Recruits Weigh In On New Apparel Deal

Yomanser · Aug 23, 2017

Hi all, and welcome to another edition of Yomanser's Recruiting Roundup. This edition will feature reactions and other various excerpts I wanted to highlight

Firstly, @CuseJacket had a good summary of where we currently stand in recruiting compared to the rest of the conference. I'll highlight some of it here, but you can find the rest of it in his original post: https://gtswarm.com/threads/2018-class-rankings-and-recruiting-discussion.12576/page-3#post-331703

CuseJacket said:
2018 ACC recruiting classes as of 8/21

247 overall (total commits)

12. Georgia Tech (14)

247 avg commit (composite)

11. Georgia Tech (84.11)

In 2017, we finished #9 in the ACC overall and #10 in the ACC by average commit (83.89).

Observations

As of now our average commit ranking is ahead of last year's class (84.11 vs. 83.89)

However, our average commit ranking in the conference is lower right now as compared to how we finished last year. In other words, early results suggest the middle-to-bottom of the conference has upped their recruiting game at greater clip. A couple still below us - BC and Wake - are trending up too. The avg commit for them last year was 82.63 and 82.69 respectively.

My reaction: It's about right. Of course, I've spent far more time covering Georgia Tech's recruiting and evaluating their commits instead of other ACC schools', but I also think that our commits are on the whole a little bit underrated. Regardless, I'm not going to argue the validity of the rankings since I think they're fairly accurate. Midyear recruiting rankings, as noted in the original post, are not the best metric to go by since a lot changes over the course of the season, but they do give some insight as to how the staff is doing so far. As I said before, I think the defensive recruiting so far has been excellent, and the offensive recruiting needs improvement

Updated recruiting standings:

QB/ATH: 1 (1 committed)
BB: 1
AB: 2 (2 committed)
WR: 2 (1 committed)
OL: 4 (2 committed)
DE: 2 (1 committed)
DT: 2 (2 committed)
LB: 1 (1 committed)
DE/LB: 1 (1 committed)
CB: 2 (2 committed)
S: 1 (1 committed)
Best Available: 1
Total: 20
Total Open Scholarships for 2018 Class: 20
Total Remaining Open Scholarships for 2018 Class: 6 (1 BB, 1 WR, 1 DE, 2 OL, 1 BA)

Updated targets:

With Juanyeh Thomas' commitment, we are no longer recruiting (as in actively with a committable offer) any defensive backs/athletes. That means that we are no longer recruiting Keidron Smith, Kendall Williamson, JaKorey Hawkins, or others
Nick Fulwider remains the top defensive end target on the board. Official visits 9/9 @ Rutgers & tentatively 9/23 @ Indiana. Aiming for a mid-season decision
With Chigoziem Okonkwo's hard commitment to Maryland, our top 2 wide receiver targets are Malachi Carter and Jalen Jordan
With Dedrick Mills' departure, I am confident in saying we will take a B-Back this class

Finally, per request from @Bruce Wayne here - https://gtswarm.com/threads/2018-general-discussion-q-a-thread.11806/page-16#post-332073 - I reached out to Tech's football commits and got some responses from most of them. The following are the results (subject to change if I hear from the remaining commits):

1. What is your preferred apparel/uniform brand?
TK Chimedza: Anything that has me looking good, to be honest
PJ Harris: Adidas
Luke Johns: Adidas
Harrison Jump: 3 stripes all the way
Jaylon King: I prefer Nike since I grew up wearing Nike, but Adidas is going to be a nice change
Mike Maye: I don't really have a preference but the "Big 3" - Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour - are my favorites
Austin Smith: I actually like the Adidas uniforms better than any other
Dontae Smith: My preference is Adidas. I've always liked their football uniforms
Juanyeh Thomas: Adidas
Zamari Walton: Adidas or Jordan
Tijai Whatley: Adidas is my brand. I have always worn Adidas

2. Did you know that Georgia Tech was still sponsored by Russell Athletic?
TKC: Yes, lol, I did
PJH: Yes sir, I knew
LJ: Yes sir
HJ: Yes
JK: Yes
MM: Yes
AS: Yes. Been too long
DS: I did. I noticed it in pictures
JT: Yes, I did know
ZW: Yes
TW: Yes, I know about Tech being sponsored by Russell

3. Did you know Tech was signing a new apparel deal?
TKC: Yea. I've been going back and forth with Coach Roof trying to figure out what it was going to be
PJH: Yes sir, I just didn't know with which company
LJ: I did but I wasn't sure who they were signing with
HJ: Yes
JK: Yes
MM: Yes
AS: I knew they were signing a new deal, just didn't know with who
DS: I also knew this. Coach told me about it when I visited
JT: I knew they were going to sign a deal, I just didn't know where
ZW: Yes
TW: Yes, I read that Ga Tech was coming out with a new deal and I was excited to see which brand

