Tech isn't recruiting against UL-Monroe
Louisiana Tech football fans reading the spin some UL-Monroe commitments/signees are putting on their offers might be getting a little worried that the mighty Warhawks are beating them on recruits.
A case in point is Canton (Texas) High School's Keavon Milton, an offensive lineman, tight end and defensive end during his prep career. A recent story in the Monroe News Star indicated that Milton had chosen ULM over Tech. Similar indications were made by some of the JUCO players that the Warhawks recently inked.
But Bulldog fans needn't worry.
We have it on good authority that Tech didn't offer ANY of the JUCO players signed by Charlie Weatherbie and they didn't offer Milton. Tech coach Derek Dooley said he doesn't even know some of the players who say they picked so-and-so over his school.
Dooley and his staff aren't worried about beating Sun Belt schools for athletes. That's an easy enough job. They're worried about holding onto recruits getting attention from CUSA and SEC schools.
posted by Jimmy Watson at 4:52 PM
9 Comments:
"Dooley and his staff aren't worried about beating Sun Belt schools for athletes. That's an easy enough job."
The depth of La Tech's arrogance and haughtiness never ceases to amaze us all ... La Tech is obviously "running scared." And you, Jimmy Watson, unless you spoke directly with the recruits themselves, have little credibility.
The Warhawks thirteenth commitment Canton (TX) High School's Keavon Milton (DE/TE) gave his commitment to ULM and after considering offers from Kansas, Missouri, and Louisiana Tech ... so are we to assume Tech DOESN'T compete for prospects with a top 10 program either? At 6-5 240 pounds and gifted with 4.7 speed in the 40, his athleticism could make him one of the more versatile members of the 2008 class. The kid started at OT as a Soph, DE and OT as a Jr, and TE and DE as a Senior. He's so highly thought of by the recruiting services that he's ranked as a national top 100 recruit (by Scout) at a position that he hasn't started at in two years.
Need more? Ok.
Alex Ford (DT 6-2 310 pounds) from Pearl River (Miss.) Community College signed with ULM after considering offers from Kansas State, Marshall, and Alabama. The truth is, Ford did not receive a "written" offer from Tech. He spurned the Bulldogs early on. Guess you win on semantics ...
Are you saying Tech did not Troy Giddens (national #22 safety), Aaron Williams (6-1,316 pounds, 700lb squat, 450 pound bench, recruited by Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Southern Mississippi, Miami, LSU, and FSU), and Keating Helms (C 6-3, 310 pounds, top JUCO C in South, started for National Junior College Athletic Association National Champion Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College)?
I guess the Bulldogs really haven't offered Tim Curry (6-4 200 pounds), the #30 ranked (Rivals) pro-style quarterbacks and member of the Texas Top 100? What about Bastrop's Randall Mackey who is the 2007 Louisiana 4A Offensive Most Valuable Player, has been voted to three consecutive 4A first team all-state squads by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association, and following the 2007season was named "Mr. Football" for the state of Louisiana. He's considered the #10 best dual-threat quarterback in the nation (Rivals) and PelicanPreps.com ranks him in its Louisiana Top 30 at No. 24. Guess you guys really have no interest in him either?
Perhaps you should give those kids a call and make sure they know your thoughts on this topic. I'm sure they'll rest better knowing once and for all where the "mighty" Bulldogs stand ...
P.S., Jimmy, if you'd like to gather some facts before posting such comments, feel free to check out one of the many 'reliable' sources for ULM recruiting information, Scout's WarhawkNation.com (http://www.WarhawkNation.com) and the Monroe News Star's Fan Blog (http://www.thenewsstar.com/news/blogs/blog9/labels/ULM%20Fan%20Blogs.html).
Jimmy, did you take any time to pick up the phone and call these recruits that Tech isn't concerned with? Tech made offers, it's well known, but now Dooley says he's never heard of these recruits? Whatever...so far it looks like ULM's recruiting class will be the best in the state behind LSU this year. Beating far-east WAC schools for athletes is easy enough for the Warhawks.
Jimmy, it's not good when the responses to your blog are more insightful then the blog itself.
