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Emeka Megwa, 2022 4* RB, Keller (Timber Creek), TX (COMMITTED)

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Comments

  • godawgstgodawgst Member, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 2,501 Founders Club
    "But in the end, when you look at the offers that he has, my guess is that you're seeing the bigger programs viewing him as a backup/follow prospect."

    This sums up why I dislike our Texas Recruiting Philosophy in general.

    You can't convince me there are kids like this on the West Coast who have more of a idea of what we've done in football and wouldn't want to be a part of it. Plus you make inroads into those schools that one day might produce a anywhere in America kid that comes here b/c of pipeline we've developed.

    That is never going to happen in Texas.

    I also think Jimmy has to re-evaluate the continued philosophy that Pete started of not playing the committable offer game. While admirable, those 1-3 backup/follow prospects who you offer that smartly jump on it over the course of 4 years equals half a class of guys who's ceilings will always be fairly low.
  • chuckchuck Member, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 11,041 Swaye's Wigwam
    Tequilla said:

    chuck said:

    That seems to describe Curne too. The big time programs “i.e. LSU” circled back to him as a backup plan but he came west, where he’d felt the love. I don’t hate what we’re doing in Texas.

    Nope it's working pretty well. There are some good 3* players in Texas for sure, players that would be easy 4* playing in washimgton.

    They need to float offers to the bigger targets there too though. Probably never land them as HS recruits, but they would make some inroads that help them later in the portal.
    I suspect the portal at some point becomes as important as HS recruiting
    Yeah now that i see the quality of players that are portaling I'm fully on board. I dont know if it's going to keep being a good thing as it evolves, but right now I like it a lot.

  • FireCohenFireCohen Member Posts: 21,823
    edited June 2021
    Tequilla said:

    In Texas, you have two primary high school "organizations" ...

    UIL = Public schools

    TAPPS = Private schools

    UIL is the big shot in Texas and runs up to 6A in terms of leagues ... the biggest leagues you're talking of school enrollments of 5,000+.

    TAPPS with the private schools are generally not viewed as comparable to the UIL. It's not uncommon that you'll find college players out of there but it's probably more tied to other sports than the "revenue driver sports."

    What you don't get in Texas is the mix of public/private schools like you have in Washington. In Washington high schools, you get the private schools like O'Dea, Eastside Catholic, etc. that are recruiting and the athletic programs at those schools are often some of the best in the state. In Texas, it's the high schools that are recruiting, the funding in the public high schools are quite good, and if you're a major prospect you're playing for a public school.

    All of that helps to explain why we're in a good position for Megwa. If you look at his highlights, you can see that he was playing for Nolan Catholic, which is in the high division of TAPPS. Nolan Catholic made it to the State Championship game and lost to Parish Episcopal from Dallas (who they had beat earlier in the season).

    In the thread here, it appears as if he's going to spend his Senior season with Keller Timber Creek. I know this area very well. It's a 6A district and is in the same district as perennial Texas HS power Southlake Carroll. Without knowing particulars, I would suspect that the family has lived in Keller and the daily drive to/from home to Ft Worth where Nolan Catholic is located is probably a bit of a pain in the ass (20 minutes each way without traffic, but with daily traffic probably looking at closer to 30-45 minutes each way). The other obviously is to play against high end high school competition and potentially get better exposure for recruiting.

    All of that comes back to the question of "how did we get lucky here" ...

    As I've noted before, the way that Texas recruiting tends to operate, there is a significant bias to 6A players and depending on the district 5A players are considered. Because there is such a quantity of elite programs recruiting the state, rarely do they need to "go slumming" at the lower levels for talent in the state. In particular, your next tier programs like TCU has had a lot of success over the years recruiting a bit at the lower levels that either were being under recruited or players that needed positional switches/development at the college level (it's not uncommon that you'll find HS QBs at lower levels translate into RBs, WRs, or even DEs in college). That doesn't mean that these types of programs aren't able to recruit at the higher levels, but they aren't going to win a large % of those battles

    If you look at what UW has been doing in Texas and in particular how they've been making in roads, they've been getting success by getting into that next tier of player where they are able to identify the player that the major programs are missing. When we recruited Sunday for instance, I noted that his HS in Waco was a 4A school which almost entirely is going to get ignored by most of the key in-state programs and other top programs.

