2019 Recruiting - Football

[Joe Fan]

...I know Sheperd is really good and has great upside.... However, I'm concerned he may be a head case. Remember Martell Bennett we fought aggy for but aggy got him? Perriloser - LSU?

That may hold over time, we will see.
I can tell that his school is a complete and total disaster and has been for quite some time, including their athletics department. So he has not exactly had much good guidance, support and structure through his HS playing career. The idea is that once he gets to a stable place with structure, support and professional level training and nutrition, he will hopefully blossom in full.

Look, I admit its a risk of a 4-year schollie, when the alternative might be 1- or 2-year risks on JUCOs or Grad transfer OLs. But, then again, guys with his combination of size and athletics do not grow on trees. If you read all the quotes above, you saw that some think he projects as a potential NFL LT. Now ask yourself "How many of those have we had in Austin the last 10 years?" One? (and even he is actually playing OG in the league). Heck, go back 20 years and tell me how many.

So, my view is if Hand and Herman are down with it, then I guess I am too.

 

[BevoJoe]

Well boo-hoo about McCoy counting for 2019 UT class and cheating Ol' Sarge out of a higher 247 ranking.

I have no idea who he is and I don't give a rat's *** about poor aggy blogger Luke Leifker. Perhaps he should focus his blogging on why aggy has been mired in football mediocrity for over 100 years, except the season when Hitler decided to invade Poland.

But Worster, haven't you heard? Jumbo Fisher is the new Moses come to deliver aggy from the chains of football mediocrity and lead them to championship land. Great things are about to happen according to the aggys.

Don't hold your breath though....

 

[WorsterMan]

So, my view is if Hand and Herman are down with it, then I guess I am too.

That's really the bottom line.... trust Herman & Hand.

Good post Joe.

 

[Austin_Bill]

So the new moniker of Recruiting is "Trust the Hand".

 

[#2is#1]

That may hold over time, we will see.
I can tell that his school is a complete and total disaster and has been for quite some time, including their athletics department. So he has not exactly had much good guidance, support and structure through his HS playing career. The idea is that once he gets to a stable place with structure, support and professional level training and nutrition, he will hopefully blossom in full.

Look, I admit its a risk of a 4-year schollie, when the alternative might be 1- or 2-year risks on JUCOs or Grad transfer OLs. But, then again, guys with his combination of size and athletics do not grow on trees. If you read all the quotes above, you saw that some think he projects as a potential NFL LT. Now ask yourself "How many of those have we had in Austin the last 10 years?" One? (and even he is actually playing OG in the league). Heck, go back 20 years and tell me how many.

So, my view is if Hand and Herman are down with it, then I guess I am too.

Joe, have you ever dropped the mic before?
This one would be a good start. Great thoughts

 

[Joe Fan]

Joe, have you ever dropped the mic before?
This one would be a good start. Great thoughts

Ta mate. His school is so bad the State has threatened to close it several times. At one point, they did say, "That's it, North Forest is done." But then somehow it survived again. They have corruption, a tradition of horrible test scores (w/ cheating) and an almost unbelievable drop out rate.

 

[Joe Fan]

It's not quite done yet but ... comparing Tom the Herman's first in-state recruiting class to Jimbo Fisher's first class --

2018: Herman signed 7 of the top 10; 12 of top 20
2019: Fisher signed 3 of the top 10; 7 of the top 20

Fisher did grab several in the 30-50 range

 

[Joe Fan]

Quite the year for PWOs
It is kind of remarkable
This one a Permian Panther who runs a 4.41
Christian Tschauner on Hudl

 

[SabreHorn]

Joe.

There used to be a separate ISD that included MB Smiley & North Forest HS. The ISD was taken over by the State, which tried to pawn it off on Galena Park, Humble, or Sheldon ISDs. (Think Wilmer Hutchins part two)

With no takers, it was forced on Houston ISD; similar to giving a terminally ill cancer patient a transfusion of HIV infected blood. They tried to merge Smiley & North Forest, which I believe was done, but that is an administrative cesspool (what in HISD isn't).

While there are undoubtedly problems with some of the students, those pale in comparison to the issues over at Mangum & 18th.

