letsgobows wrote:according to tsai's blog, we just lost a commit to Colorado. and a top prospect cancelled his visit.
Might be JC DB prospect J.T. Turner cancelling his scheduled Dec. 2 trip to Hawaii....and looking instead to re-unit with his former Head Coach Rich Rodriguez (at Michigan) now newly hired at Arizona just yesterday. http://hawaii.scout.com/a.z?s=219&p=8&c=1&nid=5777258
MURRIETA -- USC wants him as a halfback, Oklahoma hopes to slot him at linebacker or strong safety. Notre Dame, UCLA, Stanford or Boise State? They might feel lucky just to lure Su’a Cravens on campus for a visit.
These are just a few of the options for the nation’s hottest recruit in the class of 2013.
Cravens, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound junior for Vista Murrieta High School in Southwest Riverside County, already claims 17 scholarship offers from major colleges across the country.
Over the next 12 to 15 months, likely right up until National Signing Day, Cravens will certainly hear from a lot more. Weekly phone calls, in-house visits, on-campus meet-and greets. A lucky few might even earn one of those five official visits.
Talk about a lot to digest for a kid who won’t turn 17 until next summer.
His two closest advisers are his father, Kevin Cravens, and older brother, Siaki, a junior defensive lineman for the University of Hawaii.
Siaki’s recruiting experience began when he was one of the top tight ends in the Inland Empire during his senior season at Temecula Valley High in 2007. One of the schools that showed interest was Utah, coached by Kyle Whittingham, whose sister is married to Kevin Cravens’ younger brother, Ryan.
Siaki committed to the Utes as a slot receiver, but the coaching staff switched him to middle linebacker the first day of practice.
“For a kid who had never played defense before, that was a total shock to him,” Kevin Cravens said.
After redshirting his first season, Siaki transferred to Long Beach City College, played a year and then signed with Hawaii. Siaki regularly counsels Su’a on how to navigate through the sometimes murky recruiting process.
“He always tells me not to get too caught up in trying to believe what every recruiter says,” Su’a said. “I always keep my ears open for my dad and my brother. They always have good things to say.”
Su'a's sister, Malia, also attends Hawaii on a women’s basketball scholarship. The Rainbows were the first school to offer Su'a, but family ties won’t have a bearing on which school he ultimately chooses.
“If I went to Hawaii, it would be because it’s a good fit for me,’ he said.
At least UH was part of the conversation....before these gambling allegations came out this week.
w ASU and UCLA coaches being fired, the UH coaches should make a late push for all their current verbals such as the LB Poly players and Punahou K Kaimi Fairbairn!
JOSH TUPOUDL/OL, 6-4, 295 lbs.
(Buena Park HS - Buena Park, CA) (Committed to Colorado) (Turned down offers from Alabama St, Hawaii, Nevada, and SJSU.)
ALEXANDRU CEACHIROT, 6-5, 300 lbs. (5.0 40 yd dash)
(Santa Monica CC - Santa Monica, CA) (Committed to Utah) (Turned down offers from Arkansas, Colorado, Florida International, Fresno St, Hawaii, Indiana St, and SMU.)
Big-time OT prospect Jeremiah Poutasi apparently tripping to Hawaii this weekend.....on his last official recruiting trip.....after already having tripped to 4 BCS Conference schools (Arizona State, Utah, UDub, and Oklahoma State).
Published: Thursday, December 15, 2011, 3:20 PM Updated: Thursday, December 15, 2011, 4:34 PM
Jeremiah Poutasi is a 4-star offensive tackle from Desert Pines in Las Vegas, Nevada. He said he's wanted an Oregon offer for a long time. But Oregon's waited to ensure he's going to qualify and have the SAT score. Oregon's only got so many spots and once again, they don't want to spend time with a player who might not qualify. It's understandable as there are only so many hours for coaches to spend with any one player. Now it appears Poutasi will qualify and Oregon has offered.
But not so fast my friends (sorry Lee). Poutasi visited Utah back in October and has them solidly at the top of his list. He's also visited Washington, ASU and Oklahoma State, and he has one visit left. He'd like to make his announcement at the Offense-Defense Bowl in early January.
A couple of things have happened here. First, he's taken all but one of his visits. Second, he's just now showing enough momentum/proof, etc. in the classroom to make Oregon believe he's going to qualify and Oregon won't be holding up an offer they could make on someone else at that spot. Finally, he's feeling a little left out at Oregon because everyone else offered. That might be fair, but it's not the whole story.
Oregon's coaches don't just value those scholarships, they covet them. The players, university, donors, fans, and alumni have poured themselves into the program to build it into what it is. Making the most of those scholarships is the way the program continues to rise above even where it is now.
Oregon's coaches time is also incredibly valuable. So while they love Poutasi as a talent, and reportedly think a lot of him personally, they can't risk offering the scholarship for someone who might not qualify.
This is how Oregon's coaches have had every player who accepted a scholarship, qualify and contribute for the last two years.
Poutasi has now said he has his last trip scheduled and it is to Hawaii this weekend. Oregon knows this and is trying to persuade him to come to Eugene instead. If he's seriously considering playing football at Hawaii over Oklahoma State, Washington, Utah, ASU and Oregon, he's probably not interested in a great football program. More than likely, though, he's simply interested in visiting the sunny beaches of Hawaii. (Something June Jones used to say was one of the biggest obstacles in recruiting in Hawaii. He once said they could get anyone to visit, but they never knew if the player was really interested in playing there until they arrived.)
Nobody but Poutasi knows what his intentions are, but visiting Oregon over Hawaii would signal only one of a couple things. He's committed to the coaches at Hawaii who've been recruiting him, which is great. Or he's committed to Utah or UW or someone else and he's looking forward to soaking up the sun. Because if he's interested in Hawaii over all three of those other schools (as a football program) that would make very little sense.
KORY RASMUSSENDE, 6-3, 255 lbs.
(Kamehameha School - Honolulu, HI) (Committed to Colorado) (Turned down offers from Arizona, Cal, Hawaii, Utah, and Washington.)
#296 Stephen Tsai:
December 19th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
The past weekend, UH brought in three recruits — a JC d-lineman, and a prep offensive lineman and DB.
But Warriors have been told not to make offers to high school prospects, and JC guy doesn't want to commit until next coach is hired.
Therein lies the dilemma.
#57. Stephen Tsai:
December 24th, 2011 at 10:31 am
Re: Dustin Adams.
The mandate was that only signed commitments would be honored. That means the grayshirts who signed scholarship agreements, such as Ben Clark, Tyler Gray, etc., go on scholarship in January.
Adams wanted to commit to UH, but UH told him of the situation, and told him to take his visits. He's actually visiting some pretty good programs.
DL/OL, 6-4, 295 lbs.
OT, 6-5, 300 lbs. (5.0 40 yd dash)OT, 6-5, 315 lbs. (5.3 40 yd dash)
DE, 6-3, 255 lbs.
