If you think some University of Arizona football fans are upset with the sudden firing of Mike Stoops, imagine how his recruits from the class of 2012 feel.
CBS/MaxPreps recruiting expert Tom Lemming gives a strong opinion in his weekly report.
Taylor McNamara
Photo by Tom Lemming
"In mid-season that is very unusual," he pointed out. "I never saw a
guy fired after five games. It doesn't make any sense. They were set up
to have their best (recruiting) year in the last 10 years. It makes it
very difficult for Arizona to recover this year. They had some good
commitments (17) and now they are up for grabs. They are going to lose
them all unless they do something right away."
The Wildcats had close to a half-dozen big-name commitments. The biggest name is Taylor McNamara of Westview (San Diego), whom Lemming calls one of the top three tight ends in the country.
Lemming believes the best available coach who could help stop the
recruiting backlash would be Mike Leach, who had a great graduation rate
and led the nation in offense often at Texas Tech. He currently is on a
book-signing tour.
* Lemming's weekly television show (Friday at 7 p.m., EST) on the CBS College Sports Network will feature the nation's Top 10 athletes. His guests will be former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham and his son, Randall Cunningham, Jr. of
Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas).
He has moved Nelson Agholor of Berkeley Prep (Tampa, Fla.) to No. 1 in his top athlete category. The 6-foot-2, 185-pounder, who previously was ranked No. 2, can play running back, wide receiver, free safety, cornerback and return kicks.
Nelson Agholor is now the nation's
No. 1 athlete from the class of 2012,
according to Tom Lemming.
Photo by Margaret Bowles
Lemming explained that because he does not have enough weeks to do the Top 10 players at every position, he had to do some juggling in the athletes category. For example, he will not be able to run down his top wingbacks on the TV show, so he has put two of them into the athlete category.
That moved his No. 1 wingback, Davonte Neal of Chaparral (Scottsdale, Ariz.), to the No. 2 athlete. The 5-10, 180-pound speedster can play running back, wide receiver, defensive back and return kicks.
He called Neal and No. 6 player Brian Kimbrow "two of the more exciting players in the country."
That bumped No. 1 athlete, Stefon Diggs of Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.), to No. 3. He is a 6-1, 190-pounder who may be best fitted for wide receiver, but can play several positions.
Lemming stressed that his somewhat revised rankings are dependent on this year's performance rather than past reputation.
The rest of his top 10 (in order) are:
No. 4 - Devin Fuller of Northern Valley (Old Tappan, N.J.), 6-1, 190.
No. 5 - Ron Darby of Potomac (Oxon Hill, Md.), 5-11, 175.
No. 6 - Brian Kimbrow of Memphis East (Tenn.), 5-9, 170 (formerly listed as the No. 2 wingback).
No. 7 - Joel Caleb of Clover Hill (Midlothian, Va.), 6-3, 205.
No. 8 - D.J. Foster of Saguaro (Scottsdale, Ariz.), 6-0, 185.
{VIDEO_ebfc2d8e-5835-4fbd-9d52-383fc538568d,floatRightWithBar}No. 9 - Cyrus Jones of Gilman (Baltimore), 5-10, 195.
No. 10 - Ricky Parks of Callaway (Hogansville, Ga.), 6-4, 225.
* Lemming believes that most players still earn their scholarships from high school performances and films sent to colleges. College camps sometimes make a difference, too. He said that combines, which bring out only raw athletic ability, don't always guarantee on-the-field success.
* With the announcement that new national high school awards are going to be made for place kicking and long snapping, Lemming said he would like to see one made for punting in honor of Jamie Kohl, who runs 110 punting camps throughout the country.
"He runs the best punting camp in the country," Lemming said. "He gets almost all the top punters."
Tom Lemming shares his recruiting views with Dave Krider every Thursday at MaxPreps.com.
