Rivals held their lone stop in the Lone Star State Saturday up in Dallas and despite the miserable wind and unseasonably cold temps from a cold front that came through late in the week, it was a good turnout in terms of talent.
Although I never get to talk to everyone on my "wish list" I try and make it a point to talk to as many as I can possibly catch during check-in and then try and move around and watch several reps of a few key people.
As is usually the case, I leave the camp thinking...I never did get to see this guy or that guy. In the end though, here are a few guys I have thoughts/notes on and then I will continue to post other interviews and videos from Rivals as they come in this week.
First a few that looked tremendous but that the Cougars are needing to make up ground with on the recruiting front:
Marvin Wilson - The top player in the class came out looking to prove it, and he definitely did't do anything to hurt his stock. Not only was he extremely dominant in the one one one battles, which was expected, but he also showed full speed effort even in warm up drills and drills that were;t even specific to his position. He just gets it and works very hard to try and live up to his lofty ranking. HERE is a national interview, not much here in terms of UH but I am waiting on a video from another Rivals person who I think may have talked to him about Houston.
Walker Little - Wilson's teammate that seems to be overshadowed from an attention standpoint (at least in my eyes) by his higher ranked teammate. He should't feel disrespected at all with a #95 overall ranking in the country but he came in Saturday and flat dominated every single player that he went up against, including two reps against Wilson. Little is in for a bump next rankings series and it is well deserved. Same case for Houston with Little, no mention in the national interview and I'm waiting on the same video as Wilson to see what they said specifically. For me it feels like Houston is even more out of the picture for Little as he has two siblings that attend Ole Miss already (one of his leaders). That being said, and the same goes for Wilson, this is new air for the program and recruiting. What they accomplished on the field and in recruiting in their first season leaves one only wondering what is next and what if any limits there are. Another hot season by Houston and some momentum rolling again in recruiting can sway anyone.
Grant Delpit - Another guy that has absolutely exploded onto the scene this spring after transferring from a private school to Houston Lamar. Depit has grown since I first saw him just a couple of months ago but so has his impressive offer list. While Houston was one of the first to offer and I expect them to be able to stick around in his recruitment for a while if it stretches out, they are not the leaders as Delpit showed up to camp wearing an LSU pullover and also didn't mention the hometown team during national interviews. Like the other 2, not over but trying to climb up the leader board.
Now a few guys I talked with and watched that are a little more positive:
Ty Brock, QB College Station - Houston was way out front on Brock, offering the fast riser way before he disappeared a bit from the radar following a lower leg injury that put him on the shelf for his junior season. He is now healthy and looked great throwing the ball this weekend. He is tall but needs to add weight to a skinny frame (wouldn't that be a nice problem) but has a frame to add good weight as he progresses. He brought up to me when I talked to him outside the gate, and again in THIS interview with the national team, that he was;t sure on his offer following the Kyle Allen transfer so I am going to seek a little clarification on if he is assuming his offer has changed or if there has been some change in UH's approach to recruiting the position in the 2017 class. If the offer is still good, he has interest and will probably add a lot offers this spring so the early relationship could be big down the line.
K.D. Nixon, WR Desoto - This is a guy that Houston has been on for a long time and I'm pretty sure it may go back to a relationship with Tom Herman and Desoto when Ohio State pulled Dontre Wilson out of Texas a few recruiting classes back. I'll have a full story from Nixon but he mentioned Houston offered right after Herman got settled last year. He did bring up that they like his versatility much like Wilson. He has been to UH three times now he said and is currently dealing with coach Wyatt which he already had built a relationship with from Oklahoma State. He didn't list them in his top grouping of schools but I don;t see this one ending anytime soon and Houston is still in a good spot.
Isaiah Humphries, DB Sachse - It's a little early on Humphries, a 2018 prospect, but he has an early offer from Houston as well as OU and Penn State (more on them in a second) as well as UTSA and SMU. He came to a UH game last year and is planning on getting back down this spring. His dad was a three year starter for Penn State before moving on to the NFL (Leonard Humphries) for a cup of coffee and Canada for a few seasons. SO, obvious ties to Penn State but he was pretty candid about if they were the best fit, then great. If they weren't he felt very comfortable carving his own path. We'll keep an eye on him moving forward and follow up once he visits this spring.
