Early signing day is tomorrow! I always love the excitement around the transition from one level of sports to the next be it HS to D1 or the various drafts. While I was truly bummed to see Moore go, predictions are trending that Oregon is going to land another highly ranked QB flipping Baylor commit Austin Novosad. They've a pretty stacked class expected to sign and are still in on some big prospects. Woot woot! Go Ducks! https://n.rivals.com/content/athletes/austin-novosad-281164?view=pv STOMP
The Div 1 football model being tied to higher education is such an odd fit. It was a pure thing at one time, but that was decades ago. The NCAA really screwed this up by having zero wiggle room and insisting players couldn't get paid. Had they conceded in the slightest, SCOTUS would've never got involved.
They just landed a solid looking OLman from the portal via University of Texas... Junior Angilau. Regurgitation what I read... he was a high 4* when he came out of HS (link below) & had 34 starts for UT. He missed all of 2022 due to a torn ACL. He has at least one year of eligibility left though he probably could successfully petition for a 2nd as a medical Redshirt. They're losing a bunch of OLineman so this is a great start to addressing that need. https://n.rivals.com/content/athletes/junior-angilau-184472?view=pv STOMP
it ain't college...it's college football which is essentially professional NFL developmental league where the coaches make millions Tickets to the games aren't free and uniforms cost money. Media is signing billion dollar deals with conferences so you can what games on your TV. All that is 'running' the business and has been for decades....capitalism at work, both the good and the bad I am just not one of those people upset that players are finally getting a real piece of the pie rather than the crumbs on the floor
I won't copy and paste since it's paywall material but I'll summarize: * several crystal balls now for Oregon to flip 4 star QB Austin Novosad from Baylor. He's been chased pretty hard by Ohio State and Notre Dame. But Oregon's new OC coached Novosad in HS and knows his family, and vice versa * two or three crystal balls predicting 5-star DLinemen Matayo Uiagalelei will sign with the Ducks. Oregon has been in a 3 team battle with USC and Ohio State and it's looking like the Ducks might pull an upset * there seems to be a lot of positive buzz that Oregon might flip 5-star safety Peyton Bowen from Notre Dame. The Ducks are in a dogfight with the irish and Oklahoma but might have edged into the lead late * lots of momentum behind the rumors Oregon might flip 4-star RB Jayden Limar from Notre Dame, and 4 star CB Daylen Austin from LSU * Oregon appears to have a lead on signing 4-star DLineman Ashton Porter from the state of Texas. He won't sign until Jan 7 (at the shrine game) * Ducks are still in it for 5-star state of Texas DL David Hicks, but probably a long shot. It seems like he wants Oregon but his dad especially is pushing real hard for Texas A&M * Ducks appear to be leading for transfer portal OT Ajani Cornelius, who is rated as the current 3rd best player in the transfer portals. That would be a huge addition coupled with the signing of another transfer OL from UTexas, Junior Angilau. Ducks need to replace a lot of talent on the OLine ********************************************************************************* here's where I show my cynicism. I've been told that the Ducks had earmarked a substantial NIL package for Dante Moore. Very substantial. But UCLA bid more, maybe quite a bit more. In any event, Moore's flip opened brought back lots of money into the NIL pool. Put that fact together with the Ducks apparently having developed a tsunami of late momentum in recruiting, and it may be that 2+2 = great signing day ********************************************************************************** something else I want to add. There is an NCAA rule that a new coach has 18 months to restructure his scholarship roster. In other words, he can pull scholarships and chase player opening up roster spots and available scholarships. That goes a long way in explaining the outgoing Duck players in the transfer portal the last 2 cycles. Most of them were not impactful players
Peyton Bowen would be a huge get. 5 star safeties are hard to come by. Novosad would be nice consolation prize for Moore. Losing Moore might not be the worst thing to happen .
Early morning signed LOI commitments include WR Jurrion Dickey and QB Austin Novosad... great start! STOMP
of the 5*s, it sounds like Oregon is going to be on the outside looking in at the end of the day. Proctor flipped to Bama, Hicks expected to end up with TAMU, Bowen to Oklahoma. Longtime verbal CB Presley is expected to flip to Washington but would be offset by Daylon Austin flipping from LSU. Landing Matayo would be a huge get as with DJ Johnson graduating, Oregon is in need of a dominant DE to provide a consistent pass rush. STOMP
The list I referred to in passing along this info has been edited and now does not include Dickey as having signed yet... I've no reason to think this is a sign of trouble ahead more that an error was made. However, many of the verbals have put pen to paper making it official including my fav DT A'Mauri Washington. That kid is middle of the Line beast. STOMP
I saw some message board chatter that Bowen had $2m offered by others … so I’m thinking Moore leaving opened up some space in the checkbook for all of this… Probably for the best! (Although I do have some skepticism towards $2m offer for a safety.)
Wait. So the rules have changed so much that a college freshman safety now is making $2 million a year? Is that what I’m reading?
I think it was Kirk Herbstreit, or somebody like him who said: "when you hear a rumor of how much NIL a recruit got, divide by at least 5". Probably a good rule of thumb unless it's a QB