    From my perspective, when I look at the offer list of Megwa, I see a similar situation. Notre Dame being somewhat involved makes sense given the Catholic tie-in. However, the ND "brand" will expect that they're able to land a more proven RB prospect as for better or worse, there's probably a bit of an unknown given competition levels. Another way to think about it would be to think about the NFL Draft and how there are always questions about players coming from the lower level and how they'll be able to translate to the NFL level.

    But in the end, when you look at the offers that he has, my guess is that you're seeing the bigger programs viewing him as a backup/follow prospect and those for who he's a take at this point probably fall in the category of mediocre. We're most likely the only program that combines being a take with being a conference championship caliber program. In a nutshell, beyond other reasons that UW is attractive as a school to a recruit, UW is probably the best on-field program that he's going to get to be able to commit to. Is it possible that he's able to get one of the bigger schools to come back in towards the end if they have a need? Possible. But I suspect that he's evaluated the situation around him and wants to go where he's wanted versus being a backup plan.

    Finally, there's probably a legitimate question that can be made regarding UW's recruiting strategy ... notably how can we expect to compete with the top programs if we're not able to get the players that they are. It's a fair question. I think it's also very clear at this point though that UW's ability to win direct recruiting battles against those programs is more of an exception than the rule. In light of that, we can either waste our time trying to do the same thing over and over with the same results or try something different. What we do know as a program is that we're very good at identifying prospects that have an opportunity to develop over their college careers and find themselves in the NFL. A player like Megwa is a good example of this as the comments of comparing him to Gaskin in his film is a good one. A player like Gaskin isn't going to wow the big programs in recruiting but there's no question that he's capable of playing on that field.

    Anyway, that's a TL, DR way of saying that Megwa's a very nice looking player, would be a great get for UW, and is a great example of how players can fall through the cracks a bit when it comes to recruiting.

    Teq I thought you are not allowed within a 100 yards of any school facilities? How come you know so much about public school in tejas?
  • TequillaTequilla Member Posts: 19,875
    FireCohen said:

    Tequilla said:

    In Texas, you have two primary high school "organizations" ...

    UIL = Public schools

    TAPPS = Private schools

    UIL is the big shot in Texas and runs up to 6A in terms of leagues ... the biggest leagues you're talking of school enrollments of 5,000+.

    TAPPS with the private schools are generally not viewed as comparable to the UIL. It's not uncommon that you'll find college players out of there but it's probably more tied to other sports than the "revenue driver sports."

    What you don't get in Texas is the mix of public/private schools like you have in Washington. In Washington high schools, you get the private schools like O'Dea, Eastside Catholic, etc. that are recruiting and the athletic programs at those schools are often some of the best in the state. In Texas, it's the high schools that are recruiting, the funding in the public high schools are quite good, and if you're a major prospect you're playing for a public school.

    All of that helps to explain why we're in a good position for Megwa. If you look at his highlights, you can see that he was playing for Nolan Catholic, which is in the high division of TAPPS. Nolan Catholic made it to the State Championship game and lost to Parish Episcopal from Dallas (who they had beat earlier in the season).

    In the thread here, it appears as if he's going to spend his Senior season with Keller Timber Creek. I know this area very well. It's a 6A district and is in the same district as perennial Texas HS power Southlake Carroll. Without knowing particulars, I would suspect that the family has lived in Keller and the daily drive to/from home to Ft Worth where Nolan Catholic is located is probably a bit of a pain in the ass (20 minutes each way without traffic, but with daily traffic probably looking at closer to 30-45 minutes each way). The other obviously is to play against high end high school competition and potentially get better exposure for recruiting.

    All of that comes back to the question of "how did we get lucky here" ...

    As I've noted before, the way that Texas recruiting tends to operate, there is a significant bias to 6A players and depending on the district 5A players are considered. Because there is such a quantity of elite programs recruiting the state, rarely do they need to "go slumming" at the lower levels for talent in the state. In particular, your next tier programs like TCU has had a lot of success over the years recruiting a bit at the lower levels that either were being under recruited or players that needed positional switches/development at the college level (it's not uncommon that you'll find HS QBs at lower levels translate into RBs, WRs, or even DEs in college). That doesn't mean that these types of programs aren't able to recruit at the higher levels, but they aren't going to win a large % of those battles

    If you look at what UW has been doing in Texas and in particular how they've been making in roads, they've been getting success by getting into that next tier of player where they are able to identify the player that the major programs are missing. When we recruited Sunday for instance, I noted that his HS in Waco was a 4A school which almost entirely is going to get ignored by most of the key in-state programs and other top programs.

