Recruiting 2014: Colorado is on a roll, having picked up three more verbal commitments, including two in one day to kickstart the month, giving them eight total, while @TroyWalters has hinted that more may still be on the way.
July started with a bang as three-star LB Zach Brown (no band) from San Diego sent twitter afire with #CUin2014 retweets and shortly thereafter there was yet another flurry of #CUin2014 posts when three-star TE Dylan Keeney of Granite Bay, CA became the third new future Buff in three days. Keeney committed shortly after his visit, while Brown gave his verbal based on discussions at camp in his home state and has yet to visit Boulder (but will soon). That is a good sign as the staff is able to get guys excited before they even visit and numerous guys have then committed once they have seen campus and the environment around it.
Then, this weekend three-star S Evan White (Cherokee Trial) became the second in-state player to commit to CU, bring the cycle’s total to eight. White was ranked as the 5th or 6th best prospect in the state and had been very high on the Buffs; many thought it was a matter of when not if he would make the commitment, and he almost did while he was in Boulder at their camp June. There are some minor concerns about his academics but he is retaking some classes this summer and should be on top of it his senior year with a scholarship on the line.White has a cousin who is a pretty famous Buff, but "Ev-an Whi-ite" just doesn't have the same ring as "J-J Bil-ings-leeeeeeeey!"
The three new recruits join LB Rick Gamboa (Chaminade/West Hills, CA-same school as frosh WR Elijah Dunston), QB Cade Aspay (Canyon Country, CA), DB/WR Chance Waz (Pflugerville/Hendrickson, TX), LB Grant Watanabe (San Antonio) and OT Oliver Miller (Longmont/Silver Creek).
The recruiting class of 2014 is starting to take shape and has moved up the ranking s to 8th/9th in the Pac-12 and into the 60’s nationally (before White’s announcement). Adam M. of “BuffStampede” said he expects the team to sign about 18 total players in this cycle. He said that although there might be a couple more verbals in the near future, the staff will not over offer right now, especially with some good prospects already in the fold, and he would expect a bunch more during the season, especially if they play okay and win a couple of games. They will probably hold a few spots for December and January to see if they can convince a bigger name or two, before dropping down their board if need be.
Preseason honors, previews and premonitions: Preseason award watch lists are coming out and Sr. DE Chidera Uzo-Diribe has been named to the Bednarik Award list for best defensive player. He is a long shot (How good of a year would it be for the team is he ended up in the finalist talk?) but a very nice recognition.
Phil Steele projects nine of CU’s 12 opponents to go to bowl games, even csewe. The only omissions from bowl play, in addition to the Buffs themselves, were Central Arkansas, Cal and Utah.
The first over/under lines for wins has come out with CU checking in at 3.5 (at 5Dimes anyway) which I think is about right. CBSSports had this to say on the line: “The good news for Colorado is that the worst is probably over. Jon Embree is gone and Mike MacIntyre is a proven turn-around artist who should get the program back on the right track. He’s got enough talent at his disposal to surpass this total, but much will depend on the team’s psyche coming off a 1-11 disaster. The Buffaloes have a chance to get three wins right off the bat, with Colorado State, Central Arkansas and Fresno State to start the season. At that point, Colorado might actually start believing in itself and steal a win or two the rest of the way. VERDICT: Over.”
Jack Follman continues his Pac-12 positional (player and groupings) analysis at PacificTakes.com. In his defensive line individual player rankings he listed no Buffs, not even Chidera as “others considered”. As for offensive line groups he rates CU (he names Nembot, Harris, Munyer, Handler and Kawai Crabb as their five) dead last in the conference: “Munyer made honorable mention All-Pac-12 last season and Harris and Nembot are returning starters too, but there's no other reason to think that Colorado's line will be anything but one of the worst in the conference yet again.” Follman’s Presseason All-Pac-12 team is heavy with Stanford and Oregon players, but devoid of Buffs.
Athlon with yet another article, which also includes links to most of their other Pac-12 material: http://www.athlonsports.com/college-football/mike-macintyre-creates-hope-colorado
Other Buff Notes: We are less than a month from camp opening and the real start of the Mike MacIntyre era. I can’t wait to see practice, which will be open to the public and media! I will be there as much as I can the week of August 12 after a vacation and before school starts.
Coach MacIntyre is going to do another mass-call/call-in with fans, donors and ticket holders on July 17.
