie thoughts: Humphrey projects as more of a receiver right now than H-back/tight end, but he’s eventually going to grow into that type of athlete, which could give the Longhorns a hell of an athletic big receiver to run down the seams if he can reach his ceiling. Meanwhile, Aucoin fills the void in the areas that Humphrey doesn’t check off at the moment, as he’s a grit and grind guy that will prove to be a very useful situational player for the team in the coming years.
Offensive linemen (4): Tope Imade (Arlington Bowie), Jean Delance (North Mesquite) and Denzel Okafor (Lewisville) and Zach Shackelford (Belton)
Quickie thoughts: Another rock-solid effort, as the Longhorns have a group of four that brings a lot of versatility to the table, as the center depth was enhanced, the quality across the board improves the team’s guard and tackle depth, and the Delance/Okafor duo provide incredibly high starting upside if they reach their ceilings as prospects. As far as Patrick Hudson is concerned, our sourcing says he’s leaning Baylor and I feel good about our sourcing. The coaches have made a valiant effort, but sometimes valiant puts you in the bridesmaid position.
Defensive tackles (5): D’Andre Christmas-Giles (New Orleans, La.), Jordan Elliott (Houston Westside), Stephon Taylor (New Orleans), Gerald Wilbon (Destrehan, La.) and Chris Daniels (Euless Trinity)
Quickie thoughts: What the Longhorns probably didn’t add in terms of a no-doubt instant contributor and future star at the position is off-set by the potentially massive size of a class that will feature multiple four-star prospects. Not all of these kids will pan out, but the volume of players being brought in to a major area of need should ensure that this class produces several contributors, and potentially impact performers at that. You’d have to rate the class as one of the nation’s best, while giving a tip of the cap to Brick Haley for his impactful work in Louisiana.
Defensive ends (2): Andrew Fitzgerald (Flower Mound Marcos) and Malcolm Roach (Baton Rouge, La.)
Quickie thoughts: This isn’t a splashy group, although Fitzgerald might be the most underrated player in the entire state of Texas and I’ve come to believe he’s a four-star type of talent. Meanwhile, Roach looks like a guy that has a chance to be a multiyear contributor as run-stopping strong-side end. You’d love to have someone on the commitment list that is a little more of a rocket-off-the-edge type player, but it’s possible that those skills will arrive in the next position breakdown.
Linebackers (4): DeMarco Boyd (Gilmer), Jeffery McCulloch (Aldine Davis), Dontavious Jackson (Alief Elsik) and Erick Fowler (Manor)
Quickie thoughts: As good as any linebacker class I’ve seen signed at Texas in the last 20 years. At the end of the day, I had Fowler projected as a Horn last summer and I’m sticking with that call in January, despite flinching for a moment last week. Meanwhile, McCulloch and Jackson are coming along for the ride as well.
Defensive Backs (3): Chris Brown (Houston Elsik), Eric Cuffee (Waco) and Brandon Jones (Nacogdoches)
Quickie thoughts: Yes, when the dust settles, I believe the Longhorns get one of the big three safety prospects on Signing Day.
Final Breakdown
If things were to go down exactly as I've projected at this point, the final Texas recruiting class would break down like this:
Number of signings: 24
Five stars: 1
Four stars: 11
Three stars: 12
Two stars: 0
6.1: 1
6.0: 0
5.9: 4
5.8: 6
5.7: 6
5.6: 5
5.5: 2
5.4: 0
Average star ranking per prospect: 3.54
Average Rivals ranking per prospect: 5.74
Projected national team ranking: No. 10-15
It’s a little hard to pin down exactly where the class would fall in the Rivals rankings because things are so fluid in the final days in terms of the number of commitments that are poised to be made, but to give you an idea of the threshold the Longhorns are chasing, Clemson currently has the No. 8 class in the country with three five-stars, eight four-stars and a average star ranking of 3.71.
If the Longhorns can flip Patrick Hudson and another four-star to top out at 26 commitments, a top-10 class is very possible. If they don’t flip Hudson, miss out on Fowler and I’m wrong in a bad way about anything else, a national ranking right around 13-15 in the nation is probably more realistic.
