Streeter on way to visit this weekend!

[TyBull]

Star recruits? We'll be the judge of that, Bulls say

Selvie and Grothe, unheralded by recruiting "experts,'' have worked out rather well at USF.

By GREG AUMAN, Times Staff Writer

Published January 25, 2008

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TAMPA - If there's an oral commitment who sums up USF's ability to find and land talented players who are badly misjudged by the major recruiting sites - if not the rest of college football - it might be Miami Northwestern linebacker Quavon Taylor.

Taylor was a first-team all-state selection, the leading tackler for a team that has won back-to-back state championships and was ranked by ESPN.com as the No. 1 high school team in the country. The two major recruiting sites, Rivals.com and Scout.com, rate players with up to five stars: Scout.com gives him a pedestrian two stars, Rivals.com has him with zero.

One reason he's undervalued is that he's undersized: his 6-foot, 190-pound frame might make him a safety at the college level. USF coaches can't comment on him until he signs next week, but he follows their thinking with recruits: Don't count stars, just find them.

"We don't recruit off lists," said Carl Franks, USF's recruiting coordinator for the past four years. "It's about finding out how much better a guy can get, which is difficult to ascertain. What somebody rates them should not be an indication of how good a recruiting class is."

USF is full of talented examples. Defensive end George Selvie, a first-team consensus All-American who led the nation in tackles for loss, was a one-star recruit, according to Scout, as a center out of Pensacola three years ago. The same class had a two-star quarterback named Matt Grothe, the 2006 Big East rookie of the year now preparing for his third year as starter; the four-star can't-miss quarterback in that class, Carlton Hill, missed, played sparingly in his only season at USF.

"Nobody really knows," Bulls coach Jim Leavitt said. "You study film, you try to get to know a young man the best you can. You don't know who's going to be a great player in college."

The key to USF's ability to find gems other schools overlook? It might be proximity, recruiting primarily in-state recruits, which allows familiarity and exisiting relationships with programs. Grothe, like Taylor, was a star in high school, the state's player of the year for his classification. USF's coaches identified him early and trusted their instincts.

"USF has a first-hand knowledge of the area around them," said Keith DeMyer, who coached Grothe at Lakeland Lake Gibson. "Matt wasn't your prototypical quarterback, wasn't 6 foot 3 or anything. The biggest thing that sold Leavitt was that he was a winner. They noticed the intangibles that can't be listed in anybody's rankings."

The Bulls might have another gem from Lake Gibson in offensive lineman Josh Garvin, a 6-4, 285-pound recruit who played tackle for DeMyer but will likely move to center or guard. Garvin is also a two-star recruit, but USF won him over by finding him first and sticking with him.

"Josh isn't a real high-star kid, if at all," DeMyer said. "Kids remember who their first offer was, and (defensive coordinator) Wally Burnham is very visible here. Now after USF got him, you had West Virginia wheeling in here after him, but USF was first."

That's not to say USF is avoiding top-rated recruits. This weekend, the Bulls will bring in four-star receiver Tommy Streeter of Northwestern, one of the nation's top uncommitted recruits, for an official visit. Defensive end David Bedford, a four-star junior-college recruit from West Palm Beach, already committed, choosing the Bulls over West Virginia, Arkansas, Mississippi and Kansas State.

"Coming back home was big, but Coach Leavitt has such pride in his players," Bedford said. "They're moving in the right direction."

http://www.sptimes.com/2008/01/25/Sports/Star_recruits_We_ll_b.shtml

[nobull.Bulls]

Commit Streeter!! C'mon!

[theman123]

I'll keep my fingers crossed!!

[Jihme]

huge weekend!

[adonisthefish]

Nice, man I'm glad he's getting to visit and I would love to see him to commit!

[USFan]

huge weekend!

small...

[Cardo4]

With so many WRs already committed and so many already on the current roster I find myself wanting Ohrian Johnson over Streeter.  USF has had tremendous success switching HS QB's to other positions once practices start and they can further evaluate their talent.  Without any other QB's in this class (save Evan Landi who is also listed as a DB) Ohrian would fill the need of someone who could wind up at QB, DB, or WR.  I don't know if Streeter's speed or vertical have been verified but guys like Ohrian who are 6'4'' with a verified 40'' vertical leap and a 10' 5'' broad jump are extremey rare.

