Name: Donta Wilkins
Position: DT
Hometown: Dumfries
School: Potomac
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 315
24/7: 90, four stars; #24 DT, VA #15
ESPN: 74, three stars; #71 OG, VA #32, Atl. #132
Rivals: 5.5, three stars; VA #25
Scout: three stars; #60 DT
Other offers: Virginia Tech, Penn State, Miami, NC State, North Carolina, Boston College, Mississippi State, Maryland
How would it sound to have a little beef on the defensive line? Right now the only 300-pounder in the rotation is Justin Renfrow, who for now is seeing his time gradually dwindle in favor of Chris Brathwaite. The guys we have now are perfectly good players, but perfectly good players with 20 or 30 extra pounds each would also be nice, and that's what we'll get in pairs with Wilkins and Tyrell Chavis.
The various recruiting sites don't agree exactly on Wilkins's weight (they never do) but there's one thing they do agree on: he's 300 pounds, easy. That size is likely a big part of the reason why so many ACC schools went after Wilkins despite a general consensus among the recruiting sites of a lowish three-star rating. Wilkins carries that weight well and there's little doubt in my mind he'll end up with a playing weight in the same general range. He's got the thickness, and, despite a good height of 6'3", looks to have a low center of gravity that'll make him damn hard to move off the line once he converts some fat to muscle.
Wilkins committed in June at the front end of a one-week commit-apalooza, shortly following a visit to Charlottesville during which it was widely thought he wouldn't. Now, is that commitment solid? Yes; I don't think Wilkins will change his mind, but the question is fair - Wilkins maintained even at the time of his verbal that he'd take official visits to UNC, PSU, and Michigan State and hasn't changed his mind three and a half months later, although for reasons which are easy to guess, he's replaced PSU with Miami. (I suspect, by the way, that the Mississippi State offer listed by most of the sites is actually that Michigan State offer - "MSU" has a way of getting lost in translation at times.) Whether these visits take place remains to be seen; London sometimes has a way of dissuading them.
Right now, UVA has a nice little conveyor belt setup at DT, which is a good situation. Will Hill graduates this year, Renfrow and Brent Urban next year, Brathwaite the year after that. As they move on, guys like David Dean and Vincent Croce will start to take over. There's enough talent here that Wilkins can take a couple years, much like Dean and Croce are doing, to get himself conditioned and ready. But the nice thing about DT is that it requires a lot of bodies, so Wilkins can play right when he's ready, but no sooner. Between he and Chavis, Wilkins projects a little closer to three-tech than Chavis does, but both could play nose tackle. And no, despite ESPN's scouting report claiming Wilkins would make a better offensive guard than defensive tackle (they're very lukewarm on Wilkins, which based on his offer list I don't agree with), I don't see him getting moved to that side. If that were the plan, the coaches wouldn't be casually chasing a few other offensive linemen to join the class.
Showing posts with label renfrow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label renfrow. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Sunday, September 11, 2011
the bloomington report
Alright! That was fun, wasn't it? Well, first it was fun, then it was not fun at all, then it was fun again. Now we have to try and make some sense of it, which is what I'm paid (nothing) to do.
Actually, the fun factor was off the charts. If you've never been to IU you probably expect a pretty docile tailgate scene and not a whole of people in the stadium. I hadn't, so I did. Especially for an objectively crappy nonconference opponent. Maybe it was because it was the first home game of the year for the Hoosiers, but the attendance was perfectly good (even if the stadium wasn't quite full) and Indiana has a really nice tailgating zone in the trees and grass very near the stadium. Hell, the Hoosiers even came out in special new white helmets. I'm always kind of excited when the other team thinks we're a good enough occasion to break out a crowd-pleaser like that. (I, as well as my IU-alum cousin and some of those around me, liked the white helmets, and all for the same reason: it makes them not look like Oklahoma.) Other than the passive-aggressive note left on my windshield that said (among other things) "go Hookees" the IU crowd is a friendly and enjoyable bunch. (I bet if you dissed their basketball you'd find their nasty side, though.) So I highly recommend a Bloomington road trip for those with spare time.
