Junior College recruiting is always a hotly debated topic. I think everyone's ideal scenario (Outside of Alabama, Michigan and USC) is landing a class that's at least 17-20 deep in preps that average a 3.5 star rating. Obviously no one is going to complain if a class includes some JC studs, as long as they come in ready to play.
2016 has been an interesting year for ASU when it comes to JC recruits, because on paper, it seemed like the Sun Devils struck gold
- Christian Hill and Dougladson Subtyl were 4-star pass rushers
- City College of San Francisco teammates AJ McCollum and Michael Sleep Dalton were considered by some to be the best at their positions in the country
- Tyson Rising amassed 14 offers, and likely would have had more if he waited
- ASU won a late recruiting war for Alex Losoya over multiple SEC and Big-12 schools
- Koron Crump, J'Marcus Rhodes and Maurice Chandler were ranked 39, 42, and 59 in the top 100 JuCo prospects of the 2016 class
- Deion Guignard chose ASU over staying in Texas and going to upstart Houston.
Yet this class hasn't made the immediate impact many had hoped. Christian Hill is raw, and has had as many or more reps on offense as he has had rushing the passer. Doug Subtyl didn't qualify and is currently in limbo. AJ McCollum came in out of shape, and seems to have (possibly temporarily) lost the starting job he earned to a walk on. Tyson Rising has been injured all season. Maurice Chandler and J'Marcus Rhodes haven't taken advantage of opportunities to seize starting jobs. Alex Losoya and Deion Guignard have only made brief cameos in a handful of games. As of now, the only instant-impact player has been Koron Crump, who is among the nation's leaders in sacks for a linebacker.
ASU doesn't yet have any JuCo commits for the 2017 class, and one might think that with how many they took in 2016, and the
wait-and-see approach ASU has taken with what is the deepest local recruiting class in the history of the state, that JuCo might not be a priority this year. I don't believe that to be the case. I just think Arizona State is being more selective than usual in this area, and I also believe that ASU is hot on the trail of some already committed JuCo prospects.
Securing Doug Subtyl's enrollment at ASU will be the class of 2017's #1 priority, and ASU will also benefit from the addition of Oklahoma transfer John Humphrey and Texas transfer Ryan Newsome. Beyond that, here are the JuCo players that I believe you should be watching out for:
1)
Gary Johnson- 4 star ILB, Dodge City CC
Johnson's profile doesn't show an ASU offer, but the Sun Devils did offer him back in April, and they've been pursuing him ever since- even though he had he committed to Alabama a month before that. As it turns out, Johnson can't attend Alabama, or any SEC school, because his algebra class wasn't taken at the same JuCo that he attends. He announced on Sunday that he wouldn't be at Alabama, opening the door for Arizona State as a possibility.
2)
Stephen Guidry- 4 star WR, Hinds CC
ASU offered Guidry in April, and he hasn't been shy about sharing some of the recruiting promo stuff he's received on social media (
Here, and
here). Guidry was committed to LSU from mid-May until early October, when all the Les Miles stuff went down.
3)
Brandon Martin- 4 star WR , Gulf Coast CC
Martin signed with Auburn out of high school and committed to Auburn earlier this year, but he backed off that commitment within a week, and ASU is in hot pursuit. Martin, like Guidry, is 6-4 and is an instant-impact playmaker.
4) Jonathan Abram- DB, Jones County JC
Abram started 4 games for Georgia as a freshman and is playing at Jones County this year before presumable enrolling at another SEC school. ASU still wants him though, as do several Pac-12 schools. Abram has teammates at Jones County who I also believe ASU has taken an interest in. They
offered one of them yesterday, and could offer 3-star DE
Marques Ford before it's all said and done. Ford started out at Rutgers before transferring.
5)
Marquise Brown- WR, College of the Canyons
Brown is probably the fastest JuCo WR in the country. He's an athlete on TIm WHite's level, but unlike Tim White- everyone knows who he is. He'll be a tough get.
6)
Malik Young- DL, Eastern Arizona CC
Young has been by ASU already with a few of his teammates. The 6-3, 285 DT is in high demand, and Arizona State could have the inside track because of proximity, but they could also lose out to any team that tells him he can play immediately, or anyone near where he grew up in Georgia. We'll have to wait and see.
7)
Preston Hendry- DL, Orange Coast CC
Hendry has already visited ASU, and I believe he's looking for the offer that will keep him closest to the coast. ASU is a strong contender if they choose to pursue Hendry as a part of the 2017 class.
8)
Badara Traore- OL, ASA College
Arizona State was the first to offer the 6-8, 310 OL, now the 4-star JuCo product has 20+ offers and will probably end up in the SEC. My guess is Georgia.
9)
Maurice Burton- DE/OLB, Scottsdale CC
I haven't seen or heard of anyone besides ASU offering Burton, who led AZ JuCos in sacks as a freshman. I know his offer is legit, because he tweeted a picture of his official offer back in August. This is a strong likelihood for ASU, especially if he's not receiving other offers. It's possible he's just not publicizing them though.
10)
Mik'Quan Dean- TE, NEO A&M JC
As Hod has previously written, there's a strong chance ASU would have already taken a commitment from Dean if everything was sound academically. Not sure if Dean is still in ASU's plans, and I've noticed Dean's other official visits are focused in the southeast.
11)
Walter Palmore- DT, Eastern Arizona CC
Arizona State moved in on Palmore last week after the group of EAC players all came to visit ASU with Malik Young. The 6-4, 305 pound prospect migth be open to a package deal scenario with Young, but Georgia has been after him a while, as well as Houston and West Virginia.
Here are a few players with reported ASU offers that I do not believe are part of their plans:
Daquan Wilson- DE, LA Harbor CC
Gabriel Luyanda- DE, Garden City CC
Ben Sutton- DB, Blinn College
Octavious Morgan- DB, Butler CC
Some others to look out for include New Mexico Military Institute's Jordan Harris (6-6, 320 OT, 2 for 2), Riverside City College's
Brandon Brooks (6-3 DB, 3 for 2), Mesa CC's
CJ Leggett (2 for 2, former Georgia Tech RB), Highland CC's
Marquis Terry (3 for 2, recently made Rivals JuCo's top RB prospect rankings), Pearl River CC's
Matthew Eaton (Iowa State commit, 6-4 WR), Blinn College's
Jhavonte Dean (4-star DB, Alabama commit), Arizona Western's
Craig Evans (6-4, 310 DT), College of the Desert's
De'Jon Wilson (6-2 safety),
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