Six Very Important Things this Morning 9.16.2010

It's going to be pretty tough to keep up the post-per-day strategy I started up with before Baby Ben arrived on scene, at least until the little tyke learns to sleep for more than 2 hours at a time, but I feel I can fire one off here.

1.  Well that should do it.  The Twins won again last night, beating the Sox 9-3, which brings their division lead to 8 games with just 17 left to play.  Their magic number is now 10, which essentially means it would take an epic collapse as well as a hell of a run by Chicago to keep the Twins out of the playoffs - something I haven't ruled out.  Most impressive last night was Brian Duensing, who wasn't very sharp and that is precisely the reason he was so impressive.  Throughout the game he seemed to always be on the verge of giving up the big inning, but kept getting key outs and bid double plays whenever he needed them.  It was a very impressive display of "battling" for such a young pitcher with less than twenty career starts.  There is no doubt in my mind he needs to be the third starter in any playoff series the Twins are in.  When Baker, Slowey, or Blackburn are off, rarely do you see them still manage to go six innings and scatter nine hits the way he did, they generally get killed and don't see the fourth.  Behind Mauer, Thome, Valencia, Pavano, and Liriano there's no doubt he's been the most valuable player this year, not only for what he's done since joining the rotation, but his stellar bullpen work earlier this year as well.  Finishing sixth as an MVP might not sound that impressive, but did you expect him to be there? 

2.  How fast did everybody get to the waiver wire?  Once again proving that you need to have waivers in your fantasy football league rather than some kind of crazy first-come, first-served style, Ryan Grant was announced to be out for the year on Tuesday, cementing Brandon Jackson as the waiver wire pickup who will win many fantasy leagues for people who drafted like crap.  Also setting off a firestorm of whining from every Grant owner who didn't draft Jackson and then had to watch some dork with a bad team scoop him up in front of them when waiver claims were processed, assuring that said owner will be starting someone like Fred Jackson next week.  To which I say:  You are all nerds.  But seriously, anything that hurts the Packers is a friend of mine, which is why Tony Mandarich is still one of my favorite players.  The Incredible Bulk or Barry Sanders?  Nice decision, Packer-jerks!

3.  Mark Ingram is ready to run over your face.  Last year's Heisman trophy winner, this year's favorite to win the Heisman, and the guaranteed #1 rookie pick in fantasy football next year was cleared to play after missing the first two weeks of the college season after having knee surgery.  I know knee surgery is never something you want, particularly if you're a running back, but he's got an awful nice blend of speed and power, so even if he's 80% he's still going to be better than pretty much everybody, and even at 10% he'd be better than anybody the Gophers have trotted out there since Amir Pinnix left.  I haven't decided if he's the next Curtis Martin or the next Ron Dayne at the NFL level, but luckily, I don't have to decide yet.  Although I can guarantee you if Dawger gets him in our keeper league, he'll turn into the next Dayne.  How's Darren McFadden working out for you, little guy? 

4.  Hard to believe he could be dirty.  I don't believe it either, but it's possible John Calipari and Kentucky cheated in order to get Eric Bledsoe to qualify to attend Kentucky last season.  You might remember it was looking iffy that he would get in, and you might also remember his name surfaced earlier this offseason with an investigation into whether or not he and/or his family received money while he was being recruited.  This time, the issues arise from his high school transcript which not only shows that, after never receiving higher than a C in his high school career, he received an A or a B in seven of his ten classes senior year, but also that he took Algebra 3 before Algebra 2.  And this isn't like taking History of World War II before History of World War I, this would be liking taking a class on spelling before you learned the alphabet.  Hard to believe this of Calipari.  This reminds me of when I saw Star Wars Episode III and, spoiler alert, suddenly Anakin turns to the dark side at the end.  Talk about a shocker!

5.  Speaking of dirty coaches, how about the guy in Orange?  Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl, noted tattle tail, is now in trouble for lying to the NCAA about possible violations and obviously, those same violations which include phone calls that shouldn't have been made and recruit visits that may have been violations.  Right now it sounds like the violations wouldn't be too major, the school is sticking behind Pearl, and he hasn't lost any players or recruits.  Which, coincidentally, is how it started for Kelvin Sampson at Indiana when the shit started coming down as well, and we know how that worked out - they still haven't recovered.  So is this the end for Bruce Pearl and Tennessee basketball?  I don't really care, because this kind of stuff doesn't really bother me, but I think Pearl is kind of a huge douche so seeing him crying at his press conference while he apologized was pretty neat.  