Marqez Bimmage, LB/DE Brenham - The lone Houston commit present at the camp is a guy I will warn you now not to be disappointed with if he does not climb the rankings any before he gets to Houston. He is a square peg/round hole type of guy that is great for what Houston wants from him (think the rush LB spot) but not for how he is used at camps and Brenham, defensive end. He will be good in using his speed to rush the passer but recruiting services will think if him as too small for DE and too big for LB and will likely not show much love. He is still very solid still, picked up Cal and K-State offer but says he is still a solid commitment. He has been dealing with coach Naivar and coach Orlando on a regular basis and will be up to UH a few times this spring. From a performance standpoint he held his own with his speed against some of the good tackles on hand but got swallowed up some when trying to get into the interior of the line, something that won't happen often in his college career.
Tanner McCalister, CB Rockwall-Heath - Again, a young guy from the 2018 class but a guy that has his first offer down from La Tech but has been hearing from Houston and actually went dow to see UH last week during his spring break. He has good size already for a CB at 6' and 185 heading into his junior season. He is one who is just emerging right now so look for a potential offer soon here. I'll have a full story coming on him as well asap.
Camron Buckley, WR Cedar Hill - I should get a full story out of this one as well but for now, I'll save you the suspense. There is a lot of mutual interest between Buckley and Houston. I don;t think he is fixing to shut it down or anything like that but they have a clear mutual fascination with each other that will be worth keeping an eye on. He mentioned he talks to Houston, Miami, Auburn, Texas on a very regular basis. Another great answer he gave me that I love to hear from players at his stage in the process "Right now I am focused on the schools that have offered me and want me in their program and I don;t focus on teams that haven't." He was at their junior day, works out regularly with Damarcus Ayers and will be at their spring game. That last sentence should convey his lean at least at the moment. Current plans are for a top 10 following their spring and if he feels comfortable a decision before the season starts.
Eno Benjamin, RB Wylie East - What a stud Benjamin is. For those not familiar, he has over 2 dozen offers from every conference in the country and recently named a top 10. Houston made that list and he had some great things to say about them after the camp. He is a December grad so expect a decision earlier and not dragging out too long. He has not visited Houston yet but he said he is going to this spring. A couple big questions he said he has is how they would like to use him but he said more importantly how the player and coach relationship works within a program, something that should be a positive for Houston. He says he deals mostly with Herman and Applewhite, a good indication of his importance as a recruit to them. Oh yea, he wants to be a lawyer too so that is an avenue he will look at on his visit as well.
That is all I have for the moment, I'll come back and add actual stories as I get them done as well as national stuff that I see come across. There were many other targets I did;t get to catch but will be tracking down throughout the spring.
Although I never get to talk to everyone on my "wish list" I try and make it a point to talk to as many as I can possibly catch during check-in and then try and move around and watch several reps of a few key people.
As is usually the case, I leave the camp thinking...I never did get to see this guy or that guy. In the end though, here are a few guys I have thoughts/notes on and then I will continue to post other interviews and videos from Rivals as they come in this week.
First a few that looked tremendous but that the Cougars are needing to make up ground with on the recruiting front:
Marvin Wilson - The top player in the class came out looking to prove it, and he definitely did't do anything to hurt his stock. Not only was he extremely dominant in the one one one battles, which was expected, but he also showed full speed effort even in warm up drills and drills that were;t even specific to his position. He just gets it and works very hard to try and live up to his lofty ranking. HERE is a national interview, not much here in terms of UH but I am waiting on a video from another Rivals person who I think may have talked to him about Houston.
Walker Little - Wilson's teammate that seems to be overshadowed from an attention standpoint (at least in my eyes) by his higher ranked teammate. He should't feel disrespected at all with a #95 overall ranking in the country but he came in Saturday and flat dominated every single player that he went up against, including two reps against Wilson. Little is in for a bump next rankings series and it is well deserved. Same case for Houston with Little, no mention in the national interview and I'm waiting on the same video as Wilson to see what they said specifically. For me it feels like Houston is even more out of the picture for Little as he has two siblings that attend Ole Miss already (one of his leaders). That being said, and the same goes for Wilson, this is new air for the program and recruiting. What they accomplished on the field and in recruiting in their first season leaves one only wondering what is next and what if any limits there are. Another hot season by Houston and some momentum rolling again in recruiting can sway anyone.
Grant Delpit - Another guy that has absolutely exploded onto the scene this spring after transferring from a private school to Houston Lamar. Depit has grown since I first saw him just a couple of months ago but so has his impressive offer list. While Houston was one of the first to offer and I expect them to be able to stick around in his recruitment for a while if it stretches out, they are not the leaders as Delpit showed up to camp wearing an LSU pullover and also didn't mention the hometown team during national interviews. Like the other 2, not over but trying to climb up the leader board.