As far as the kid "playing the system", I had a great DL do that, but he kept me informed as to where he was going and why. He made his decision, met with me and explained it, then asked for my silence while he enjoyed the process and parties. That kid started at DT as a true freshman and never created any discipline problems.

 

[Chop]

"With no takers, it was forced on Houston ISD; similar to giving a terminally ill cancer patient a transfusion of HIV infected blood."

You're cracking me up.
Nice analogy.

 

[Chop]

Ta mate. His school is so bad the State has threatened to close it several times. At one point, they did say, "That's it, North Forest is done." But then somehow it survived again. They have corruption, a tradition of horrible test scores (w/ cheating) and an almost unbelievable drop out rate.

Sounds like LaMarque or Wilmer Hutchings. After decades of gross mismanagement, the TEA seeks to revoke accreditation and merge them with another ISD. To this casual news reader, it appears that (in the eyes of the State/TEA) school districts can survive lousy test scores, too many drop outs, and even violent hallways, but embezzlement is what will do them in faster than anything.

 

[ViperHorn]

Joe.

There used to be a separate ISD that included MB Smiley & North Forest HS. The ISD was taken over by the State, which tried to pawn it off on Galena Park, Humble, or Sheldon ISDs. (Think Wilmer Hutchins part two)

With no takers, it was forced on Houston ISD; similar to giving a terminally ill cancer patient a transfusion of HIV infected blood. They tried to merge Smiley & North Forest, which I believe was done, but that is an administrative cesspool (what in HISD isn't).

While there are undoubtedly problems with some of the students, those pale in comparison to the issues over at Mangum & 18th.

As far as the kid "playing the system", I had a great DL do that, but he kept me informed as to where he was going and why. He made his decision, met with me and explained it, then asked for my silence while he enjoyed the process and parties. That kid started at DT as a true freshman and never created any discipline problems.

Speaking of Wilmer Hutchins, they were forced on Dallas. Same result except DISD built a nice athletic complex for them (or for the prison which is a couple of miles to the east).

 

[Chop]

Ta mate. His school is so bad the State has threatened to close it several times. At one point, they did say, "That's it, North Forest is done." But then somehow it survived again. They have corruption, a tradition of horrible test scores (w/ cheating) and an almost unbelievable drop out rate.

That part of Houston has some pretty tough schools drawing from some rough streets.

Kashmere HS is in Kashmere Gardens,
North Forest HS covers the area North and Northeast of Kashmere Gardens,
and Wheatley HS is in the Bloody Nickel itself.

 

[SabreHorn]

Chop.

You might be surprised by Wheatley. It is still the same location, but a few years ago, it's demographic makeup of nearly 50% Hispanic, perhaps as a result of becoming a magnet school. Prior to that, the dropout rate was HUGE, something around 50%.

Kashmere's enrollment is down around 5-600.

*These numbers are off the top of my head from a Chronicle article.

 

[Chop]

Chop.

You might be surprised by Wheatley. It is still the same location, but a few years ago, it's demographic makeup of nearly 50% Hispanic, perhaps as a result of becoming a magnet school. Prior to that, the dropout rate was HUGE, something around 50%.

Kashmere's enrollment is down around 5-600.

*These numbers are off the top of my head from a Chronicle article.

We don't seem to get too many football players from any of those 3 schools (Wheatley, Kashmere, or North Forest). Shephard is a rare one from North Forest. I really hope things work out for him.

We recently got a PWO from North Forest in 2018: Houston North Forest running back/wide receiver Damond Wiggins.

 

[Chop]

Chop.

You might be surprised by Wheatley. It is still the same location, but a few years ago, it's demographic makeup of nearly 50% Hispanic, perhaps as a result of becoming a magnet school. Prior to that, the dropout rate was HUGE, something around 50%.

Kashmere's enrollment is down around 5-600.

*These numbers are off the top of my head from a Chronicle article.

By virtue of its location (close to downtown), the 5th Ward/Bloody Nickel is likely destined for gentrification like the 4th Ward was. An economist might say that the "highest and best use of land" that close to downtown is not low income housing. However, there is a pop culture element of fear and mystique surrounding that particular neighborhood that may hold off gentrification for another decade or so.

