Sun Belt Recruiting Class 2017

[Rick83]

Have any of our resident MMB sports analysts looked at the recruiting classes from the other SBC schools to see how ours stacks up? I know the # of stars don't always pan out but curious if anybody else had a standout class.

[hapapp]

FWIW, the only way to compare classes is to look at the different rating services.

24/7 We are 6th Tx State had the #1 class
Scout We are 4th Tx State had the #1 class
Rivals We are 6th ULM had the #1 class

Again, take it for what its worth. I'm not sure there is any other measurable way to look at it.

[bigdaddyg]

How in gods sake can Texas St be the number one rated class? For that matter how can any Sunbelt team recruiting class be ranked above or below another? Based on what? Texas St stinks. Did they all of a sudden convince stud players to come there? This topic has been beaten to death. If half of the kids we signed end up playing in the next two years it's a win. We have potential All American guys who had zero stars- Mr Moore for example.

[AppFan11]

College football news.com had us 2nd and TxSt 1st

[firemoose]

How in gods sake can Texas St be the number one rated class? For that matter how can any Sunbelt team recruiting class be ranked above or below another? Based on what? Texas St stinks. Did they all of a sudden convince stud players to come there? This topic has been beaten to death. If half of the kids we signed end up playing in the next two years it's a win. We have potential All American guys who had zero stars- Mr Moore for example.

Simple. Look at where 90-95% of their players come from. They had 25 commits at one time and every one but 3 was from TX. 2 JUCO's that started in TX and one HS recruit out of LA. Then they got hit by the poaching bad, worse than us, and just reloaded with TX recruits. Now it's all but two from TX.

TX is one of the deepest talent states and a lot bigger than many other states. They've got about the same number of competition schools as we do in NC (adjusting a little for size) with 10 times the depth of talent. When you can recruit nearly every player from your home state then you get an advantage. Any of the huge group of 3 star rated kids that want to stay in state and that are passed over by the five P5's in TX (they can only take so many) go to the 7 FBS programs that TX has. Again the pool of talent is DEEP. And with a shiny new staff in place from last year they are the new kids on the block. Just is what it is and why so many schools hit TX like they hit GA and FL. You go where the deep talent is. They still have to win though in order to keep it up.

[JTApps1]

Our class also gets rated lower as many services ranking are impacted by the number of players signed. This never made sense to me since each school has different needs year to year. We didn't have many scholarships to offer but we dinged. At the end of the day nobody can't tell the difference in talent for most of the players at our level. The biggest thing comes down to how well you coach them and their work ethic.

[bigdaddyg]

How in gods sake can Texas St be the number one rated class? For that matter how can any Sunbelt team recruiting class be ranked above or below another? Based on what? Texas St stinks. Did they all of a sudden convince stud players to come there? This topic has been beaten to death. If half of the kids we signed end up playing in the next two years it's a win. We have potential All American guys who had zero stars- Mr Moore for example.

Simple. Look at where 90-95% of their players come from. They had 25 commits at one time and every one but 3 was from TX. 2 JUCO's that started in TX and one HS recruit out of LA. Then they got hit by the poaching bad, worse than us, and just reloaded with TX recruits. Now it's all but two from TX.

TX is one of the deepest talent states and a lot bigger than many other states. They've got about the same number of competition schools as we do in NC (adjusting a little for size) with 10 times the depth of talent. When you can recruit nearly every player from your home state then you get an advantage. Any of the huge group of 3 star rated kids that want to stay in state and that are passed over by the five P5's in TX (they can only take so many) go to the 7 FBS programs that TX has. Again the pool of talent is DEEP. And with a shiny new staff in place from last year they are the new kids on the block. Just is what it is and why so many schools hit TX like they hit GA and FL. You go where the deep talent is. They still have to win though in order to keep it up.

Everything you said is absolutely true and a no-brainer buttttttt, do they ever really do anything? We played a team last year that had a ton of "former" P5 players. Meant nothing. I think we can agree, the rankings of a composite group of unproven 18 year old kids not yet out of high school means absolutely nothing, especially at our current level.

[asu66]

How in gods sake can Texas St be the number one rated class? For that matter how can any Sunbelt team recruiting class be ranked above or below another? Based on what? Texas St stinks. Did they all of a sudden convince stud players to come there? This topic has been beaten to death. If half of the kids we signed end up playing in the next two years it's a win. We have potential All American guys who had zero stars- Mr Moore for example.

Watch out for Tx State under Everett Withers. With 36,000 students and great facilities, the 'Cats may soon start leaving deep, bloody scratches. Withers was only at JMU for two seasons, but he left the cupboard full-to-running-over with talent.

[firemoose]

Don't disagree daddyg. But your first and lead question was how did they get ranked #1. I answered that.

I've said many, many times on here that despite what I do I put no stock in the ratings on these sites, precisely BECAUSE I spend so much time on them. I've seen way too many things that make no sense, and way too many 3 and below guys that get a rating only because of who someone knows or who is allowed to actually add a rating. Don't mistake me adding their rating to their profiles or to the reported offer announcement to mean I go by them. I only add them because people on here asked me to show them.

Again, proof is on the field and IMO no class should ever be graded based on what the sites say but how they play after their second full year on the field. By then you have an idea of what they can do.

[/\PP ST/\TE GRAD 09]

They can have number 1 now...App will take number one at the end of the season.

[CheckYosef94]

Recruiting rankings have never held much water for me. You can get as many 5 star recruits as you want but if they don't buy into your program or can't work with their team members they are useless. I think this is how Satt and staff look at it too. Ignore the stars and instead recruit kids that want to come to your program and fit into your system.

