Linking Laconically Mini-Recaps National Signing Day
by LVS on Feb 3, 2010 7:05 PM CST
in Michigan State Spartans News Roundup
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Print- Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio touts recruiting class with 'great versatility' | - MLive.com
"This is a highly acclaimed, highly ranked class that shows great versatility," Dantonio said after getting the signatures of 21 players on letters of intent and scholarship papers Wednesday. "We addressed our needs first of all, but if you look at it, it’s a balanced class by position."
Update: Rexrode has Dantonio quotes about each signee here.
(Note before proceeding: recruiting is obviously not something we focus on intensely here at TOC. But, it is national signing day, and you might have noticed that it's Kind Of A Big Deal amongst those on the internets who care about college football. Plus, as BHGP reminds us, once our recruits sign the dotted line, caring is no longer creepy! So, onward with our best efforts.)
Today was the second consecutive drama-free national signing day for MSU: no unanticipating signings, and no last-minute departures from the class. SpartanMag has a list of all recruits (with pretty pictures!) available for free on their site--and much more if you're willing to pay, of course. Expert opinions on this class are mostly positive: Rivals has MSU's class ranked 29th nationally, Scout has us 32nd, and both services rate the class as the 4th best in the conference (behind Penn State, Michigan, and Ohio State).
The "cornerstone" (Dantonio's word) of the class is clearly Will Gholston. The signals on him are a bit mixed: many expect Will to move to defensive end in East Lansing, and at least one national recruiting analyst has said that a redshirt year could be useful (to put on weight and to learn the new position). But, at today's press conference, Dantonio stated that Gholston could "help right away," and then compared him to Julian Peterson (a linebacker, obviously). So, all we know might be a LIE.
The class as a whole is heavily slanted toward defense; after this year's abomination, that's probably a good idea. Immediate help may be on the way in the persons of Max Bullough (4 star linebacker who has already enrolled), andCBsDBs Isaiah Lewis and Mylan Hicks.
On offense, we add four speedy wide receivers (Kurtis Drummond, Jeremy Langford, Tony Lippett, and Keith Mumphery) (NOTE: As intrpdtrvlr notes, Drummondmightwill probably play defense, and Langford might see time out of the backfield); as Seer noted, we may be in the market for a big possession-type receiver next season. Chelsea RB Nick Hill should add depth to what's already a very young and very talented MSU running back corps; there's also Leveon "And He Shall Be A Good Man" Bell, who may have an actionable claim against Rivals for using this as his recruting picture:
Additionally, if Joe Boisture can put a difficult senior season behind him, he should provide substantial competition for Andrew Maxwell at QB over the next few seasons. Finally, there's maybe-sleeper maybe-out-of-his-league FB Niko Palazeti, who was recently the subject of this fawning Detroit News article. How's this for a lede?
It's almost as if time has passed Niko Palazeti by. Thirty years ago, top-level programs such as Michigan with Bo Schembechler and Ohio State with Woody Hayes would have eagerly sought a player with Palazeti's abilities.
Finally, MSU signed only 21 players; we should have banked at least a few scholarships to use for next year's class.
Recruting content: FINIS. More links, after the jump.
TRE profiles our dearly departed warrior-poet, whose 7-catch performance in the Senior Bowl may result in a much greater fortune than dental school would provide.
. . . seeking retribution for Hockeybear's destruction. Oh, Alaska, IT'S ON.
CBS-Turner bid possible for NCAA tourney
Let us be the 8 millionth blog to say it:
The Aughts in Review: Sparty Bein' Sparty - Black Heart Gold Pants
We'd do a series like this for MSU, but there's already enough depression in the world.
The Winter Olympics Are For Sports Fans Who Like Sports - SB Nation
From the Hastily and Sketchily Drawn Sketchbook: 5 Things RotT Would Like to See the Tigers Get Done Before the Season Starts " Roar of the Tigers
And the last two links are OT, but included anyway for their absolute awesomeness.
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Ninja Tigers
Good lord, there’s nothing that can stop that.
Light a man a fire, he'll stay warm for a day.