6.  In case you hadn't noticed, these guys can't lose.  Again.   The Colorado Rockies, a longshot to make the playoffs not that long ago, have gotten hot in September and suddenly right in the thick of the division race.  Yes, again.  No, this isn't last year.  Or that other year.  This is a new thing.  They have won 11 of 13, including a 10-game win streak, and are just 2.5 back of San Diego (and 2.5 back of the wildcard).  Yes, again.  This year.  I consider the Rockies my NL club, and with the Twins my AL team, I might as well not even watch the first few months each year.  Neither of these teams ever bothers to get going until the last two months anyway.  Besides them just being my favorite NL team I want them to win because Rocktober is just plain fun to say. 

And I also want to mention that Troy Tulowitzki has hit 11 home runs in his last 13 games because jesus.

Pete Rose is Back! (+ Gopher Recruit stuff)

No, not the ultimate compiler and horrid human being Pete Rose, or his piece of crap son and his fourteen career at bats. I'm talking about the Pete Rose of football, the Vicodin Kid, the Drama Queen of the last three offseasons, the one and only Brett Farve.

I'm as sick of the circus every offseason as you are, and it looks like it's happening again this time with Favre planning to meet at a top-secret undisclosed location with Vikings' "Head Coach" Brad Childress to discuss the possibility of him coming to play for the Vikings next season. The Jets straight up released the world's biggest drama hog after drafting pretty boy something I don't remember (Mark?) Sanchez to play QB, which eliminates the clause which essentially barred Captain Percoset from playing for the Vikes last year. My reaction: What the hell, go for it.

Sage and T-Jax aren't exactly super bowl caliber QBs. They are more of prayers at this point, hoping to god one of them doesn't make too many mistakes to screw up a good team. That's pretty much Favre's downside here, as much as I hate him, his upside is far greater than either of those two clowns.

I see this going down one of two ways, and both involve him being all fired up to be in the NFC North and wanted to prove himself to everyone, and especially Green Bay.

One way is he hits all the mini-camps. All the optional training camps. Works out like a young person to get back in young person shape. Gets the gold medal in his training drill and jacks up his ratings by seven points. He comes out like the Favre before he became this Favre, lights the world on fire, and leads the Vikings to a Super Bowl. I can get on board with that, even with the world's richest redneck leading the charge.

The other way is he really wants to prove himself to Green Bay, but insists, as he has for the last several years, that he knows best how to do it. He doesn't need to work out with the team or hit the mini-camps or do anything other than show up, play a little grab-ass, halfway study a playbook, and hit the field. In this instance he throws a ton of picks (wow imagine that), can't lead the team to the victories they need because he keeps forcing the ball where he can't get it anymore, gets ripped to shreds, and eventually loses his job to either Sage or T-Jax, completely sullying his legacy to the point where he becomes a running joke. Honestly, I might even prefer this version.

Either way, the circus is clearly in town, and the man who gave his wife cancer is on the high wire without a net. And I'll watch in rapt attention for the same reason I listen to my trainwreck of a co-worker describe her love lift every week - it is a trainwreck from which I cannot avert my gaze. Sit back, relax, and love every minute of it. The only way we lose here is if he never signs at all.

[EDIT: I mentioned to Mrs. W that I was blogging about Favre and how it looks like he's probably coming here. She replied, "Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. He's all old and injured and super annoying." So there you go.]

- As long as I'm here, I might as well keep on going, and next up is a very brief look at the Players Championship. Held every year at the TPC Sawgrass, home of the most famous island green in the world, this is the tournament where my homey Sergio Garcia finally breaks out this year. The Spanish Catapult hasn't been great this year (13th at the Honda is his best finish), but also hasn't been terrible and has made every cut this year with, of course, the exception of last week at Quail Hollow.

Normally all this would tell me to stay away, but the guy is one of a handful of guys who you could consider a top-five golfer and you know he isn't going this whole season without contending. Even better, dude loves Sawgrass, winning here last year after finishing as runner-up in 2007. I don't know if he'll win, but I'm seeing a top five for sure.

