Recruiting Notes: More On Nelson & Predictable Spin In Seattle
by Nestor on Aug 6, 2010 12:00 AM PDT
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PrintJon Gold from the Daily News has a little bit more on UCLA's latest football commit - Raymond Nelson - the younger brother of sophomore hoops player Reeves Nelson:
Scout.com is reporting that Modesto Christian tight end Raymond Nelson - profile here - verbally committed to Rick Neuheisel last night. Nelson, the younger brother of UCLA rising sophomore basketball player Reeves Nelson, had an explosive camp in late June and came away with an offer, and all indications were that he was heavily leaning toward UCLA.
Nelson has been one of the fastest rising tight ends in the country, and it looks like a good get for, well, both the football and basketball program, as now both brothers have someone to lean on. I've said multiple times that I don't think the book is closed on Junior Pomee, who de-committed after a trip to Florida but has not verbally committed anywhere again, but I think this really shuts the door on Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who seems to be enamored with Texas.
That seems to make sense. The Pomee story is nowhere close to being over. Knowing the tenacity of CRN, I feel pretty good about UCLA having a good shot in this race. As for Seferian-Jenkins, I think he is pretty much set for Texas. I could be wrong but that's the vibe I get from reading his comments in various recruiting sites.
Going back to Nelson, he is a 3 star recruit, but he sure was coveted as he had offers from 7 other Pac-10 schools. He is now the seventh commit of our class. Although he is being recruited as a TE, given his athleticism and frame (6'5, 237), it will not be a surprise if he also emerges as a DE prospect in college.
One of the schools that Nelson turned down happened to be University of Washington. It looks like Steve Sarkasian is engaging in very predictable spin during this recruiting season. Bob Condotta from the Seattle Times wrote this nugget yesterday:
[T]he swift manner in which Sarkisian axed Kavario Middleton from the team yesterday --- for indiscretions no one outside the team really knew about --- indicates Sarkisian is running a much tighter ship, and maybe is exhibiting the firmest hand at UW since the Don James era.
Middleton obviously wasn't just some third-teamer who is easy to sacrifice to make a point. He was potentially the best UW tight end since Jerramy Stevens (a player whose UW career helps illustrate the differing manner in which the program appears to be being run now), and potentially a first-day NFL Draft pick.
Uh huh. Yeah, Okay. Whatever you say Bob. Note, how convenient it was for him not to mention how Sarkasian came in and swooped in another recruit, who had been arrested for allegedly stealing another student's bag pack at UCLA.
We had a feeling Sarkasian and his cronies would be using the Middleton story to spin the Seattle media hard about him being such a tough disciplinarian making them forget the irony of pouncing on a recruit who was kicked out by Neuheisel for disciplinarian reason. Looks like Condotta fell for that BS hook, line and sinker. Predictable but still pretty pathetic.
GO BRUINS.
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what a shame
I am not sure why, maybe all the trips up to Seattle to see our bruins play, I began rooting for those purple and gold helmets. But after their new hire and the Hippocrates that came with it, there’s no chance I root for them as I once did. Now it will likely be once a year.
by westwood12003 on Aug 6, 2010 7:09 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
Kavario was dismissed for not meeting the staff’s expectations during off season workouts and failing a drug test. Sark is running a pretty tight ship at Washington. If Josh Shirley or any other Husky screws up in a similar manner the justice meted out is pretty decisive and swift.
All three athletes involved in purse-gate were going to get second chances at UCLA or another school. They chose the route of going to other schools which is frustrating if you are a Bruin fan. Keep in mind that UCLA granted the releases which allowed the three to pursue scholarships at other schools this fall rather than waiting till winter.
Disagree
Those three athletes would have gotten a second chance at UCLA only if they showed contrition and took responsibility for their actions. From what we have heard they were caught doing something really bad and not acceptable in Westwood. Shirley tweet itself substantiated that he did something terribly wrong. Instead of taking responsibility they ran.
For Sark to accept Shirley with open arms only encourages high profile recruits to run and not take responsibility. There is a clear line of distinction between what is accepted at UCLA and what passes in Washington. Sark took a recruit who was not getting a second chance at UCLA unless he owned to his actions. He didn’t and Sark sold out.
There is a clear difference here and timing of Kavario’s dismissal was beyond coincidental because the kind of predictable spin that is now coming out of Seattle. Whatever. Enjoy Sark. We were worried that UDub might have actually gotten a good coach in Leach or Peterson. It looks like you have gotten hold of a cheap version of Cheatey Petey. It’s a shame because I used to actually like the Huskies going way before CRN.
I applauded UCLA’s decision to suspend the three players and I have mixed emotions about Shirley going to UW after being involved in the incident. I think it would have been best if all three sat out this year. I think the conference should have a policy in place to address this specific area in the future.
As an insider trust me…you are reading a lot into this that isn’t factual…Kavario’s dismissal had nothing to do with Josh Shirley…there is no spin…just two separate decisions made independently of each other. It certainly wasn’t done to make room for the addition of Shirley.
The two other athletes in question are going to Arizona and Colorado. I haven’t seen any feedback yet on that. How is that different than the situation at Washington?
Anyway just want to note that I have always respected your blog and appreciate the support you showed our blog (UW Dawg Pound) which allowed us to also join SBN.
Good luck this year!
by John Berkowitz on Aug 7, 2010 10:07 AM PDT up reply actions
The respect is mutual John
I will always appreciate your blog.
I can also tell you that we are pretty well appraised of the Shirley situation beyond what has been reported in the news outlets. We will leave it at that. What was disturbing was the statement from Sarkasian that somehow Shirley was going to be all right because he was going be around “Washington people.” That was a needless and baseless cheap shot against Neuheisel’s staff.
As for Shaq Richardson, we have fanshotted about him when he left. We didn’t make a bigger deal out of him because he wasn’t taking shots at the UCLA coaching staff like Shirley was via Twitter. If Richardson indeed ends up in Colorado (nothing has been set officially yet) we will take note of that as well.
Good luck to you guys as well.
Gotcha
I can understand exactly where you are coming from after the explanation.
By the way…just my opinion…if the Bruin Nation supports CRN 100% I know you are going to like the results as times go on. Rick is the best game day coach in the Pac 10…he can call a game.rick is a great guy and you got him at the right time!
by John Berkowitz on Aug 7, 2010 9:29 PM PDT up reply actions
Agree with you as well
And I’d like to see UDub make a comeback eventually so that we can have all those great UCLA-UDub games from the 80s and early 90s.
Too be fair, Nestor
to my second favorite team in the Pac-10 with the second classiest fans, that article (written July 21st) was written a day before Josh Shirley was picked up by the Huskies (July 22nd). It wasn’t spin, you just misread the dates, that is all.
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