No. 2 – One thing to keep in mind this week …
As commitment after commitment is made this week, I thought I’d remind everyone that this is easily the most agonizing part of the recruiting process for a lot of kids because they are terrified of telling coaching staffs the dreaded one-word rejection.
No.
After months and sometimes years of relationship-building, these kids have to find a way to not feel terrible at the break-up stage of the relationship. Imagine breaking up with your first girlfriend and multiply the manipulation on the other side by 100.
Some of these poor kids will cry their eyes out this week when delivering the news, not realizing that 24 hours later they’ll be forever an afterthought in that coach’s world.
This is the part of the recruiting process when we need to remind ourselves now more than any other time that these are teenage boys making very public manhood decisions. It would be great if decisions were made without outside pressures, but that’s not how the game works in major college football. That’s not why sites like Orangebloods exist in the first-place.
Don’t be too hard on these kids, trust me, the final days of this process are rarely fun.
No. 3 – Scattershooting on Texas recruiting …
… I thought I’d expand a little on my line of my projecting Erick Fowler to Texas. If things are air-tight as they seem to be going into this final week, I’m going to lean towards momma every time. Add in the fact that he’s close with a number of Texas commitments and that he has a chance to create a real legacy in participating in a rebuild in Austin instead of being just another great player at LSU, I think the kid picks Texas. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong, but I’ve felt this way for almost a year and the reasoning has only become stronger in my mind.
… Perhaps more than any other kid in the state, section two has to apply to Nacogdoches safety Brandon Jones. If he doesn’t think he’s going to A&M two years ago, in my estimation he never lets TexAgs do a documentary on his college decision. I’m not going to say he was a lay-up, but there were those who thought he would commit there as early as his sophomore year and if the rough waters at A&M hadn’t been so rough, I think he’d be an Aggie. Under the current circumstances, I think the Longhorns lead, but man, I can’t imagine how hard it’s going to be on that kid when informing the losing coaching staffs.
… The most fascinating aspect of this Texas class surrounds the defensive tackle position. In my mind, D’Andre Christmas-Giles and Jordan Elliott are in the bank, so it’s a question of what happens with Chris Daniels, Mike Williams, Stephon Taylor and Marcel Southall. There’s no way Texas pulls off a clean sweep with six defensive tackle commitments, at least my mind tells me no way. So, how the Texas staff juggles the conversations with all of these kids is crazy interesting to me because none of the remaining six have announced anything to the public. I’ve had Daniels chalked up as a Longhorn for about a month now, but his comments following his visit to A&M about the SEC being the best conference ring out a little curious to me. Meanwhile, I wonder about how the numbers might impact Williams (one of the crown jewels of the Stanford class) and Taylor (with Florida State’s offer out there). As for Southall, who the hell knows? If Texas can get one of Daniels, Williams, Taylor and Southall, you’d have to call that mission accomplished and anything more is a cherry on top of the recruiting sundae.
… If I had to bet $100 on the prospect in the class of 2016 that ends up being the highest-drafted NFL prospect, I’d put my money on Manvel’s Deontay Anderson.
… Here’s my current scouting report on new UT WR/H-back commit Lil’Jordan Humphrey: “He might not be as college-ready for the position as Kaden Smith, but my goodness, good luck trying to find a kid with his size, athleticism and playmaking ability because this kid can absolutely put pressure on a defense. He’s more of a basketball player in terms of his physicality at this point, so there’s a lot of projecting taking place, but he’s every bit of 6-4 or 6-5 and once he starts to add some size to his frame, he has Jace Amaro-like upside as a receiving target. Every time I watch him, I like him more and more. Quite frankly, his upside suggests that he needs to be moved up in the rankings.
… Here’s are the rise and falls of a few selected Texas commitments and key targets from July of 2014 through the end of January 2015.
* Shane Buechele: Was ranked No. 188 nationally in July, currently ranked No. 116.
* Lil’Jordan Humphrey: Was ranked as a low-three star in July/unranked in Texas, currently ranked as a high three-star/No. 61 in Texas.
