Hawkins to Michigan per Todd Hunt
- Thread starter mdk01
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What a surprise. Another Top 10 NJ Recruit rejecting an offer from RU and going elsewhere.
in TH's article the kid refers to his michigan visit by saying, "when I went down there", hopefully he isn't a geography major, good luck academically
"The coaching staff, players, Jabrill Peppers, coach (Chris) Partridge, also. He played a big part in recruiting the New Jersey area.":scream:
"(Ron) played a big part in my recruitment," said Hawkins. "We always wanted to play together. I'm not saying I followed him there, but it was the school for me, too. But he recruited me over the last week ever since he committed."
"(Ron) played a big part in my recruitment," said Hawkins. "We always wanted to play together. I'm not saying I followed him there, but it was the school for me, too. But he recruited me over the last week ever since he committed."
The fact of the matter is that this may be the most talented Top 10 recruits that NJ produced in over a decade. A decade in which RU has been a steady winner and has moved into the second best football conference in the nation. It looks very likely that Flood will not get ONE commit out of the Top 10. THAT IS AN EMBARRASSMENT!
You are right the kids should be embarrassed but it's their life. We will beat them with non NJ kids let them stand and watch just like Peppers and his family did last year.
If by embarrassment you mean the couple of hundred folks on these boards and NJ.com that follow recruiting closely, then, yes, it's an embarrassment for them. As for the team, Flood, and normal people who don't creep on high school students, what happens on the field is the only thing that can cause embarrassment for our fans.
Look, I get excited when one of these so-called "big time recruits" jumps on board, but I lose exactly zero sleep over the ones who don't come here. Now, if our on-field performance suffers, then I'll look at our recruiting efforts. But I don't judge the class by how many NJ recruits we have. I'm on record as feeling that we are still at least a generation away from Rutgers being a destination school for NJ kids.
Until RU is looked a like a top program, $#1t like this will keep happening.
Add on the Michigan's HC hype from the media and those who follow College football, a big plus for Wolverine recruiting.
Michigan , despite the number of of years it has been down, is still a brand name that is going to get its share of talent.
With Partridge able to point out the pluses of Michigan compared to Rutgers and having been a winning NJ HS HC,
he knows how to reach Jersey talent when recruiting them for Michigan and I'm not accusing him of negative recruiting.
Jersey talent has always looked for reasons to leave more than reasons to stay..
Rutgers isn't going to get the best Jersey HS talent ( thee will be occasional exceptions) until it proves it's able to beat the best and is on its way too becoming one of the best. So if Flood can start pulling out big wins , fairly regularly, not just upsetting the big boys every once in awhile, and playing them tough instead of being blown out RU will become a destination for the best NJ has to offer.
That will take a few years or so: which means don't start buying tickets to the B1G Championship games for awhile, because it will take some time before RU plays in one.
But expect RU FB to start showing signs that they are heading in that direction , in the near future .
Add on the Michigan's HC hype from the media and those who follow College football, a big plus for Wolverine recruiting.
Michigan , despite the number of of years it has been down, is still a brand name that is going to get its share of talent.
With Partridge able to point out the pluses of Michigan compared to Rutgers and having been a winning NJ HS HC,
he knows how to reach Jersey talent when recruiting them for Michigan and I'm not accusing him of negative recruiting.
Jersey talent has always looked for reasons to leave more than reasons to stay..
Rutgers isn't going to get the best Jersey HS talent ( thee will be occasional exceptions) until it proves it's able to beat the best and is on its way too becoming one of the best. So if Flood can start pulling out big wins , fairly regularly, not just upsetting the big boys every once in awhile, and playing them tough instead of being blown out RU will become a destination for the best NJ has to offer.
That will take a few years or so: which means don't start buying tickets to the B1G Championship games for awhile, because it will take some time before RU plays in one.
But expect RU FB to start showing signs that they are heading in that direction , in the near future .
Honestly, for the next 2-3 years, NJ recruits could take a hike for all I care. They won't come here until we start winning consistently for 2-3 years anyway. So in the meantime I dont care where they go. Flood is having no problem reeling in talent from out of state. If we can win with FL, NY, PA, CT, MD, etc and everywhere else (Canada?), then the NJ talent will follow suit eventually. Not concerned about them right now.
I have no problem with out-of-state talent coming here except if those out-of-state recruits aren't at the same talent level as those leaving NJ. Time will tell if that's the case of course, but I think Flood needs to win some recruiting battles for NJ's elite talent sooner rather than later.
Flood needs to win. That's all. I don't care where the kids come from. If NJ "elite" don't want to be part of it then f@&$ 'em.
At this point, who cares if the NJ guys don't want to play for Flood. If he wins then they will eventually stay and play for us. if Flood loses then he will be fired and the next coach will have the responsibility to improve NJ recruiting. To me it is ironic that one of the reason we hired Flood in the first place was because of a good reputation with NJ HS coaches.
I agree Flood needs to win. You would think if the quality of our recruiting is going to take a step up it has to start at home. It does not appear he has recovered locally from the decommit debacle a couple of years ago. We were told it would be different with the 2016 class but it appears not. It should be easier being in the B1G. I think we are doing ok in building a class (i don't care about stars but I do care about who else offered) not sure that is going to win more than you lose in this league.
A school like Mich can and must recruit nationally. There's simply not enough talent to compete nationally with their local talent. Plus they are less able to pluck top kids from Ohio like they would in the past. NJ kids heading to Mich are not kids looking to stay home and play for RU. They just want to leave and play. It is what it is. Bring top talent from NY, MD, PA, DE, CT and FL for all I care. We all just want a competing program that continuously progressing.
