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Ed. Note: So, there were only 3 questions asked for this week's mailbag, even with two weeks since the last one. Maybe there's just not much left to question after Signing Day. In any case, I've added a couple of my own, but feel free to leave comments if you think this feature needs to be more of a monthly thing or something.
Who else do u see Gregory trying to get before the end of recruiting? A few bigs or do you see other positions?
I think the best way to look at this is by checking out what we're losing, and what we already have coming in to replace that. On the way out, there's...
C Daniel Miller
C/F Kam Holsey
G/F Jason Morris
G Trae Golden
G Solomon Poole
Coming in, there's...
G Tadric Jackson, 4*
C Ben Lammers, 3*
So you figure we're losing two big guys and currently have one committed, and we're losing three guards with one committed. I would think Gregory is looking for another big guy (hopefully thicker than the 6'10", 220lb Lammers and 6'8", 200lb Quinton Stephens) and probably one more guard or small forward -- ideally someone with some range, because that's been a major lack this year for his team (315th nationally at 31%). Also, you'll notice that we're losing 5 of 12 scholarship players, and that we'll add another, perhaps by transfer. I can't imagine Brooks Doyle will get a scholarship unless there's one sitting around, and if he does it'll be a one-year deal.
Major points of emphasis to improve on right now are inside presence, especially without Daniel Miller there, and shooting/distributing up top.
How does Travin Henry translate to defense?
It's going to be interesting, honestly. In addition to WR, Henry actually played DE in high school, and that's probably the last time you'll hear me say that about a receiver. He's a big guy though, and has the frame to do it at 6'4" and about 235lbs coming out of high school. (He's now listed at more like 210lbs.) His straight-line speed isn't fantastic (although as a receiver, when you're that big, it doesn't have to be), but I'm sure that he's got the strength and agility necessary to at least contend for playing time at the DE spot. Henry could turn into a bit of an unfortunate case here, getting caught up with a bunch of guys roughly as good as him, with no real playing time left for him. He'll certainly get a shot though, and it'll be interesting to see if he makes the field much on either side.
The other spot I'd be interested to see how he fits in at is at the SLB -- you'd like to think that as a receiver, he'd have the speed to go with his bulk to make plays there. With Brandon Watts gone, Tyler Marcordes is the heir apparent, even though he's never seemed like a major player at that position. Depending on where Henry's weight is, he might be a pretty good fit there as well.
Olympics; whatcha watching?
BTW, the answer is Great Britain’s Lady’s CURLING team. Curling: the only sport where the playing surface keeps your favorite adult beverage at the perfect temperature.
Really? There's this new game out there called "hockey" that might also fit that bill.
Speaking of which, I love watching hockey in the Olympics, but can rarely find it on. Seen a lot of speed skating and skiing (of all varieties), some snowboarding, more figure skating than I've wanted to (or would care to admit to)...
Not a lot of stuff that's gone right up my alley so far. I'm most looking forward to hockey. Been catching up on my 2004 Disney films starring Kurt Russell in preparation though!
We got this new, fancy recruiting support this year, but our class was still average by rankings. What gives?
Great question! I don't think this year the recruiting support necessarily had an impact on the pure quality of guys we were getting, but I do think it had an impact elsewhere. Remember, we only had two de-commitments after losing over five per year over the past three years. I think the recruiting staff impacted retention, in that as we got closer to Signing Day, they were the ones screening film. Meanwhile, the staff was using that saved time to keep in contact with the guys we already had and go see them at schools -- thereby keeping guys committed and under our wing, safe from other schools.