I wasn't having very much fun, though, when the ball popped out of Perry Jones's hands near midfield. I saw the scoop; I didn't see the score, because I didn't especially feel like making the effort to stand up in the sea of Hoosier crimson around me. Neither did the elderly-ish Hoos in front of me. It was party time in Bloomington and that was affirmed when Mike Rocco threw a pick and set up the Hoosiers for yet another touchdown drive. I spent that drive meditating upon field goals that should have been touchdowns and other Things That Come Back To Haunt You.
It was very rude of me, if perhaps understandable at that point, to sort of expect Rocco to throw his third pick of the night in the attempt to lead the game-tying drive. As the history books show, he didn't, and my stupor gradually gave way, completion by completion, to renewed interest. I reassured my cousin that a minute and a half was more than plenty of time for our defense to screw things up - you know how things are with our defense - and that statement probably fell on deaf ears because it was drowned out by the sound of Cam Johnson going RAAAWWWRRR. I'm sure that's the actual noise he made when he ate Wright-Baker's head and gathered the ball from his very surprised hands. Such is the theater that brings us back to college football week after week.
Some football observations:
-- You have to give Jim Reid a ton of credit for the play call that resulted in Johnson's grab. Johnson lined up wide, outside of Laroy Reynolds who was almost a defensive end by positioning. Reynolds occupied the left tackle, who ignored Johnson entirely. Technically it was a blitz since the linebacker was rushing, but it looked nothing like one. Very well-disguised and a terrific play to call with an empty backfield; Reid won that round of rock-paper-scissors in a very big way.
-- Was it Justin Renfrow that blocked the field goal on IU's first possession? I think so. We have much defensive tackles.
-- If Robert Randolph isn't making a few Groza Award people look his direction, then there's no such thing as the Groza Award.
-- Seriously, good for Mike Rocco. That was an awesome drive with the chips down. For a true sophomore in his first year starting - or even for a senior but especially for a sophomore - it was a helluva thing to do. I'm glad I don't have to worry about how the team will respond to adversity. They screwed up a few big things but because they won it means I don't go into them in detail. They did screw up some things, though, and it warms my heart that in the end it didn't matter because resilience > mistakes. Yeah, OK. IU isn't actually good. You have to build your confidence somehow, though. Everything is harder to do when you've never done it before, and coming back after blowing a big lead is no exception.
-- That guy Wright-Baker is damn slippery, but he could not throw a downfield ball to save his life. IU will have a very good quarterback if he learns to throw more consistently like he did on IU's final touchdown, in which Demetrious Nicholson's coverage was not bad at all.
Prediction summary and the rest of the weekend review tomorrow. It does not look good for the good guys in the prediction department.
Actually, the fun factor was off the charts. If you've never been to IU you probably expect a pretty docile tailgate scene and not a whole of people in the stadium. I hadn't, so I did. Especially for an objectively crappy nonconference opponent. Maybe it was because it was the first home game of the year for the Hoosiers, but the attendance was perfectly good (even if the stadium wasn't quite full) and Indiana has a really nice tailgating zone in the trees and grass very near the stadium. Hell, the Hoosiers even came out in special new white helmets. I'm always kind of excited when the other team thinks we're a good enough occasion to break out a crowd-pleaser like that. (I, as well as my IU-alum cousin and some of those around me, liked the white helmets, and all for the same reason: it makes them not look like Oklahoma.) Other than the passive-aggressive note left on my windshield that said (among other things) "go Hookees" the IU crowd is a friendly and enjoyable bunch. (I bet if you dissed their basketball you'd find their nasty side, though.) So I highly recommend a Bloomington road trip for those with spare time.