Now a few guys I talked with and watched that are a little more positive:
Ty Brock, QB College Station - Houston was way out front on Brock, offering the fast riser way before he disappeared a bit from the radar following a lower leg injury that put him on the shelf for his junior season. He is now healthy and looked great throwing the ball this weekend. He is tall but needs to add weight to a skinny frame (wouldn't that be a nice problem) but has a frame to add good weight as he progresses. He brought up to me when I talked to him outside the gate, and again in THIS interview with the national team, that he was;t sure on his offer following the Kyle Allen transfer so I am going to seek a little clarification on if he is assuming his offer has changed or if there has been some change in UH's approach to recruiting the position in the 2017 class. If the offer is still good, he has interest and will probably add a lot offers this spring so the early relationship could be big down the line.
K.D. Nixon, WR Desoto - This is a guy that Houston has been on for a long time and I'm pretty sure it may go back to a relationship with Tom Herman and Desoto when Ohio State pulled Dontre Wilson out of Texas a few recruiting classes back. I'll have a full story from Nixon but he mentioned Houston offered right after Herman got settled last year. He did bring up that they like his versatility much like Wilson. He has been to UH three times now he said and is currently dealing with coach Wyatt which he already had built a relationship with from Oklahoma State. He didn't list them in his top grouping of schools but I don;t see this one ending anytime soon and Houston is still in a good spot.
Isaiah Humphries, DB Sachse - It's a little early on Humphries, a 2018 prospect, but he has an early offer from Houston as well as OU and Penn State (more on them in a second) as well as UTSA and SMU. He came to a UH game last year and is planning on getting back down this spring. His dad was a three year starter for Penn State before moving on to the NFL (Leonard Humphries) for a cup of coffee and Canada for a few seasons. SO, obvious ties to Penn State but he was pretty candid about if they were the best fit, then great. If they weren't he felt very comfortable carving his own path. We'll keep an eye on him moving forward and follow up once he visits this spring.
Marqez Bimmage, LB/DE Brenham - The lone Houston commit present at the camp is a guy I will warn you now not to be disappointed with if he does not climb the rankings any before he gets to Houston. He is a square peg/round hole type of guy that is great for what Houston wants from him (think the rush LB spot) but not for how he is used at camps and Brenham, defensive end. He will be good in using his speed to rush the passer but recruiting services will think if him as too small for DE and too big for LB and will likely not show much love. He is still very solid still, picked up Cal and K-State offer but says he is still a solid commitment. He has been dealing with coach Naivar and coach Orlando on a regular basis and will be up to UH a few times this spring. From a performance standpoint he held his own with his speed against some of the good tackles on hand but got swallowed up some when trying to get into the interior of the line, something that won't happen often in his college career.
Tanner McCalister, CB Rockwall-Heath - Again, a young guy from the 2018 class but a guy that has his first offer down from La Tech but has been hearing from Houston and actually went dow to see UH last week during his spring break. He has good size already for a CB at 6' and 185 heading into his junior season. He is one who is just emerging right now so look for a potential offer soon here. I'll have a full story coming on him as well asap.
Camron Buckley, WR Cedar Hill - I should get a full story out of this one as well but for now, I'll save you the suspense. There is a lot of mutual interest between Buckley and Houston. I don;t think he is fixing to shut it down or anything like that but they have a clear mutual fascination with each other that will be worth keeping an eye on. He mentioned he talks to Houston, Miami, Auburn, Texas on a very regular basis. Another great answer he gave me that I love to hear from players at his stage in the process "Right now I am focused on the schools that have offered me and want me in their program and I don;t focus on teams that haven't." He was at their junior day, works out regularly with Damarcus Ayers and will be at their spring game. That last sentence should convey his lean at least at the moment. Current plans are for a top 10 following their spring and if he feels comfortable a decision before the season starts.
Eno Benjamin, RB Wylie East - What a stud Benjamin is. For those not familiar, he has over 2 dozen offers from every conference in the country and recently named a top 10. Houston made that list and he had some great things to say about them after the camp. He is a December grad so expect a decision earlier and not dragging out too long. He has not visited Houston yet but he said he is going to this spring. A couple big questions he said he has is how they would like to use him but he said more importantly how the player and coach relationship works within a program, something that should be a positive for Houston. He says he deals mostly with Herman and Applewhite, a good indication of his importance as a recruit to them. Oh yea, he wants to be a lawyer too so that is an avenue he will look at on his visit as well.
That is all I have for the moment, I'll come back and add actual stories as I get them done as well as national stuff that I see come across. There were many other targets I did;t get to catch but will be tracking down throughout the spring.