Jimmy's right. The last time NLULM had a winning season, this year's recruits were in kindergarten. Why don't you clowns get over your Tech envy and try beating North Texas or something? Your responses to this blog are a waste of time. Congrats on getting Milton and a couple of other good recruits. If they play on a losing team, it doesn't matter. Derek Dooley was Nick Saban's recruiting coordinator at LSU. Ever heard of them? They won a national championship down there. You're not outrecruiting him, so shut up and go play with FIU.
Dooley doesn't load up on JUCOs liek ULM does. He's building for the future, while Weatherbie is just trying to have a winning season.
Alright Tim I'll start at the top and work down, "running scared" maybe when ULM has puts together ONE winning season.
I have no idea if the Tech coaches offered this kid or not but I know that most recruiting sights (Scout and Rivals) are inaccurate at best and can say a kid has an offer at the slightest mention of a schools name.
Need more? Ok.
As for all the JUCO's I don't doubt Dooley doesn't know who they are he's trying to build a better program that will be a consistent winner and that can't be done stocking up on JUCO's no matter how good.
"I guess the Bulldogs really haven't offered Tim Curry (6-4 200 pounds), the #30 ranked (Rivals) pro-style quarterbacks and member of the Texas Top 100? What about Bastrop's Randall Mackey who is ...."
This makes no sense at all! Are you saying ULM has beaten Tech on two players who haven't even committed yet? Has ULM signed these two players?
'Dooley was Saban's recruiting coordinator', wow, did he pour his coffee every morning too? I bet it was 'humble pie' when he had to tell kids he now recruits for Tech and not LSU. Then explain not Texas Tech or Georgia Tech but La Tech, you know, the Techsters except the men are called Bulldogs. Bottom line, ULM, ULL, Tech, Arkansas State all recruit the same level athlete (2 star mostly, occasional 3 star). ULM may offer someone Tech doesn't and Tech offer some that ULM doesn't. Most of the kids signed by both schools the last few years held offers from both schools. I don't think ULM will trade classes this year with Tech, it looks like ULM is having its best class ever with five 3 star athletes in the bag and more considering.
I may have offended a few Tech friends with my reply to Jimmy Watson's blog. I apologize for referring to Tech as arrogant and haughty and "running scared." Painting all Tech fans in such a way was wrong and the reality is I don't know (nor do I honestly care one way or the other) which way Tech is "running" -- scared or otherwise ...
It is equally counterproductive when some choose to ignore the facts, are too lazy or don't care to understand the facts, or worse selective choose data points that distort the truth.
Those who have been closely involved with ULM for the past 15-20 years know that a mistake then-NLU made during the 1990's was failing to properly define itself in the market, a matter made worse by the name change. Absent PR, ULM alumni and fans endured comments of the demise of ULM by many for more than a decade ... and the bashing continued into the early-2000's. In defense of the bashers, ULM clearly had fallen on hard times during that period and arguably teetered on the so-called brink before the arrival of the current administration.
That's not the case today. ULM is far different today than it was in 2002.
For all the reasons that have been stated previously, we have a lot to be proud of ... $100 million in new on-campus housing, including new apartment buildings and state-of-the-art residential facilities. More than $10 million to establish the new 132,000-square-foot Pharmacy College. $5 million for renovations to ULM's Student Union Building (SUB), which reopened this past January. A new student health center. Creation of the Clarke M. Williams Student Success Center. New fencing and foliage along DeSiard, an amphitheater planned for the bayou, new parking garage, and much, much more. Even an on-campus Starbucks Coffee shop, the company's largest campus site in Louisiana.
And that success is evident in athletics as well. Today ULM fields quality teams in each of the major sports, boasts new facilities with more to come, and so on.
Of course, Tech has a rich history to be proud of as well ... and its alumni and fans should (be proud). Tech is a fine institution and has experienced success in academics and athletics. Frankly, both schools have accomplished much and excel in areas -- in academics and in athletics -- that are most important to them. The enthusiasm is good for their schools, good for the region, and good for the state of Louisiana. God knows the region and state needs all the "good" in can get.
I hope my Tech friends will respect that view.
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