The unofficial online home for fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

Final weekend of recruiting before signing day, and with a men's b-ball game at home against Akron hopefully the kids on visits have a good time. I hope we're able to hold onto our verbals and pull a couple other quality recruits that aren't yet reported.

(01-31-2014 08:56 AM)Polish Hammer Wrote:  Final weekend of recruiting before signing day, and with a men's b-ball game at home against Akron hopefully the kids on visits have a good time. I hope we're able to hold onto our verbals and pull a couple other quality recruits that aren't yet reported.

Yes! Looking forward to seeing what kind of a class Coach Haynes can pull off with a full year under his belt. We need immediate help at more than one position so lets hope we can fill the holes that were exposed last year.

Here's hoping that "lightning" will strike twice and we can find ourselves another diamond in the rough Dri Archer-esque recruit

When will the conference schedules be released???

(01-08-2014 10:56 AM)Polish Hammer Wrote:  

(09-30-2013 10:32 PM)GoFlashes7 Wrote:  Haynes/staff newest commit: Kent State Flashes
Moeller wide receiver commits to Kent State
By Ron Ledgard Published: September 30, 2013
Cincinnati Moeller wide receiver Isaiah Gentry commited to Kent State tonight. The 6-foot-4, 175 pound Gentry had one other offer from the University of Akron.

scout.com player page: http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8...id=7095258

rivals.com player page: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/re...try-143285

I hope I'm wrong, but I'm assuming this kid won't end up with us as his recruitment picked up a lot after he verbaled to us.

Just as I suspected, he flipped his verbal and is going to Minnesota after all. This is the type of kid that could've made a difference here in the MAC and played right away, instead he'll redshirt and sit a couple of seasons before getting a shot.

Coach Haynes/Staff secured 2 more commitments today per scoutingohio.com :

Mark Porter @Mark__Porter
(QB) Quan Robinson - Commits to Kent State - GLENVILLE HIGH SCHOOL - Class of 2014 http://fb.me/2NHQG9YvR


Mark Porter @Mark__Porter
(ATH) Eldin Anu - Commits to Kent State - WESTERVILLE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL- Class of 2014 #ScoutingOhio http://fb.me/6KzrnVEsq

Here is my attempt @ showing the solid verbal commitments, soft verbal commitments, & recruits who verbaled previously (scoutingohio.com), but no other sites show them as current verbal commitments to KSU as of February 4th 2014.

2 Transfers:
Najee Murray, DB, Ohio State - http://www.kentstatesports.com/roster.as...h=football

Nick Cuthbert, DB, Georgia Tech - http://www.kentstatesports.com/roster.as...h=football

Solid Verbal Commitments:
OLB - James Alexander - from Miami Jackson HS in Miami FL
CB - Jerrell Foster - Winton Woods HS
CB - Erik Simpson - Glenville HS
K - Shane Hynes - Clarkston HS in Clarkston MI
QB - George Bollas - Aurora HS
S - Marcus Elliott - Whitmer HS
LB - Reggie Howard - Withrow HS
RB - Miles Hibbler - Troy HS
OL/DL - Stefano Millin - Massillon HS
DT - Kalil Morris - Bishop Hartley HS
S - Luke Grandjean - Hoover High School
OL - Connor Shinsky - Knoch High School in Saxonburg PA
LB/S - Marques Moore - Springfield HS
OL - Nathan Puthoff - St Charles Prep HS
QB - Quan Robinson - Glenville HS
ATH - Eldin Anu - Westerville Central HS
DT - Zack Singer - Bishop Gorman HS in Las Vegas NV

Recruits who previously made verbal commitments, but don't show as being commitments right now:
DT - Ryan Reese - Trotwood Madison HS (still uncommitted on espn.com)
OL - Collin Prouty - Dresden Tri-Valley HS
OT - Kyle Ritz - Willoughby South HS (still uncommitted on espn.com)
LB - Matt Sommers - Kent Roosevelt HS (still uncommitted on espn.com)
DT - Jonathon Morgan-Cunningham - Bedford HS

I dont follow the recruiting in alot of detail and know the rankings can be non-sense but a couple different sites (specifically hustle belt) bash our recruiting class saying haynes has done a horrible job. Anyone hear have thoughts on that?

ksu315,

Thanks for reaching out. There are so many recruiting sites out there and none of them do a great job with tracking "mid-major" college football recruiting, so I would be curious on what site or sites hustlebelt is viewing to do their reviews of the MAC Recruiting Class and the timing of when they view them? (I look @ espn.com, scout.com, 247sports.com, rivals.com, scoutingohio.com, & track a few folks on twitter/facebook to come up with my list I input above, so if hustlebelt only looks @ 1 or 2 of those sites, I am sure that their data they would be viewing is inaccurate @ best.)

