Is it just me or is the in state talent pool twice as good as it was 10 years ago?
I think it's largely just a fluke akin to the hoops rise of the early to mid 00's (Marvin Williams, Martell Webster, Brockman, Hawes, Micah Downs [lol], Stuckey, Roy, Robinson, Stewart Twins etc were all either 5 stars or NBA players or both coming out of like three or four classes). That run lasted a little while then faded, though we seem to be coming to another peak.
I expect the football thing will do the same, 3 or 4 years max of insane local talent, then a return to normal or semi normal.
The one thing that a lot of that hoops talent was attributed to was the quality of the AAU programs (Friends of Hoop and Seattle Rotary primarily) that really helped develop talent in ways the area had never seen before. In that way that boom is analogous to the emergence of FSP and to a lesser extent Heir/Rise on the football side. Just as with hoops I'm not sure how much is correlation and how much is causation but I would guess those programs have helped to some degree at least.
The one thing going for western Washington football is that we do have a Poly population here to compensate for our relative lack of African Americans so we're not at the demographic disadvantage that we presumably should be in hoops. But even if you remove the Polys from the talent pool (basically Tui and the 2022 EC kid are the only super elite ones) it's still an abnormally strong couple of classes.
The area's limited African American population is just killing it at producing basketball talent, its very impressive. They seem to be producing some real football talent now as well, to supplement the QBs and OL that the area has basically always produced at a high level.
Is it just me or is the in state talent pool twice as good as it was 10 years ago?
I think it's largely just a fluke akin to the hoops rise of the early to mid 00's (Marvin Williams, Martell Webster, Brockman, Hawes, Micah Downs [lol], Stuckey, Roy, Robinson, Stewart Twins etc were all either 5 stars or NBA players or both coming out of like three or four classes). That run lasted a little while then faded, though we seem to be coming to another peak.
I expect the football thing will do the same, 3 or 4 years max of insane local talent, then a return to normal or semi normal.
The one thing that a lot of that hoops talent was attributed to was the quality of the AAU programs (Friends of Hoop and Seattle Rotary primarily) that really helped develop talent in ways the area had never seen before. In that way that boom is analogous to the emergence of FSP and to a lesser extent Heir/Rise on the football side. Just as with hoops I'm not sure how much is correlation and how much is causation but I would guess those programs have helped to some degree at least.
The one thing going for western Washington football is that we do have a Poly population here to compensate for our relative lack of African Americans so we're not at the demographic disadvantage that we presumably should be in hoops. But even if you remove the Polys from the talent pool (basically Tui and the 2022 EC kid are the only super elite ones) it's still an abnormally strong couple of classes.
The area's limited African American population is just killing it at producing basketball talent, its very impressive. They seem to be producing some real football talent now as well, to supplement the QBs and OL that the area has basically always produced at a high level.
We really have to capitalize.
Agreed.
Say what you want about the granola munchers in the region, but the sports culture up here is really strong.
Could it have anything to do with their genes? Have you noticed a majority of kids excelling had one if not two parents the succeeded in sports at the college level.
I just want Sam Adams and Bijan Robinson and Johnny Wilson and Jalen McMillan and Mark Redman and Myles Murao and Geirean Hatchett and Smalls and Justin Botelho and Clark Phillips and Kelee Ringo and Lathan Ransom, is that so much to ask?
And anybody else the coaching staff wants, them too.
I like the part of his sophmore highlights where he pressures the QB into running into the ref. It's good tape in general, but that was the highlight for me.
Comments
I expect the football thing will do the same, 3 or 4 years max of insane local talent, then a return to normal or semi normal.
The one thing that a lot of that hoops talent was attributed to was the quality of the AAU programs (Friends of Hoop and Seattle Rotary primarily) that really helped develop talent in ways the area had never seen before. In that way that boom is analogous to the emergence of FSP and to a lesser extent Heir/Rise on the football side. Just as with hoops I'm not sure how much is correlation and how much is causation but I would guess those programs have helped to some degree at least.
The one thing going for western Washington football is that we do have a Poly population here to compensate for our relative lack of African Americans so we're not at the demographic disadvantage that we presumably should be in hoops. But even if you remove the Polys from the talent pool (basically Tui and the 2022 EC kid are the only super elite ones) it's still an abnormally strong couple of classes.
The area's limited African American population is just killing it at producing basketball talent, its very impressive. They seem to be producing some real football talent now as well, to supplement the QBs and OL that the area has basically always produced at a high level.
We really have to capitalize.
Say what you want about the granola munchers in the region, but the sports culture up here is really strong.
Aaron Brooks was a five star who had a long NBA career and I didn't list him either. He's the real snub here.
And anybody else the coaching staff wants, them too.
https://247sports.com/Player/Jake-Overman-46059478/
https://www.hudl.com/video/3/8419734/5ba5d8a0a0189b0e286dfddc
Says UW is showing interest and is visiting in a few weeks
(Running outta Ariana gifs)