By Stephen Spiewak
MaxPreps.com
There are no sure things when it comes to recruiting high school football players – except when MaxPreps.com’s National Football Editor Stephen Spiewak looks into his crystal ball and deciphers the future.
Our fearless forecaster has studied film, poured over rosters and depth charts and talked to hundreds of high school coaches across the country to offer the following guarantees on the class of 2009.
Book this:
1. No one will have a Julio Jones/A.J.Green/DeAndre Brown-type of impact at wide receiver as a true freshman.
2. Oregon will miss out on another post-signing day Hancock; Bryce Brown of Wichita East (Wichita, Kan.) won’t be headed to Eugene.
3. The quarterbacks from the 2009 class will account for at least one Heisman Trophy.
4. The late addition of Woodbridge, Va., running back De’Antwan Williams will help Rutgers forget about losing previously committed Desmond Scott. Williams will push for time right away.
5. Duke, who landed Scott, will continue to build recruiting momentum, just like fellow academic elite, Stanford.
6. Cleveland Glenville lineman Marcus Hall’s commitment to Ohio State will keep the Tarblooder-Buckeye connection alive and well, though emerging super recruit Shane Wynn will be tempted by out-of-state programs with more wide-open offenses
7. A recruiting analyst somewhere will attempt to describe a dual-threat quarterback by saying “in the mold of Vince Young or Terrelle Pryor.”
8. Russell Shepard of Cypress Ridge (Houston, Texas) will see reps at LSU next season – at wide receiver, particularly if Rueben Randle leaves the state.
9. Manti Te’o of Punahou (Honolulu, Hawaii) will go to USC and Pete Carroll will have another elite recruiting class, even when Vontaze Burfict (Centennial-Corona, Calif.) defects to Arizona State.
10. Greg Reid of Lowndes (Valdosta, Ga.) will sign with Florida State. No one will shed tears for Florida. The Gators already deep secondary will get deeper in 2010 with Matt Elam out of Dwyer High School (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.).
11. Charlie Goro will bring SEC-type speed to the Vanderbilt, despite being from Big Ten country. He’ll battle on the depth chart as a true freshman with another former Mr. Football, Prattville (Ala.) native Larry Smith.
12. Iowa will have another class that seems unremarkable on signing day but flourishes under Kirk Ferentz. Bishop Heelan Catholic (Sioux City, Iowa) star Brandon Wegher will lead the Hawkeyes in rushing next year.
13. By sometime Wednesday evening, the entire country will know that Matt Barkley started as a freshman at Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.).
14. Donovan Tate will never make it to Chapel Hill; he’ll be playing rookie-league baseball by the end of summer.
15. Duron Carter of St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) will have an impact at Ohio State, but his numbers will be roughly ¼ of Cris Carter’s freshman stats (41 receptions, 648 yards, eight touchdowns).
16. Nathan Scheelhaase-to-Terry Hawthorne may not sound pretty, but it will look pretty in Champaign for years to come.
17. Tennessee will keep Marlon Brown of Harding Academy in Memphis in-state. Lane Kiffin will continue to get rounds of applause at basketball games.
18. Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) star Jelani Jenkins will end up at Florida. Current teammate Caleb Porzel, heading to Maryland, will have a bigger impact as a freshman though.
19. Miami’s 2009 class will pale in comparison to its 2008 class—and its 2010 class.
20. Speaking of 2010, USC’s potential running back haul next year will reveal the reason that the 2009 class lacks a true feature back
21. Helping to cement LSU’s monster class will be Barkevious Mingo. The West Monroe star will stay home and make the Tigers’ class top notch.
22. Ronnie Wingo, with his college-ready build, will see time immediately for Arkansas. He will form a deadly combo with 2010 running back Michael Dyer, who will also find his way to Fayetteville.
23. Michigan will pull out a fine recruiting class, one that is disproportionately strong compared to the team’s sub-par season. Philadelphia’s Je-Ron Stokes will be a great late addition. So will Denard Robinson of Deerfield Beach (Fla.).
24. Rich Rodriguez’s former employer, West Virginia, will also fare well. Dominik Davenport of Phoebus (Hampton, Va.) and Tavon Austin of Dunbar (Baltimore, Md.) will exceed expectations.
25. There will be no Kevin Hart Part II.
