Coaches, fans shouldn’t always "look to the stars" when evaluating recruits

ksubailey — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 20:05:21 -0000

National Commitment List Rankings by Rivals.com
OU - 7th
TX - 10th
TX A&M - 15th
MU - 21st
OSU - 25th
CU - 26th
NU - 29th
KSU - 30th
KU - 35th
TTU - 40th
BU - 54th
ISU - 66th

Kansas State fans shouldn’t completely hang their heads in despair in regards to the Wildcat’s football future. According to Rivals.com, the unfinished 2008 recruiting class ranks 8th in the Big 12. Not really bad, but not really great either. However, as fans we need to remember that there is more to the evaluation of a player than merely looking at the number of stars they have received from Rivals.com. Link to article

Hopefully our coaching staff is selecting young men who they believe can work well in our system. Four and five star recruits may not always be the answer when it comes to saving a football program.

Look at some of K-State’s most successful and beloved players:
Jordy Nelson: Walk-on
Ian Campbell: Walk-on
Zach Diles: No star ranking
Terence Newman: **
Marcus Watts: **
Darren Sproles: **
Ryan Lilja: ***

These are just to name a few. Surprisingly, if you look at most of the four and five star recruits from the past they are far from household names. (Particularly those who signed in the Snyder Era.)

We’ve seen what highly-touted five star recruits do to a basketball program. But I think there’s a little more to putting together a football program. You can’t design your entire team’s strategy off of one or two players. K-Staters need to put their faith in the ability of our coaching staff for the 2008 season (it’s hard for me too). You never know who will be the next superstar two star.Link to article

SB Nation User Blog: ksubailey

Coaches, fans shouldn’t always "look to the stars" when evaluating recruits