Signing Day is going to be epic!!! Either way this is still an amazing recruiting class

Anyone know if Allen and Maynard made the trip?

Wide receiver/safety Keenan Allen of Northern Guilford in Greensboro, the top-rated player in the state, will announce his decision at a news conference Wednesday. On Thursday [1/28/10], Northern Guilford coach Johnny Roscoe said Allen has not made a decision.

According to Internet reports, Allen was scheduled to visit N.C. State on Tuesday. He didn’t make that visit, Roscoe said. So any hopes the Wolfpack might have to get Allen appear faint, as Clemson has become more prominent in his recruitment.

Charlotte Observer

The Crimson Tide look to close strong for the third consecutive year. Offensive line is the big priority here, with prospects like James Stone and Arie Kouandjio in Alabama’s sights. The Tide could close with one or both of these guys. Bama will have to fend off Tennessee for Stone and Cal and $C for Kouandjio.

Another need area LSU wants to address is on the defensive line. LSU will play host to five-star defensive end J.R. Ferguson this weekend as well as Texas A&M commitment Brandon Jackson.

KENNAN KEENAN ALLEN: Kennan Allen a five-star safety from Greensboro, N. C. and an Alabama verbal. His trip to Cal is on this weekend. As things stand now Keenan is still committed to Alabama, his brother is looking for a place to play and they would like to play together. Playing together at this point is not a must. That is the options the family is currently discussing. Obviously some tough decisions have to be made and this wasn’t anticipated with Zach being happy at Buffalo until his head coach left to take the Kansas job.

Jacksonville Sports News

First and foremost is Greensboro, N.C., athlete/wide receiver/safety Keenan Allen, a five-star prospect rated as the No. 1 safety in America and No. 5 player overall by Rivals.com.

Allen is an Alabama commitment, but visited Clemson last weekend and Cal this past weekend. He is reportedly searching for a school where he and half-brother Brad Zach Maynard — who was Buffalo’s starting quarterback in 2009 but is transferring following Turner Gill’s departure to Kansas — can play together.

Alabama reportedly doesn’t want to offer Maynard a scholarship, but Clemson, with uncertain quarterback depth following Willy Korn’s departure and Kyle Parker’s impending decision between football and baseball, could be a natural landing spot.

Anderson Independent Mail – Clemson Tigers Xtra

$C also made contact last week with Newport Harbor linebacker Cecil Whiteside, a longtime Cal commit. Whiteside said assistant coach Ed Orgeron visited him at school and offered him a visit to $C. Whiteside declined.

That cap suits you Cecil. GO BEARS!

OCVarsity.com

We aren’t still in the running for this guy, are we? I hope not.

Markeith Ambles Gets Flirty During Tennessee Recruiting Visit

http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2010/02/01/football-king-to-cal/

via insidetheu.com

Four-star J.R. Ferguson (Frederick, Md./Hargrave) had previously narrowed his list to Miami-FL, Notre Dame, Florida State, LSU and Cal but now has one more program in the mix, ESPN affiliate Web site IrishSportsDaily.com reports.

The Red Raiders join the party since the hiring of Ferguson’s coach at Hargrave, Robert Prunty, has taken the job as the d-line coach on Tommy Tuberville’s staff. “That’s the twist right there,” J.R. Ferguson Sr. said. “They’ve gotten in the mix late, but since they’ve hired coach Prunty, they’re going after J.R. hard.”

“Tonight, we’re going to sit down and sort out all the categories we’ve determined are priorities for him. We’re going to get things eliminated and organized tonight. The goal is to come into Wednesday in deciding on where he wants to go. It’s the most grueling process, and he still has no clue.”

ESPN On the trail

Calls Ego to Cal. Low confidence though.

it was confirmed thursday night as i was with his cousin, coach bo was in greensboro on an in home visit, alabama doesnt have a scholarship avail for his brother zach, cal is offering both, and giving his brother a chance to compete for the starting spot after he sits out this year, sorry yall but hes going to cal. feb 3 we will see both sign with cal

Very very shaky rumor but it’s possible

Uncle Ted’s running with the YO story:
http://espn.go.com/blog/pac10/post/_/id/7557/report-cal-picks-up-d-line-recruit

“Why would anyone go to Cal and lose 3 of 4 to Stanfourd”
“If he was serious about football he wouldn’t go to Cal”
“He could get a better education in Bama” – WHAT!?
“We took the high road by not offering Maynard”
“Allan is blackmailing Bama into taking Maynard”

Paraphrased but you get the point

JO on Chris McCain -

I haven’t heard for sure if Chris McCain was also on campus. He’s a friend fo King’s who is rumored to possibly be in the mix to come to Cal, but I think it’s a long shot.