I wasn't having very much fun, though, when the ball popped out of Perry Jones's hands near midfield. I saw the scoop; I didn't see the score, because I didn't especially feel like making the effort to stand up in the sea of Hoosier crimson around me. Neither did the elderly-ish Hoos in front of me. It was party time in Bloomington and that was affirmed when Mike Rocco threw a pick and set up the Hoosiers for yet another touchdown drive. I spent that drive meditating upon field goals that should have been touchdowns and other Things That Come Back To Haunt You.
It was very rude of me, if perhaps understandable at that point, to sort of expect Rocco to throw his third pick of the night in the attempt to lead the game-tying drive. As the history books show, he didn't, and my stupor gradually gave way, completion by completion, to renewed interest. I reassured my cousin that a minute and a half was more than plenty of time for our defense to screw things up - you know how things are with our defense - and that statement probably fell on deaf ears because it was drowned out by the sound of Cam Johnson going RAAAWWWRRR. I'm sure that's the actual noise he made when he ate Wright-Baker's head and gathered the ball from his very surprised hands. Such is the theater that brings us back to college football week after week.
Some football observations:
-- You have to give Jim Reid a ton of credit for the play call that resulted in Johnson's grab. Johnson lined up wide, outside of Laroy Reynolds who was almost a defensive end by positioning. Reynolds occupied the left tackle, who ignored Johnson entirely. Technically it was a blitz since the linebacker was rushing, but it looked nothing like one. Very well-disguised and a terrific play to call with an empty backfield; Reid won that round of rock-paper-scissors in a very big way.
-- Was it Justin Renfrow that blocked the field goal on IU's first possession? I think so. We have much defensive tackles.
-- If Robert Randolph isn't making a few Groza Award people look his direction, then there's no such thing as the Groza Award.
-- Seriously, good for Mike Rocco. That was an awesome drive with the chips down. For a true sophomore in his first year starting - or even for a senior but especially for a sophomore - it was a helluva thing to do. I'm glad I don't have to worry about how the team will respond to adversity. They screwed up a few big things but because they won it means I don't go into them in detail. They did screw up some things, though, and it warms my heart that in the end it didn't matter because resilience > mistakes. Yeah, OK. IU isn't actually good. You have to build your confidence somehow, though. Everything is harder to do when you've never done it before, and coming back after blowing a big lead is no exception.
-- That guy Wright-Baker is damn slippery, but he could not throw a downfield ball to save his life. IU will have a very good quarterback if he learns to throw more consistently like he did on IU's final touchdown, in which Demetrious Nicholson's coverage was not bad at all.
Prediction summary and the rest of the weekend review tomorrow. It does not look good for the good guys in the prediction department.
Monday, September 5, 2011
weekend review
And I'm back from mini-vacation. Had time to squeeze in some game-watching, which is good because there's something about winning by 37 that makes long weekends even better. Doesn't even matter who you're playing.
I can't think of any bad things to say about the game that don't involve "but it was 'only William & Mary.'" Not many, anyway. A few small things, I guess, that could theoretically dampen your enthusiasm but probably shouldn't:
-- Mike Paulus sucked. The defense benefited greatly from a horrible, horrible day by the opposing quarterback that wasn't even the result of awesome coverage or a ton of pressure. I mean, that was poor.
-- Eight penalties, although I was actually surprised to see the number was that high. I kept thinking to myself during the game how penalty-free things were looking. Guess I wasn't paying close enough attention to the flags.
-- David Watford looked pretty freshman-y.
But that's about it. Otherwise, helmet stickers for all. I could spend all day listing all the great things about the game and all the players that stood out with quality performances, but that's too long a list, so here's the one thing that made this thing fun above all other things: Freshmen. Specifically, the new faces that played starring roles. Doesn't necessarily have to be freshmen; Tim Smith kind of burst onto the scene in a whole new way, for example, as did Justin Renfrow and Will Hill on the defensive line. Kevin Parks and Clifton Richardson running the ball. Mike Rocco. Demetrious Nicholson with an interception. Darius Jennings. It's kind of a truism that a coach's "era" doesn't really begin until his second year, and here we are and that era just began in a very big way.