Seems like the more working class city schools (North Shore, the Aldine schools, Madison, etc.) produce many top notch athletes and teams. The truly impoverished schools, like the 3 we've been talking about (and many of the kids that go there), often have very difficult struggles that make it much harder to get there with their athletic endeavors. Somehow, Yates has been an exception, at least in the not-so-distant past. Yates has a long history and tradition of a winning football program. Kudos to their coaches over the years.

 

[SabreHorn]

We have had a few from Smiley & North Forest. Only one I remember from Wheatley is Everett Gay. Seems there may have been a couple since, but Everett was our first.

Baylor had a pretty firm hold on Kashmere. First time I ever dealt with NCAA "investigators" was a RB from Kashmere, who played for Baylor. I had a ball ridiculing and making fun of the guy, who was a private investigator hired by the NCAA to investigate the kids used car. Guy was such a clown and worthless PI that he never checked family records. If he had, he would have discovered that "grandpa" has purchased a nice used car for everyone of his grandkids when they got accepted to a D-1 school. (That was 8+ kids)

I just kept telling the moron to come back with a subpoena knowing full well he couldn't do it.

 

[Chop]

We have had a few from Smiley & North Forest. Only one I remember from Wheatley is Everett Gay. Seems there may have been a couple since, but Everett was our first.

Baylor had a pretty firm hold on Kashmere. First time I ever dealt with NCAA "investigators" was a RB from Kashmere, who played for Baylor. I had a ball ridiculing and making fun of the guy, who was a private investigator hired by the NCAA to investigate the kids used car. Guy was such a clown and worthless PI that he never checked family records. If he had, he would have discovered that "grandpa" has purchased a nice used car for everyone of his grandkids when they got accepted to a D-1 school. (That was 8+ kids)

I just kept telling the moron to come back with a subpoena knowing full well he couldn't do it.

Rightly or wrongly, I kind of thought of this pocket of Greater Houston as mostly UH-country. Maybe Herman's developed some good contacts there with his background.

Anyway, the bottom line is North Forest's Shephard has immense raw talent. I'm glad he'll get his chance at UT. What he does with that chance is up to him.

 

[SabreHorn]

Kudos to their coaches over the years.

FTS! Luther Booker was a classless sack of **** who cheated his *** off. There is another thread on this board about kids transferring for athletics. Luther was the poster child for that thread. All of his players were in AP classes because a C in an AP class shows up on a transcript as a B.

If I don't like you, I don't ever want you under the misconception that I do, BUT you will hear it directly from me. Joe Tusa (his son used to read this board) arranged for him and me to have lunch with Booker regarding a major complaint* i had with him. Joe warned me that Booker wouldn't understand & he didn't.

* In a playoff game, Yates was up 30-0 and called timeout with one second left to try to score again. CLASSLESS! Booker's response was, "these kids have a chance to break the scoring record & I couldn't take it away from them".

My response was, "Your worthless ******* record is tainted and should have an asterisk by it for created by a classless coaching staff; what you did is unfair to your kids".

Like Coach Tusa said, Booker never understood that he did anything wrong.

 

[SabreHorn]

I've posted before that Shepard's off field problems remind me a kid that everyone, including OU, marked off their list. Akers put up some resistance, but after we lost a couple of last minute kids to OU, he said ok (much like John Hagy). Kid had discipline problems in HS.

That kid turned out to be the single most dominate player I have ever seen in college ball AND the number one pick in the NFL draft.

 

[Chop]

FTS! Luther Booker was a classless sack of **** who cheated his *** off. There is another thread on this board about kids transferring for athletics. Luther was the poster child for that thread. All of his players were in AP classes because a C in an AP class shows up on a transcript as a B.

If I don't like you, I don't ever want you under the misconception that I do, BUT you will hear it directly from me. Joe Tusa (his son used to read this board) arranged for him and me to have lunch with Booker regarding a major complaint* i had with him. Joe warned me that Booker wouldn't understand & he didn't.

* In a playoff game, Yates was up 30-0 and called timeout with one second left to try to score again. CLASSLESS! Booker's response was, "these kids have a chance to break the scoring record & I couldn't take it away from them".

My response was, "Your worthless ******* record is tainted and should have an asterisk by it for created by a classless coaching staff; what you did is unfair to your kids".

