PDA

View Full Version : FB Recruits a JuCo TE



CameronBornAndBred
12-08-2009, 01:20 PM
Interesting recruiting a JuCo guy, not sure how often Duke or Cutcliffe has done that. When he comes, Cooper Helfert will have 2 years of eligibilty remaining. We seem pretty stacked at WR as it is, but Cutcliffe liked him enough to offer.
http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/dec/08/junior-college-tight-end-headed-to-duke/sports/

sagegrouse
12-08-2009, 01:43 PM
Interesting recruiting a JuCo guy, not sure how often Duke or Cutcliffe has done that. When he comes, Cooper Helfert will have 2 years of eligibilty remaining. We seem pretty stacked at WR as it is, but Cutcliffe liked him enough to offer.
http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/dec/08/junior-college-tight-end-headed-to-duke/sports/

Interesting thing about California junior college enrollees. Some of them are athletes with excellent academics using JC to bulk up and qualify for a D-1 scholarship.

So, in this case JC /= poor grades.

Have never heard of this practice anywhere east of the Golden State.

sagegrouse

jimsumner
12-08-2009, 01:45 PM
He's a tight end. Not WR. No academic concerns at all. Switched sports and went to JC to reestablish his football credentials.

Jim3k
12-08-2009, 01:46 PM
We've had a few recently. Ron (?) Drummer was a WR/PR and we had a punter from the LA area, too.

BTW, this recruit is a TE, not a WR.

Let's hope this kid has better success.

Acymetric
12-08-2009, 01:59 PM
He's a tight end. Not WR. No academic concerns at all. Switched sports and went to JC to reestablish his football credentials.

I thought that was the case, and was going to post it, but then couldn't find any of the sites where I read that. Seems like he's pretty quick for a TE too, which can only be a good thing.

wallyman
12-08-2009, 02:06 PM
wonder if he's interested in playing lax as well. if jhu recruited him, he must be good. after this year, lax talent really begins to fall off, especially on attack...

Jim3k
12-08-2009, 02:08 PM
I may be mistaken about Drummer. Can't find the CC reference I thought was there.

I thought someone had come from Gavilan College in Gilroy. Anyone else recall that?

Also someone from LA City College

JaMarcus Russell
12-08-2009, 02:23 PM
I'm pretty sure that the punter was Chris Sprague '06.

This guy, Cooper Helfert, was playing lacrosse at Hopkins last year and had offers in football from Columbia and Princeton, so he is obviously not your typical JUCO when it comes to academics.

CameronBornAndBred
12-08-2009, 02:44 PM
He's a tight end. Not WR. No academic concerns at all. Switched sports and went to JC to reestablish his football credentials.
I had his Yahoo profile stuck in my head, they list him as WR.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/nevada/football/recruiting/player-Cooper-Helfet-98973

Jim3k
12-08-2009, 02:53 PM
I have been reminded by one of our people (from another site) that Brian Sallee, a TE, was a CC transfer from Mendocino College. I guess he's a better example of a recent CC transfer, coming in 2004.

jimsumner
12-08-2009, 03:57 PM
I believe Brian was a DT.

Devil in the Blue Dress
12-08-2009, 04:02 PM
On his last football show of the year, Coach Cutcliffe said that the theme for next year is speed, speed, speed. This recruit seems to fit that criterion. Who knows, he may find himself playing in another position.

Jim3k
12-08-2009, 04:07 PM
I'm pretty sure that the punter was Chris Sprague '06.



Yes. He was from Pasadena City College (Not LA City Col. as I misrecalled.)

formerdukeathlete
12-08-2009, 05:20 PM
He's a tight end. Not WR. No academic concerns at all. Switched sports and went to JC to reestablish his football credentials.

No concerns, in fact academics played a big role in Duke landing this player, and this recruit makes a lot of sense and improves the 2010 class.

I understand the staff is working to land some other top talent hoping for shifting commitments among all the coaching changes.

The 2010 class is not particularly strong at this point. Spending so much time visiting North Carolina high schools has not yielded like the coaches had hoped. There is a lot more talent in California relative to the number of in state BCS programs - 40 million people with 5 BCS schools, than in North Carolina - 5 BCS schools if including ECU with 9 million people, and a lot more talent in OH, PA, NY and NJ relative to local BCS programs - 7 programs among 54 million people. Dating back to the 30s through the 50s and more recently, Duke has always recruited top talent out of the NE, middle atlantic and California who are academically oriented. A golf channel special today reminded me that Mike Souchack ' 52 who played for Duke was from PA.

As the Football staff broadens their recruiting approach, our recruiting will improve.

Kewlswim
12-08-2009, 06:20 PM
Hi,

The belief that all athletes in Jr. College are academically ill-equipped for the rigors of Duke is just silly and I am glad Coach Cut sees that. When I was looking at perhaps going to medical school and took some classes at my local JC for science courses I needed the Duke Med School Adviser told me those courses would be looked upon negatively at Duke and other top-notch med schools. Interestingly, when I went to UCSF to see about possibly going there they had no such negative view. Now I am not going to compare UCSF med school and Duke med school, both are fine institutions. What I will say is that UCSF felt that taking courses at California JC's was a fine way to fill in the holes I needed filled in to go to med school and wasn't going to hold me back from being admitted. I decided I didn't want to go to med school, but this perceived bias against JC's never left me.