*********************************************
This is a new thing I'm doing this year, which by the end of the season will either be a huge exercise in trumpeting my own horn, or an unprecedented display of embarrassing accountability. Veteran readers might have picked up on the different format for game previews this year, including a set of predictons, and I'm going to review them semi-excruciatingly and see how I did. And keep track all year, to see if I'm good at this stuff or not. Here, then, are the predictions I made in the game preview and whether or not they came to pass:
- UVA's biggest advantage will be when they are running the ball, as W&M's front seven is too undersized and unable to rotate players effectively.
Verdict: Oh, absolutely. Nothing went better on Saturday than the running game. UVA ran the ball whenever and wherever they wanted, and everybody got in on that action. Complete dominance on the ground. If the ground game gets two-thirds of that kind of result in every game this year UVA will win eight games. Prediction was TRUE.
- Perry Jones will carry for more than 100 yards.
Verdict: FALSE thanks to the hot hand of Kevin Parks. Otherwise he probably would've.
- Kris Burd will have more than 100 yards receiving.
Verdict: FALSE again, as the passing game plan was even more conservative than I expected and Tim Smith was the one who led the team in receiving. These are both very healthy falses though; they bode well for the offense.
- Mike Rocco's day will look a lot like Marc Verica's against Richmond in 2010.
Verdict: I'm gonna give myself a TRUE even though Rocco threw for 100 fewer yards and no touchdowns (Verica had one.) Why? Both had high completion percentages, rarely threw deep, and were given a very similar game plan. Really what caused the difference in their stats was the use of Watford for a few series and the late insertion of Ross Metheny. Verica threw all the passes last year.
- David Watford will throw the ball at least once or twice.
Verdict: Obviously TRUE as he threw five times; in retrospect this looks like a silly gimme and I feel a littly guilty taking credit, but I'm going to anyway.
- Jonathan Grimes will have at least one big run.
Verdict: FALSE in a very good way. Grimes, the Heisman-equivalent candidate, was a complete nonfactor.
- W&M will find little running room inside.
Verdict: TRUE in a very good way. W&M's running game was shut down; they averaged 2.75 yards even when you don't count the one sack. No room either inside or out.
- W&M will have some success passing the ball in the short game to Grimes and Alex Gottlieb, but the receivers will be, by and large, shut down.
Verdict: Half TRUE, so I'm counting it. They'd've had more success going to Gottlieb if Paulus could've delivered the ball to his area code. The wide receivers were a nonfactor. Ryan Woolfolk didn't catch a pass; D.J. Mangas caught three, but all the rest of the completions (such as there were) went to backs and tight ends and suchlike.
- UVA's pass rush will give Mike Paulus trouble.
Verdict: Not so much, actually. One "sack," of which Paulus was not the victim, and was the result of forcing the ball out of bounds rather than your traditional sack. I don't remember many blitzes by the UVA defense and I wouldn't be surprised at all to re-review the game and find there were none. Very, very vanilla gameplan on defense, especially starting in the third quarter when the game was getting out of hand; I think after that point the defense just stood in the basic 4-3 without a single wrinkle. The pocket got pushed inwards at times, but the pass rush just was not a factor. Going out on a FALSE note.
This leaves me 5 for 9 on the week. Going to keep track all season and see how I do.
*********************************************
Now for the Senior Seasons section, in which we check in on the verbal commits and how they're doing this year:
DeMatha 24, Loyola Blakefield 20: Michael Moore knocked down a fourth-and-goal pass in the late minutes to preserve DeMatha's season-opening win. DeMatha is 1-0.
Salem 31, Bayside 6: Major humbling for Bayside. Anthony Cooper had just three catches for 40 yards. Some major 2013 targets involved here, including Bayside RB Taquan Mizzell and Salem QB Bucky Hodges. Bayside is 0-1.