JO on Ego Ferguson –

I’ve heard that he really is confused where he wants to go. Cal apparently still is in the mix and I’ve heard Chris Martin has become pretty close with him, so that could help. A report today had Texas Tech now also in the mix because his high school coach just got hired as the DL coach there. I would say Ferguson is a long shot, but wouldn’t be totally shocked if he wound up at Cal.

JO on Keenan Allen –

Allen apparently had a very good visit and word is getting out that he enjoyed the trip. I’ve heard he still hasn’t made a decision but he’s definitely seriously considering Cal.

JO on Zach Maynard –

From everything I’ve seen and heard, he wants to stay at quarterback. If he were to come to Cal, he’d have to sit out a year. Assuming everyone stays, there would be five quarterbacks on the roster in 2011 (assuming Cal doesn’t add another incoming freshman that fall).

JO on Arie Kouandjio –

Kouandijo reportedly has dropped Cal

Say it ain’t so Arie!

CCT Live Chat

O angry Gods of the JuJu persuasion:
this article was meant only in jest, and none of us gathered here on this humble recruiting thread, the faithful and ambivalent followers of all that is golden and bearish, believe in the vile falsehood that this shady SEC site offers us, yea but the opposite always be true:
(will that cover us?)

al.com writes:
Keenan Allen is keeping suspense high heading into Wednesday. (Photo courtesy of Rivals.com)
Let me start this blog post by confessing I do not know what’s going to transpire in the next 40 hours or so regarding five-star Alabama commitment Keenan Allen, much less his half-brother Zach Maynard.
And given how quiet the family has been the past few weeks, I’m not sure many do. But just reading the tea leaves and passing them along …
Four of five national analysts for Rivals.com are now projecting Allen, a receiver/defensive back who’s been committed to Alabama since November as the Tide’s top-rated 2010 recruit, will sign with California.
It should be noted that the lone holdout among those gurus is Jamie Newberg, who is a go-to analyst in the Southeast. Newberg still says Alabama. No one said Clemson, a school still thought to be very much in the mix for Allen.
The Rivals network also is no longer listing Allen as an Alabama commitment.
But perhaps most alarming for Crimson Tide fans should be that BamaOnline.com — UA’s site in the Rivals network — is also now predicting Cal.
Allen and Maynard visited Cal this past weekend, but did not let on about a decision.
“It’s pretty much still up in the air,” Cal linebacker commit Chris Martin told BearTerritory.net when asked about Allen and Maynard after this past weekend. “I’d like to say I’m confident, but I can never be sure. There’s a lot of factors in their decisions, so I can’t really say for sure whether it’s ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ I’d like to say that I hope that I can call them teammates.”
Both Allen and Maynard expected to announce at 8 a.m. (Central time) Wednesday morning. It’s still not clear if Alabama is offering Maynard, a quarterback transfer from Buffalo, a scholarship or merely the opportunity to walk-on the Crimson Tide, which could ultimately shape this decision.

http://blog.al.com/bamabeat/2010/02/rivals_analysts_projecting_fiv.html

Dr. Saturday has an article on why recruiting rankings are important. What I found interesting was this part:

The holy hour of the vast, seedy recruiting underworld, national signing day, is two days away, which is also the signal for legions of recruiting skeptics to sound their annual, anecdotal chants of “Ryan Perrilloux!” and “Notre Dame!” and snake oil!" And occasionally, they make a persuasive case.

it must be very tough to go on portraying them as a crapshoot.

That last link in the quote? An article from two years ago by Ragnarok on the blogsome site! I think it’s a bit unfair since Rags was talking specifically about Cal and not nationally, but whatevs. 2 year old link!

(taken from BI)

http://www.bearinsider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25496

New Mexico?! WTF?!