* Denzel Okafor was an unranked two-star in July, currently ranked No. 244 nationally.
* DeMarco Boyd was a high three-star in July, currently ranked as a four-star in January.
* Dontavious Jackson was a non Rivals250 member in July, currently ranked No. 168 overall nationally.
* Jeffrey McCulloch was ranked No. 214 nationally in July, currently ranked No. 169 .
* Erick Fowler was ranked No. 62 nationally, currently ranked No.13.
* Eric Cuffee was a low three-star/unranked in Texas in July, currently a high three-star/No. 79 in the state.
No. 4 – My favorite part of the 2015-16 Texas basketball team ...
For the better part of 3 ½ seasons, I’ve always felt there was more inside of Prince Ibeh on the basketball than we’ve seen during those three-plus seasons.
An occasional flash here and there, Ibeh seemed to ooze athletic basketball upside, yet outside of his impact on the defensive side of the floor, which was often prematurely negated because of foul trouble, he seemed destined to go down on a list of mine of players who never quite realized his potential as a college basketball player.
A couple of months into this season, Ibeh seemed to embrace Shaka Smart’s vision of defensive basketball, which certainly created a niche within the new tea framework, but you couldn’t really suggest that his game had evolved.
And then … almost out of nowhere (or until Cam Ridley went down with an injury) ... a new Ibeh emerged.
After failing to register double-digits in minutes played in six of his first 10 games this season, he’s become a player the Longhorns need to have on the floor as much as possible, as evidenced by the 30 minutes per game he’s averaged in his last three games. Along the way, he’s starting to add some scoring punch and a lot more defensive reliability.
Hell, he’s even made 10 of his last 12 free throws attempted.
Smart has fielded a fun and ultra-competitive team in his first year at Texas, but his greatest achievement might be his willingness to get out as much as possible from every player on his roster. It’s taken some time to get there with Ibeh, but this is what his upside as a player looks like.
He’s realizing it and it’s a beautiful thing to witness.
(Note: If you haven’t read Dustin McComas’ piece on Ibeh from Friday, it’s a must-read.
No. 5 – Three thoughts on the Texas women’s win over Kansas State ...
1. Texas is playing some u-g-l-y basketball right now and it’s a testament to its defense that it could beat a solid Big 12 foe on the road by 15, despite shooting 37.7-percent from the floor, while also turning the ball over 16 times. That shooting number is pretty much an anomaly, but I feel like I’ve written about the turnover crisis every weekend for the last month.
Check out the number of turnovers from Texas in the last five games: 16, 14, 25, 16, 21.
I said it last week, but if this team doesn’t start taking better care of the ball, it’s going to haunt it at the end of the season in the games that matter the most.
2. Of course, as I nitpick a 20-1 team, let’s acknowledge once again that this team’s hellacious and free-throw shooting can cover up a host of sins. There were times on Saturday, especially in the second and third quarters, when it was fair to wonder why Kansas State was even trying to score.
3. Texas was +18 in the rebounding department and has won the rebounding battle in 19 of 21 games this season.
No. 6 – Buy or sell …
(As always, these are questions submitted by Orangebloods subscribers)
BUY or SELL: Charlie Strong delivers a ricochet ball punch to Sumlin, Briles, and Stoops on NSD so mind-numbing brutal that the International Criminal Tribunal feels the need to file chatges against him for Crimes against Humanity ... and sheep?
(Sell) That seems like a little too emphatic for me, but yes, I believe Strong sends a statement in the next three days.
BUY or SELL: Texas ends up with best recruiting class in Big 12?
(Buy) It’ll be close, but it will edge out in front of the Bears.
BUY or SELL: These two classes can eventually win a championship (assume we get everyone we want by NSD)?
(Sell) It takes more than two classes to win a championship and this program isn’t that close.
BUY or SELL: By 2018 season, three of five of Briles, Strong, Sumlin, Stoops, and Miles are not coaching at their respective schools.
(Sell) Baylor will never fire Art Briles and he ain’t ever leaving. They are perfect for each other. For different reasons, you can probably say the same thing about Oklahoma and Stoops.
BUY or SELL: One of Shane Buechele or Kai Locksley is starting by the end of the season.
