Before we get to Kevin Wilson’s sudden football recruiting burst (see what summer camp season can do), consider what he wants in a recruit.
“The hardest thing to judge is a guy’s attitude and the ability to work hard, the talent of working hard,” Wilson said. “That’s a unique skill. It’s a skill we need to embrace. It’s also the hardest thing to measure.
“You can see if a guy is tall or can jump high or is fast or hits hard. Those things are obvious. It’s the hidden talents that we’re looking for. You hope you’re getting a good-character kid who has discipline. A do-the-right-thing kind of guy. A guy coming from structure, who is used to working hard and doing things right. How do we judge that? There’s no stop watch for that.”
That’s why coaches like to wait until they bring in a recruit to a summer camp, where they can work with him and see how he handles fatigue and adversity and, yes, coaching. They can get a feel for what kind of teammate he will be. Is he high, low or no maintenance?
IU coaches have done that the last few weeks with their camps and, the results are paying off.
A few weeks ago the Hoosiers had zero commitments for the Class of 2012.
Now they have eight, and more are on the way.
IU got four commitments in the last 24 hours, including two from Indianapolis Warren Central with linebacker Jordan Wallace and receiver Kevin Davis. Both are three-star players.
Wallace is solid against the run or pass. Davis has big-play potential. IU needs all of that, and more.
Plus, Warren Central is a strong, successful program and Wilson likes guys with winning backgrounds.
Also newly committed are Indianapolis Ben Davis receiver Caleb Cornett and Illinois linebacker Mike Cotton.
Cornett, a lifetime IU fan, picked the Hoosiers ahead of Cincinnati, Ball State, Western Michigan, Toledo and a whole bunch more.
Cotton totaled 81 tackles and nine sacks last season.
They followed previous commitments from from three three-star Ohio linebacker Nick Mangieri, Ohio defensive back Dawson Fletcher, Ohio defensive tackle Alex Todd and three-star Illinois offensive lineman Dan Feeney.
Mangieri is rated No. 33 at his positon in the Class of 2012. Feeney is at No. 44. Davis is at No. 75.
Players can’t sign official national letters of intent until February.
*****
Congratulations to Peegs.com and Jeff Rabjohns. Jeff will cover the Hoosiers for Peegs.com and it’s a great hire. Jeff, formerly of the Indianapolis Star, brings a ton of experience and contacts.
It also gets Jeff far, far away from Gannett, the parent company of The Indy Star and a bunch of other newspapers, and that’s a good thing. Gannett officials treat employees like broken-down chairs. Journalistic quality isn’t a priority. Cutting people so upper management can get mega-million dollar bonuses and raises is.
Jeff is at a much better place. Both he and Peegs.com will benefit.
I love the piece on "Gannett." The Indianapolis Star (just one of many papers owned by the group) is doomed. They took a conservative paper and turned it into the drivel you see now. Technology is already putting newspapers at risk but the Gannett group through their managment is pouring gasoline on the fire.
ReplyDeleteI don't see any 4 star commitments and after all the hype will we be ranked near the bottom of the Big Ten classes?
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