GO RU
They'll get boo'd when they play at Rutgers just like Peppers last year. Hope they all stay injury free and rot on the bench at the other Big10 schools they deserted NJ for. RU beating Meat Chicken was pretty awesome last year, as it will be in the future. Ped St dodged a bullet last year, we'll see what happens this year.
Caroo, Hamilton, Turay, Lumpkin etc all stay home and became stars.
Caroo, Hamilton, Turay, Lumpkin etc all stay home and became stars.
There will always be kids who want to leave NJ, just like some of the FL kids want to leave FL. The first time some of these kids ever step foot out of NJ is when they go to visit a college. Dont you think that plays a big role in how they feel about other schools? Flood could go 12-0 and some of these kids will still want to go anywhere but down the road from their home. The ones that stay here will come because getting out of NJ is not that important to them and want the opportunity to have their family and friends see them play most weekends.
I don't think anyone rationally believes we will ever dominate the state like other established state schools but is not reasonable to expect us to be doing better at home? Shouldn't we expect to get 2-3 of the top ten every year and perhaps 5-6 out of the top 20? You can and should salute the likes of Hamilton and Caroo for coming but it seems we have been recruiting at a level below that since Schiano, Hafley and Angelicho left. Flood certainly had the verbals to keep it going in his first class but then it fell apart. Again, IMO we are doing OK but the in state situation is concerning to me.
Peppers didn't play vs Rutgers he was injured so not sure how he could have been booed
When you combine the fact that a surprisingly large percentage of people currently living in New Jersey can't wait to move out of this state and the fact that most of the schools "stealing" our home grown prospects are those that have a long history of success on the field, is it really surprising that a good number of NJ kids wanna go somewhere else....somewhere with a bigger history of success and a bigger fan base and a bigger stadium ?
I once bought into the line that if we kept the NJ talent at home we'd have big success. No more. I just want RU to attract the best possible talent....and I don't care if it comes from New Jersey or not. Some of our best players were from other states....just like at every other school.
and BTW, do you really not understand why kids from Camden might want to get the hell away from home ?
Does anyone know exactly why the recruits are not coming here? I don't mean a politically correct answer I mean real reasons why they are not coming?
elite according to rivals you mean. Hasn't mack repeatedly outperformed some of these elite WR's?
I Didnt realize both of the these Michigan recruits had transferred to a northern catholic power.
I mentioned this in the Ron Johnson thread, but I'll say it again.
Many kids nowadays experience "the grass is greener on the other side of the fence" syndrome, and leave their home states. Both the Wolverines and Spartans miss out on plenty of Michigan kids... check out the following list of the top state of Michigan 2016 recruits and you will notice a lot of the top guys have chosen to leave the state. Not much one can do about "the grass is greener" type of thinking. There's a lot of talent in Michigan (Michigan is generally in the top ten states for producing football talent... right up there with Illinois & Pennsylvania), unfortunately for the Wolverines and Spartans, much of the talent goes elsewhere!
http://247sports.com/Season/2016-Fo...Rankings?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool&State=MI
As you look at that list of Michigan talent... when all is said and done, it looks like of the top 20 2016 recruits in the State of Michigan, probably only three will choose the Wolverines, and six will probably choose Michigan State (#3 Donnie Corley and #16 Alaric Jackson are projected to choose Sparty), with the remainder leaving the state! Look at the successful poaching of the 2016 Michigan top 10 recruits by schools such as USC, Penn State, Ohio State, Alabama, and Louisville!
So, Rutgers isn't the only school struggling to keep in-state talent. It happens to many schools... again "the grass is greener" attitude afflicts many kids! Recruiters just need to be patient, and cast a wider net in search of out-of-state talent.
Be safe and have a great Independence Day everybody!
Many kids nowadays experience "the grass is greener on the other side of the fence" syndrome, and leave their home states. Both the Wolverines and Spartans miss out on plenty of Michigan kids... check out the following list of the top state of Michigan 2016 recruits and you will notice a lot of the top guys have chosen to leave the state. Not much one can do about "the grass is greener" type of thinking. There's a lot of talent in Michigan (Michigan is generally in the top ten states for producing football talent... right up there with Illinois & Pennsylvania), unfortunately for the Wolverines and Spartans, much of the talent goes elsewhere!
http://247sports.com/Season/2016-Fo...Rankings?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool&State=MI
As you look at that list of Michigan talent... when all is said and done, it looks like of the top 20 2016 recruits in the State of Michigan, probably only three will choose the Wolverines, and six will probably choose Michigan State (#3 Donnie Corley and #16 Alaric Jackson are projected to choose Sparty), with the remainder leaving the state! Look at the successful poaching of the 2016 Michigan top 10 recruits by schools such as USC, Penn State, Ohio State, Alabama, and Louisville!
So, Rutgers isn't the only school struggling to keep in-state talent. It happens to many schools... again "the grass is greener" attitude afflicts many kids! Recruiters just need to be patient, and cast a wider net in search of out-of-state talent.
Be safe and have a great Independence Day everybody!
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Yes. I rely on Rivals and seeing what other schools offered. Rutgers is competing against UConn and Cuse for Bah and Mack. Hawkins has Auburn, Ohio St and ND offers. That means elite to me. Rutgers would drop Mack like a bad habit if Hawkins wanted his spot.
If you have watched Mack on film and in person I think your opinion would change in a heartbeat. Mack is raw, but a better athlete, with similar hands, and higher ceiling. Mack is punished in the rankings because of where he plays (NYC). One of the best ways to judge the two is put them in the same setting and this is where Mack has showcased his better talents over Hawkins. Bottom line rankings don't always tell the whole story, but a lot of the times camps reveal something closer to the truth.
After Mack and Bah we still got Wright who had a tOSU offer, no matter where he stood on their board. I'll gladly put Mack and Wright up against Hawkins any day. And Claypool is still an option, albeit a longshot.
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