Ocean Lakes 40, Princess Anne 7: Eli Harold caught 3 passes for 73 yards. Ocean Lakes is 1-0.
Landstown 27, Kellam 7: Kyle Dockins intercepted a pass. Landstown is 1-0.
North Cross 34, Norfolk Christian 27: Worrisome start to the season for the NCS boys; they lost to Liberty Christian last Monday in a makeup of their game that was postponed by the hurricane. Mario Nixon had four catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns.
Other games:
Admiral Farragut 42, Victory Christian 13 (Demeitre Brim**; VCA is 0-1.)
Buford 35, Carver 7 (C.J. Moore; Buford is 3-0.)
Appling County 35, Wayne County 25 (Greyson Lambert; Wayne is 0-1-1.)
Ridley 21, Malvern Prep 20 (Michael Mooney; Malvern is 0-1.)
Council Rock North 42, Central Bucks South 20 (Matt Johns; CB South is 0-1.)
Langham Creek 66, Stratford 28 (Kelvin Rainey; Stratford is 0-2.)
Green Run 22, Cox 16 (Mark Hall; Green Run is 1-0.)
Hampton 43, Heritage 0 (Jamall Brown; Hampton is 1-0.)
**Brim is out for a little bit with a broken jaw.
*********************************************
And you know we can't go without a famous recruiting board update. We pretty much have to since it's been like three weeks and that was enough time for some action. Here are the changes:
- Moved CB Kelvin Rainey from green to orange. Rainey committed just today; you might've noticed I snuck in his results from this week above.
- Removed RB Chris Mangus from blue. Whatever tactic they're using at VT to recruit running backs out from under our nose, it's working. (Likely enough it's "you don't want to sit behind Clifton Richardson and Kevin Parks for four years" which means we're in pretty good shape, actually.)
- Removed OT Blake Fromang (Vandy) and S A.J. Justice (SMU) from yellow. The latter's offer was only semi-committable with this class filling up.
That's it for that. There isn't much drama left here; Canaan Severin will be the next one to watch for.
But lastly, that's not it for recruiting. The biggest recruiting news of the weekend came from the basketball world - and won't pay off for years. That would be the commitment of B.J. Stith, and if the name seems vaguely familiar then you need to brush up on your history, son. B.J. is the younger son of all-time UVA great Bryant Stith; his brother Brandan will eventually join him (probably), giving us a thrill in 2014 when not one but two Stiths are once again in uniform for the Hoos.** I usually write up a profile on basketball recruits right away, but I had to have a little internal debate on this one and "write a profile" lost out. B.J. is just a sophomore starting this year; a damn good one, supposedly, but a sophomore nonetheless and there isn't much to go on. I'll file it for the summer of 2013. We're just gonna have to be patient on this one.
**Having a Stith in blue and orange again is yet another good reason to play a throwback game once a year in U-Hall. This needs to happen.
I can't think of any bad things to say about the game that don't involve "but it was 'only William & Mary.'" Not many, anyway. A few small things, I guess, that could theoretically dampen your enthusiasm but probably shouldn't:
-- Mike Paulus sucked. The defense benefited greatly from a horrible, horrible day by the opposing quarterback that wasn't even the result of awesome coverage or a ton of pressure. I mean, that was poor.
-- Eight penalties, although I was actually surprised to see the number was that high. I kept thinking to myself during the game how penalty-free things were looking. Guess I wasn't paying close enough attention to the flags.
-- David Watford looked pretty freshman-y.