If you want more of a sleeper, look to the Swede Henrik Stenson. He's only played in three tournaments this year, but has a third place finish at Houston. He is like Garcia and loves this course, who has finished tenth, 23rd, and third here the last three years.

- Gopher hoops is pretty set for 2009, especially with those two boners leaving the team, but how about 2010? According to Rivals, these are the uncomitted players the Gophers have offers out to:

PG Cory Joseph. #110 on Rivals150, 24th best PG in the class. Also has offers from Georgetown, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Marquette, Texas A&M, and UNLV. He's also visited Cal and is quickly moving up prospect lists with a very good year and his ability to play both guard spots and might soon jump from a 3-star prospect to a five-star. Given the questions the Gophers have at point with a rapidly approaching Terrance Simmons-level Al Nolen and the mystery that is Justin Cobbs, Joseph is probably the Gophers' most important recruit. It's a matter of if he wants to play with his bro Devoe or not. Let's hope so.

SG Aaron Cosby. 3-stars, not ranked in Rivals rankings, he also has offers from Oklahoma State, Indiana, Butler, Dayton, and Western Kentucky. Cosby might be the least impressive of the recruits in terms of his numbers on Rivals, but Tubby has been after him for a while, and I trust Tubby. According to his scouting report he can already score and has the ability to be a big-time on-ball defender with some effort. Those both sound good, but it still makes me nervous that he seems to be more of a target of the mid-majors.

SG Tim Hardaway, Jr. 3-stars, not ranked in Rivals rankings, he also has offers from Michigan with Kansas State involved. Not really highly sought after yet, it's probably only a matter of time for the first of the next generation of Run-TMC. He's already thought of as an elite shooter, but can do even more as shown by his averages of 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists last season. Michigan is and has been after him hard, and his three-point ability would fit well in Beilein's offense, but the Gophers are also in the picture. A big time elite shooter always gives me a little boner, so I'd be very much in favor of him showing up in Minneapolis.

SF Harrison Barnes. #4 on Rivals150, #1 small forward. Also has offers from Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Iowa State, Kansas, UCLA, and pretty much everybody. I mentioned that I thought Joseph was the Gophers' most important recruit, but Barnes is by far the best, and to the team's credit he is at least showing a modicum of interest. The real issue is that this kid can pick where he goes from essentially anybody (he's known as Kansas's #1 target, for example). The Gophers best bet is to hope he wants to stay close to home, but the issue there is that he's actually right from Ames so if he wants to stay close to home he's got Iowa State. Of course, if he wants to stay close to home and play for a great coach, that's where the Gophers have the advantage since Lickliter and whoever the hell is coaching the Cyclones right now suck. Don't expect to get this kid, but if it happens it's bigger than Royce and Rodney combined.

SF Casey Prather. #30 on Rivals150, #7 Small Forward. Also has offers from Michigan, Alabama, Clemson, and pretty much every mid-tier SEC and ACC school. He sounds essentially like a Rod-Will clone, but there's really no point in focusing on Prather in any way because there's no chance he comes to Minnesota. In a recent interview he detailed his thoughts on his top five schools, and the Gophers weren't part of the discussion. He does mention the in his TOP 14, but come on, who are we kidding here?

PF Chad Calcaterra. 3-stars, not ranked on Rivals. Offers from Auburn, Colorado State, Northern Iowa, UW-GB, and NDSU. Look at those schools, and look at that rank. I have no idea why he's been extended an offer other than the fact that he's from Cloquet so everyone has a boner for him. I'm pretty sure he's another Kevin Loge. With the upside of a Kyle Sanden. Have fun at NIU.

Lastly on the Gopher front, my main main Eric Bledose still hasn't picked a school, but he's clearly not coming to Minnesota and that still hurts me. It looks like he's outgrown UAB - which had looked like a perfect fit, and has it narrowed to Kentucky and Memphis. Basically the news is that he's going to Kentucky, unless John Wall goes to Kentucky, in which case he's going to Memphis. I'd look up if John Wall committed yet since I don't know how old my info is, but I've had a couple of drinks and also I'm quite lazy, so I'm not going to.

