WARNING: standard off season the-sky-is-falling nonsense.
I did not want to bring this up in any one guy's recruiting discussion because I respect all the players who choose Tulsa and want them to succeed here. And I don't know how to say this without sounding like a jerk, but I continue to be concerned that we are not recruiting at the same level as our peers. The American may be rising, is it rising without us?
While it is possible to find the player that is overlooked by everyone else, to develop talent better than everyone else, or to win without players on par with your peers - that's a more difficult and more rare proposition. I am not a recruiting guru, so I use a more simplistic evaluation method: I figure NCAA recruits are similar to NFL recruits in that the more sought after players are probably more sought after for a reason. In the NFL, they are drafted higher or paid more. In college, they are recruited more heavily and by the biggest and best programs. Again, it isn't always the case, but if one was looking for a factor to measure a player, that's my shortcut.
It's early for the class of 2019, we are maybe 1/3rd of the way to our commitment total, but so far we have secured commitments from players who chose Tulsa over (multiple listing means we beat them out multiple times):
Alabama State
Air Force
Air Force
Arkansas State
Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Austin Peay
Central Arkansas
Central Michigan
Colorado State
Eastern Kentucky
Eastern Michigan
Hawaii
Incarnate Word
Louisiana-Monroe
Missouri State
Navy
Nevada
New Mexico
North Texas
Prairie View A&M
South Dakota State
Tennessee-Martin
Texas State
Texas State
Texas State
Texas State
Tulane
Utah State
Western Illinois
I have respect for many of those programs as well as the Universities. However, I don't think many Tulsa fans will see a program on that list that they think Tulsa strives to be. And I'm not talking about thinking we are the next Alabama, but for the class of 2019...
-> Memphis is winning battles against Georgia Tech, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Minnesota, Miss State, S. Carolina, Tennessee, Clemson, Georgia, Miami, Louisville, and Ole Miss.
-> UCF is beating out Baylor, Illinois, Maryland, Missou, Auburn, Rutgers, K State, GA Tech, Wake, West Virginia, and their hated rivals USF.
-> A down ECU is beating out Louisville, Syracuse, North Carolina, Duke, Va Tech, Wake, S. Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia.
-> Stinkin' SMU is beating out Okie State, Texas Tech, Syracuse, Colorado, Illinois, Missou, Iowa State, Virginia, Arizona State, West Virginia, Navy, Memphis, Houston, and TULSA.
Sure, they have other recruits that are not as highly touted and maybe some of their wins don't hold, but they are winning some big battles. Has Monte won any big recruiting battles? I think our biggest wins have been occasional grabs over conference mates.
Last year showed that Monte is not a wizard that can win with any personnel. I'm not calling for heads or saying I hate our players, I will be at every damn game losing my voice like always. But I am concerned that teams we used to regularity beat or at least view as rivals are now recruiting at a different level than we are.
Someone tell me I'm mad. Tell me it doesn't matter. Tell me a down football recruiting season means great things for basketball...
I did not want to bring this up in any one guy's recruiting discussion because I respect all the players who choose Tulsa and want them to succeed here. And I don't know how to say this without sounding like a jerk, but I continue to be concerned that we are not recruiting at the same level as our peers. The American may be rising, is it rising without us?
While it is possible to find the player that is overlooked by everyone else, to develop talent better than everyone else, or to win without players on par with your peers - that's a more difficult and more rare proposition. I am not a recruiting guru, so I use a more simplistic evaluation method: I figure NCAA recruits are similar to NFL recruits in that the more sought after players are probably more sought after for a reason. In the NFL, they are drafted higher or paid more. In college, they are recruited more heavily and by the biggest and best programs. Again, it isn't always the case, but if one was looking for a factor to measure a player, that's my shortcut.
It's early for the class of 2019, we are maybe 1/3rd of the way to our commitment total, but so far we have secured commitments from players who chose Tulsa over (multiple listing means we beat them out multiple times):
Alabama State
Air Force
Air Force
Arkansas State
Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Austin Peay
Central Arkansas
Central Michigan
Colorado State
Eastern Kentucky
Eastern Michigan
Hawaii
Incarnate Word
Louisiana-Monroe
Missouri State
Navy
Nevada
New Mexico
North Texas
Prairie View A&M
South Dakota State
Tennessee-Martin
Texas State
Texas State
Texas State
Texas State
Tulane
Utah State
Western Illinois
I have respect for many of those programs as well as the Universities. However, I don't think many Tulsa fans will see a program on that list that they think Tulsa strives to be. And I'm not talking about thinking we are the next Alabama, but for the class of 2019...
-> Memphis is winning battles against Georgia Tech, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Minnesota, Miss State, S. Carolina, Tennessee, Clemson, Georgia, Miami, Louisville, and Ole Miss.
-> UCF is beating out Baylor, Illinois, Maryland, Missou, Auburn, Rutgers, K State, GA Tech, Wake, West Virginia, and their hated rivals USF.
-> A down ECU is beating out Louisville, Syracuse, North Carolina, Duke, Va Tech, Wake, S. Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia.
-> Stinkin' SMU is beating out Okie State, Texas Tech, Syracuse, Colorado, Illinois, Missou, Iowa State, Virginia, Arizona State, West Virginia, Navy, Memphis, Houston, and TULSA.
Sure, they have other recruits that are not as highly touted and maybe some of their wins don't hold, but they are winning some big battles. Has Monte won any big recruiting battles? I think our biggest wins have been occasional grabs over conference mates.
Last year showed that Monte is not a wizard that can win with any personnel. I'm not calling for heads or saying I hate our players, I will be at every damn game losing my voice like always. But I am concerned that teams we used to regularity beat or at least view as rivals are now recruiting at a different level than we are.
Someone tell me I'm mad. Tell me it doesn't matter. Tell me a down football recruiting season means great things for basketball...
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