    From my perspective, when I look at the offer list of Megwa, I see a similar situation. Notre Dame being somewhat involved makes sense given the Catholic tie-in. However, the ND "brand" will expect that they're able to land a more proven RB prospect as for better or worse, there's probably a bit of an unknown given competition levels. Another way to think about it would be to think about the NFL Draft and how there are always questions about players coming from the lower level and how they'll be able to translate to the NFL level.

    But in the end, when you look at the offers that he has, my guess is that you're seeing the bigger programs viewing him as a backup/follow prospect and those for who he's a take at this point probably fall in the category of mediocre. We're most likely the only program that combines being a take with being a conference championship caliber program. In a nutshell, beyond other reasons that UW is attractive as a school to a recruit, UW is probably the best on-field program that he's going to get to be able to commit to. Is it possible that he's able to get one of the bigger schools to come back in towards the end if they have a need? Possible. But I suspect that he's evaluated the situation around him and wants to go where he's wanted versus being a backup plan.

    Finally, there's probably a legitimate question that can be made regarding UW's recruiting strategy ... notably how can we expect to compete with the top programs if we're not able to get the players that they are. It's a fair question. I think it's also very clear at this point though that UW's ability to win direct recruiting battles against those programs is more of an exception than the rule. In light of that, we can either waste our time trying to do the same thing over and over with the same results or try something different. What we do know as a program is that we're very good at identifying prospects that have an opportunity to develop over their college careers and find themselves in the NFL. A player like Megwa is a good example of this as the comments of comparing him to Gaskin in his film is a good one. A player like Gaskin isn't going to wow the big programs in recruiting but there's no question that he's capable of playing on that field.

    Anyway, that's a TL, DR way of saying that Megwa's a very nice looking player, would be a great get for UW, and is a great example of how players can fall through the cracks a bit when it comes to recruiting.

    Teq I thought you are not allowed within a 100 yards of any school facilities? How come you know so much about public school in tejas?
    Unlike other TSIO members, I don’t have restraining orders against me

    The reason I know so about Texas HS sports is by living there for 8 years with brothers heavily involved in sports
  • TequillaTequilla Member Posts: 19,875

    Tequilla said:

    FireCohen said:

    Tequilla said:

    In Texas, you have two primary high school "organizations" ...

    UIL = Public schools

    TAPPS = Private schools

    UIL is the big shot in Texas and runs up to 6A in terms of leagues ... the biggest leagues you're talking of school enrollments of 5,000+.

    TAPPS with the private schools are generally not viewed as comparable to the UIL. It's not uncommon that you'll find college players out of there but it's probably more tied to other sports than the "revenue driver sports."

    What you don't get in Texas is the mix of public/private schools like you have in Washington. In Washington high schools, you get the private schools like O'Dea, Eastside Catholic, etc. that are recruiting and the athletic programs at those schools are often some of the best in the state. In Texas, it's the high schools that are recruiting, the funding in the public high schools are quite good, and if you're a major prospect you're playing for a public school.

    All of that helps to explain why we're in a good position for Megwa. If you look at his highlights, you can see that he was playing for Nolan Catholic, which is in the high division of TAPPS. Nolan Catholic made it to the State Championship game and lost to Parish Episcopal from Dallas (who they had beat earlier in the season).

    In the thread here, it appears as if he's going to spend his Senior season with Keller Timber Creek. I know this area very well. It's a 6A district and is in the same district as perennial Texas HS power Southlake Carroll. Without knowing particulars, I would suspect that the family has lived in Keller and the daily drive to/from home to Ft Worth where Nolan Catholic is located is probably a bit of a pain in the ass (20 minutes each way without traffic, but with daily traffic probably looking at closer to 30-45 minutes each way). The other obviously is to play against high end high school competition and potentially get better exposure for recruiting.

    All of that comes back to the question of "how did we get lucky here" ...

