Friday, August 7, 2009

Clemson, Duke up in recruiting, Tar Heels slipping

Clemson has been winning a lot of recruiting battles lately, and it’s showing up in the national rankings of our friends at Scout.com. The Tigers, who have 15 commitments after a recently flurry, have climbed past South Carolina (15 commits) and into the Top 20 at No.18.

The Gamecocks continue to build a solid class, and are currently ranked 22nd in the country.

Next among our seven major Carolinas schools is surprising Duke, having its best recruiting season in memory. The Blue Devils (13 commits) are ranked 37th nationally.

Wake Forest (14 commits) is putting together a solid class and is ranked 48th. N.C. State (nine commits) is right behind at No. 51.

And North Carolina, which had such a strong year last year?

The Tar Heels went after some of the best players out there, and have been losing out on most of them. They have three commitments, and are ranked 53rd only because one of those, OL James Hurst, is a five-star prospect.

East Carolina is ranked 78th with six commitments, but I think the talent the Pirates are landing is better than that. Their group includes two outstanding athletes from South Stanly High, safety Detric Allen and QB Desmond Brown, along with underrated Damon Magazu, a safety from Providence High.

--Stan Olson

As always, if you know of any commitments, offers or visits, email me at solson@charlotteobserver.com

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who cares; we are 6 months away from National Signing Day. Wait until after this season to be evaluating 2010 recruit rankings. A lot can change between now and NSD.

Anonymous said...

Long way to go and don't forget that some of those recruits from last year that had to prep will haev to count to the 2010 class. Farms, Dixon, etc.

Anonymous said...

The thing that matters is the quality of the players than end up on the field. I trust Butch Davis knows what he is doing, after all, its his job that is on the line. Last year many people said he committed to too many, but it seems he knew what he was doing.

Stan Olson said...

That's a good point on the kids from last year who will count in this class, several of whom are at Hargrave. I'm not saying the Heels, who will only take 19 anyway, won't finish strong. I do think while looking nationally, they've missed out on a couple of in-state studs they could have had...

Anonymous said...

true. they are still in it for some big players though. With Leifhert, Kareem Martin, Alfy Hill, Reggie Wilkins, and Lattimore they still have a chance to get a pretty good class going. They do need to get some DT's though.

Tarheel Paul said...

Stan
Keep up your hate for the Heels.
NSD is the day that counts not August 8. If you want to play with the big boys you ahve to go after the big boys. Competing with Fla, LSU and Texas is different than Wolfpack U and ECC. We will be fine with 9 wins on the field. Go Heels

Anonymous said...

Defensive Tackle is the biggest need...Davis and Blake miscalulated by chasing the so-called 5-Stars whike slow-playing the NC talent...now have no chance in signing any of the top NC DT's...Kilgo, Lynch, Thomas, and Farmer

Anonymous said...

"I do think while looking nationally, they've missed out on a couple of in-state studs they could have had..."


Which in-state guys that UNC missed out on are guys you think they could have had?