Spring Break
Edsall: Prospects Not Under The Radar
Mike Mauro
Issue date: 2/7/08 Section: Sports
EAST HARTFORD - Character, work ethic and the desire to graduate are the qualities head coach Randy Edsall requires from his football team. After announcing his 22-player 2008 recruiting class yesterday afternoon at Rentschler Field, Edsall was excited about these qualities as well as the talent and leadership that each recruit brought to the table.
Though the class is not highly-rated by most recruiting services - including a seventh-place finish in the eight-team Big East, according to Rivals.com - Edsall disregards what the experts say is an "under-the-radar" group and feels these players fit UConn's needs and will continue to make the Huskies contenders on the national stage.
"Talking to their coaches," Edsall said, "these players have the work ethic, leadership and academic qualities that we were looking for. When you have that, this class is going to allow you to continue to win Big East championships and also continue to allow the program to elevate on a national level."
Recruiting service Rivals.com ranks players from two to five stars. UConn has just three three-star players and the rest are two stars. While other Big East teams like Pittsburgh are bringing in more high-profile talent and higher-rated players, Edsall said he puts no stock into these rankings created by people who have not seen the film of every recruit or spoken to their coaches.
"If all these recruiting people were so good at evaluating talent, they sure as heck wouldn't be sitting behind a computer doing this," Edsall said. "They'd be with some NFL team as a general manager or be hired at a college to be an evaluator and come out and recruit. The rankings don't mean anything to me, the only thing that matters is what we think of these kids."
Considering UConn won a share of the Big East championship with no recruit ranked higher than a three-star, and many of its star players like Scott Lutrus coming out ranked with two stars, Edsall's point is well- taken.
Though the class is not highly-rated by most recruiting services - including a seventh-place finish in the eight-team Big East, according to Rivals.com - Edsall disregards what the experts say is an "under-the-radar" group and feels these players fit UConn's needs and will continue to make the Huskies contenders on the national stage.
"Talking to their coaches," Edsall said, "these players have the work ethic, leadership and academic qualities that we were looking for. When you have that, this class is going to allow you to continue to win Big East championships and also continue to allow the program to elevate on a national level."
Recruiting service Rivals.com ranks players from two to five stars. UConn has just three three-star players and the rest are two stars. While other Big East teams like Pittsburgh are bringing in more high-profile talent and higher-rated players, Edsall said he puts no stock into these rankings created by people who have not seen the film of every recruit or spoken to their coaches.
"If all these recruiting people were so good at evaluating talent, they sure as heck wouldn't be sitting behind a computer doing this," Edsall said. "They'd be with some NFL team as a general manager or be hired at a college to be an evaluator and come out and recruit. The rankings don't mean anything to me, the only thing that matters is what we think of these kids."
Considering UConn won a share of the Big East championship with no recruit ranked higher than a three-star, and many of its star players like Scott Lutrus coming out ranked with two stars, Edsall's point is well- taken.
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John Dupuis
posted 2/08/08 @ 3:41 PM EST
Football Places Five on BIG EAST All-Academic Team
www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/mfootball/index.asp
I congratulate Edsall and the Huskies for a great 2007 season. (Continued…)
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