OldVol
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It's off-season, we're all hungry for football, yet there is no football to be had, so we discuss recruiting.
I'm afraid however, that we often get too cranked up with the over simplification of recruiting rankings.
For instance: Last year we were in everybodys top 3.
This year, we're 15 (ESPN) to 24 (Scout).
But, let's look at rankings and reality.
The reality of rankings is; each school is ranked based on a total of points assigned to each individual recruit, then the team with the largest sum total of points is the, so-called, #1 team.
Is this a realistic approach? I say no.
Last year we handed out 29 scholarships and had an average star rating of 3.63. (I'll use scout's numbers for consistency)
This year, we give out 22 with a star average of 3.14.
Now, here's the fallacy of the sum total of points being used to rank a class. Last year, USC only offered 16 scholarships and ended up with enough points to be ranked 6 in the nation. Their average rating was a staggering 4.25. By all accounts, and looking from a common sense point of view, USC had a far more successful recruiting season in 05 than we did.
This year, lets look at some schools and their numbers.
Scout has USC as their #1 school, even though they gave 3 fewer ships than the #2 Florida. Their average star rating was 4.17 to Florida's 3.85.
Now, look at our numbers this year: Ranked #24, giving out 21 ships with an average rating of 3.14. Let's compare those numbers to the Ole Miss class. (This does not count the resigning of Gerald Williams who was the 05 #7 overall LB 4* player)
Ole Miss gave out 29 scholarships and with giving out that many, they only ended up ranked 15. Their average star rating was 3.21.
When you add in William, plus the return of Mapu, our class is dead even or ahead of Ole Miss.
Now, here's the strange thing. Ole Miss is raking in the kudos and our negative fans are acting like this is a horrible class.
With the 85 total scholarship limit, you cannot sign 29 or 30 kids every year. When you do, you end up having a year at some point where you can only take 15 or so. See USC in 05.
With attrition, you can only average 21.25 scholarships per year.
Last year, Bama gave out 30 scholarships to achieve a #16 ranking, but their star average was only 2.83.
There's more, far more to look at when judging the true worth of a class than where they end up ranked with Scout or Rivals or Lemming.
I'll take this class with pride.
I'm not trying to belittle Ole Miss or Bama's 05 classes, although the Bama class of 05 was not impressive at all when you look at quality as opposed to quality.
Ole Miss just got a very good class. But there were times last year when Mr. Orgeron looked very lost on the sidelines. We'll see in a few years if this class can be coached up to SEC standards. The same will hold for our 05 class. Where we have the advantage is, we have a host of great talent in house just waiting to be coached up.
I believe we return to the very forefront of the SEC race this year.
I'm afraid however, that we often get too cranked up with the over simplification of recruiting rankings.
For instance: Last year we were in everybodys top 3.
This year, we're 15 (ESPN) to 24 (Scout).
But, let's look at rankings and reality.
The reality of rankings is; each school is ranked based on a total of points assigned to each individual recruit, then the team with the largest sum total of points is the, so-called, #1 team.
Is this a realistic approach? I say no.
Last year we handed out 29 scholarships and had an average star rating of 3.63. (I'll use scout's numbers for consistency)
This year, we give out 22 with a star average of 3.14.
Now, here's the fallacy of the sum total of points being used to rank a class. Last year, USC only offered 16 scholarships and ended up with enough points to be ranked 6 in the nation. Their average rating was a staggering 4.25. By all accounts, and looking from a common sense point of view, USC had a far more successful recruiting season in 05 than we did.
This year, lets look at some schools and their numbers.
Scout has USC as their #1 school, even though they gave 3 fewer ships than the #2 Florida. Their average star rating was 4.17 to Florida's 3.85.
Now, look at our numbers this year: Ranked #24, giving out 21 ships with an average rating of 3.14. Let's compare those numbers to the Ole Miss class. (This does not count the resigning of Gerald Williams who was the 05 #7 overall LB 4* player)
Ole Miss gave out 29 scholarships and with giving out that many, they only ended up ranked 15. Their average star rating was 3.21.
When you add in William, plus the return of Mapu, our class is dead even or ahead of Ole Miss.
Now, here's the strange thing. Ole Miss is raking in the kudos and our negative fans are acting like this is a horrible class.
With the 85 total scholarship limit, you cannot sign 29 or 30 kids every year. When you do, you end up having a year at some point where you can only take 15 or so. See USC in 05.
With attrition, you can only average 21.25 scholarships per year.
Last year, Bama gave out 30 scholarships to achieve a #16 ranking, but their star average was only 2.83.
There's more, far more to look at when judging the true worth of a class than where they end up ranked with Scout or Rivals or Lemming.
I'll take this class with pride.
I'm not trying to belittle Ole Miss or Bama's 05 classes, although the Bama class of 05 was not impressive at all when you look at quality as opposed to quality.
Ole Miss just got a very good class. But there were times last year when Mr. Orgeron looked very lost on the sidelines. We'll see in a few years if this class can be coached up to SEC standards. The same will hold for our 05 class. Where we have the advantage is, we have a host of great talent in house just waiting to be coached up.
I believe we return to the very forefront of the SEC race this year.
