owlcountry said

Trojan said

the star system is rediculous.  a player will gain or lose stars depending on which school they end up signing with.

The guy at Rivals swears up and down that that's not the case.

and I'm an astornaut

Nunzio42 said

Well as some of you might have known i was up in Ozark, Alabama this past week

I grew up in Ozark, AL. I spent 13 years there; 1st Grade through my first year at Troy. What were you in town for?

On the stars thing, I wouldnt say their rediculous. If you look at the Top 25 Rivals recruiting classes, you'll notice most of them are Top 25 teams on the field, or close to it. So, I would say there is a good correlation between stars and on field success.

TroyTrojan said

On the stars thing, I wouldnt say their rediculous. If you look at the Top 25 Rivals recruiting classes, you'll notice most of them are Top 25 teams on the field, or close to it. So, I would say there is a good correlation between stars and on field success.

I was going to jump in and basically agree with this. It's not an exact science by any means and some people are definitely overrated while others are underrated. We've gotten some excellent payers that were overlooked or underrated.

Still, for every one underrated achiever like Rusty Smith there are probably two highly-ranked guys who lived up to their Rivals reputation. Take Percy Harvin and Tim Tebow: both five stars and both considered among the best players in college football right now.

Think about it, right… it's like the Tier system for colleges. The majority of Tier 1 schools swear by the U.S. News Rankings and the majority of the Tier 4 schools think it's a worthless system. Same thing with Rivals star system. I'm sure no one's at UF saying, "Yeah we got a commitment from a five star guy but he'll probably turn out to be a terrible player."

The "haves" swear by the stars. The "have nots" don't believe in it. It's just the way it works.

If our incoming class was all 3-5 star guys, I don't believe we'd be having conversations about the validity of the star system. If you can find a message board with fans of a school that annually recruits Top 25 classes in the Nation and they're saying the stars don't mean anything, I would be more in agreement.

When the Coaches go back to their office they have certainly rated each player they are interested in by some scale.  Check with HS, I am sure he has an evaluation system.  When we watch a high school game we can rate the seniors based on our own system.  This kid will do well in college, this kid isn't doesn't have the skills to make the FAU roster.  Some kids beat our evaluation by hard work.  The kid who is 6-4 and runs a 4.4 in high school is probably going to make it.  The system isn't perfect and is subjective, but for the fan the star system isn't a bad one.  Rivals futher breaks each star down with their decimal ratings.  Some colleges (eg Notre Dame) politic rivals and scout to give their kids a high ranking which is fine.

I agree with owlcountry. If we could recruit all 3, 4, and 5 star kids we would certainly like the system.

TroyTrojan said

Nunzio42 said

Well as some of you might have known i was up in Ozark, Alabama this past week

I grew up in Ozark, AL. I spent 13 years there; 1st Grade through my first year at Troy. What were you in town for?

haha wow I didn't think anyone other than Nunzio's family grew up in Ozark lol. Nunzio doesn't your fam own like the Ozark General Store or something? lol

When Troy was D-II (my days), we went o Ozark to eat at El Palacio (the closest Mexican place to Troy). Troy must have 10 such places now.

Troy has had recruits lose stars more than gain them after committing. Ask DeMarkus Ware, Boris Lee, Sherrod Martin, the Giants' kicker (Lawrence Tynes), and Osi Umenyoura (sp?) how lack of stars affected their NFL careers.

I wish it was more like NCAA 09….with multiple measurables instead one take it or leave it star measure.  If the guy is a 5 star football player but only a 1 star student that makes a big difference.  it might be better to have a 3 star player that is 5 star student…you know he won't drag the team down (lost scholarships, etc)

TroyTrojan;  I was in town cause my great-grandfather passed this past week.  Last name was Lavender, the wake was impressive over 500 locals showed up…..

My entire family up there has lived in ozark for their life, small but nice little town.  And a majority of them went to Troy…..

Im bringing the Dirties up to the Trojan game this year……just look for us and have a beer with us!  It will be a 50/50 FAU/Troy crowd with us!

Nunzio42 said

TroyTrojan;  I was in town cause my great-grandfather passed this past week.  Last name was Lavender, the wake was impressive over 500 locals showed up…..

My entire family up there has lived in ozark for their life, small but nice little town.  And a majority of them went to Troy…..

Im bringing the Dirties up to the Trojan game this year……just look for us and have a beer with us!  It will be a 50/50 FAU/Troy crowd with us!

I grew up with a kid named andrew lavender. All I remember is going to birthday party at his house once when i was like 12. Big house.

Looking forward to the game most def…I'd picked Troy, FAU, FIU, and MTSU to be the top four in 2009. All four are capable of winning the belt. You guys know how to win here, I just hope we've learning our lesson :D