    As I've noted before, the way that Texas recruiting tends to operate, there is a significant bias to 6A players and depending on the district 5A players are considered. Because there is such a quantity of elite programs recruiting the state, rarely do they need to "go slumming" at the lower levels for talent in the state. In particular, your next tier programs like TCU has had a lot of success over the years recruiting a bit at the lower levels that either were being under recruited or players that needed positional switches/development at the college level (it's not uncommon that you'll find HS QBs at lower levels translate into RBs, WRs, or even DEs in college). That doesn't mean that these types of programs aren't able to recruit at the higher levels, but they aren't going to win a large % of those battles

    If you look at what UW has been doing in Texas and in particular how they've been making in roads, they've been getting success by getting into that next tier of player where they are able to identify the player that the major programs are missing. When we recruited Sunday for instance, I noted that his HS in Waco was a 4A school which almost entirely is going to get ignored by most of the key in-state programs and other top programs.

    From my perspective, when I look at the offer list of Megwa, I see a similar situation. Notre Dame being somewhat involved makes sense given the Catholic tie-in. However, the ND "brand" will expect that they're able to land a more proven RB prospect as for better or worse, there's probably a bit of an unknown given competition levels. Another way to think about it would be to think about the NFL Draft and how there are always questions about players coming from the lower level and how they'll be able to translate to the NFL level.

    But in the end, when you look at the offers that he has, my guess is that you're seeing the bigger programs viewing him as a backup/follow prospect and those for who he's a take at this point probably fall in the category of mediocre. We're most likely the only program that combines being a take with being a conference championship caliber program. In a nutshell, beyond other reasons that UW is attractive as a school to a recruit, UW is probably the best on-field program that he's going to get to be able to commit to. Is it possible that he's able to get one of the bigger schools to come back in towards the end if they have a need? Possible. But I suspect that he's evaluated the situation around him and wants to go where he's wanted versus being a backup plan.

    Finally, there's probably a legitimate question that can be made regarding UW's recruiting strategy ... notably how can we expect to compete with the top programs if we're not able to get the players that they are. It's a fair question. I think it's also very clear at this point though that UW's ability to win direct recruiting battles against those programs is more of an exception than the rule. In light of that, we can either waste our time trying to do the same thing over and over with the same results or try something different. What we do know as a program is that we're very good at identifying prospects that have an opportunity to develop over their college careers and find themselves in the NFL. A player like Megwa is a good example of this as the comments of comparing him to Gaskin in his film is a good one. A player like Gaskin isn't going to wow the big programs in recruiting but there's no question that he's capable of playing on that field.

    Anyway, that's a TL, DR way of saying that Megwa's a very nice looking player, would be a great get for UW, and is a great example of how players can fall through the cracks a bit when it comes to recruiting.

    Teq I thought you are not allowed within a 100 yards of any school facilities? How come you know so much about public school in tejas?
    Unlike other TSIO members, I don’t have restraining orders against me

    The reason I know so about Texas HS sports is by living there for 8 years with brothers heavily involved in sports
    You simply could not hold back, could you
    Peeps ask questions ... I answer them
  • GrundleStiltzkinGrundleStiltzkin Member Posts: 61,499 Standard Supporter
    Tequilla said:

    Tequilla said:

    FireCohen said:

    Tequilla said:

    In Texas, you have two primary high school "organizations" ...

    UIL = Public schools

    TAPPS = Private schools

    UIL is the big shot in Texas and runs up to 6A in terms of leagues ... the biggest leagues you're talking of school enrollments of 5,000+.

    TAPPS with the private schools are generally not viewed as comparable to the UIL. It's not uncommon that you'll find college players out of there but it's probably more tied to other sports than the "revenue driver sports."

    What you don't get in Texas is the mix of public/private schools like you have in Washington. In Washington high schools, you get the private schools like O'Dea, Eastside Catholic, etc. that are recruiting and the athletic programs at those schools are often some of the best in the state. In Texas, it's the high schools that are recruiting, the funding in the public high schools are quite good, and if you're a major prospect you're playing for a public school.

    All of that helps to explain why we're in a good position for Megwa. If you look at his highlights, you can see that he was playing for Nolan Catholic, which is in the high division of TAPPS. Nolan Catholic made it to the State Championship game and lost to Parish Episcopal from Dallas (who they had beat earlier in the season).

    In the thread here, it appears as if he's going to spend his Senior season with Keller Timber Creek. I know this area very well. It's a 6A district and is in the same district as perennial Texas HS power Southlake Carroll. Without knowing particulars, I would suspect that the family has lived in Keller and the daily drive to/from home to Ft Worth where Nolan Catholic is located is probably a bit of a pain in the ass (20 minutes each way without traffic, but with daily traffic probably looking at closer to 30-45 minutes each way). The other obviously is to play against high end high school competition and potentially get better exposure for recruiting.