4. On a scale from 1-5, how excited are you to hear that Tech is moving from Russell to Adidas?
TKC: 20
PJH: 5. I'm very excited!!
LJ: 5. I'm excited but I would be fine with any brand
HJ: 5
JK: 5
MM: 5
AS: 5. Those Russell uniforms needed some work
DS: Definitely a 5
JT: 5
ZW: 5
TW: 5. They are switching to my favorite brand

5. On a scale from 1-5, how much do you think recruits care about what uniform supplier they wear?
TKC: 5
PJH: About a 4. Most players look at what looks "cool"
LJ: 3. For me, I don't care at all but I've heard of some recruits caring about the apparel a lot
HJ: 3, although I don't think that should be a factor in what school you pick
JK: 4 because most players like how we look before we play. Look good, feel good, play good!
MM: 3
AS: Uniforms don't play in any role for recruitment
DS: I'd say 4. People like to look good
JT: Yes, uniforms is a big part of it, YOU LOOK GOOD YOU PLAY GOOD
ZW: 5
TW: 5 most definitely, uniforms is a great way to express your team. Also, each recruit wants to look cool in their gear

My reaction: Pretty standard stuff. Expected results. Regarding that last question: I think there was a little bit of confusion since the question was a little too ambiguous. Do recruits care about what uniform supplier they wear? It's very obvious that the answer is mostly yes; they want to look good, and they want the uniforms to look sharp. Does it play a role in their recruitment? Sure, but it's very minimal. Like I've always said, uniforms are not a deciding factor. Recruits don't pick schools based on uniforms, they pick schools based on their location/proximity, academics, coaching staff, program reputation, how good the team is, etc. Uniforms don't factor into the final decision

I appreciate any and all feedback, and I am more than happy to welcome comments and thoughts on the above. Let me know if you have any more questions or need clarification on anything, and I hope this all helps!

Yomanser · Aug 23, 2017

Lavoisier said:
I could use some clarity on your reference to the BB situation. Were we not recruiting guys at that spot until we lost Mills? If so, we're 4 months from the early signing period in December do we have any chance to make up ground on top tier or even second tier guys? Are we looking to take a project player/depth guy/warm body just to have somebody who can play there this class?

bwelbo said:
Who would be our BB targets, or would we need to start from scratch? Going back through the RBs we have given offers to, most of them are committed elsewhere. And of those that appear to fit the mold of a BB, there are only a couple uncommitted...and they include people like Kirby Bennett, who got kicked off his team this summer. Seems like we have a blank slate there right now?

Buzzbomb said:
Naturally, Yomanser is needed on this one.....for the interim what I'm hearing is the staff has discussed moving a current roster player(for depth purposes?), but still digging to find out if he was approached this week. To my recollection BBack was not a position targeted for a scholarship before Mills left. We still have a full senior season in some cases to see what develops with H.S. talent. Five full months until Feb. Signing Day.

Lot of excellent questions to dissect here, as expected. Firstly, I don't think the staff will move a roster player from a different position to B-Back. The reason I think that is because Jordan Ponchez-Mason was moved to A-Back before Mills was dismissed, and has been moved back to B-Back since, which means there are still 4 bodies at B-Back, almost as if nothing changed depth-wise. Obviously, the talent at the position took a big hit, but the numbers at the position have stayed the same, and I don't think that's likely to change. A new player would need time to truly learn the B-Back position, and it doesn't help in the long-run. So I really doubt they'll move anyone to B-Back

Regarding B-Back not being a position we were recruiting, that's a little more debatable. It's true that it wasn't a position of priority or importance, but there were some guys that we felt could help tremendously in that position group, so we were doing some recruiting there, and conversely, there were some guys that we didn't recruit as hard because other spots were a priority, so we are a little bit behind the 8-Ball with that position group (but I have confidence the staff can make up ground and evaluate and target some solid prospects). Now that Mills is gone though, that spot looks a lot less clear-cut and could use a little bit of depth and talent to help out going forward, so I think we'll be taking someone there. However, we won't offer anyone who we don't think can play at a Power-5 ACC level, so we aren't just going to take a "warm body" or depth for depth's sake. It might be possible we take a project, but I think we'll try our best to get someone who we feel can be a solid contributor

As for who would be our potential targets, I have no clue. I'm going to have to put in some work myself to figure that out. I wouldn't say we have to start from scratch or have a blank slate, though; the staff has taken note of some guys who can contribute to that position. However, up to this point we hadn't been recruiting them particularly hard, so we have to make up for some ground, which we definitely have a chance in recomposing and making up that lost ground on some good high-tier targets. As for the top tier guys, I doubt we'll be able to land any that are currently highly rated. My personal expectation is we'll get someone solid but not superb, or search for a hidden gem. Luckily, we have a full senior season to take a look at some other guys, and someone may just come out of nowhere like Mills did. At this current moment, we'll have to wait and see, but I'm going to try my best to find out where we stand and what our plan is for the position going forward

Jerry the Jacket · Aug 24, 2017

It seems the best B Back candidates are guys that play both running back and linebacker in High School. I know Days, Laskey and Mills were of that category. I would start my search for guys that fit that criteria and go from there. A guy like Bruce Swilling might be a candidate if our needs dictate. In general a B Back needs to be a guy who loves contact and relishes dishing out as good as he gets. Just my thoughts.

