Iowa picks up 2015 RB/ATH Eric Graham
- Thread starter crHawkeye92
- Start date
Exactly. Yet the delusionites that still support our incompetent staff somehow think they found a real gem here in this kid. No, we were his only offer so we got him. The excuses they make for this staff are just unreal. Fact is, this staff sucks all the way around.
Thank you! Obviously this is no garauntee that he will be a stud, but posters need to give credit to the staff for once.
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I agree. I have been very critical about this staff and their ability to recruit. When I saw last night that Higdon was making an announcement this morning it was clear he was flipping and I expected either there would be no RB in this class or we would "steal" another UNI or such level recruit at the last minute. I am pleasantly surprised to see that the staff had a back up plan and had brought Graham in last weekend for a visit. Sounds like he was a late qualifier and although the level of competition was a lower level, that's not the kid's fault. He still excelled and looks to be very athletic. There are in fact "diamonds in the rough" out there and we won't know for awhile but it's possible they found one with Graham.
Would you rather Iowa had just sat back and picked up a fallback rb from UNI? At least they signed someone who is athletic with potential. Does it mean that he's going to pan out? I don't know, but I'm trying to be somewhat optimistic.
And I'm trying to be somewhat realistic. Iowa is going to have a hard time competing for the middle of the pack in the B1G if they continuously must rely on diamonds in the rough kids that no other power 5 conferences offer.
getting a 1st Team All State out of Alabama is not a fall back recruit and if he is a fall back Iwill take a 1st team All State in Alabama. at the last minute
Speaking of UNI and "stars" this guy always makes me really hesitant to care too much about star status when it comes to certain positions.
Whitney Lewis was a 5 star, can't miss 4.35 forty # 3 recruit in the nation at his position.
He flopped out of USC and ended up at UNI where he was a back-up tight end or something.
You just never really know. Like someone else mentioned Desmond King >>>> Delano Hill. Now the odds say that if you get 20 four stars a year you'll be a better program than a team with 20 two stars. But the formulas definitely aren't an exact science and kids can still go un-noticed.
This post was edited on 2/4 12:45 PM by GT Hawkaholic
Bust
Whitney Lewis was a 5 star, can't miss 4.35 forty # 3 recruit in the nation at his position.
He flopped out of USC and ended up at UNI where he was a back-up tight end or something.
You just never really know. Like someone else mentioned Desmond King >>>> Delano Hill. Now the odds say that if you get 20 four stars a year you'll be a better program than a team with 20 two stars. But the formulas definitely aren't an exact science and kids can still go un-noticed.
This post was edited on 2/4 12:45 PM by GT Hawkaholic
Bust
Well considering this board is full of people saying the staff sucks for no having a back up plan. This was set into motion a while ago. They know what they are doing, even if the results aren't exactly what they/we would like them to be.
For the record I have been critical of the staff but this one might be a good one.
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So might any other 2* with no other offers. But when your program is banking on diamonds in the rough every year you are not in a good spot IMO.
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Patrick Vint[/B]@HS_BHGP
Message board post about Eric Graham from local resident: 'I have lived in this town for 55 years and I have never heard of that kid.'
Patrick Vint[/B]@HS_BHGPMessage board post about Eric Graham from local resident: 'I have lived in this town for 55 years and I have never heard of that kid.'
Been trying to put context to no other offers but people don't wanna see it. There are reasons things like that happen. There are plenty of fall back recruits that could have been much worse or wasted scholarships. I'm growing optimism after watching his tape and hearing some of these other comments about what has transpired.
Would I rather have Higdon? Yes. But to say the staff settled and weren't prepared for Higdon to switch things up just isn't true.
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So if the kid ended up choosing Kentucky over us, then people would still be saying, "we suck at recruiting"...... obviously this kid was a fallback recruit after losing Higdon, but he might end up being pretty good looking at the film and measurables. Of course we're not gonna know until he actually steps foot on campus.
Correct. Maybe his transcripts weren't enough? Someone tweeted he was going to take the ACT a third time so there might be even more to it.