- Finally, the Twins finally bit the bullet and sent Alexi Casilla down today, recalling Matt Tolbert to take his place. I'm not Matt Tolbert fan, but it was time for Casilla, and it may be time to ship him off while he still has some value. That may be jumping the gun considering he's not even 25, but his suddenly sloppy defense can't offset his terrible offense anymore. He was never a great hitter, hitting just .257 in parts of three seasons in triple A, and burst on the scene last year hitting over .300 through July before fading to hit just .281/.333/.374. More alarming, check this out:

May, 2008: .340/.417/.520
June, 2008: .304/.330/.412
July, 2008: .308/.333/.385
August, 2008: .234/.260/.362
September, 2008: .221/.321/.253
April, 2009: .174/.231/.202
May, 2009: .135/.233/.135

Yikes. His OPS has declined every single month since he was recalled last year.

That can't be good.



RIP Scrubs. I can't remember a show that I cared about this much ending. Seinfeld, sure, but that show never connected emotionally the way Scrubs could (insert gay joke here, but Dr. Acula knows what I'm talking about). Bye show. I love you.

Recruiting Updates

If you've been reading The Daily Gopher, and why wouldn't you, you'd know there has been a flurry of recruiting activity of note to Gopher fans lately. Of note:

- Minnesota boy Sam Dower heading to Gonzaga. Dower, a center from Osseo, is a late bloomer who recently shot up the ranks after averaging 22 points per game for in AAU ball this summer after putting up just 13 per game in high school. Gonzaga was after him early, and had the inside track. After visiting the campus, Dower made his choice. The Gophers got in the game late, and I was never optimistic Dower would sign here. Dower is currently ranked #119 on the Rivals Top 150.

- Torin Walker to Oklahoma State. Walker is another center Tubby wanted, and I'm quite a bit bummed he didn't get him, mostly because Torin Walker just sounds like a good name for a player. Walker was supposed to take a visit to the Minnesota campus, but after visiting OSU he canceled all other visits. I'm guessing he was set up with some very nice female "superfans" of the program. Take note for the upcoming Rodney Williams visit to the U please.

- Trevor Williams to Colorado State. Yet another center to spurn an offer from Tubby Smith, although for the life of me I can't figure out a single reason why anybody would want to go to Colo State. This was another case of a player having a visit scheduled to Minnesota, but opting to sign with another school following a visit there. There was a lot of chatter about Williams, and the Gophers were involved in his recruiting early so this one does sting a bit.

Not a Minnesota target, but of interest nonetheless is Hopkins' Mike Broghammer committing to Notre Dame. I'm not entirely certain why Tubby never chose to get involved in recruiting Broghammer, but I'm guessing it is because he is related to Christian Laettner, who once stomped on a Kentucky player and all the hearts of Kentucky fans. And Tubby still loves Kentucky.

Also of interest is Eden Praire's Ethan Wragge committing to Creighton last night. Wragge was never in Tubby's sights, but the a three-star instate player is still worth mentioning.

Does this all mean that Tubby is losing his touch? After the miracle class of 2008, are we sunk for 2009? No, not really. Calm down, spaz. Plenty of quality players still on the radar, particularly if Williams signs here. Other possibilities:

- PG/SG Darius Smith, #113 on Rivals. According to Scout, Smith considers the Gophers the Gophers his favorite school, and had a visit scheduled for last weekend at the U. He hasn't signed following that, which makes me nervous. I haven't heard a single peep about how the visit went, which also makes me nervous. I don't know if it actually happened or what. Expect Smith to sign with Bradley.

- PG Eric Bledsoe, #67 on Rivals. I've mentioned him before, and he is absolutely, without question my number 1 guy I want for this team for 2009, above even Rodney Williams. Everything I read about this kid gives me a boner. The problem is it's going to take a major coup to steal him away from Mike Davis and UAB. He's from Alabama, they've been recruiting him forever, he likes Davis, and he loves their running style. Odds on landing Bledsoe are around 10% or so, but if anybody can do it, Tubby can. Please.

- PG Johnnie Lacy, #110 on Rivals is also still a possibility, and has been written about here plenty. If Bledsoe doesn't work out, I'd be more than happy to get Johnnie, assuming he's eligible.

- Lastly, two Power Forwards from Georgia I've never heard of apparently have received offers from the Gophers according to Scout: Terrence Shannon and Kadeem Batts. Shannon is the superior player, coming in at #125 on Rivals while Batts is unranked. Batts is mostly being pursued by middle tier major conference teams, while Shannon has Florida State and Memphis as his leaders, with the Gophers listed as a longshot.