Like Coach Tusa said, Booker never understood that he did anything wrong.

I'm no fan of running up the score on an inferior opponent, and I'm certainly no fan of high schools (public or private) recruiting athletes. I'll have to defer to your inside knowledge of Yates' coaching staff. Publicly available information praises Booker pretty highly, though undoubtedly it doesn't tell the whole story.

https://www.chron.com/sports/high-s...-Booker-influenced-players-on-off-1730359.php

BOOKER, LUTHER MALACHI | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)

 

[SabreHorn]

I haven't read either of the links, but I'm sure they don't deal with the number of players that couldn't read nor write.

Coaches can make a huge impact on a kid. One of the coaches of a former Hype$man winner told me that when the kid arrived on campus, he read on a second grade level and did math on his fingers. Someone took his SAT for him. To the coaches & school's credit, the young man progressed and entered to NFL with 12th grade level skills. That did not impact our program, but I have admiration for the improvements that program made in his life.

 

[Chop]

I've posted before that Shepard's off field problems remind me a kid that everyone, including OU, marked off their list. Akers put up some resistance, but after we lost a couple of last minute kids to OU, he said ok (much like John Hagy). Kid had discipline problems in HS.

That kid turned out to be the single most dominate single player I have ever seen in college ball AND the number one pick in the NFL draft.

Big linemen with his athleticism don't grow on trees. Other than Shephard, we have 2 OL in this class thus far. Yes there are some valid questions about his off-the-field issues, but I'm glad we're giving Shephard a chance.

 

[Dionysus]

Bru has signed LOI

 

[WorsterMan]

Bru has signed LOI

Will wear # 5 - same as Billy Pittman.... and a few others I cannot remember right now.

 

[ViperHorn]

Will wear # 5 - same as Billy Pittman.... and a few others I cannot remember right now.

James Brown for one.

 

[Austin_Bill]

FTS! Luther Booker was a classless sack of **** who cheated his *** off. There is another thread on this board about kids transferring for athletics. Luther was the poster child for that thread. All of his players were in AP classes because a C in an AP class shows up on a transcript as a B.

If I don't like you, I don't ever want you under the misconception that I do, BUT you will hear it directly from me. Joe Tusa (his son used to read this board) arranged for him and me to have lunch with Booker regarding a major complaint* i had with him. Joe warned me that Booker wouldn't understand & he didn't.

* In a playoff game, Yates was up 30-0 and called timeout with one second left to try to score again. CLASSLESS! Booker's response was, "these kids have a chance to break the scoring record & I couldn't take it away from them".

My response was, "Your worthless ******* record is tainted and should have an asterisk by it for created by a classless coaching staff; what you did is unfair to your kids".

Like Coach Tusa said, Booker never understood that he did anything wrong.

I'm going to disagree.

When Booker arrived at JY back in the 70's, he had nothing, not even a weight room. He got a Coke Machine and from the money made by that Coke Machine he was able to buy a set of weights.

i personally don't care about how or why kids got to JY, hell you can say the same about DW Rutledge at Converse Judson who had had the commander of Randolph Air Force Base as one of his main boosters, they would have Air Force Personnel transferred to Randolph AFB if their kid was a great athlete from anywhere in the world, just so that kid would play for Judson. Just ask Deon Cockrell who signed with Texas back in 1987, his family was transferred to Randolph AFB when he was a Sophomore, but he decided to go to Randolph High instead of Judson.

Point to all this is that when it comes to some of the impoverished areas of Houston and Dallas, I'm for letting these kids who have an athletic talent and what it takes to getting ahead. Booker was a father to that whole community and brought a little pride to lot of people, and he put a lot of people into college.

85 Jack Yates is still the greatest high school football team I've ever seen.

 

[horn_fan_cpa]

Do we know if Lakia Henry is supposed to sign today? I assume he is, since he has been taking official visits, but didn't know if he might sign later, since he is JUCO.

 

[Joe Fan]

 

[mchammer]

Do we know if Lakia Henry is supposed to sign today? I assume he is, since he has been taking official visits, but didn't know if he might sign later, since he is JUCO.

I believe JUCOs have to sign during this period (open till Friday?). I believe you are referring to grad transfers who can wait. Then again, all recruits can wait till June if they have to.