But that's about it. Otherwise, helmet stickers for all. I could spend all day listing all the great things about the game and all the players that stood out with quality performances, but that's too long a list, so here's the one thing that made this thing fun above all other things: Freshmen. Specifically, the new faces that played starring roles. Doesn't necessarily have to be freshmen; Tim Smith kind of burst onto the scene in a whole new way, for example, as did Justin Renfrow and Will Hill on the defensive line. Kevin Parks and Clifton Richardson running the ball. Mike Rocco. Demetrious Nicholson with an interception. Darius Jennings. It's kind of a truism that a coach's "era" doesn't really begin until his second year, and here we are and that era just began in a very big way.
*********************************************
This is a new thing I'm doing this year, which by the end of the season will either be a huge exercise in trumpeting my own horn, or an unprecedented display of embarrassing accountability. Veteran readers might have picked up on the different format for game previews this year, including a set of predictons, and I'm going to review them semi-excruciatingly and see how I did. And keep track all year, to see if I'm good at this stuff or not. Here, then, are the predictions I made in the game preview and whether or not they came to pass:
- UVA's biggest advantage will be when they are running the ball, as W&M's front seven is too undersized and unable to rotate players effectively.
Verdict: Oh, absolutely. Nothing went better on Saturday than the running game. UVA ran the ball whenever and wherever they wanted, and everybody got in on that action. Complete dominance on the ground. If the ground game gets two-thirds of that kind of result in every game this year UVA will win eight games. Prediction was TRUE.
- Perry Jones will carry for more than 100 yards.
Verdict: FALSE thanks to the hot hand of Kevin Parks. Otherwise he probably would've.
- Kris Burd will have more than 100 yards receiving.
Verdict: FALSE again, as the passing game plan was even more conservative than I expected and Tim Smith was the one who led the team in receiving. These are both very healthy falses though; they bode well for the offense.
- Mike Rocco's day will look a lot like Marc Verica's against Richmond in 2010.
Verdict: I'm gonna give myself a TRUE even though Rocco threw for 100 fewer yards and no touchdowns (Verica had one.) Why? Both had high completion percentages, rarely threw deep, and were given a very similar game plan. Really what caused the difference in their stats was the use of Watford for a few series and the late insertion of Ross Metheny. Verica threw all the passes last year.
- David Watford will throw the ball at least once or twice.
Verdict: Obviously TRUE as he threw five times; in retrospect this looks like a silly gimme and I feel a littly guilty taking credit, but I'm going to anyway.
- Jonathan Grimes will have at least one big run.
Verdict: FALSE in a very good way. Grimes, the Heisman-equivalent candidate, was a complete nonfactor.
- W&M will find little running room inside.
Verdict: TRUE in a very good way. W&M's running game was shut down; they averaged 2.75 yards even when you don't count the one sack. No room either inside or out.
- W&M will have some success passing the ball in the short game to Grimes and Alex Gottlieb, but the receivers will be, by and large, shut down.
Verdict: Half TRUE, so I'm counting it. They'd've had more success going to Gottlieb if Paulus could've delivered the ball to his area code. The wide receivers were a nonfactor. Ryan Woolfolk didn't catch a pass; D.J. Mangas caught three, but all the rest of the completions (such as there were) went to backs and tight ends and suchlike.
- UVA's pass rush will give Mike Paulus trouble.
Verdict: Not so much, actually. One "sack," of which Paulus was not the victim, and was the result of forcing the ball out of bounds rather than your traditional sack. I don't remember many blitzes by the UVA defense and I wouldn't be surprised at all to re-review the game and find there were none. Very, very vanilla gameplan on defense, especially starting in the third quarter when the game was getting out of hand; I think after that point the defense just stood in the basic 4-3 without a single wrinkle. The pocket got pushed inwards at times, but the pass rush just was not a factor. Going out on a FALSE note.
This leaves me 5 for 9 on the week. Going to keep track all season and see how I do.
*********************************************
Now for the Senior Seasons section, in which we check in on the verbal commits and how they're doing this year:
DeMatha 24, Loyola Blakefield 20: Michael Moore knocked down a fourth-and-goal pass in the late minutes to preserve DeMatha's season-opening win. DeMatha is 1-0.