As a KSU football fan, I expect the coaching staff to fill the roster with Ohio/Western PA kids, filling the other spots in via other states/regions where they see fit AND then coach/develop those kids as they progress through their eligibility @ KSU. With that said, 13 of the 17 firm commitments are from Ohio and powerhouse programs within the state of OH, with the other 4 coming from other states, so that is right in line with what I expected. As all of you know, it takes a few years to see how good or bad the recruiting class really is. Haynes was known as a top notch teacher/recruiter @ all of his stops as an assistant coach in college football, so I don't know how he would all of a sudden forget how to recruit and teach?
Hustlebelt is usually slanted against KSU with no direct KSU voice, right?

Also, KSU has 2 transfers who sat out this fall and are now eligible to play for KSU. 1 is from Ohio State and 1 is from Georgia Tech. Here are the link's to there player profile pages on kentstatesports.com. If you include the 2 transfers, than this class is much stronger, 1 because both have 3 yrs of eligibility left, 2 because they come from BCS schools, and 3 because they are in a position of need (Defensive Backs).

Najee Murray, DB, Ohio State - http://www.kentstatesports.com/roster.as...h=football
Nick Cuthbert, DB, Georgia Tech - http://www.kentstatesports.com/roster.as...h=football

(02-04-2014 04:00 PM)ksu315 Wrote:  I dont follow the recruiting in alot of detail and know the rankings can be non-sense but a couple different sites (specifically hustle belt) bash our recruiting class saying haynes has done a horrible job. Anyone hear have thoughts on that?

Coach seems to have addressed the holes he identified and said he would fill, mainly across the lines. I'd like to have seen a JUCO or two, many a lineman and a LB that could step in right away. I like that he has been able to get into Glenville, a school that we should've had a presence at long ago, especially considering coach Hazell's relationship with their Coach Ginn. He has also been targeting more kids from Akron, perhaps having a good relationship with Coach Powers at Buchtel will reap some rewards there as well. Considering the two transfers he brought I last year, I wouldn't say he did a horrible job at all. But of course we'll need to give it some time before properly evaluating it. Just last week I read a nice article in Sports Illustrated about a player nobody wanted and only KSU offered, Julian Edelman, you might have heard of him. We've long had classes full of kids lightly recruited and only getting offers from KSU, this class is not one of them.

Follow along for the signing updates:

http://kentstateuniversityfootball.blogspot.com

I like that we're getting teammates. Kids are coming here and playing and spreading the word that it is a good program and a great place.

Happy Signing Day fellas!!!!!!!!

Lets get this show on the road!

See we nabbed a Kicker! Looks like Haynes wasn't joking when he said he just wanted Anthony to worry about the punting. At least we know if the youngster doesn't work out we can use Anthony like we did last year.

(02-04-2014 03:55 PM)GoFlashes7 Wrote:  Here is my attempt @ showing the solid verbal commitments, soft verbal commitments, & recruits who verbaled previously (scoutingohio.com), but no other sites show them as current verbal commitments to KSU as of February 4th 2014.

2 Transfers:
Najee Murray, DB, Ohio State - http://www.kentstatesports.com/roster.as...h=football

Nick Cuthbert, DB, Georgia Tech - http://www.kentstatesports.com/roster.as...h=football

Solid Verbal Commitments:
OLB - James Alexander - from Miami Jackson HS in Miami FL
CB - Jerrell Foster - Winton Woods HS
CB - Erik Simpson - Glenville HS
K - Shane Hynes - Clarkston HS in Clarkston MI
QB - George Bollas - Aurora HS
S - Marcus Elliott - Whitmer HS
LB - Reggie Howard - Withrow HS
RB - Miles Hibbler - Troy HS
OL/DL - Stefano Millin - Massillon HS
DT - Kalil Morris - Bishop Hartley HS
S - Luke Grandjean - Hoover High School
OL - Connor Shinsky - Knoch High School in Saxonburg PA
LB/S - Marques Moore - Springfield HS
OL - Nathan Puthoff - St Charles Prep HS
QB - Quan Robinson - Glenville HS
ATH - Eldin Anu - Westerville Central HS
DT - Zack Singer - Bishop Gorman HS in Las Vegas NV