(Buy) Charlie’s best hope is to sell that the future is bright and that includes the quarterback position.
BUY or SELL: Taking off work on Wednesday will be a great decision?
(Buy) It’s going to be wild.
BUY or SELL: The University of Texas is a destination job for Shaka Smart and he does not have visions of a higher profile basketball program or even the NBA?
(Sell) I believe this is a destination job, but if he ever wins a national title or makes a Final Four or two, thus leading to one of the true blue-bloods of the sport to offer him a job, I think you’d have to prepare yourself for the fact that there are destination jobs and then there are destination jobs.
BUY or SELL: Rivals crashes on NSD?
(Buy) But Internet Server gods willing, not for more than a few minutes. Part of the reason you’ve seen so much of the site transitioned over to new page formatting is that Rivals wants to be completely free of the old servers and archaic data coding that so much of the old Rivals was running on. The amount of traffic that Rivals receives on Signing Day is pretty bananas, so I have my fingers crossed, but the plan is for the network to be very stable.
BUY or SELL: Charlie is absolutely reloading the roster, but if he is unable to solve the QB position, this is his last year? However, because of his recruiting, the next guy takes UT back to the promised land?
(Buy) There’s very much a Will Muschamp legacy that could be left behind for Strong if he can’t get this team to eight or nine wins (and the right kind of three or four losses). If that can’t happen, the program will be better off for his presence and the next coach will be much better off than he was when Mack Brown departed.
BUY or SELL: If I go to Walgreens with $20 in my pocket and a little girl tries to sell me some girl scout cookies, I buy them for myself or my wife?
(Buy) Just once, though. Once is enough.
No. 7 – Baylor University’s serial rape enabling ...
What we’ve learned in the last seven months in the rape trial of Sam Ukwuachu and the reporting done this weekend from ESPN’s Outside the Lines is enough to question whether the world’s largest Baptist university has lost its soul, sold its soul or worse yet, whether it ever had one to begin with.
What we know now with certainty is that officials at Baylor, ranging from the school president to its football coach to investigators, protected football players at the expense of victims of rape and sexual assault, which directly led to more rapes and victims of sexual assault.
Among the claims in the Outside the Lines piece ...
1. When the mother of one of the women Tevin Elliott allegedly raped called the school to report the incident, she was told, “If a plane falls on your daughter, there’s nothing we can do to help you.”
2. When a former Baylor student called Associate Dean for Student Conduct Administration Bethany McCraw to report her rape, McCraw reportedly told the victim she was the sixth girl that had called her to report a sex crime committed by Elliott against them.
3. When the victim and her mom asked McCraw about the six incidents and whether Baylor head coach Art Briles knew about them, McCraw reportedly confirmed that Briles was aware of the incidents. McCraw then told the girl and her mother that nothing could be done about it because it was a “he said/she said” event.
4. Federal law mandates that all sexual assault claims on campus be promptly investigated by the school, but Outside the Lines found zero evidence that Baylor investigated the incidents.
5. The victim also claimed that McCraw asked that she not press charges or ask for a restraining order, but she was offered help with her finals.
6. McCraw claims that all of the remarks attributed to her are not true, but refused to comment further or add any specifics.
7. Two weeks after the Baylor student reports Elliott to Baylor officials, another Baylor student is raped by Elliott. She reported the incident to the police and pursued help from Baylor councilors, but she reports being turned away from Baylor officials and being told it was impossible to get help from them. Federal law mandates that schools provide victims with counseling services and academic support.
8. The victim’s grades fell to the point where she lost her academic scholarship and was forced to leave school.
9. Two weeks after the victim in point No. 7 stepped forward, Art Briles suspended Elliott from the team. Three days later, he was arrested.
10. The story reached the first victim that speaks in the story, who hadn’t reported her rape, she finally steps forward after 2 ½ years.
11. Elliott’s trial revealed two more sexual assault allegations while he was at Baylor, including one involving a woman who attended a nearby community college. He was eventually convicted of two counts of sexual assault in the situation with the community college student. In January of 2014, Elliott was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his attack on the victim in point No. 7.