Light a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
I beg you to go back and click on both those last two links
Love this sentence:
My father treated it with a reverence he did not pay to clergy, sunsets, or fresh newborn babies.
Fight for The Only Colors: Green and White!
by KJ@theonlycolors on Feb 3, 2010 8:29 PM CST reply actions
Isaiah Lewis is a safety not a corner, right?
That’s pretty universal from what I’ve read.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if at least one, if not two, of those “wide receivers” ended up playing elsewhere. Drummond is an athelete who has also been potentially mentioned as a safety. He’s listed that way on Scout.
Guh.
Corrected and excised.
PP-TPW.
The Only Colors
by LVS on Feb 3, 2010 8:43 PM CST up reply actions
Not trying to rub it in at all
But Dantonio said Drummond will “play here as a safety.” Just read it here:
http://noise.typepad.com/hey_joe/2010/02/dantonio-on-each-recruit.html
Not rubbing it in, I appreciate the correction.
I know there was a lot of speculation that he would play WR at State. A transcript of Dantonio’s remarks wasn’t available when I wrote the post.
PP-TPW.
The Only Colors
It's really a nice piece.
Dantonio spends as much time talking about Anthony White as Will Gholston. Really considerate of all the players as athletes, students, and human beings. Signing Day is certainly a moment Dantonio does us proud. He also outlines the roles intended for all the players. Sounds like the other three guys are going to stay on offense.
Absolutely
Also, as an appendix to what’s above, it seems like Mumphrey may end up as a possession-type receiver:
An outstanding player. Big, athletic, physical. Plays on both sides of the ball. We’ll play him at wide receiver here. Kick returner, punt returner. A guy that goes over 200 pounds right now and about 6-1 or so.
PP-TPW.
The Only Colors
I learned from...
…the radio yesterday that Niko Palazeti’s mom was radio host Sean Balligan’s son’s kindergarten teacher and a junior-high aged Niko would come in help out in the class sometimes.
No knowledge is useless knowledge.
o please
was pracitally laughed off the mesage board yesterday for saying i liked this (niko) recruit. this is what i like to call sweet sweet vindicaton.
He's the first...
…on-purpose FB recruit we’ve taken since who knows when. Andrew Hawken, Andrew Pendy, Josh Rouse, Nick Bendzuck all came in as LBs, if I remember correctly. I don’t know how common/uncommon it is for programs to give a scholarship to a kid just to play FB, but I get the impression it’s not considered a high-value position. If he can be a good lead blocker in the power offense for a few seasons, I think he’s a scholarship well-spent.
by witless chum on Feb 4, 2010 11:02 AM CST up reply actions
I do not want to live in a world
with a 96 team basketball playoff and a 2 team football playoff.
luttez pour les seuls couleurs, vert et blanc
Going to 96 is ridiculous
Thats almost a third of all Division 1 programs. No 16 seed has ever won a game. How is adding teams that are even worse going to make the tournament better? If teams 61, 62, 63, and 64 aren’t competitive, how bad are teams 90-96 going to look?
by TheCrestedHelm on Feb 4, 2010 1:53 PM CST up reply actions
Fight for The Only Colors: Green and White!
by KJ@theonlycolors on Feb 4, 2010 3:16 PM CST up reply actions
At the same time
I almost, almost prefer 128 then. No one has a bye, everyone is equal, just a larger field. The imbalance of 96 is part of what I really hate.
The bye aspect doesn't really bother me
One of the (few) knocks on March Madness is that the regular season is totally meaningless. Getting a bye is something worth fighting for (although the number of teams that would get byes makes it still semi-insignificant).
What bothers me about expansion to 96 is the number of ridiculously unworthy teams that would get in. That might be reduced a bit if we guarantee each conference regular-season champ as well as tourney champ a bid, but it’s still a bad idea.
Linebackers
Seems like we’re getting Gholston and Bullough at the perfect time. They’ll get to learn from Jones and Gordon, hopefully get a decent amount of game experience this season, and then be ready to go once those guys graduate next season.
by Spartan-Football on Feb 4, 2010 5:35 PM CST reply actions
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