If you had to choose between the two based on what you know right now which one would you choose?  Me I'm going with Ohrian.   

[Bull Dozer]

With so many WRs already committed and so many already on the current roster I find myself wanting Ohrian Johnson over Streeter.  USF has had tremendous success switching HS QB's to other positions once practices start and they can further evaluate their talent.  Without any other QB's in this class (save Evan Landi who is also listed as a DB) Ohrian would fill the need of someone who could wind up at QB, DB, or WR.  I don't know if Streeter's speed or vertical have been verified but guys like Ohrian who are 6'4'' with a verified 40'' vertical leap and a 10' 5'' broad jump are extremey rare.

If you had to choose between the two based on what you know right now which one would you choose?  Me I'm going with Ohrian.   

You can't teach the size speed combo that Streeter has and he already does a great job using his body to shieild the defender and catch the ball with his hands.  We desperately need a viable go to guy for third downs and the redzone and what better than a 6' 5" guy with great hands and 4.5 speed.  Streeter's measurables are all verfied hes one of the best Wr recruits in the country at the best high school team in the country not some kid from a backwoods school somewhere.  He's the real deal and would have an impact immediately for us. 

If i had to pick one it would have to be Streeter but thankfully we're in a position that we can still get both.  Hopefully the staff seals the deal on these two to round out what is shaping up to be our best class ever IMO. 

[Cardo4]

With so many WRs already committed and so many already on the current roster I find myself wanting Ohrian Johnson over Streeter.  USF has had tremendous success switching HS QB's to other positions once practices start and they can further evaluate their talent.  Without any other QB's in this class (save Evan Landi who is also listed as a DB) Ohrian would fill the need of someone who could wind up at QB, DB, or WR.  I don't know if Streeter's speed or vertical have been verified but guys like Ohrian who are 6'4'' with a verified 40'' vertical leap and a 10' 5'' broad jump are extremey rare.

If you had to choose between the two based on what you know right now which one would you choose?  Me I'm going with Ohrian.     

You can't teach the size speed combo that Streeter has and he already does a great job using his body to shieild the defender and catch the ball with his hands.  We desperately need a viable go to guy for third downs and the redzone and what better than a 6' 5" guy with great hands and 4.5 speed.  Streeter's measurables are all verfied hes one of the best Wr recruits in the country at the best high school team in the country not some kid from a backwoods school somewhere.   He's the real deal and would have an impact immediately for us. 

If i had to pick one it would have to be Streeter but thankfully we're in a position that we can still get both.  Hopefully the staff seals the deal on these two to round out what is shaping up to be our best class ever IMO. 

I asked for your opinion and thank you.  Personally I don't see much difference between 6'4'' and 6'5'' which is easily overcome by Ohrian's verified leaping ability.  Ohrian also runs in the 4.5's and those stats are verified by a combine hosted by an affiliate of USFNation.com.  I tend to trust the stats that are taken from combines versus those that may have been taken in isolation by one coach or another (so yes I have read that Streeter runs a 4.5 just taking it with a grain of salt at this point).  Also it is quite common for the best athlete on a HS team to be the QB and therefore his abilities as receiver are difficult to rate.  Being the best athlete on a given team usually means you have great body control and hand eye coordination that go hand and hand with being a great wideout.  Which is why it is very easy to find an athletic HS QB that has successfully made the transition to another position in college.  Taken one step further you don't have to look far to find college QB's who have successfully changed positions upon moving to the NFL.  Streeter is getting the publicity but if I remember correctly UM took another WR from his HS over him.  So even at his enviable size in some minds he isn't even the best receiver on his HS team.  Don't get me wrong I want Streeter if we can't get Ohrian but between the two from what I know I'm going with Ohrian.       

[Jake_Ryan]

I've only seen Streeter and he is the real deal, so if we can only have one I'll choose him.  But hey, let's get 'em both!