Question for GoCatsGo, Corbi, or others with decent insight
- Thread starter SciCat
- Start date
There are a number of guys who were just offered and committed almost immediately, such as Aidan Smith, so you probably cannot count them as "A Listers".......not to say they won't be good players, but clearly NU offered others at those positions first.
It was a sincere question asking for insight from those who have it. It would seem to me that NU is having success with more of their top targets than they have in the past.
Let me take a stab at this. I'm no insider and I could be way off base but I see it like this.
The staff continually evaluates a number of guys at each position. Based on a variety of criteria they discard quite a few. The process is ongoing but they have to begin as information continues to be evaluated. The total group is too large to actively and meaningfully recruit so the qualified recruits are further targeted in an ongoing manor creating an exaggerated appearance of A and B recruits. To say that someone was on the B list is disparaging to the recruit and may not reflect the complete reality of the process. A process where recruits go in and out of favor as meaningful relationships are built and evaluation continues.
The fifth person offered might actually be the staff favorite but circumstances like uncertain grades, incomplete character references, incomplete physical evaluation, previous conversations and relationship with earlier recruits and late discovery or maturation delayed the offer.
So asking how we did on our A list in many ways a meaningless derisive question.
We want every guy we offer and we want them to want to be Wildcats and that is what we end up with.
You seem to overlook one factor: kids have many choices and not everyone offered wants to be a Wildcat. So as kids who NU really wants decide to go elsewhere, NU needs to broaden the scope of the search. Not a knock on kids offered later, just the reality of how the competitive recruiting game works. IF (and it's a big IF) you believe the recruiting services, NU offers some pretty highly regarded athletes. You can only maintain relationships with so many players at one time, and as the higher priority players decide to go elsewhere or otherwise cool on NU, then the staff turn their attention to the next-up list.
Whether they're so-called "A-listers" or not, most of the recruits we've gotten so far seem to have pretty good offer sheets. We just got a Texas kid offered by Baylor, which you might remember had a pretty decent season last year. Would J.J. Watt have been considered an "A-lister." I believe he was a two-star in college. Think I'll just wait and see what they do on the field.
Well, if they don't want to be Wildcats, I guess that takes them off our A list , Right?
Of course!
Keep in mind top recruits whom NU likes are always emerging throughout the process because either we haven't seen their film yet or they're improving as players and popping up on radar. Heck, they're just sophomores and juniors right now. Great talent will emerge in summer camp or in their senior year, including guys who were injured or underdeveloped as juniors. Consequently, we may identify guys who are just as good if not better than our A-list or first wave of offers in the last three months of recruiting.
I wouldn't get all hung up on A-lists, B-lists, and C-lists because the talent and recruiting landscape is always changing. A-list kids are just those we have identified as talented and have offered initially.
Precisely!!! There is plenty of talent out there for NU, just a question of prioritization.
Take a look at some of the supposed C-list player's we've landed. Sherrick McManis is a classic, Xavier Washington last year, McGarigle, Bryant, and Peters also come to mind. While the so-called A-list may have higher ratings by virtue of their exposure and might be slightly better on average than later-offered recruits, we have offered and landed some great players later in the recruiting cycle.
If a kid gets into Medill off the wait list
Which is why I would dispute that there is something denigrating about referring to kids offered later as 'B' versus 'A' list. When a player was offered is a statement of how the staff felt early in the recruiting process. By the time they get on campus, everyone is equal. There is no longer leash or more chances to succeed given to a pre-camp offer versus one offered in January after their senior year. Once signing day hits, it's pure meritocracy.
Pa said it best. I've been saying it for a few years now. there are various "lists" of the best players out there. some develop earlier than others and some never fulfill their "promise". nonetheless, with lists of "300", "250" and the like, there are hundreds of thousands of high schoolers out there who have never been listed yet are spectacular in their programs. While it is always nice to get an "A-lister", it is more important to see the potential in those who are "not ready for prime time" and develop them. So let's leave the choices to those who have to make the decisions, finding diamonds in the rough who want to be wildcats, and see how that plays. As far as I'm concerned, all those who want to be here are A-listers.
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