ASU coach Graham gets high marks for recruiting, UA's Rodriguez not so much
Published: February 08, 2012 @ 10:16am
And, while nobody can be sure of how good any of these players will be at the collegiate level, it's still fun to speculate -- especially if you're an ASU fan.
According to Ben Glicksman of SI.com, Todd Graham did the fourth-best job of any of the nation's new coaches.
Arizona State's Todd Graham: B+. How's this for a stunner? Not only did Graham finagle his way out of Pittsburgh following one disappointing 6-6 season, but he also managed to attract some of the nation's premier recruits to join him in Tempe. Saguaro, Ariz., athlete D.J. Foster, Rivals' No. 71 recruit, accumulated 3,058 rushing yards and 60 touchdowns as a senior, while Marion Grice, Rivals' top-ranked JUCO running back out of Blinn College (Cam Newton's former school), earned NJCAA All- America honors. Both should serve as key cogs in the Sun Devils' soon-to-be high-octane attack.
That's got to make a Sun Devil fan smile, right? After all, with all the negative attention the school has received the last couple months it is nice to see some positive press. And, if Glicksman is right, there will be more positive press as the wins start to pile up.
But that's not all.
ASU's neighbors to the south also hired a new coach, and Rich Rodriguez was not given high marks for his first crop of recruits.
Arizona's Rich Rodriguez: D. Despite being hired Nov. 22 (earlier than every other coach on this list), Rodriguez wasn't able to sign even one four- or five-star recruit. And he missed on some big names. Fuller -- a seemingly perfect candidate to serve as RichRod's West Coast Denard Robinson -- spurned the Wildcats in favor of UCLA. That's especially brutal given the Bruins already had T.J. Millweard, a three-star pro-style quarterback out of Fort Worth, in their class.
Ouch.
One thing that could work in RichRod's favor is the recruitment of Scottsdale Chaparral Star Davonte Neal, who is the top recruit in the state of Arizona as well as one of the best players in the nation.
The Wildcats are on his list -- along with Notre Dame, Arkansas, North Carolina and others -- and bringing him to Tucson would be a real coup for the first-year coach.
But if Neal, who is expected to announce his college choice on February 21st, decides against the Old Pueblo, Arizona's class will certainly lack starpower.
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