    All of that comes back to the question of "how did we get lucky here" ...

    As I've noted before, the way that Texas recruiting tends to operate, there is a significant bias to 6A players and depending on the district 5A players are considered. Because there is such a quantity of elite programs recruiting the state, rarely do they need to "go slumming" at the lower levels for talent in the state. In particular, your next tier programs like TCU has had a lot of success over the years recruiting a bit at the lower levels that either were being under recruited or players that needed positional switches/development at the college level (it's not uncommon that you'll find HS QBs at lower levels translate into RBs, WRs, or even DEs in college). That doesn't mean that these types of programs aren't able to recruit at the higher levels, but they aren't going to win a large % of those battles

    If you look at what UW has been doing in Texas and in particular how they've been making in roads, they've been getting success by getting into that next tier of player where they are able to identify the player that the major programs are missing. When we recruited Sunday for instance, I noted that his HS in Waco was a 4A school which almost entirely is going to get ignored by most of the key in-state programs and other top programs.

    From my perspective, when I look at the offer list of Megwa, I see a similar situation. Notre Dame being somewhat involved makes sense given the Catholic tie-in. However, the ND "brand" will expect that they're able to land a more proven RB prospect as for better or worse, there's probably a bit of an unknown given competition levels. Another way to think about it would be to think about the NFL Draft and how there are always questions about players coming from the lower level and how they'll be able to translate to the NFL level.

    But in the end, when you look at the offers that he has, my guess is that you're seeing the bigger programs viewing him as a backup/follow prospect and those for who he's a take at this point probably fall in the category of mediocre. We're most likely the only program that combines being a take with being a conference championship caliber program. In a nutshell, beyond other reasons that UW is attractive as a school to a recruit, UW is probably the best on-field program that he's going to get to be able to commit to. Is it possible that he's able to get one of the bigger schools to come back in towards the end if they have a need? Possible. But I suspect that he's evaluated the situation around him and wants to go where he's wanted versus being a backup plan.

    Finally, there's probably a legitimate question that can be made regarding UW's recruiting strategy ... notably how can we expect to compete with the top programs if we're not able to get the players that they are. It's a fair question. I think it's also very clear at this point though that UW's ability to win direct recruiting battles against those programs is more of an exception than the rule. In light of that, we can either waste our time trying to do the same thing over and over with the same results or try something different. What we do know as a program is that we're very good at identifying prospects that have an opportunity to develop over their college careers and find themselves in the NFL. A player like Megwa is a good example of this as the comments of comparing him to Gaskin in his film is a good one. A player like Gaskin isn't going to wow the big programs in recruiting but there's no question that he's capable of playing on that field.

    Anyway, that's a TL, DR way of saying that Megwa's a very nice looking player, would be a great get for UW, and is a great example of how players can fall through the cracks a bit when it comes to recruiting.

    Teq I thought you are not allowed within a 100 yards of any school facilities? How come you know so much about public school in tejas?
    Unlike other TSIO members, I don’t have restraining orders against me

    The reason I know so about Texas HS sports is by living there for 8 years with brothers heavily involved in sports
    You simply could not hold back, could you
    Peeps ask questions ... I answer them

  • HireBRoyHireBRoy Member Posts: 77
    this is shaping up to be a pretty nice class if they can reel in conerly, otton, roberts, megwa, and schlenbaker. missing out on morrison hurts though
  • rustysavagerustysavage Member Posts: 942
    Tequilla said:

    FireCohen said:

    Tequilla said:

    In Texas, you have two primary high school "organizations" ...

    UIL = Public schools

    TAPPS = Private schools

    UIL is the big shot in Texas and runs up to 6A in terms of leagues ... the biggest leagues you're talking of school enrollments of 5,000+.

    TAPPS with the private schools are generally not viewed as comparable to the UIL. It's not uncommon that you'll find college players out of there but it's probably more tied to other sports than the "revenue driver sports."

    What you don't get in Texas is the mix of public/private schools like you have in Washington. In Washington high schools, you get the private schools like O'Dea, Eastside Catholic, etc. that are recruiting and the athletic programs at those schools are often some of the best in the state. In Texas, it's the high schools that are recruiting, the funding in the public high schools are quite good, and if you're a major prospect you're playing for a public school.

