January Recruiting Visits

UPDATED: 1/24/12
Yuri Wright (NJ) and Kenneth Crawley (Washington DC), both 4-star nationally recruited prospects have committed to play cornerback for the Buffs bringing the class to 25 and up to a 32/33 national ranking.  I will post a new update sometime Thursday.

January brings us to the last push for the recruiting cycle as prospects will officially be able to sign on Wednesday, February 1.  The last three weekends in January will have high school seniors flying all over the country to make their final visits and decisions.  CU will be hosting numerous recruits in Boulder each of those weekends.  I will try to post as much information about who is coming here, who is committing, who have we “lost” and any other pertinent information.  There is also a “Class overview” which I will update as new commitments come in.  I will update any other interesting news in the “Recruiting Rumors” box to the right.  Likewise, see the “2012 Commitments” box for the full lineup of committed prospects.  For more on this recruiting cycle and the general state of the CU football program, read previous posts in the “Archives” on the right side of the page.

Here are the prospects that are thought to be visiting Boulder in January:

Weekend of January 20: There were eight in Boulder this weekend:

  The Buffs latest commitment (3-stars on ESPN) 6'0" 175 pound CB/S John Walker (DC) cancelled his trip to Kansas and became the Buffs 22nd known verbal even before his visit to Boulder; teammate and cousin of CU commit De'Jon Wilson, and they also play with coveted 4-star CB Kenneth Crawley (who COMMITTED Sunday night!);
QB commit Shane Dillon (El Cajon, CA) is taking his "official"(paid) visit, even though he has been here on numerous "unofficial" visits. The 6'5" 185 pound prospect, runs a 4.6 in the 40, is a highly rated pro-style QB but will likely redshirt behind Hirschman and Wood.

Fellow CU commit and future target, 3-star WR Peyton Williams (Southlake, TX) will make his visit on crutches after having his ACL repaired.  He ran a 4.4 40 and starred in track before the injury and he claims he does not plan to redshirt and anticipates being ready to go in August.
4-star DB/LB Seth Jacobs (Arroyo Grande, CA), 6'2" 215, 4.55 in the 40, said his visit was great and he is deciding between CU, Arkansas, and Oklahoma St. and he will still visit UCLA next weekend and will announce on signing day, Feb. 1.
3-star DE Ewing Simmons (Stockton, CA), 6'3" 225 is deciding between a few Pac-12 schools;

3-star OG Isaiah Folasa (Corona, CA), has committed to UCLA but looking around since coaching change; CU just recently offered and is also visiting Fresno St.;
Unrated WR Jason Gaines (El Cajon, CA) is scheduled for a to visit with teammate ofShane Dillon; otherwise there is not much known about him-may be offered as a preferred walk-on?
Local DE Derek McCartney visited and committed to greyshirt.
New Orleans DE Darrian Dyson cancelled his visit.

Weekend of January 27: This is the last weekend to visit and only a few will venture to Boulder.  However, many rumors will be flying throughout the week as final decisions are being weighed and teams are making their final convincing arguments. Here's who is rumored to be visiting Boulder:

4-star Stanford commit (has yet to officially qualify until semester grades are in but likely headed to Plao Alto) DE Luke Kaumatule (Honolulu) has said he might visit this last weekend (if things are not settled yet with Stanford);

Unrated WR Vincent Hobbs (Mesquite, TX)-no official CU offer yet, visited Austin last week and is hoping for Texas offer;
FB Psalm Wooching was set to visit but committed to Washington on his visit there.

Weekend of January 13: Only four prospects visited Boulder and no one new has committed:

3-star CB/S Chris Solomon (West Covina, CA)-supposedly really liked his visit we can only hope for some word this week-he is also looking at the Arizona schools and Nevada. Solomon is 6′ 0″, 180-pounds. Buffs really need some DB depth so one of these two (below) would obviously help;

3-star CB/WR Jeffrey Hall (LaPlace LA)-Hall is 5’11″, 180-pounds. He might be an academic risk-which makes his backup a perfect, safe choice-Kansas St., who will let anyone in;

CU commit Davien Payne (Perrius, CA), a 3-star 5-foot-11, 215-pound RB is also set to visit. He wanted to go to Boise St. but was asked to greyshirt behind three other backs. He is a powerful compact body with a chip on his shoulder as he says he was always told he wouldn't be able to make it whatever the next level was.

Greyshirts: Although no one has been confirmed to delay their enrollment to CU until next January yet, there is a strong possibility at least a couple will when it is all said and done.
NEW: Derek McCartney (Faith Christian, CO), son of former Buff Shannon Clavelle and grandson of Coach Mac, officially committed.  He is 6'4", 218 and will likely play defensive end or linebacker (Jack) or possibly tight end.

It was reported that S Ma’ne Manaea (WA) was asked to greyshirt and for that reason he has soured on CU and is looking elsewhere.

Likewise, OT Kiha Sai (Honolulu) was asked to greyshirt by Utah and has re-opened his recruitment with the Buffs on his list.