Salem 31, Bayside 6: Major humbling for Bayside. Anthony Cooper had just three catches for 40 yards. Some major 2013 targets involved here, including Bayside RB Taquan Mizzell and Salem QB Bucky Hodges. Bayside is 0-1.
Ocean Lakes 40, Princess Anne 7: Eli Harold caught 3 passes for 73 yards. Ocean Lakes is 1-0.
Landstown 27, Kellam 7: Kyle Dockins intercepted a pass. Landstown is 1-0.
North Cross 34, Norfolk Christian 27: Worrisome start to the season for the NCS boys; they lost to Liberty Christian last Monday in a makeup of their game that was postponed by the hurricane. Mario Nixon had four catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns.
Other games:
Admiral Farragut 42, Victory Christian 13 (Demeitre Brim**; VCA is 0-1.)
Buford 35, Carver 7 (C.J. Moore; Buford is 3-0.)
Appling County 35, Wayne County 25 (Greyson Lambert; Wayne is 0-1-1.)
Ridley 21, Malvern Prep 20 (Michael Mooney; Malvern is 0-1.)
Council Rock North 42, Central Bucks South 20 (Matt Johns; CB South is 0-1.)
Langham Creek 66, Stratford 28 (Kelvin Rainey; Stratford is 0-2.)
Green Run 22, Cox 16 (Mark Hall; Green Run is 1-0.)
Hampton 43, Heritage 0 (Jamall Brown; Hampton is 1-0.)
**Brim is out for a little bit with a broken jaw.
*********************************************
And you know we can't go without a famous recruiting board update. We pretty much have to since it's been like three weeks and that was enough time for some action. Here are the changes:
- Moved CB Kelvin Rainey from green to orange. Rainey committed just today; you might've noticed I snuck in his results from this week above.
- Removed RB Chris Mangus from blue. Whatever tactic they're using at VT to recruit running backs out from under our nose, it's working. (Likely enough it's "you don't want to sit behind Clifton Richardson and Kevin Parks for four years" which means we're in pretty good shape, actually.)
- Removed OT Blake Fromang (Vandy) and S A.J. Justice (SMU) from yellow. The latter's offer was only semi-committable with this class filling up.
That's it for that. There isn't much drama left here; Canaan Severin will be the next one to watch for.
But lastly, that's not it for recruiting. The biggest recruiting news of the weekend came from the basketball world - and won't pay off for years. That would be the commitment of B.J. Stith, and if the name seems vaguely familiar then you need to brush up on your history, son. B.J. is the younger son of all-time UVA great Bryant Stith; his brother Brandan will eventually join him (probably), giving us a thrill in 2014 when not one but two Stiths are once again in uniform for the Hoos.** I usually write up a profile on basketball recruits right away, but I had to have a little internal debate on this one and "write a profile" lost out. B.J. is just a sophomore starting this year; a damn good one, supposedly, but a sophomore nonetheless and there isn't much to go on. I'll file it for the summer of 2013. We're just gonna have to be patient on this one.
**Having a Stith in blue and orange again is yet another good reason to play a throwback game once a year in U-Hall. This needs to happen.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
the recruit: Justin Renfrow
There's a little bit of interesting fluff in the CDP on Mamadi Diane and the slump he's been in so far this season. The good news is that as I write, the first half of the Brown game is winding to a close and Diane has 7 points on 3-of-5 shooting. If his knee is feeling better and he's breaking out of a slump this is the perfect time, what with the ACC part of the schedule starting in earnest on Saturday. And ohbytheway, speaking of Mo, Dave Leitao is clearly a reader of this blog, because guess who started the game tonight?
'Nuff bragging. Let's get to business.