The state of Iowa football recruiting is why I'm not jumping off a bridge about this recruit. The fact that some of these other high profile schools atleast took an interest in him the last few weeks tells me he is no slouch. After losing Higdon at the last minute, this is a win for Iowa recruiting unfortunately.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
Ok now what should we discuss? CJ or Rudock, Kirk Ferentz's pay, or Paul Rhoads claiming he got the top in state recruit from Iowa for the third year in a row according to rivals (not true)?
Posted from Rivals Mobile
Posted from Rivals Mobile
Ethan Bernal, Montgomery Advertiser
Graham - a 5-foot-10, 200-pound back - led the Generals with 1,983
yards and 27 touchdowns. He also caught 17 passes for 317 yards and
three touchdowns.
He was named AISA first-team All-State and was an AISA All-Star selection.
After getting call from Iowa this morning, Gerahm said on Twitter: "I'm still smiling."
He
said he wants to play as a true freshman and would prefer not to
redshirt. He was a late academic qualifier and visited Iowa City this
past weekend and was greeted by 13 inches of snow.
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Maybe this had something to do with how this scenario played out.
Graham - a 5-foot-10, 200-pound back - led the Generals with 1,983
yards and 27 touchdowns. He also caught 17 passes for 317 yards and
three touchdowns.
He was named AISA first-team All-State and was an AISA All-Star selection.
After getting call from Iowa this morning, Gerahm said on Twitter: "I'm still smiling."
He
said he wants to play as a true freshman and would prefer not to
redshirt. He was a late academic qualifier and visited Iowa City this
past weekend and was greeted by 13 inches of snow.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maybe this had something to do with how this scenario played out.
Nope. Just a kid that was offered the night before signing day after the staff knew they would not sign any of there initial targets. A player that has his rivals recruiting profile created this morning because before today one didn't exist. Now after the story being that he qualified a month ago he is taking his ACT test again. There are a lot of strange things going on here before we start penciling Eric Graham on the Iowa roster.
Sign me up.Originally posted by ThatsFootball:
Our future coach including but not limited to Bret Bielema.
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Oh bullcrap. There is a Corrections Officer here that just squatted 608 in a competition over the weekend. It's very doable. And he weighs 180ish.
I like his tape. Looking forward to seeing what he can do. Gotta like a kid that wants to be a Hawkeye!
There is no doubt that Graham was a fall-back recruit behind Karan Higdon - to claim otherwise is just stupid. That is not to say that Graham won't have a good career, only that Graham received Higdon's scholarship after he de-committed.
Agree that there seems to be a smoke around the grades / ACT test issue. I'm sure that will become clearer in the days ahead.
Nu2u, I don't think there is any smoke around the grades issue here. It states he has already qualified. I know it says he is going to retake his ACTs again, but I think it is only so he can try to improve his score. I know quite a few kids that retake their ACTs, even after having a qualifying score, it can help them with financial aid, (not that Graham needs it with a scolly) but it can also help you I believe with what you have to maintain academically. So retaking the test can only help him in the long run if he can improve on his qualifying score (won't hurt him, he is already qualified).
IMO, this statement pretty much sums up the position of a number of posters. They're view of this recruit has nothing to do with him personally, but rather is defined by their hatred of KF. Rather than objectively considering the possibility that the kid could actually be a good find (which would credit KF) they choose to instead belittle him even if it means painting a false picture (using a 4.7 40 time from when he was 15, for example). I have some problems with KF myself, but I'll be damned if I'm going take it out on a kid by taking potshots that would more correctly be aimed at KF himself.
I've seen the same. Our fullback my Junior year squatted 600 and benched 300 by graduation. He also qualified for the finals in the 100 and 110 highs in 1A too. Rare, but not laughable or unbelievable at all.
To see a back that can hit the cutback, outrun the defense, and be difficult to bring down in traffic has me optimistic because those are all things we didn't have in just one back this year.
Learn pass protections Mr. Graham...