Grabbing any one of those guys along with Rodney to fill out the two remaining scholarships for 2009 would be an excellent, excellent class following up the #25 class of 2008 according to ESPN.

Once again, I want to say I'm absolutely convinced right now that the Gophers must get a verbal from Rodney on his official visit in a week and a half. The week after that, he is heading out to Santa Clara for a visit with his friend and Bronco commit Raymond Cowels. The fact that he narrowed his list to just two, and Santa Clara is on there instead of Kansas or UCONN tells me he's very serious about the possibility. Can't you see it? The two guys, visiting a beautiful campus in California right near the ocean. All around them are beautiful women in bikinis, the weather is nice after leaving the shitty fall weather of Minnesota. The rest of the Santa Clara team telling him how it's beautiful there all winter with no snow. Cowels talking to him about how the two of them can join together to help raise the Santa Clara program to national prominence once again.

Think about it, this is probably the most important recruit visit to that program since forever. They will pull out all the stops and roll out the red carpet to kiss his ass in a huge way. I'm telling you right now, if he doesn't sign with the Gophers during his visit and actually makes his way out to Santa Clara for that visit, he's going to sign there. I guarantee it.

Gophers and Rodney Williams

- First off, Rodney Williams will take a visit to the U of M on September 19th. Despite Williams drop in Rivals.com's Top 150 from #28 to #95, he's still a high priority for Tubby and the team. Thanks to the work done by the Twin Cities Hoops Czar, we know that, at least according to Rivals, Rodney is crazy mad athletic, but doesn't quite seem to be progressing the way they would like him too. I'm not too worried about it. Despite the drop and Tubby's success last season, the Gophers are nowhere near a place where they can afford to turn away a top 100 player, short of murder. And even then I'd be ok with it.

- Oh, and Williams chopped his list of potential schools to just Minnesota and Santa Clara. I don't really get it either. One thing that makes me a bit nervous is that Rodney is very seriously considering the Broncos it would appear. He's visiting Santa Clara the weekend after his Minnesota visit, and the scary thing is he's heading out there with fellow Minnesota High School standout Raymond Cowels - who has already committed to the Broncos. If Tubby doesn't lock him up after his visit, and he goes out there with a friend who has already committed, it's going to be very tempting for them to decide to go their together. Be very nervous.

- The big Gopher football game today has the bloggers on edge. Neither The Gopher Football Blog nor Buck Bravo are brave enough to give a prediction, but both sound very nervous for the game, which is on ESPN U for some damn reason. Meanwhile, over at the Daily Gopher, Gopher Nation is seriously delusional, predicting a Gopher victory, while PJS is more intelligent, seeing a seven point Bowling Green victory. They're all wrong. Bowling Green 49, Minnesota 28.

- This is what drives me crazy about the Twins. It's the bottom of the sixth, they're up 2-1 and load up the bases with nobody out, thanks partially to two Verlander walks as he's seemed to start losing control. Next two guys up are Punto and Gomez, and they both swing at the very first pitch. That's stupid. Of course, Gomez ripped a double to score two, but it's still stupid.

- Lastly, the more I hear about Eric Bledsoe, the more I want him. Here's a blurb from Scout's Dave Telep:

"It’s interesting to note that against the best competition he seems to raise his game. Translation: his best basketball is ahead of him in college. That confident edge that you want PGs to have was there this weekend."

WANT.

Gopher Recruiting News

Since I initially started this site with the sole intent of writing about Gopher basketball before tangenting off into several hundred different directions, I figured once in a while I should take a peak at Gopher recruiting. Now seems about right, since there is a lot to discuss.

Darius Smith: I wrote earlier this week about the Gophers offering Smith, a 6-2 point guard from Illinois, and there is a little more information available. He was called "the best defensive player in the state and one of the best leaders" at the Nike Peach Jam and is known as a very solid rebounder, ballhandler, defender, and penetrator who lacks only an outside shot to complete his game. Bradley is after him hard, as well as Marquette and DePaul. The Gophers are late to the party, but their name recognition as well as high profile head coach have got to help, but of course, the Gophers lost that one big goofy guy to DePaul already, so who knows what kind of decisions some of these geniuses are capable of making. Smith sounds a lot like an Al Nolen clone, right down to the academic issues (current gpa of 2.4, ACT score of 16), and as long as he's eligible I'll be very happy with that.