Recruits who previously made verbal commitments, but don't show as being commitments right now:
DT - Ryan Reese - Trotwood Madison HS (still uncommitted on espn.com)
OL - Collin Prouty - Dresden Tri-Valley HS
OT - Kyle Ritz - Willoughby South HS (still uncommitted on espn.com)
LB - Matt Sommers - Kent Roosevelt HS (still uncommitted on espn.com)
DT - Jonathon Morgan-Cunningham - Bedford HS

I believe all on top are in as are Prouty, Sommers and Morgan-Cunningham. Haven't seen anything on Reese and I believe Ritz flipped to Akron. Hurts because coach Haynes was addressing the lines, but I think he also planned around them and picked up a few other linemen. Saw it reported we have all 20 letters in, which seems to be it for the day. Hopefully we kept a spot or two open in case somebody opens up and needs a landing spot.

Yes- according to the KSU blog, Singer was the 20th and final commit. Nice sized class after we had 21 last year. Gonna have to take some time to look into all these kids, but it looks like we did a good job landing the positions we needed.

I'll also agree with what Hammer said earlier in that I love the fact we are landing teamates like we are. Kept the Aurora pipeline (Melchiori/McVey) going with George Bollas & also added Toledo Whitmer DB Marcus Eliott, who was teamates with the Holley twins.

Looking at the total class right now looks like we didin't land a WR which concerns me as last year we only got one, but you have to think with the stock pile of DB's we have right now that some of them will eventually flip over to the other side of the ball and help us there should we need it.

One such option looks to be Luke Grandjean. Has some nice size (6"2/185) and looks like he was being groomed as a WR at Canton Hoover despite playing DB which is what he's listed at coming in.

Nice little article on him here:

http://recruiting.scout.com/2/1315538.html

LUKE GRANDJEAN, WR, 6-3, 185
North Canton, Ohio
Hoover High School

(02-05-2014 12:41 PM)mmucha Wrote:  LUKE GRANDJEAN, WR, 6-3, 185
North Canton, Ohio
Hoover High School

6"3 is even better :D

That's the type of WR we need and I was hoping to get this class.

Shakermaker,

Zaquon Tyson & Luke Grandjean are both WRs in this year's recruiting class. Only Tyshon Goode graduated this past year. Last years recruiting class had 3 WR recruits: Chris White, Chris Overton, & 1 of the Holley twins.

PolishHammer,

Reggie Howard, LB from Cincy area, is missing as well. He was a big kid, 3 stars, so maybe he didn't make grades?

Maybe Ryan Reese didn't make grades either, as he was a 3 star recruit with great size for the MAC on the defensive line.

Kyle Ritz, not sure if he flipped to Akron or not, but rivals/scout still have him listed as uncommitted. I do know that Akron picked up a solid commitment from Akron Buchtel HS on Sunday, 3 star defensive linemen, that KSU has offered (I think his name is Anthony Clark)[/align]

(02-05-2014 01:00 PM)GoFlashes7 Wrote:  Shakermaker,

Zaquon Tyson & Luke Grandjean are both WRs in this year's recruiting class. Only Tyshon Goode graduated this past year. Last years recruiting class had 3 WR recruits: Chris White, Chris Overton, & 1 of the Holley twins.

Aww, OK thanks for the clarification. I was just looking over my notes from last year and the Holley's & White were all listed as athletes. I wasn't sure if any of them were WR's (though now I do remember one of the Holley's getting PT last year as a receiver).

I also must of missed Tyson in this class too. Like I said, I haven't really had time to sit down and digest all this info yet 'cos I'm at work right now lol.

One other note on Grandjean: just realised Bill Greene wrote the article for scout.com I posted. I know Bill personally- he is an outstanding talent evaluater. Seeing he spoke so highly about Luke really makes me feel like we landed ourselves a solid football player.

Kyle Ritz off theAkron:

http://highschoolsports.cleveland.com/ne...014-video/


http://www.ohio.com/news/zips-football-v...z-1.464266



Reggie Howard to Cincy as a preferred walk-on nonetheless:

http://cincinnati.247sports.com/Board/39...25559668/1

(02-05-2014 01:30 PM)Polish Hammer Wrote:  Kyle Ritz:

http://highschoolsports.cleveland.com/ne...014-video/


http://www.ohio.com/news/zips-football-v...z-1.464266

Sucks he went to the Zits, but if he didn't want to be here than we don't want him :)

We certainly targeted WRs, and had Gentry locked up until he flipped to Minnesota. Also lost another WR recruit to Minny and two to Cincy. Considering they got a few last year they could punt this year instead of just giving out to kids that would be sub-par, and then target some in next class.