12. Elliott calls all of the women liars, while doing an interview in prison. He refuses to go into any details in defending himself. He claims they did it to make him look bad.
13. Elliott claims that the first time anyone from Baylor approached him about the allegations was in April of 2012 after the victim in No. 7 came forward, but sources told Outside the Lines that Baylor’s Judicial Affairs Department was aware back in November of 2011 of Elliott’s assault conviction involving the community college student.
14. Five months after Elliott’s sexual assault conviction, another Baylor player (Sam Ukwuachu) was indicted for sexual assault of a Baylor soccer player.
15. In Baylor’s investigation of Ukwuachu, the school found zero wrong-doing. Asst. Criminal District Attorney at McLennan County Hilary LaBorde scoffs at the notion that Baylor did any real investigation, claiming they ignored sources and victim-blamed the accuser.
16. Baylor head coach Art Briles and school president Ken Starr refused to comment on anything related to the story and the school released new Title IX coordinator Patty Crawford, who wasn’t hired until November of 2014, despite federal law mandating in April of 2011 that all schools have such a position filled. Crawford claims that her hiring and her request that Baylor hire an outside investigator is proof that Baylor “cares.”
17. Following Ukwuachu’s indictment, he remained with the team for another full year and received his degree.
18. On November 3, 2015, the first victim in the story wrote Starr, Briles and numerous other Baylor officials an email titled “I was raped at Baylor” and not a single person replied back to her.
19. According to a McLennan County Nurse Examiner, at least half of the sexual allegations involving Baylor students comes from members of men’s athletics.
20. Baylor is not currently under Title IX investigation because no one has filed an official complaint with that department.
There are not enough words in the dictionary that describe my disgust on what has transpired in Waco.
Losing jobs simply isn’t enough. Frankly, as far as I’m concerned the school has blood all over its hands and it’s not ever coming off.
No. 8 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
… If Calvin Johnson retires, is he a no-doubt Hall of Fame player? I’m really on the fence with this one.
… I didn’t watch a second of the Pro Bowl. Not a second.
… Nothing has changed my thoughts on the Super Bowl … Carolina 27 - Denver 17
… I know Tim Duncan didn’t play, but Spurs fans should be slightly concerned about the beatdowns given to them by the Warriors and Cavs this week.
… With a chance to tie Steffi Graf on the all-time list for career majors, Serena losing with her C-game in the championship was really disappointing. No aces in the opening set? Six for the match? 46 unforced errors? Yikes. See you in France.
… Djokovic>>>Nadal>>>Federer. Right? All of you Federer fans can scream until your face turns blue, but Djokovic is six behind Feds and making up ground in a hurry. Nadal or no Nadal, Djokovic is winning the French Open this year.
… Should I be concerned as an American soccer fan that the national team was only a goal better than Iceland?
… Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev sent home the point emphatically that we never need to see a third Jean Pascal fight. That discussion is settled. Step on up, Adonis Stevenson.
… I guess Ryan Bader can shut his trap after this weekend.
… Sage Northcutt might be the UFC wonder-boy, but the UFC wonder-boy needs more time in the oven to develop.
No. 9 - The List: Kool and the Gang (Subscribe to the list or listen via Spotify)
This list was long overdue, so let’s not waste any time.
10. Hollywood Swinging
One of the songs that set it off for the group back in 1973.
9. Too Fresh
I’m just going to let you know right now that this list trends heavily towards the 1980s.
8. Too Hot
A personal favorite.
7. Ladies Night
Am I underrating this 70s classic?
6. Cherish
It’s quite possible that I have this song underrated and it is also possible that I am overranking this song because I loved it when I was eight.
5. Misled
The best song off of the all-time classic 1984 album Emergency
4. Joanna
I had to be careful when singing this song in the third grade because the least popular girl in school’s name was Joanna.
3. Get Down on It
The first Kool and the Gang song I can remember hearing when I was very young.
2. Jungle Boogie
One of the group’s first hits.
1. Celebration
The bottom line is that it is one of the most iconic songs of the 20th century.
No.10 - And finally… life as the father of 22-month old twins…
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