2022 Recruiting - Football

DT Hero Kanu of Rancho Santa Margarita, CA told 247 he will visit Texas on June 11th.
Cool story here as he's a move-in from Germany and he's a borderline five-star having played football for a year.

He has an offer.

 

247, DT KJ Miles of Jersey City, NJ will visit Texas on June 25th.

 

Jaydon Blue

 

When I first heard the news it was unsettling but after listening to the 247 podcast I feel much better about the situation. I think everything is going to be ok as far as him being a productive longhorn.

 

24/7 saying don't be surprised if the staff pushes the June 4th visit of DE/LB Derrick Brown back to the end of that month.

There is a sense that he could be a bit impressionable, so they want him to visit schools like A&M first, and they appear to be the main competition right now.

OU was a heavy favorite because of his former high school teammate, LB Clayton Smith, signing with them for the '21 class, but that's no longer the case.

The new staff is supposedly handling Brown's recruitment much better than Herman's did with Smith.

 

It's always smart to be extremely cautious when getting your hopes up about a highly-ranked Louisiana kid, but a couple of sites said there could be room for optimism with RB TreVonte' Citizen of Lake Charles, LA.

They're hearing LSU hasn't been handling his recruitment as well as they should be, and he'll be in Austin the first week of June for an official visit.

He might even be Coach Drayton's favorite RB prospect in the class.

TreVonte' Citizen, Lake Charles College Prep, Running Back

 

Jones and Citizen.
I think they may take three backs, for now, if they had to. So much uncertainty surrounding Blue right now. And Texas will have a decision to make soon.

 

cnb,

Do you really think Citizen is a player?

If what you wrote about Drayton is true, my assessment of him is going to dropped several notches.

Do you know the academics of Prep? How about their competition level?

 

You really think Jaydon Blue didn't have a conversation with the Horn coaching staff before making and announcing this decision?
I'm sure they know exactly what's going.

 

Think we will have about 9 months of recruiting in a normal year happen in 2 months from June to July. Going to fun and heartbreaking and euphoric all at once. I can’t wait.

 

Think Citizen's 5'11, 200 lb frame is ripe for success as a between the tackles back, which we need.
Say what we will about Drayton but Bijon wouldn't be here if not for Drayton.
Can't help you much about the academics. It is a charter school and La's school classification is smaller than Tx. So it's difficult to compare apples to apples with their level of competition. But when was the last time you heard that a kid from La wasn't a player.
We do know that Sark was on him when he was at Bama ( Bama still is) and he was a target here even after Blue committed.

 

LC Prep academically has between 50-55 scores on standardized test. I dare say that they aren't on Stanford or Wharton's recruiting trail, and not Rice's either.

As far as competition level, think Spring Branch & Memorial Middle Schools, but don't even think about Westlake.

I hope the kid is all that plus the fried apple pie, but I was around for Butch Hadnot's adventures in academia, and I promise you this kid is no where near Hadnot's talent level, or the coach at LaGrange would NEVER have allowed him to go to a magnet school.

 

Personally I like Jones's film better. He seems a little more dynamic but our coaches sure love him.

 

24/7 saying the staff seemed to be aware of the situation and it wasn't a surprise.

He plans on enrolling in college for Spring 2022, but whether that's ultimately at Texas remains to be seen.

 

Well, untill he decommits...it's Texas.

 

Well there's always that.

 

I’m trying to envision a scenario that would justify Blue’s opting out, and haven’t, so far.

Issue with the coaching staff? Perhaps. But if he’s that talented, wouldn’t they want to figure out a way? Or, perhaps he may need to swallow his pride to work with them. Of course, I don’t know.

Could he move to a different school or different district? A four-star running back with multiple college offers has plenty of choices. And they’re always families that would be happy to take him in if he could enhance their program.

While I do trust Sark, I think this opting out phenomenon sets a terrible precedent. Nothing good can come out of it IMO. It is terribly unfair and destructive for the high school football programs.

Perhaps someone can persuade me otherwise.

 

here is a lil background on the DT

Texas football rising fast with 4-Star 2022 DT KJ Miles

 

Yes, we don't know exactly his reasoning.
I don't know anything about his school.
I have heard that when it comes to running backs there are only so many carries the body can take.
If he thinks he is being overused by a team that has no chance of offseason glory, then perhaps he is being a good "teammate" to his future Longhorn team by preserving his body, graduating early and being on campus next January.