[bigdaddyg]

Don't disagree daddyg. But your first and lead question was how did they get ranked #1. I answered that.

I've said many, many times on here that despite what I do I put no stock in the ratings on these sites, precisely BECAUSE I spend so much time on them. I've seen way too many things that make no sense, and way too many 3 and below guys that get a rating only because of who someone knows or who is allowed to actually add a rating. Don't mistake me adding their rating to their profiles or to the reported offer announcement to mean I go by them. I only add them because people on here asked me to show them.

Again, proof is on the field and IMO no class should ever be graded based on what the sites say but how they play after their second full year on the field. By then you have an idea of what they can do.

Please don't think I disagree with your assessment- you are the resident expert here and your work is spot on and appreciated. I guess I just tire of what I consider useless rankings

[TheMackAttack]

It's pretty clear that our staff can evaluate talent and we landed a number of guys that were our top targets. The quality for this class is definitely there, the quantity may be a bit lacking. However, 247 ranked us as #8 in the SBC last year and I wouldn't trade that class with anybody's in the Sun Belt. Clifton Duck was the 20th best commit on the 119th best class according to the composite rankings. That's Freshman All-American Clifton Duck. That tells you everything you need to know.

[AppinVA]

It's pretty clear that our staff can evaluate talent and we landed a number of guys that were our top targets. The quality for this class is definitely there, the quantity may be a bit lacking. However, 247 ranked us as #8 in the SBC last year and I wouldn't trade that class with anybody's in the Sun Belt. Clifton Duck was the 20th best commit on the 119th best class according to the composite rankings. That's Freshman All-American Clifton Duck. That tells you everything you need to know.

This is why, while I enjoy following recruiting, I don't get too up or down on it.

[EastHallApp]

Class rankings do mean something at the P5 level. While it's pretty hit-or-miss in terms of individual players, it's been shown numerous times that there's some correlation between the teams that sign the highest-ranked classes and the ones that win the most.

However, to my knowledge, those studies have only looked at the classes and teams that were ranked high - top 20 or so. I'm not sure anyone's ever compiled that data for G5s, and I'm not convinced the correlation would be as strong if they did, simply because the sites just don't devote many resources to evaluating recruits at our level.

[hapapp]

Class rankings do mean something at the P5 level. While it's pretty hit-or-miss in terms of individual players, it's been shown numerous times that there's some correlation between the teams that sign the highest-ranked classes and the ones that win the most.

However, to my knowledge, those studies have only looked at the classes and teams that were ranked high - top 20 or so. I'm not sure anyone's ever compiled that data for G5s, and I'm not convinced the correlation would be as strong if they did, simply because the sites just don't devote many resources to evaluating recruits at our level.

I believe at our level they mean little to nothing. However, a guy on the Belt board did a little "study" that seemed to show some correlation between rankings and standings. However, we were the aberration. In that case, I'll take our coaches over any rating service.

[NoLongerLurking]

Guess we'll know in 2-3 years.

[EastHallApp]

We've basically had one class that ranked near the top of the Sun Belt, which was in 2014. But even in that one, if you look at the individual players, most of the ones who were the highest-rated haven't panned out, while many of the lowest-rated ones (e.g., Boggs, Moore, Gibbs) have been stars.

[bigdaddyg]

We've basically had one class that ranked near the top of the Sun Belt, which was in 2014. But even in that one, if you look at the individual players, most of the ones who were the highest-rated haven't panned out, while many of the lowest-rated ones (e.g., Boggs, Moore, Gibbs) have been stars.

Great point. Way too many factors that are known or unknown. Coaching and strength/conditioning are huge. An 18 year old can change dramatically in 2 years with maturity (hopefully) and body strength, especially linemen. These "kids" also have to adapt to a new environment away from home. I also think factors like the type of school they came from matters. Did they play at a smaller school with lesser competition or a bigger school with great competition (or vice-versa). Obviously some guys are just studs who get swept up by the P5's and are just typically slam dunks. I think that as it comes to programs on our level the key is finding that hidden gem who takes off when he gets on campus.

[ericsaid]

How in gods sake can Texas St be the number one rated class? For that matter how can any Sunbelt team recruiting class be ranked above or below another? Based on what? Texas St stinks. Did they all of a sudden convince stud players to come there? This topic has been beaten to death. If half of the kids we signed end up playing in the next two years it's a win. We have potential All American guys who had zero stars- Mr Moore for example.

Simple. Look at where 90-95% of their players come from. They had 25 commits at one time and every one but 3 was from TX. 2 JUCO's that started in TX and one HS recruit out of LA. Then they got hit by the poaching bad, worse than us, and just reloaded with TX recruits. Now it's all but two from TX.

TX is one of the deepest talent states and a lot bigger than many other states. They've got about the same number of competition schools as we do in NC (adjusting a little for size) with 10 times the depth of talent. When you can recruit nearly every player from your home state then you get an advantage. Any of the huge group of 3 star rated kids that want to stay in state and that are passed over by the five P5's in TX (they can only take so many) go to the 7 FBS programs that TX has. Again the pool of talent is DEEP. And with a shiny new staff in place from last year they are the new kids on the block. Just is what it is and why so many schools hit TX like they hit GA and FL. You go where the deep talent is. They still have to win though in order to keep it up.

It's simpler than that. The team with the most commitments will have the highest overall score which is what most ratings are based on. The average rating of each class is likely a better indicator of the quality of recruit the school is getting. The next part to consider is the inflation or deflation of rating for a recruit based on location. Many of Texas State's 3-stars have offers from low level G5 programs with most being FCS programs. However, they are inflated based upon their location in Texas.