In Duke's defense maybe the adviser was comparing East Coast or Southern JC's with California JC's and maybe those are not very good? I learned a lot of great stuff at the JC's I took classes at.

GO DUKE!

johnb
12-08-2009, 07:29 PM
and some people transfer from the Ivy League to JC in order to get the experience that will one day allow them to get a job in the NBA:

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/21/sports/from-a-scouting-assignment-at-age-10-van-gundy-has-risen-to-the-top.html

Greg_Newton
12-08-2009, 07:43 PM
No concerns, in fact academics played a big role in Duke landing this player, and this recruit makes a lot of sense and improves the 2010 class.

I understand the staff is working to land some other top talent hoping for shifting commitments among all the coaching changes.

Does Helfet qualify as a "top talent"? These were his options out of HS:


As a senior at Redwood High in Larkspur, Helfet had a decision to make. Play football at Columbia, Princeton or the University of San Diego. Or lacrosse at Johns Hopkins.

Nothing against Columbia, Princeton and University of San Diego, but...:confused: What am I missing here?

(http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20081005/SPORTS/810059997?Title=Converted-lacrosse-star-hauls-in-Froman-146-s-passes)

juise
12-08-2009, 07:55 PM
There is a lot more talent in California relative to the number of in state BCS programs - 40 million people with 5 BCS schools...

Cal, Stanford, UCLA, USC and... Fresno State?

DCDevil1
12-08-2009, 08:59 PM
Formerdukeathlete, also known as South Florida Devil on other boards, has posted at least 20 times about the need to recruit nationally. It is tiresome. This is the same guy who claimed Asack was better than Thad multiple times. The idea that recruiting NC has not paid off is ridiculous.

Duke has signed the following guys from NC (state rankings from Rivals.com):
-Kelby Brown - LB with about 10 other BCS offers and ranked #15 in NC by Rivals.

-Takoby Cofield - OL #14 in NC. Shrine Bowl, 6'6", 290 lbs.

-Joshua Snead - RB, #19 in NC. 4.4 40. Shrine bowl. 10.52 in the 100m and 21.9 in the 200m. At least 1,891 yards in 2009 with 24 TDS

Anthony Boone - QB #21 in NC. Offer from Illinois. Great arm.

Braxton Deaver - WR/TE, 5+ other BCS offers. Over 60 receptions.

And there several other solid commits from NC. This is the best in-state recruiting in many years. Joins a solid group of 9 commits from NC last year. It may be true that Duke needs to target more nationally, but FDA or SFD is wrong when he says NC recruiting has not paid off.

Jim3k
12-08-2009, 09:09 PM
Cal, Stanford, UCLA, USC and... Fresno State?

I'm thinking four, same as you. Even so, San Diego State is in the Mountain West which is currently being looked at for BCS inclusion. SDSU may be what the OP was thinking.

Fresno State, a WAC member, OTOH, is not chopped liver. They've been very good over the past 10 years or so. But the WAC is not receiving the same consideration that the Mountain West is. (San Jose State is a WAC member, as well, but not a power at the moment.)

None of this is helpful in evaluating Helfet. I think he'll be the one to do that by his showing on the field.

Jarhead
12-08-2009, 09:52 PM
Yes. He was from Pasadena City College (Not LA City Col. as I misrecalled.)

Isn't that the one that heads up the Rose Bowl parade?

Kewlswim
12-09-2009, 02:51 AM
Formerdukeathlete, also known as South Florida Devil on other boards, has posted at least 20 times about the need to recruit nationally. It is tiresome. This is the same guy who claimed Asack was better than Thad multiple times. The idea that recruiting NC has not paid off is ridiculous.

Duke has signed the following guys from NC (state rankings from Rivals.com):
-Kelby Brown - LB with about 10 other BCS offers and ranked #15 in NC by Rivals.

-Takoby Cofield - OL #14 in NC. Shrine Bowl, 6'6", 290 lbs.

-Joshua Snead - RB, #19 in NC. 4.4 40. Shrine bowl. 10.52 in the 100m and 21.9 in the 200m. At least 1,891 yards in 2009 with 24 TDS

Anthony Boone - QB #21 in NC. Offer from Illinois. Great arm.

Braxton Deaver - WR/TE, 5+ other BCS offers. Over 60 receptions.

And there several other solid commits from NC. This is the best in-state recruiting in many years. Joins a solid group of 9 commits from NC last year. It may be true that Duke needs to target more nationally, but FDA or SFD is wrong when he says NC recruiting has not paid off.

Hi,

Thank you for the post, this does sound promising. I LOVE that Duke football recruiting seems to leave no stone unturned. As another poster noted, Coach Cut said this coming football year will be about "speed, speed, speed." I imagine (and hope too) that each class will get better than the last--and when we finally get to a bowl the recruits will get even better. This is getting exciting!