I think we all balance decisions based on what's best for our future compared to our present situation and how it affects those around us.
I can't blame anyone for looking out for their own future.

He also mentions his desire to play in the NFL.
I would expect him to sit out a meaningless bowl game and prepare for the draft should he expect to be a high pick.

 

Duke,

He cannot transfer to another school and play as long as the cretins at UIL sleep through the appellate meetings. Yes, those idiots slept through a ZOOM meeting of a young man in Houston wanting to move from a drug & gang infested cesspool to a better environment where a family member coaches. He has had to sit out a year.

During the meeting two of the members actually closed their eyes and dosed off. Brilliant leadership skills for our youth.

The WR at A&M is another example, as he sought to move from northeast Houston to Tomball; from a school taken over by the State to a healthier environment. We wouldn’t want our youth to have a better opportunity in life, would we?

 

I can actually see a situation where a RB is being overused and he wants to preserve his body for the next level. Takes a different person, a driven person to make a decision to opt out on his current teammates and community so that he can perform better on the next level. Could be deemed selfish or could be deemed wise. Usually, kids love the game so much they just want to be out on the field.
There have been many with special gifts who made a decision to follow a different path in spite of their gifts. That's not the case here but its somewhat similar. Apparently he feels its the best course for his career.
Being selfish, as a longhorn fan, I can roll with it. If he's here for 2 years and 12/13 of a season and has a meaningful impact i can roll with that.
But as always we will see.

 

Like I said, I think Blue’s decisions sets a very bad precedent, with this caveat: Is there more to the story?

What happens, if while playing at Texas and performing well, he decides to sit out the last few games of whichever season to “preserve his body.” For example, let’s say that we might have a shot at a conference championship, but perhaps no shot at the playoffs. Are we all going to be OK with that decision? I wouldn’t be.

He is a four-star recruit because he has chosen to play a violent game, football, and by doing so coaches at the next level had the chance to observe him. The system afforded him the opportunity to demonstrate his talents and for having done so, he will now get a free education at virtually any school he wants to attend. Think about that. He has that opportunity because he exposed his body to abuse. Why now should we applaud his decision to pull back, unless there is a significant other factor — and I cannot imagine one — that we are missing?

I do not like nor can I applaud “all about me” behavior. He’s in this position because of a system, the high school football system. You cannot expose your talents if there are not games played, and people to watch.

Football is a “team” sport. By doing what he is doing, Blue is letting down everyone else on the team — regardless of what they may or may not say due to political correctness — including kids that have no dream of playing in college, much less the League.

 

Of course there's more to the story. We KNOW absolutely nothing.

Obviously it's weird and unusual.

Why people need to put negative assumptions on unusual behaviors so often is beyond me. Things are weird everywhere right now.

We should feel free to postulate, but no need to judge in a vacuum of ignorance.

 

I wouldn’t agree with the vacuum of ignorance assessment. After all, he did issue a statement. On face value — and that’s all we have, again, it sets a bad precedent. Any postulations would be to question what Blue himself wrote, or had written for him.

“After countless hours of evaluation, I have made the decision to forego my senior season of High-School football. This has been a very difficult decision for my family & I. Football is a brutal sport, and the wear and tear associated with the RB position is undeniable. I plan to take this time to focus on my academics while enhancing my off the field training/ rehab regimen. This is a strategic & conscious effor to ensure that I am prepared to perform at an elite level at the collegiate rankings during the 2022 season. I want to thank each of my coaches & teammates at klein Cain Highschool. The relationships established have helpmed mold me into the young man I am today. YOu have my continued support this season and in the future. This is an incremental steps in hopes of one day fullfilling my NFL dreams. Jaydon Blue. Signing out.”

 

Sometimes getting all the facts takes all the controversy out of a situation. So if we wait...then we got nothing to write about

 

Maybe there is a need we do not know about relating to the “focus on his academics”. His call regardless.

 

Big dude....

 

4* RB from Lake Charles



TreVonte' Citizen, Lake Charles College Prep, Running Back

 

With a name like HERO, we gotta take him. Who cares if he can really play.

 

Yeah but do we want someone who plays hero-ball?