Campus Confidential

One of the many ways I waste time outside of the office is following recruiting year in and out. I remember my sophomore year of college, some buddies of mine were following Tech’s prospects and showed me the proper channels to follow it, and from there, it kind of blossomed.

One thing that always ends up a topic of discussion is rankings and star power. Recruiting services such as Scout.com and Rivals.com always create controversy with their evaluation of the nation’s top prep players.

Many believe that rankings and stars mean very little in the grand scheme of themes, but I’m not one of them. The more five-star prospects a team accrues, the more of a chance its 22 will win more ball games than its counterparts with less blue chippers.

That’s not to say five-star players never flake out or two- and three-star guys never pan out, but from an odds perspective, I’d put my money on a five-star guy (not rocket science, I know).

I decided to look up the top 10 recruits in the country from last season…here’s how they’re doing so far (rankings according to Scout.com):

1. Chris Wells, RB, Ohio State: 25 carries, 96 yards, 1 TD (playing behind junior Antonio Pittman)
2. Andre Smith, OL, Alabama: Starting offensive tackle
3. Sam Young, OL, Notre Dame: Starting offensive tackle (pictured)
4. Gerald McCoy, DT, Oklahoma: Redshirt
5. Vidal Hazelton, WR, Southern California: No catches (look at who the Staten Island native is playing behind though)
6. Sergio Kindle, LB, Texas: Hobbled by an ankle injury. Starting to see action.
7. Myron Rolle, S, Florida State: Splitting time at rover (see below)
8. Percy Harvin, WR, Florida: 7 catches, 132 yards, 1 TD, 4 rushes, 83 yards
9. Micah Johnson, LB, Kentucky: 4 games, 12 tackles (11 solo, not bad…)
10. Mitch Mustain, QB, Arkansas: 33-65, 487 yards, 5 TDs, 5 INTs

That’s a pretty impressive list for a bunch of 18-year olds. Hazelton is playing behind the most talented trio of wide receivers in the country (Dwayne Jarrett, Steve Smith and Patrick Turner). Reports also say Kindle would be a big time contributor had he been healthy this summer.

If you guys like it, I’ll keep an eye on more freshmen as the year progresses and I’ll put together a All-Freshman team when the season wraps up.

I’ll close with some words about Myron Rolle. During the Miami-Florida State game, my buddy Nick calls me to talk about the game when they flashed to Rolle on the screen. We both realized how jacked this kid was and Nick goes “that’s one of those kids who we have no advantage over.”

Here’s why:

In addition to being one of the top football prospects in the country, Rolle (6’2, 218…monster) was an A-student at The Hun School and won the prestigious Watkins Award given to “a high school student on the basis of academic achievement, athletics and community involvement.”

In addition to receiving top honors for grades, Rolle took AP Biology, BC Calculus and Spanish (more AP classes than I took in high school). His SAT score is equivalent to a 1340 on the old version (that’s really good). HE WAS THE LEAD ROLE IN THE SCHOOL MUSICAL –“Fiddler on the Roof.” He was the sports editor of his school’s paper when he was a freshman in high school and was freshman class president. He was also a top basketball player and ran track.

This kid is a friggin’ bruiser.

Oh, and let me know if you want me to talk more recruiting, make it known.

Watch out for the Heisman Watch tomorrow.