GO DUKE!

rtnorthrup
12-09-2009, 12:18 PM
Does Helfet qualify as a "top talent"? These were his options out of HS:



Nothing against Columbia, Princeton and University of San Diego, but...:confused: What am I missing here?

(http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20081005/SPORTS/810059997?Title=Converted-lacrosse-star-hauls-in-Froman-146-s-passes)

I certainly don't know the answer to your question, but there seem to be a few obvious factors that may have played a role. First, if the kid really wanted to play lacrosse coming out of high school, some colleges that do no have lacrosse teams may have avoided recruiting him. Second, after being out of high school for 2 years, his body may have developed to the point where he is now a legitimate FBS football player. High School recruiting is an inexact science. Cut has now seen film on this kid play at the JUCO level and thinks he can contribute to our team.

formerdukeathlete
12-09-2009, 02:42 PM
Cal, Stanford, UCLA, USC and... Fresno State?

In the mix this year, Fresno State, yep.

If its just 4, then also take ECU out of the mix and its 4 in NC. The math on that basis - 10 million per 1 BCS in Cal, and 2.25 million per in NC.

getting to the facts:

Duke's class this year may be smallish, maybe 20 kids, because of the size of the 09 class and available scholarships.

That said, the average star rating so far for this (2010) class is well below Stanford. 2.31 stars for Duke, currently ranked 63rd by Scout. 3.17 stars for Stanford, currently ranked 11th by Scout.

http://duke.scout.com/a.z?s=167&p=9&c=14&yr=2010

As mentioned, on the positive, the staff seems to be learning from the difficulties recruiting in state, losing recruit (s possibly) to UNC, and seems to be going after national prospects who may consider Duke amidst other top tier offers such as Ohio State who may be displaced in the coaching shuffles. Traditionally, when we land a kid offered by one of the top programs, they would not even consider UNC, as that would be a step down in Football and not enough of a step up academically. An example this year, Laken Tomlinson from IL offered by Ohio State and perhaps our highest rated current commit.

The Juco tight end was recruited by Hopkins for Lacrosse when he was recruited by Harvard for Football. So academically, he is likely a good fit for Duke. 4.52 speed at 6-4, 235 is pretty darn fast.

Did he attend Hopkins for a year? If he did not, then he could take 3 years at Duke to play lax perhaps in a fifth year. Based on the article, it sounds like he plans to compete for fb pt right away.

On another board, a very knowledgable poster, Train, who also posts sometimes on DBR, has mentioned that we have had little coverage / contact with powerhouse programs in the NE and CA where we have recruited much more heavily in the past. He has good contacts in the Stanford Football office. Stanford is very active with these programs. As our goal is to recruit student athletes of a caliber of our Basketball team, where we recruit nationally and internationally, we will want to pursue traditional venues which have proven fruitful throughout the history of our Program.

Acymetric
12-09-2009, 03:17 PM
Did he attend Hopkins for a year? If he did not, then he could take 3 years at Duke to play lax perhaps in a fifth year. Based on the article, it sounds like he plans to compete for fb pt right away.

He played lax for a year there. I can't for the life of me find any of the articles where I read it, but it basically says he played a season and realized that football was where his heart was at, so he transferred to JuCo to prepare for D1 football.

Edit: Minor quibble, those star averages include two 1-star players, which simply means they haven't been evaluated. Each player will be a 2 star at minimum, and possibly higher once they are evaluated. The problem with average stars is that you get punished for bringing in a few extra 2 star potential projects, where in reality adding those guys only helps. Also, Boone is said to be quite a QB relative to his 2 star ranking. You have to consider things like that, rather than blindly reciting average star rankings.

Greg_Newton
12-09-2009, 03:28 PM
He played lax for a year there. I can't for the life of me find any of the articles where I read it, but it basically says he played a season and realized that football was where his heart was at, so he transferred to JuCo to prepare for D1 football

It was the article I linked a few posts down: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20081005/SPORTS/810059997?Title=Converted-lacrosse-star-hauls-in-Froman-146-s-passes

Acymetric
12-09-2009, 03:59 PM
It was the article I linked a few posts down: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20081005/SPORTS/810059997?Title=Converted-lacrosse-star-hauls-in-Froman-146-s-passes

Thanks, I read about it before anything showed up on these boards, so I didn't think to look through the thread...glad I'm not going crazy though.

Dukeface88
12-09-2009, 05:48 PM
In the mix this year, Fresno State, yep.

If its just 4, then also take ECU out of the mix and its 4 in NC. The math on that basis - 10 million per 1 BCS in Cal, and 2.25 million per in NC.

getting to the facts:

Duke's class this year may be smallish, maybe 20 kids, because of the size of the 09 class and available scholarships.

That said, the average star rating so far for this (2010) class is well below Stanford. 2.31 stars for Duke, currently ranked 63rd by Scout. 3.17 stars for Stanford, currently ranked 11th by Scout.


Has it occured to you this may have more to with the program's reputation than the recruiting strategy? We've made great strides over the last few years, but we aren't exactly anyone's idea of a powerhouse. Stanford has at least had some bowl appearances and winning seasons in the last 15 years. As the team continues to improve, we'll attract more and higher ranked recruits.