Sam Dower: Big man from Osseo who picked up an offer from Tubby early last week, Dower is a 6-9, 215 PF/C who averaged 13 points and 7 boards as a junior at Osseo last season and will be expected to take more of a scoring role with several good players graduating after last year. He currently ranks #130 on the Rivals Top 150. Obviously at 215 he needs to put on some weight and gain strength, but he has that big wingspan that allows him to block a lot of shots, and he has a very good game in the paint and from the high post. He recently narrowed his list to five schools: Gonzaga, George Mason, Minnesota, Marquette, and Cal. He's already visited GMU, and is expected to visit Minnesota and Marquette in August and Gonzaga in September. I'm not real excited here, but I suppose he's better than nothing. I think the Gophers have two schollys left for '09, and I'd rather they be used on one of the PGs and Rod Will, but it's nice to see that a consolation prize under Tubby would have been the keystone recruit under Monson. No, I'm not ready to let the Monson hate go just yet.

Johnnie Lacy: Lacy, the 5-10 PG and Rivals #97 player from Wisconsin who recently reported that the Gophers were in the lead for his services has transferred to Notre Dame Prep School, reportedly with the hopes that it will help him get eligible for his freshman season in 2009. Notre Dame Prep is in Fitchburg, MA and is kind of a basketball powerhouse. They have three players on the Rivals150 for 2008: Terrence Jennings (#19), Kim English (#112), and Melquan Boldin (#147) but for 2009 Lacy will be the only one on the list there. He should get some high quality coaching as well as being assured they will do whatever they have to in order to get him eligible. The Gophers may have cooled on Lacy a bit lately, with the offer going out to Darius Smith as well as some sudden interest in another guard I'll mention next, Eric Bledsoe.

Eric Bledsoe: No relation to Drew, I'm assuming because he's black, Bledsoe is a four-star, 6 foot PG out of Alabama who ranks #73 overall on Rivals list. His scouting reports from all around give me kind of a semi, because he's basically a true pass-first point guard which I love unless it's that homo Jacque Vaughn. Scout says he lacks a perimeter shot, but ESPN says he can shoot it from deep, so who the hell knows, but they both say he has the instincts for the position and is a lightning quick creator and that is all that matters. Speaking of Creators, there is also a christian rock singer named Erik Bledsoe, and I really hope they don't recruit him instead. But again, that was probably more of a concern with Monson in charge. Bledsoe says the hometown UAB Blazers are leading for his services, and the only school to have offered a scholarship so far, but Alabama, South Carolina, Indiana, and the Gophers are also in the mix, as well as the Lord Jesus Christ.

Cory Joseph: Another PG the Gophers are looking at, this time for 2010, is the younger brother of future Gopher Devoe Joseph and could give them a Joseph to Joseph combo at the guard position, although some services describe him as more of an off guard who could play point in a pinch, much like big brother. ESPN describes him as having one of the best pure jumpshots in the class of 2010, and says he will end up being better than Devoe. If that's the case, let's go ahead and get him signed early. He ranks 75th on the Rivals 150 and will probably be moving up as his career progresses, now in the States after transferring to a Nevada Prep School, basketball factory Findlay, for his final two high school seasons. It's still early, but Joseph is getting chased by pretty much everybody, including Kansas, Texas, and Memphis.

Angelo Johnson: Interestingly, Tubby has declined to pursue the former Minnesota high school player after he announced he was transferring from USC after his freshman season due to playing time concerns. Angelo has said he will end up at either Baylor, Southern Miss, Seton Hall, or Cincinnati. Although he could certainly help out the Gophers and their point guard vacancy for 2009, Tubby remains firm that he isn't interested. A big ole difference from Dan Monson, whose bread and butter was to chase recruits he missed out on after they changed their minds and promise them if they would come to the U they could take every single shot they ever wanted ever.

Glen Rice, Jr: There was some interest in the 3-star guard out of Georgia on the Gophers part, but, like with Mfon Udofia, the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech signed him instead. It will be interesting to keep an eye on the Jackets in the coming years to see how these two clowns develop. Tech has a nice recruiting class going for 2009.

- Rodney Williams continues to dominate and continues to not sign here yet.