New Football Commitment!

by muircoach on Jul 8, 2009 10:17 PM PDT

I think we just got a huge get because it is in such an area of need. We just got a commitment from former Birmingham standout Marquis Jackson, who played last year at COC (College of the Canyons). This guy was flat-out a stud in HS and he had alot of attention coming out of HS. However, he must not have had the grades, cause he went the JC route and he had Pac-10 potential and offers. He is 6'4 and real quick for a D-Lineman. I saw him play once, and was stunned at how good he was. He seems to have figured it out in the classroom and if he has, we should get three great years from him. He has the body, the game, and the motor, to play on Sundays. I don't say that everyday. Now it seems, he has the grades which will get him into a school so that he can work his way towards that. He is a 4-star prospect, according to several services, and so he isn't a secret. If I remember right, and I could be wrong, but U$C wanted him pretty badly when he was coming out of HS........but I could be wrong. Anyways, great job by CRN and Co. This is great news as we build a solid DL!

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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Great News

Thank you muircoach for keeping us informed about recruiting. Sounds like a great get. It seems on some other fan sites there has been some complaining about the recent trend of getting three star recruits.

I’m not really knowledgeable about football recruiting, but from the stats I’ve seen, the number of stars only very loosely correlates with a player’s future college and NFL success. It goes without saying that I trust that our coaches have a very keen eye for evaluating talent (it is, after all, the very core of their profession) as well as a deep understanding of our team’s needs.

Also, I appreciate hearing the opinion of someone familiar with both the local high school scene and UCLA’s radar. I believe this focus allows for a more accurate evaluation of relevant players than the recruiting services due to their much larger scope.

So thanks again for the info, muircoach. Any chance you can elaborate on your experience monitoring high school football?

by truebluebruin on Jul 9, 2009 11:24 AM PDT reply actions

re. number of stars

A little too early in the process to get caught over that. I have followed UCLA recruiting online for more than ten years and the way it all shakes out, the star ratings always go up or down depending on off season camps, offers, and of course in season performance. I already heard that Nottingham and Thomas will be upgraded to 4 stars by Rivals.com and similar upgrades might take place by Scout.com.

Plus Nottingham will most likely get an invite to Elite 11 camp given the way he has blown up this off season. So I wouldn’t care too much about hyperventilating comments from people who have no clue about the big picture in recruiting process.

by Nestor on Jul 9, 2009 7:39 PM PDT up reply actions