One reason WR Gerald Thomas’s play was very inconsistent last year, especially later in the season, was that he was preoccupied with being a father to a daughter back in Texas that he basically kept a secret. He did, as was widely speculated in the spring, briefly consider leaving CU to move back to Texas and be closer to his family and child. MacIntyre told Thomas to take the second half of spring practices to focus and his grades, get his head together and to get ready for summer practices. He has since opened up to everyone and has embraced the role of father. Hopefully, that leads him to find success on the field as well. Thomas’ anticipated speed last year was one of the missing pieces on a terrible offense. He showed an occasional flash but was generally a non-factor.
Walk-on FB Jordan Murphy, who is listed atop the
current depth chart, was in the Aurora theater during the shootings last year
and feels lucky to be alive. The
experience also makes it easier for him to shrug off his roller coaster college
career, having played under four coaches and at least started to learn four
different offenses, in less than two years.
He had played a small amount his freshman year under Steve Fairchild at
csewe in 2011, but after the following spring session under macelwain, was told
the Lambs didn’t really need a fullback.
So, he ended up at CU with Embree’s staff, sitting out a year for the
transfer before promptly having his coaches fired again, leaving him in limbo
once more. However, MacIntyre is pretty
loyal guy, having even offered WR Jarrod Darden the chance to come back for a
fifth year, even though he has never contributed and certainly won’t crack the
lineup with the depth they have at WR now (WR/TE
DaVaughn Thorton and P/K Zack
Grossnickle were also offered that chance, but have moved on the UNC and
Washington, respectively). So, Jordan was also told he could stay on and that
the offense will probably utilize a fullback for 15-20 plays a game, but enough
for Murphy to “feel part of the team”.
Great piece on the O’Neill brothers by John Henderson of the Denver Post: http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_23602024/oneill-brothers-shane-darragh-getting-their-kicks-rapids Darragh has been working hard on the offseason, traveling to work with specialists and other punters, watching a ton of film and taking lots of reps to improve his muscle memory.
Congratulations to WR Coach and Recruiting Coordinator and his wife on the birth of their first child Tate Jackson Walters.
The AD search committee appears to be doing very little, but I am sure they would say a lot is going on “behind the scenes”. A few names have been bantered about (former Buff staffer and current Texas Rangers management Rick George most recently) but nothing substantial. Meanwhile, no money is being raised for facilities or anything else.
Nice mention of CU Associate athletic Director Mindy Sclaro in Brian Howell’s Camera article on incoming frosh hoopster Tre’Shaun Fletcher. When discussing why he chose Colorado her name must have come up and here was his quote: “I think I had my best opportunity here and I really like the academic system. I know (associate director of academics Mindy Sclaro) does a great job with us and coach Boyle is a great coach." http://www.buffzone.com/cu-news/ci_23607293/mens-basketball-fletcher-eager-be-part-cu-buffs
Former Buffs: Nice interview with former LB and DOF Jashon Sykes, who is now the Director of Football Operations at San Diego St. He says that although he originally called CU inquiring about coaching opportunities when his NFL career was done, he loves the administrative side and now has aspirations to become and Athletic Director. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jul/05/qna-sdsu-jashon-sykes-dfo-broncos-colorado/
Congrats to former Buff WR Dustin Ebner and 3 other Buff student-athletes, who earned a $3000 post-graduate scholarship to continue their studies. Ebner had finally earned a scholarship in his senior season last year. Others Buffs earning the award were Brianne Beemer (Track & Field) as well as skiers Eliska Hajkova and Ian Mallams.
Also, props out to graduated Buff student athletes hoopster Sabatino Chen and steeplechaser Emma Coburn, who were both named Tom Hansen Conference Medal winners, given to each Pac-12 school’s outstanding senior male and female student-athlete based on the combination of performance and achievement in scholarship, athletics and leadership.
Former LB/S Kyle Washing ton, who medically retired due to concussions, has moved on to be able to play his “first love” basketball at NAIA Lindenwood University-Belleville in Illinois. He will receive a full scholarship and will be eligible for three seasons. Good luck Kyle!
QB Jordan Webb (I think he is actually still on the team) and former lineman Alex Lewis, both waived their rights to a preliminary hearing, which basically acknowledges there is more than enough evidence to move forward with the prosecution. Both “players” are free on $10,000 bond and will now have separate arraignments. Webb’s will b arraigned August 2 while Lewis’ will be July 26.
Lastly, RIP Dan Creedon, a legend in Boulder and
Colorado sports reporting and former sports editor of The Daily Camera (when it
was still actually used “Daily”), who covered the Buffs for many years.
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