Go Jackets!

Cam · Aug 23, 2017

tmhunter52 said:
Is Yomanser really Eric?

From the last Recruiting Roundup:

Yomanser said:
Classified.

Buzzbomb · Aug 24, 2017

Not that it helps for this cycle, but in 2019...we have a huge "in" for T.J. Pope out of the Fla. panhandle! CAM involved, current verbal Juanyeh Thomas too!!

crut · Aug 23, 2017

The biggest thing with apparel and recruiting is that some recruits might be pretty turned off by Russell and therefore have a prejudice against GT from the get-go. This deal removes that road block. I know people love to say the people we recruit wouldn't care about apparel/uniforms because they are so freaking classy, but that's hog wash - almost every 17/18 year old cares about looking good. This change could help open more doors in the future - or at least not close as many.

tmhunter52 · Aug 23, 2017

Is Yomanser really Eric?

Andewa · Aug 23, 2017

Thanks for this! I'm sure it takes a lot of time and effort. It is much appreciated! Especially the empirical data on how recruits view our apparel supplier.

Yomanser · Aug 28, 2017

Yomanser said:
Hi all, and welcome to another edition of Yomanser's Recruiting Roundup. This edition will feature reactions and other various excerpts I wanted to highlight

Firstly, @CuseJacket had a good summary of where we currently stand in recruiting compared to the rest of the conference. I'll highlight some of it here, but you can find the rest of it in his original post: https://gtswarm.com/threads/2018-class-rankings-and-recruiting-discussion.12576/page-3#post-331703

My reaction: It's about right. Of course, I've spent far more time covering Georgia Tech's recruiting and evaluating their commits instead of other ACC schools', but I also think that our commits are on the whole a little bit underrated. Regardless, I'm not going to argue the validity of the rankings since I think they're fairly accurate. Midyear recruiting rankings, as noted in the original post, are not the best metric to go by since a lot changes over the course of the season, but they do give some insight as to how the staff is doing so far. As I said before, I think the defensive recruiting so far has been excellent, and the offensive recruiting needs improvement

Updated recruiting standings:

QB/ATH: 1 (1 committed)

BB: 1

AB: 2 (2 committed)

WR: 2 (1 committed)

OL: 4 (2 committed)

DE: 2 (1 committed)

DT: 2 (2 committed)

LB: 1 (1 committed)

DE/LB: 1 (1 committed)

CB: 2 (2 committed)

S: 1 (1 committed)

Total: 19

Total Open Scholarships for 2018 Class: 19

Total Remaining Open Scholarships for 2018 Class: 5 (1 BB, 1 WR, 1 DE, 2 OL)

Updated targets:

With Juanyeh Thomas' commitment, we are no longer recruiting (as in actively with a committable offer) any defensive backs/athletes. That means that we are no longer recruiting Keidron Smith, Kendall Williamson, JaKorey Hawkins, or others

Nick Fulwider remains the top defensive end target on the board. Official visits 9/9 @ Rutgers & tentatively 9/23 @ Indiana. Aiming for a mid-season decision

With Chigoziem Okonkwo's hard commitment to Maryland, our top 2 wide receiver targets are Malachi Carter and Jalen Jordan

With Dedrick Mills' departure, I am confident in saying we will take a B-Back this class

Finally, per request from @Bruce Wayne here - https://gtswarm.com/threads/2018-general-discussion-q-a-thread.11806/page-16#post-332073 - I reached out to Tech's football commits and got some responses from most of them. The following are the results (subject to change if I hear from the remaining commits):

1. What is your preferred apparel/uniform brand?
TK Chimedza: Anything that has me looking good, to be honest
PJ Harris: Adidas
Luke Johns: Adidas
Harrison Jump: 3 stripes all the way
Jaylon King: I prefer Nike since I grew up wearing Nike, but Adidas is going to be a nice change
Mike Maye: I don't really have a preference but the "Big 3" - Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour - are my favorites
Austin Smith: I actually like the Adidas uniforms better than any other
Dontae Smith: My preference is Adidas. I've always liked their football uniforms
Juanyeh Thomas: Adidas
Zamari Walton: Adidas or Jordan
Tijai Whatley: Adidas is my brand. I have always worn Adidas

