SEC recruiting

[redeye]

I was curious as to the number of white players signed today by SEC schools. I noticed Alabama signed 11 out of 26 which seems to be an improvement over past years. I think three of those were defensive backs and one was a wide receiver. I saw Ole Miss only signed two or three. Florida signed a great white receiver and an incredibleathletic quarterback. How did the other teams fare?

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Ole Miss numbers don't surprise me, as their initial 2003 recruiting class consisted of 14 blacks and 1 white, who oddly? enough is the best athlete on the team, under-utilized of course.

If this list is correct Vandy has 13 whites out of 26 committed.
LB Patrick Benoist
OL Drew Brenk
OL Chris Bush
LB Nathan Campbell
QB Jared Funk
DE Reilly Lauer
TE Austin Monahan
WR Matt Quinn
OL Adam Smotherman
K Bert Upson
QB Turner Wimberly
DE Austin Newton Can't find a pic
OL Joey Bailey Can't find a pic

Kentucky has committments from:
LB Chris Cessna
QB Will Fidler
QB Michael Hartline
DE Josh Minton
K Lones Seiber
WR Michael Strickland
A paltry 6 whites out of 30 so far. Bad news for the future of the second whitest SEC team in 2005.


LSU has 5 whites out of 24 so far:
OL Matt Allen
LB Jacob Cutrera
TE Richard Dickson
TE J.D. Lott
OL Mark Snyder
Edited by: Colonel_Reb

 

[ocaamikedm11]

Florida scored the "top class" in the nation like the Florida schools always seem to.. I just find it funny how these teams always have the best recruiting classes yet in recent years are no where near National Title Contenders near the end of year... Hopefully Vandy can continue to improve after a good year this year.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

arkansas signed 26 players, only four of which were white: a QB, OL, TE, and WR

 

[Colonel_Reb]

That is bad news for the Hogs, who did so well with a lot of white skill guys. If Nutt thinks getting more blacks will help him get better, he is sadly mistaken.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Ole Miss got the following 3 white players out of 29 total.
OL Corey Actis
QB Michael Herrick
K Josh Shene

Arkansas got the following 4 whites out of 26 total.
QB Mitch Mustain
TE Ben Cleveland
OT Jim Hart
WR Andrew Norman

Tennessee got the following 7 whites out of 22 total.
K Chad Cunningham
DT Blake Garretson
K Daniel Lincoln
OL Cody Pope
TE Lee Smith
QB Nick Stephens
TE Luke Stocker

Florida got the following 5 whites out of 27 total.
QB Tim Tebow
TE Trent Pupello
DT Corey Hobbs
ATH Wiley Cooper
OL Jim Barrie

Mississippi State signed 3 or 4 whites out of 23 total.
DT J.C. Brignone
DE Aaron Feld
OL Mark Melichar
TE Chris Harrera Could not find a pic

Georgia signed 7 whites out of 27 total.
QB Matthew Stafford
OL Kevin Perez
FB Fred Munzenmaier
OL John Miller
WR Kris Durham
OG Chris Davis
FB Shaun Chapas

South Carolina signed 9 whites out of 24 total.
OL Kevin Young
QB Chris Smelley
ATH Nick Prochak
FB Clark Gaston
OL Hutch Eckerson
OL Seaver Brown
OL Ryan Broadhead
OT Heath Batchelor
OG Garrett Anderson

Auburn signed 5 whites out of 25 total.
QB Neil Caudle
DT Zach Clayton
DT Bart Eddins
QB Steven Ensminger
K Ryan Shoemaker

Alabama signed 9 whites out of 23 total.
S Andy Davis
TE Preston Dial
LB Charlie Higgenbotham
CB Jake Jones
LB Charlie Kirschman
QB Greg McElroy
OT Taylor Pharr
C David Ross
OT Alex Stadler

That's about it for the SEC at this point.

 

[sport historian]

Tennessee signed two kickers and two TE's. This is typical for Tennessee.

 

[redeye]

Thanks for the thorough analysis, Colonel Reb. My numbers for Alabama were slightly different as I included the greyshirts (guys that were offered last year but due to oversigning caused by scholarship limitations paid their own way for a year and were resigned this year). Included in Alabama's grey shirts are Travis Sikes WR/S and Sam Bunthall S.


On a postive note, I am glad to see South Carolina and Alabamasign more white players. Spurrier seems to be a bit less of a caste man than other coaches.And, I was pleased to see him sign a white ATH and a FB.


So far, Mike Shula seems to be more like his father Don Shula in giving white players a chance.I remember the Dolphins seemed to have more white players than most teams while Don Shula was head coach. Ihope this trend continues.


However, it is very troublesome to see Arkansas and Kentuckygoingagainst their pastrecruiting practices. And, MSU and Ole Miss are again dissapointing. I was surprised at UF. I thoughUrban Myer wouldbe fairer in his recruiting and Florida has a higher percentage of whites than most southern states.


Thanks again for the thorough analysis.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Your welcome, redeye. I see the SEC shifting around somewhat in its whiteness, or lack thereof. It is strange, btu I wish they would recruit more skill players. The lines are majority black now, and that is sick to see. It is good to see Spurrier going with the white QB's again though.

 

[ocaamikedm11]

It's great to see Alabama with a respectable class, considering they are coming off their best season in a few years, when teams usually get caste system happy and recruit very few whites. And for a team that had 0 white starters on D from what I remember, they could have some in the future. I sure hope so at least!

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Alabama had no white defensive starters in 2004 or 2005, so it will be a welcomed change if these guys start for the Red Elephant over the next few years.

 

[redeye]

Alabama should have at least one defensive starter next year, Bobby Greenwood who turned out to be probably the best freshman recruit from last year. He should start on the defensive line. I think another white defensive lineman may also start or see extensive playing time.

Corey Reamer, a safety, saw some playing time as a pure freshmen last year before he was suffered an ACL injury. He was the MVP in Alabama's championship 6-A game a year ago where he played cornerback. Not surprisingly, he wasn't highly recruited. If he comes back full strength he should see a lot of playing time.

Regarding this year's class, I like Andy Davis, a saftey a lot. He played high school football for 4 straight years and is reported to have blazing speed. In fact, he may play on the special teams as a kick returner. I believe Southern Cal also recruited him.

 

[SteveB]

Jake Jones looks good as CB too. I watched some of HS game clips on the internet and he has real good corner technique.

 

[Deus Vult]

Past LSU classes have included many white recruits who, at best, only played on specials teams. Coaches pad the rosters with these guys because they bring up the team GPA and graduation rates.

 

[jaxvid]

As pointed out in the JB Cash article:
Memo to White High School Football Players: Race Matters! (11/05/05)

As an example the 2004 Alabama Crimson Tide had a roster that was about half white. Yet there were only 4 whites out of 22 starters, 3 o-linemen and the quarterback. To do a little rough math, out of the approximately 50 black players on the team, 36% were starters. Out of the approximately 50 white players on the team, a mere 8% were starters. Quarterback and the offensive line were the only positions where a white kid had even an outside chance of starting for Alabama and it has been that way with that program for many years, which makes one wonder: Why does a white kid who doesn't play QB or O-linemen even bother to make all the sacrifice a football program requires when he has zero chance of playing? Not that Alabama is some kind of exception; it is the norm for most Division I-A football teams.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Good point jaxvid. I contributed to that article and it really is the truth. I think what Deus just posted is common knowledge and these kids know they will never see the field barring a rash of injuries. For many of them it is a waste, except that those who have scholarships get their educations paid for.