    All of that helps to explain why we're in a good position for Megwa. If you look at his highlights, you can see that he was playing for Nolan Catholic, which is in the high division of TAPPS. Nolan Catholic made it to the State Championship game and lost to Parish Episcopal from Dallas (who they had beat earlier in the season).

    In the thread here, it appears as if he's going to spend his Senior season with Keller Timber Creek. I know this area very well. It's a 6A district and is in the same district as perennial Texas HS power Southlake Carroll. Without knowing particulars, I would suspect that the family has lived in Keller and the daily drive to/from home to Ft Worth where Nolan Catholic is located is probably a bit of a pain in the ass (20 minutes each way without traffic, but with daily traffic probably looking at closer to 30-45 minutes each way). The other obviously is to play against high end high school competition and potentially get better exposure for recruiting.

    All of that comes back to the question of "how did we get lucky here" ...

    As I've noted before, the way that Texas recruiting tends to operate, there is a significant bias to 6A players and depending on the district 5A players are considered. Because there is such a quantity of elite programs recruiting the state, rarely do they need to "go slumming" at the lower levels for talent in the state. In particular, your next tier programs like TCU has had a lot of success over the years recruiting a bit at the lower levels that either were being under recruited or players that needed positional switches/development at the college level (it's not uncommon that you'll find HS QBs at lower levels translate into RBs, WRs, or even DEs in college). That doesn't mean that these types of programs aren't able to recruit at the higher levels, but they aren't going to win a large % of those battles

    If you look at what UW has been doing in Texas and in particular how they've been making in roads, they've been getting success by getting into that next tier of player where they are able to identify the player that the major programs are missing. When we recruited Sunday for instance, I noted that his HS in Waco was a 4A school which almost entirely is going to get ignored by most of the key in-state programs and other top programs.

    From my perspective, when I look at the offer list of Megwa, I see a similar situation. Notre Dame being somewhat involved makes sense given the Catholic tie-in. However, the ND "brand" will expect that they're able to land a more proven RB prospect as for better or worse, there's probably a bit of an unknown given competition levels. Another way to think about it would be to think about the NFL Draft and how there are always questions about players coming from the lower level and how they'll be able to translate to the NFL level.

    But in the end, when you look at the offers that he has, my guess is that you're seeing the bigger programs viewing him as a backup/follow prospect and those for who he's a take at this point probably fall in the category of mediocre. We're most likely the only program that combines being a take with being a conference championship caliber program. In a nutshell, beyond other reasons that UW is attractive as a school to a recruit, UW is probably the best on-field program that he's going to get to be able to commit to. Is it possible that he's able to get one of the bigger schools to come back in towards the end if they have a need? Possible. But I suspect that he's evaluated the situation around him and wants to go where he's wanted versus being a backup plan.

    Finally, there's probably a legitimate question that can be made regarding UW's recruiting strategy ... notably how can we expect to compete with the top programs if we're not able to get the players that they are. It's a fair question. I think it's also very clear at this point though that UW's ability to win direct recruiting battles against those programs is more of an exception than the rule. In light of that, we can either waste our time trying to do the same thing over and over with the same results or try something different. What we do know as a program is that we're very good at identifying prospects that have an opportunity to develop over their college careers and find themselves in the NFL. A player like Megwa is a good example of this as the comments of comparing him to Gaskin in his film is a good one. A player like Gaskin isn't going to wow the big programs in recruiting but there's no question that he's capable of playing on that field.

    Anyway, that's a TL, DR way of saying that Megwa's a very nice looking player, would be a great get for UW, and is a great example of how players can fall through the cracks a bit when it comes to recruiting.

    Teq I thought you are not allowed within a 100 yards of any school facilities? How come you know so much about public school in tejas?
    Unlike other TSIO members, I don’t have restraining orders against me

    The reason I know so about Texas HS sports is by living there for 8 years with brothers heavily involved in sports

  • dirtysouwfdawgdirtysouwfdawg Member, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 13,025 Swaye's Wigwam

    Tequilla said:

    FireCohen said:

    Tequilla said:

    In Texas, you have two primary high school "organizations" ...

    UIL = Public schools

    TAPPS = Private schools

    UIL is the big shot in Texas and runs up to 6A in terms of leagues ... the biggest leagues you're talking of school enrollments of 5,000+.

    TAPPS with the private schools are generally not viewed as comparable to the UIL. It's not uncommon that you'll find college players out of there but it's probably more tied to other sports than the "revenue driver sports."