Name: Justin Renfrow
Position: DE
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
School: William Penn Charter
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 260
ESPN: 78, #43 DE
Rivals: 5.5, three stars, #43 DE, #20 player in PA
Scout: three stars, #18....umm, TE
The first thing that pops at you (or at least, me) in the short list of essentials there is Renfrow's school. You might recognize it as the school that our point guard, Sammy Zeglinski, hails from, and oh yeah, some guy who was also kinda halfway decent at basketball by the name of Sean Singletary.
So Renfrow's recruitment was actually very short. Renfrow had piled up about six offers - his favorite being North Carolina - by late June, when we had prospect camp. Renfrow arrived in town with no Virginia offer and left a Cavalier. We can thank Singletary for helping make Renfrow a Hoo fan. (Rivals $)
The neat thing too is that at 260 pounds, Renfrow is already a college-sized DE. Actually he's a little undersized for the 3-4 yet, because the 3-4 demands that DEs act like DT's against the run, but for pass-rushing he's pretty much already there and we shouldn't act surprised next year if he ends up on the field in obvious passing situations. A good candidate to play some as a true freshman.
So there's a lot of good things that add up here. Decent ratings from the services. Plenty of attention from quality BCS schools (West Virginia and UNC offered, Penn State was thinking about it.) Good size. Even got the newspaper accolades (second-team all city.) Oh, and he's a basketball player and a damn good one - good enough to attract attention from some of the better mid-majors around, like Davidson and Lehigh. So, plenty of athleticism. The only unfortunate thing is that there's no film on him that I've found. OK, there is, but it's all taken at some camp he went to, and I'm not a scout, so watching him do footwork drills around a three-yard patch of grass doesn't do anything for me. ESPN and Rivals have film from the same camp, and the Rivals one shows him basically getting repeatedly torched in pass coverage, which doesn't matter because he'll be going toward the quarterback instead of away from him when game time rolls around. Bottom line is, I would not bet on a redshirt here, and I like Renfrow's chances of reminding us of Jeffrey Fitzgerald only with good grades.
'Nuff bragging. Let's get to business.
Name: Justin Renfrow
Position: DE
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
School: William Penn Charter
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 260
ESPN: 78, #43 DE
Rivals: 5.5, three stars, #43 DE, #20 player in PA
Scout: three stars, #18....umm, TE
The first thing that pops at you (or at least, me) in the short list of essentials there is Renfrow's school. You might recognize it as the school that our point guard, Sammy Zeglinski, hails from, and oh yeah, some guy who was also kinda halfway decent at basketball by the name of Sean Singletary.
So Renfrow's recruitment was actually very short. Renfrow had piled up about six offers - his favorite being North Carolina - by late June, when we had prospect camp. Renfrow arrived in town with no Virginia offer and left a Cavalier. We can thank Singletary for helping make Renfrow a Hoo fan. (Rivals $)
The neat thing too is that at 260 pounds, Renfrow is already a college-sized DE. Actually he's a little undersized for the 3-4 yet, because the 3-4 demands that DEs act like DT's against the run, but for pass-rushing he's pretty much already there and we shouldn't act surprised next year if he ends up on the field in obvious passing situations. A good candidate to play some as a true freshman.
So there's a lot of good things that add up here. Decent ratings from the services. Plenty of attention from quality BCS schools (West Virginia and UNC offered, Penn State was thinking about it.) Good size. Even got the newspaper accolades (second-team all city.) Oh, and he's a basketball player and a damn good one - good enough to attract attention from some of the better mid-majors around, like Davidson and Lehigh. So, plenty of athleticism. The only unfortunate thing is that there's no film on him that I've found. OK, there is, but it's all taken at some camp he went to, and I'm not a scout, so watching him do footwork drills around a three-yard patch of grass doesn't do anything for me. ESPN and Rivals have film from the same camp, and the Rivals one shows him basically getting repeatedly torched in pass coverage, which doesn't matter because he'll be going toward the quarterback instead of away from him when game time rolls around. Bottom line is, I would not bet on a redshirt here, and I like Renfrow's chances of reminding us of Jeffrey Fitzgerald only with good grades.
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