2. Did you know that Georgia Tech was still sponsored by Russell Athletic?
TKC: Yes, lol, I did
PJH: Yes sir, I knew
LJ: Yes sir
HJ: Yes
JK: Yes
MM: Yes
AS: Yes. Been too long
DS: I did. I noticed it in pictures
JT: Yes, I did know
ZW: Yes
TW: Yes, I know about Tech being sponsored by Russell

3. Did you know Tech was signing a new apparel deal?
TKC: Yea. I've been going back and forth with Coach Roof trying to figure out what it was going to be
PJH: Yes sir, I just didn't know with which company
LJ: I did but I wasn't sure who they were signing with
HJ: Yes
JK: Yes
MM: Yes
AS: I knew they were signing a new deal, just didn't know with who
DS: I also knew this. Coach told me about it when I visited
JT: I knew they were going to sign a deal, I just didn't know where
ZW: Yes
TW: Yes, I read that Ga Tech was coming out with a new deal and I was excited to see which brand

4. On a scale from 1-5, how excited are you to hear that Tech is moving from Russell to Adidas?
TKC: 20
PJH: 5. I'm very excited!!
LJ: 5. I'm excited but I would be fine with any brand
HJ: 5
JK: 5
MM: 5
AS: 5. Those Russell uniforms needed some work
DS: Definitely a 5
JT: 5
ZW: 5
TW: 5. They are switching to my favorite brand

5. On a scale from 1-5, how much do you think recruits care about what uniform supplier they wear?
TKC: 5
PJH: About a 4. Most players look at what looks "cool"
LJ: 3. For me, I don't care at all but I've heard of some recruits caring about the apparel a lot
HJ: 3, although I don't think that should be a factor in what school you pick
JK: 4 because most players like how we look before we play. Look good, feel good, play good!
MM: 3
AS: Uniforms don't play in any role for recruitment
DS: I'd say 4. People like to look good
JT: Yes, uniforms is a big part of it, YOU LOOK GOOD YOU PLAY GOOD
ZW: 5
TW: 5 most definitely, uniforms is a great way to express your team. Also, each recruit wants to look cool in their gear

My reaction: Pretty standard stuff. Expected results. Regarding that last question: I think there was a little bit of confusion since the question was a little too ambiguous. Do recruits care about what uniform supplier they wear? It's very obvious that the answer is mostly yes; they want to look good, and they want the uniforms to look sharp. Does it play a role in their recruitment? Sure, but it's very minimal. Like I've always said, uniforms are not a deciding factor. Recruits don't pick schools based on uniforms, they pick schools based on their location/proximity, academics, coaching staff, program reputation, how good the team is, etc. Uniforms don't factor into the final decision

I appreciate any and all feedback, and I am more than happy to welcome comments and thoughts on the above. Let me know if you have any more questions or need clarification on anything, and I hope this all helps!

Edit - Added in one more recruit's answers to questions: PJ Harris

Lavoisier · Aug 23, 2017

I could use some clarity on your reference to the BB situation. Were we not recruiting guys at that spot until we lost Mills? If so, we're 4 months from the early signing period in December do we have any chance to make up ground on top tier or even second tier guys? Are we looking to take a project player/depth guy/warm body just to have somebody who can play there this class?

Deleted member 2897 · Aug 23, 2017

Who would be our BB targets, or would we need to start from scratch? Going back through the RBs we have given offers to, most of them are committed elsewhere. And of those that appear to fit the mold of a BB, there are only a couple uncommitted...and they include people like Kirby Bennett, who got kicked off his team this summer. Seems like we have a blank slate there right now?

Buzzbomb · Aug 23, 2017

Naturally, Yomanser is needed on this one.....for the interim what I'm hearing is the staff has discussed moving a current roster player(for depth purposes?), but still digging to find out if he was approached this week. To my recollection BBack was not a position targeted for a scholarship before Mills left. We still have a full senior season in some cases to see what develops with H.S. talent. Five full months until Feb. Signing Day.

Deleted member 2897 · Aug 24, 2017

Jerry the Jacket said:
It seems the best B Back candidates are guys that play both running back and linebacker in High School. I know Days, Laskey and Mills were of that category. I would start my search for guys that fit that criteria and go from there. A guy like Bruce Swilling might be a candidate if our needs dictate. In general a B Back needs to be a guy who loves contact and relishes dishing out as good as he gets. Just my thoughts.

Go Jackets!

Yea, if you peak around, there are what appear to be a pretty good group of guys who could fit the profile of our BB position. Not sure of their academics, if we've already taken a look at them or what. But they are still out there.
Jeremy Banks
Keyondre White
Abraham Alce
Tae Hammond
Andrew Cunningham
Ty Thompson
Dante Black
Terrick Smalls
Jalyn Shelton

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