    What you don't get in Texas is the mix of public/private schools like you have in Washington. In Washington high schools, you get the private schools like O'Dea, Eastside Catholic, etc. that are recruiting and the athletic programs at those schools are often some of the best in the state. In Texas, it's the high schools that are recruiting, the funding in the public high schools are quite good, and if you're a major prospect you're playing for a public school.

    All of that helps to explain why we're in a good position for Megwa. If you look at his highlights, you can see that he was playing for Nolan Catholic, which is in the high division of TAPPS. Nolan Catholic made it to the State Championship game and lost to Parish Episcopal from Dallas (who they had beat earlier in the season).

    In the thread here, it appears as if he's going to spend his Senior season with Keller Timber Creek. I know this area very well. It's a 6A district and is in the same district as perennial Texas HS power Southlake Carroll. Without knowing particulars, I would suspect that the family has lived in Keller and the daily drive to/from home to Ft Worth where Nolan Catholic is located is probably a bit of a pain in the ass (20 minutes each way without traffic, but with daily traffic probably looking at closer to 30-45 minutes each way). The other obviously is to play against high end high school competition and potentially get better exposure for recruiting.

    All of that comes back to the question of "how did we get lucky here" ...

    As I've noted before, the way that Texas recruiting tends to operate, there is a significant bias to 6A players and depending on the district 5A players are considered. Because there is such a quantity of elite programs recruiting the state, rarely do they need to "go slumming" at the lower levels for talent in the state. In particular, your next tier programs like TCU has had a lot of success over the years recruiting a bit at the lower levels that either were being under recruited or players that needed positional switches/development at the college level (it's not uncommon that you'll find HS QBs at lower levels translate into RBs, WRs, or even DEs in college). That doesn't mean that these types of programs aren't able to recruit at the higher levels, but they aren't going to win a large % of those battles

    If you look at what UW has been doing in Texas and in particular how they've been making in roads, they've been getting success by getting into that next tier of player where they are able to identify the player that the major programs are missing. When we recruited Sunday for instance, I noted that his HS in Waco was a 4A school which almost entirely is going to get ignored by most of the key in-state programs and other top programs.

    From my perspective, when I look at the offer list of Megwa, I see a similar situation. Notre Dame being somewhat involved makes sense given the Catholic tie-in. However, the ND "brand" will expect that they're able to land a more proven RB prospect as for better or worse, there's probably a bit of an unknown given competition levels. Another way to think about it would be to think about the NFL Draft and how there are always questions about players coming from the lower level and how they'll be able to translate to the NFL level.

    But in the end, when you look at the offers that he has, my guess is that you're seeing the bigger programs viewing him as a backup/follow prospect and those for who he's a take at this point probably fall in the category of mediocre. We're most likely the only program that combines being a take with being a conference championship caliber program. In a nutshell, beyond other reasons that UW is attractive as a school to a recruit, UW is probably the best on-field program that he's going to get to be able to commit to. Is it possible that he's able to get one of the bigger schools to come back in towards the end if they have a need? Possible. But I suspect that he's evaluated the situation around him and wants to go where he's wanted versus being a backup plan.

    Finally, there's probably a legitimate question that can be made regarding UW's recruiting strategy ... notably how can we expect to compete with the top programs if we're not able to get the players that they are. It's a fair question. I think it's also very clear at this point though that UW's ability to win direct recruiting battles against those programs is more of an exception than the rule. In light of that, we can either waste our time trying to do the same thing over and over with the same results or try something different. What we do know as a program is that we're very good at identifying prospects that have an opportunity to develop over their college careers and find themselves in the NFL. A player like Megwa is a good example of this as the comments of comparing him to Gaskin in his film is a good one. A player like Gaskin isn't going to wow the big programs in recruiting but there's no question that he's capable of playing on that field.

    Anyway, that's a TL, DR way of saying that Megwa's a very nice looking player, would be a great get for UW, and is a great example of how players can fall through the cracks a bit when it comes to recruiting.

    Teq I thought you are not allowed within a 100 yards of any school facilities? How come you know so much about public school in tejas?
    Unlike other TSIO members, I don’t have restraining orders against me

    The reason I know so about Texas HS sports is by living there for 8 years with brothers heavily involved in sports

    Wood, would at the same tim
  • QuietcowskeeQuietcowskee Member, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 3,327 Swaye's Wigwam
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