It Other Prospects to watch: These are all prospects that have been recruited hard by CU and allegedly still have them on their short list, at least according to someone:

4-stars:

 NEW: CB Kenneth Crawley (DC) committed Sunday night after not being impressed with Kansas. [decommitted from Tennessee, played with current CU player Sherrard Harrington and CU commits De'Jon Wilson and John Walker]  biggest verbal yet for the Buffs. 
CB Yuri Wright (NJ) [biggest name on their wish list, "top 100" prospect with issues];
LB Deaysean Rippy (PA) [cousin of Doug Rippy-rumored to be “silent commit” but is has also been reproted that he is not that serious academically and CU may have backed off];

3-stars: CB Jonavaughn Williams (CA);

 S Leo Thomas (AZ) [decommitted from Arizona, also rumored to be a “silent commit” to CU]

 ATH/CB Dalis Bruce (Bellflower, CA) [teammate CJ Dozier just committed to Arizona];

 O-lineman Shane Brostek (HI);

 WR Javon Williams (Chandler, AZ);
2/3-star RB Jeffrey Coprich (CA) visited in November.

2-stars: CB Bryan Harper (Ontario, CA) [likely to go UCLA but recently offered by Oregon];

CB Ryan Lewis (WA);

 TE/DE Trevor Stevens (TX) [has not been officially offered by CU yet until they are sure they aren't getting Cope-Fitzpatrick or another bigger name TE; otherwise will go to start-up Texas-San Antonio or...Harvard];

 Also, unrated FB Keith Parker (CA-teammate of Jonavaughn Williams) visited in December and may be slated to come in as a preferred walk-on, or if no other FB prospects are signed, even to possibly greyshirt.

Goin' Elsewhere:
star TE Jalen Cope-FitzPatrick (Rocklin, CA)made it official with USC during his visit-he had been a "soft" commit since the summer; 
*Hawaii’s Psalm Wooching, a 6-3, 205 pound 3-star FB, previously a UCLA commit, committed to Washington during his visit Jan. 20-21;
3-star Highlands Ranch QB Steve Donatell (also all-state punter) is going to Wake Forest [Embree supposedly asked him to greyshirt here];
3-star DB Tyler Hasty (Bellvue, WA) committed to the other other OSU (Oregon St.);
DE Darrian Dyson (New Orleans) has given a soft verbal (he has given many) to Florida Int'l and has cancelled his visit here.
4-star LB Rashawn Hooker (Fontana, CA) finally announced he is going to go to Utah (at least it wasn't another prospect saying he was going to UCLA);
OT Nico Siragusa (San Diego, CA)-wanted to stay close to home and committed to San Diego St.
4-star DE Kyle Kelley, who had been a "soft" commit to Arizona, made it official and cancelled home visits from CU and Oklahoma;

4-star RB Wes Brown was scheduled to visit 1/13 but committed to home state Maryland.
 Colby Cyburt (Mission Viejo, CA), a 3-star OT, and 3-star FB Cristian Powell (Upland, CA) both committed close to hometown and UCLA.
3-star LB CJ Dozier (Bellflower, CA) decided to go with Arizona [hopefully teammate 3-star CB Dalis Bruce does not follow].
3-star LB Lavell Sanders (Compton, CA) did not end up making his visit, likely because his SAT score would not enable him to qualify at CU.
3-star WR Gabriel Marks (Venice, CA) committed to Washington St.

Class Overview: The class is rounding out nicely with 22 commits so far: 8 defensive linemen, only 2 DBs so far with no linebackers yet, one big QB recruit (plus the transfer), 3 running backs, 1 fullback, 3 wide receivers, 2 tight ends, and 3 offensive linemen (including the 2011 greyshirt). They are hoping to sign 5-7 more total.

The class is stacked with 3-star athletes and lots of speed that will solidify the depth chart a little with the type of athlete the staff is looking for in prospects. Many of these are also versatile and could conceivably play other positions down the road.

Although ratings are by no means the end all be all, it would still be nice to add some 4-5-star kids, but that may have wait until these last visits; maybe they can “flip” someone as they were able to do late in the cycle last year. They were competitive with many “big” schools and against Pac-12 schools and had numerous recruits talking about them. Geographically they span the country from Hawaii to DC with a heavy dose of California (9) and Texas (6) players. Unfortunately, there are only 2 Colorado players, as most of the big names went to big name schools out of state (including five O-line prospects).

Embree stated recently that CU was still recruiting up to eight prospects that have committed elsewhere (see a few below who are scheduled for visits). Remember, they “flipped” 10+ kids last year in the last month (which was all they had to work with last year).  He has also noted that the Buffs have some “silent commits” that have not “gone public” with recruiting sites yet, but that he hopes they will announce to help convince others that CU is a choice destination.
Spring Practice Notes:
QB Nick Hirschman has been listed as "questionable" for spring practices with a lingering foot injury.  This either simplifies the QB battle with transfer Connor Wood getting more snaps to help him secure the job, or complicates it because we will have to wait longer for the actual competition.
Also listed as OUT for Spring: Sr. DT Nate Bonsu, who should compete for a starting job IF he can get healthy-he has never been the same after a great freshman season followed by the knee injury; Sr. DB Vince Ewing is seemingly never healthy and therefore has never really contributed; Sr. LB Doug Rippy and RB Malcolm Creer will still be recovering from their knee surgeries.
Listed as "Probable" for Spring: Soph. CB Jered Bell might be back from his knee injury and should compete for the starting slot opposite Greg Henderson; RFr. CB Sherrard Harrington has recovered from his strange hip injury and also should compete for playing time; Soph. LB Brady Daigh's wrist should be ready to go; O-tackle Jack Harris' broken leg is healed and he should be back in the mix for the right tackle spot he had before his injury.