N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien has little use for the national recruiting rankings.
Rivals.com placed the Wolfpack’s signing class Wednesday at No. 10 in the ACC, behind even Duke’s.
“It (ranking teams) is important because a lot of people pay attention to it, I guess,” O’Brien said. “But that’s never been one thing that’s been of great importance to us. If we like a guy, we like a guy. I don’t care if you like him or not.”
This class should help the Wolfpack in a lot of ways. O’Brien said there were times last season when N.C. State was perilously thin on the offensive and defensive lines because of injuries.
With 12 linemen in this class, O’Brien is building a foundation that should be more solid at the line of scrimmage in future years. The class also has speed with skill players such as Bryan Underwood and Morgan Alexander that should add to the team’s big-play ability.
Quarterback Everett Proctor of Fayetteville received an impressive endorsement from O’Brien.
“He’s a bigger, maybe faster and better arm than Russell Wilson,” O’Brien said. “Stronger arm. He’s a raw athlete we see a tremendous amount of potential in.”
While rival North Carolina grabbed the headlines on signing day with a top-10 class, O’Brien seemed comfortable in the background. He didn’t get a bunch of highly ranked players, but he said he got recruits he and his staff can coach.
“We’re best at bringing in players that we can develop,” O’Brien said. “There’s certainly a lot of very, very good players here. But they’re players that we like a lot of things about. Especially on the line, their abilities one way or another. We think we can coach them into being, like I said a couple years ago, we don’t care what they come in as. But they’d better leave as five-star guys.” – Ken Tysiac
Rivals.com placed the Wolfpack’s signing class Wednesday at No. 10 in the ACC, behind even Duke’s.
“It (ranking teams) is important because a lot of people pay attention to it, I guess,” O’Brien said. “But that’s never been one thing that’s been of great importance to us. If we like a guy, we like a guy. I don’t care if you like him or not.”
This class should help the Wolfpack in a lot of ways. O’Brien said there were times last season when N.C. State was perilously thin on the offensive and defensive lines because of injuries.
With 12 linemen in this class, O’Brien is building a foundation that should be more solid at the line of scrimmage in future years. The class also has speed with skill players such as Bryan Underwood and Morgan Alexander that should add to the team’s big-play ability.
Quarterback Everett Proctor of Fayetteville received an impressive endorsement from O’Brien.
“He’s a bigger, maybe faster and better arm than Russell Wilson,” O’Brien said. “Stronger arm. He’s a raw athlete we see a tremendous amount of potential in.”
While rival North Carolina grabbed the headlines on signing day with a top-10 class, O’Brien seemed comfortable in the background. He didn’t get a bunch of highly ranked players, but he said he got recruits he and his staff can coach.
“We’re best at bringing in players that we can develop,” O’Brien said. “There’s certainly a lot of very, very good players here. But they’re players that we like a lot of things about. Especially on the line, their abilities one way or another. We think we can coach them into being, like I said a couple years ago, we don’t care what they come in as. But they’d better leave as five-star guys.” – Ken Tysiac
Comments
Ratings are nice for public relations purposes
Thu, 02/05/2009 - 18:18 — JPDOhioAnd a higher rating improves the odds that a player will work out, but it is an inexact science.
TOB has proven that he has good judgment when evaluating talent. His success at BC and his choice of Russell Wilson as a starter over more experienced candidates are just two examples.
I believe there is a good chance TOB's recruits will perform better than their not-so-lofty ranking would indicate. I also thing Butch's recruits will likely be successful and that we are at the beginning of rise in both programs into consistent contenders for the ACC championship.
dont disagree
Thu, 02/05/2009 - 22:27 — gvillegatrI truly hope both NCSU and UNC are both successful. I know most won't believe me, but I do. It would go a long way in really serving notice that this conference can play football too.
and for what it is worth, TOB is a good coach who gets more out of his players than most. <--- Jim grobes if you will. But I would be a little ticked to have gotten beaten so badly in state for recruits by my direct competition and hated rival, UNC.
and FTR, I just want to clarify I never said ranking high school players was an exact science.
"you can call it inexact
Thu, 02/05/2009 - 12:38 — JamesinWillowSprings"you can call it inexact science all you want, but you would prefer to be in the top 5 or 10, in college recruiting, every year. anyone would.
so please dont give us this rubbage of how you'd rather have what TOB got b/c of what he did. "
I don't believe I gave you any "rubbage"[sic] about how I would prefer a class like Tom's over Butch's, provided all the same factors -- characters guys, ones that will show good work ethic and most of whom are willing to sit for a year -- apply to the guys in the class.
Any one would be foolish to pick a class full of 2-star character guys over a class of 4-star character guys, all things being equal. On average, 4 and 5-star guys pan out more than 2-stars.
What I am saying is that this class -- made up mostly of 3 star guys with a couple of 4-stars thrown in -- should address a lot of O'Brien's needs, and he's shown a track record over the years of getting a lot out of the guys he's recruited regardless of their rankings.
That's all to say that recruiting is all one big crap shoot. Some 5-star guys pan out (Mario Williams) and some don't (Tramain Hall)...One online publication went back and looked at the class of 2005...60% of those guys were either out of their respective programs or minor factors for a variety of reasons. If you're a glass-half-full kind of guy, that means they got it right 40% of time. And you like those odds. But don't tell me recruiting isn't an inexact science, because it is. And if you listened to any of the interviews that ran all day yesterday, you'd have heard the same thing straight from them, including your golden boy Butch.
misunderstood me
Thu, 02/05/2009 - 22:19 — gvillegatrI never said it wasnt an inexact science. i said you could call it that all you liked. thats not disagreeing with you, but saying you are using that as a crutch for TOB's 2 and 3 star recruits this season .... which is what your team is made up of.
I totally understand this is a crap shoot but I would prefer to crap shoot with Butch's guys than TOB's guys any day of the week ... who woudn"t. If the roles were reversed, i would want still fill this way.
thats all i'm saying.
Michael J Fox
Thu, 02/05/2009 - 11:33 — gvillegatrwhat was the name of the tv show he played in back in the mid 90's??? SPIN CITY
i hold this in the same regard to the email you sent to John "Killer" Kilgo the other day on the Pacman show!
simply humor.
you can call it inexact science all you want, but you would prefer to be in the top 5 or 10, in college recruiting, every year. anyone would.
so please dont give us this rubbage of how you'd rather have what TOB got b/c of what he did.
UNC signed every single guy they had commited for a very long time. didnt lose one single commitment and they were perceived as #4 by scout and #8 by rivals.
in other words, he did it just like TOB did ... getting guys in camp or seeing them in person and getting guys THAT WANTED TO COME TO UNC too.
Rivals has State's class
Thu, 02/05/2009 - 10:55 — JamesinWillowSpringsRivals has State's class 10th with an average star rating 2.78; Scout has State's class 6th with an average star rating of 2.63.
http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=9&c=14&view=2&yr=2009
http://rivals100.rivals.com/teamrank.asp?Sort=0&PosType=0&Year=2009&conf=0
This is as inexact a science as you'll find anywhere.
But I like the way Tom's going about it -- waiting to make offers until he sees them in camp or in person -- shunning the traditional recruiting methods, starting early and landing recruits early that WANT to play for State, not ones that have to be wooed at the final hour. Then redshirting the majority of them once they get here.