In your opinion, what do the JC number of players being recruited say about the state of ASU football these days, as we've now completed four years under Graham and we now have more JC recruits, I believe, coming into the program than ever before..??
We don't have more JC recruits than ever before under Graham, since we had 10 JC recruits in 2012, his first year here, and another 9 in 2013, followed by 6 in 2014 and 4 last year, if my numbers are correct...so, that's a total of 29 JC players over a four year span and were adding another 8 or more this year...
Keep in mind that Stanford, which has now won three of the past four PAC titles, does not recruit JC players...
Also keep in mind that most JC players only contribute for one or two seasons and you're pretty lucky if you get more than one good year out of them, while Stanford gets 2-3-4-5 seasons of contributions from most of their players, it seems, so this is a value question to me...specially, are they worth it, considering they usually only contribute a year or two to the program, when a good HS player will contribute 4-5 years most of the time, unless they are so good that they can turn pro early..??
Of the 29 JC players that signed with the Devils, about 1/3 of them have been really valuable to the program, as they were true difference makers like J Strong, M Grice, C Young, M Hardison, D Randall and A Longino (etc) and about another third have been "pretty good" contributors, so about half, after we quibble about what constitutes a "good contribution" or not, as some would be borderline at best using this descriptor, have not really panned out as planned, unless they were just seen as roster guys and not much more, which I kind of doubt, as I don't see Graham and his staff giving scholarships for anything but potential contributors once they got to ASU...
Obviously, we haven't really gotten it done in the secondary, offensive line and at the Devilbacker position with enough quality HS players, over past four Graham recruiting cycles, to have turned the corner on not needing JC players at these positions or am I wrong about that..??
Taking this all in, will ASU remind most in the PAC of a program like Kansas-State under Bill Snyder, that elevated that program using a lot of JC players over the years or would we be better off following the lead of a PAC program like Stanford, that doesn't recruit JC players but wins championships anyways..??
Of course, there is a middle ground where you only take an elite JC player when you can get them to supplement your primarily HS player roster, which is where I think we are headed, eventually, I guess...
So, where should Graham be given that we are now entering his fifth year at ASU and taking just about as many JC players as he did when he first came to ASU..??
Is this no big deal or is it a somewhat alarming trend in your estimation since this is his fifth year at ASU..??
Also, can a school like ASU ever win PAC championships without having some JC players on its roster like Stanford..??
Or, is that even an option given the reality of recruiting misses and season long attrition..??
What is the ideal number of JC guys a program like ASU should bring in each year and why..??
Just some food for thought as we wait for the Cactus Bowl to arrive...Go Devils!!!
We don't have more JC recruits than ever before under Graham, since we had 10 JC recruits in 2012, his first year here, and another 9 in 2013, followed by 6 in 2014 and 4 last year, if my numbers are correct...so, that's a total of 29 JC players over a four year span and were adding another 8 or more this year...
Keep in mind that Stanford, which has now won three of the past four PAC titles, does not recruit JC players...
Also keep in mind that most JC players only contribute for one or two seasons and you're pretty lucky if you get more than one good year out of them, while Stanford gets 2-3-4-5 seasons of contributions from most of their players, it seems, so this is a value question to me...specially, are they worth it, considering they usually only contribute a year or two to the program, when a good HS player will contribute 4-5 years most of the time, unless they are so good that they can turn pro early..??
Of the 29 JC players that signed with the Devils, about 1/3 of them have been really valuable to the program, as they were true difference makers like J Strong, M Grice, C Young, M Hardison, D Randall and A Longino (etc) and about another third have been "pretty good" contributors, so about half, after we quibble about what constitutes a "good contribution" or not, as some would be borderline at best using this descriptor, have not really panned out as planned, unless they were just seen as roster guys and not much more, which I kind of doubt, as I don't see Graham and his staff giving scholarships for anything but potential contributors once they got to ASU...
Obviously, we haven't really gotten it done in the secondary, offensive line and at the Devilbacker position with enough quality HS players, over past four Graham recruiting cycles, to have turned the corner on not needing JC players at these positions or am I wrong about that..??
Taking this all in, will ASU remind most in the PAC of a program like Kansas-State under Bill Snyder, that elevated that program using a lot of JC players over the years or would we be better off following the lead of a PAC program like Stanford, that doesn't recruit JC players but wins championships anyways..??
Of course, there is a middle ground where you only take an elite JC player when you can get them to supplement your primarily HS player roster, which is where I think we are headed, eventually, I guess...
So, where should Graham be given that we are now entering his fifth year at ASU and taking just about as many JC players as he did when he first came to ASU..??
Is this no big deal or is it a somewhat alarming trend in your estimation since this is his fifth year at ASU..??
Also, can a school like ASU ever win PAC championships without having some JC players on its roster like Stanford..??
Or, is that even an option given the reality of recruiting misses and season long attrition..??
What is the ideal number of JC guys a program like ASU should bring in each year and why..??
Just some food for thought as we wait for the Cactus Bowl to arrive...Go Devils!!!
