Well that was fun. I grew up on the East Coast as many of you that read this blog know and college football is not popular in my neck of the woods, so when I got to Fargo and experienced my first signing day in 2007, I didn’t really see what all of the fuss was about. But after going thru this for a couple years, then being able to talk to the prospective athletes on the phone or in person, then see them perform, it’s a pretty neat deal. This by far was my favorite to date, to talk to the recruits that NDSU signed on Wednesday over the past five months has been great, especially the out-of-staters that saw the Bison win the national championship or experienced one of the playoff games. One of the recruits asked me over the phone, “Is it always that loud for home games?” I responded, “It will be from now on.” As for the class of 2012, I’m proud to say that Jeff and I reported on each and every one that ended up signing with the Bison. Now a couple headlines from signing day, also the 2012 Signing Class:
1) Jack Plankers – 6’7, 290 lbs, Offensive Lineman, Kindred, ND
2) Zach Riopelle – 6’2, 215 lbs, Linebacker, Warren-Alvarado-Oslo, MN
3) DeSean Warren – 5’10, 158 lbs, Wide Receiver, Overland Park, KS
4) Zach Johnson – 6’4, 310 lbs, Offensive Guard, Apple Valley, MN
5) Andy Smith – 6’0, 185 lbs, Defensive Back, Sioux Falls, SD
6) M.J. Stumpf – 6’2, 195 lbs, Linebacker, Harvey, ND
7) Bo Liekhus – 6’0, 200 lbs, Safety, Bellevue, NE
8) Derek McGinnis – 6’2, 200 lbs, Quarterback, Crete, NE
9) Carey Woods – 6’0, 180 lbs, Wide Receiver, Bemidji, MN
10) Demetrius Gray – 6’4, 180 lbs, Wide Receiver, Aurora, IL
11) Austin Farnlof – 6’1, 255 lbs, Offensive/Defensive Line, Anthem AZ
12) Chuks Amaechi – 6’2, 202 lbs, Linebacker, Avondale, AZ
13) Brett Pierce – 6’6, 250 lbs, Defensive End, Richfield, MN
14) Jacob Davis – 6’2, 242 lbs, Linebacker, Wichita, KS
15) Sam Hahn – 6’6, 260 lbs, Offensive Tackle, De Witt, NE
16) Landon Lechler – 6’8, 240 lbs, Offensive Lineman, Beach, ND
17) Marcus Brantley – 5’10, 180 lbs, Safety, Mesa, AZ
18) Justin Arp – 6’5, 215 lbs, Defensive End/Tight End, Forman, ND
OTHER HEADLINES
- Craig Bohl told me he sees “five players that could play right away next year” and says as a whole it’s an “exceptional group.”
- NDSU added two more walk-ons that were not on the official release, one name we reported earlier in January, in kicker Tom Barneson out of Eau Claire. The 2nd is also a Wisconsin native, Eric Perkins from Kewaskum, he’s 5’9, 175 pounds, ran for 1,883 yards and 27 touchdowns this past season.
- NDSU did NOT recruit a Running Back in this class. The Bison have 4 on the roster currently, Sam Ojuri, Derrick Lang, Matt Jones and Amos Buehner. Wes Hudson was dismissed from the team during the season, but for the first time to my recollection, Bohl mentioned John Crockett. For those that don’t know Crockett is a member of the sensational 2010 class, but has not yet seen the field, trying to get his grades in order to become eligble. I fully believe that NDSU held off recruiting a running back because they expect Crockett to be on the field come fall camp in August. Crockett was a fantastic high school player at Totino-Grace, an all-state first team selection by the Associated Press, ran for 1,802 yards and 34 touchdowns in 2009. If Crockett becomes eligible, all worries at running back in my mind disappear.
- The one name that WE had on our list that was not announced yesterday was Deveon Dinwiddie. But that doesn’t mean he’s not coming to NDSU. Wednesday, Hutchinson Community College, where Dinwiddie played this past season, sent out a release, saying he’s heading to NDSU. You can read the release here, scroll down halfway to find Dinwiddie’s name. Now nothing is a done deal and the coaches CANNOT comment yet on any player that hasn’t officially signed, we’ll keep you posted.
I looked briefly at South Dakota State’s class which looks pretty good, I see that at least four guys NDSU had offered chose the Jacks, something to keep an eye on. The one bi-product of NDSU winning the national championship is it’s going to raise the bar for all of the Valley teams, especially now the bordering ones in SDSU and USD. That’s all for now, going to take a deep breath from this recruiting frenzy and get ready for the stretch run of the basketball season. Any updates on walk-ons and JUCO’s we’ll pass along as always. For those that missed the live interview with Craig Bohl, this is the link. Also wanted to thank everyone for the kind words over the past few weeks, it’s been fun, we’ll keep it up!
No. He is coming, from DeShawn. As long as everything works out, aka grades, transfer, etc.
I hope you are right TS. The Bison could use Deveon in a vary of ways. I was impressed with his punt and KO return capabilities, for example.
I would say that SDSUs class is superb. They have a 3-star OL athlete, arguably the best football player to sign with any FCS school, and they won four head to head battles with NDSU, by my count NDSU won only 3. Steigy made hay while the Bison won a national championship and I am in awe of that since their facilities suck.
Regardless, Bohl and his staff put together a very good class. It will be an excellent one if he can get the JUCO Dinwiddie.
Don’t get too caught up in the star rankings. Most kids are never even graded by the espn’s, rivals, etc. Just because someone has a star or three does not mean they are going to be any better then a kid with no stars.
Bison got a solid class that will fill in holes and add depth where needed. Will be interesting to see who some of the walkons will be, as I’m sure there will be more to come.
SDSU looks to have a good class too.
SDSU visitor stands should be condemned.
Seems to me you should put people’s safety ahead of putting up a great scoreboard.
I agree their facilities will be top notch. I have been saying for a while that the Jacks are trying to get things done to compete at the national level in football. They will have great facilities but the one thing they won’t have even with all the upgrades is an indoor facility the quality of the Fargodome. That is a fact. That being said it doesn’t mean they can’t compete for or win a national football title. Look how NDSU made it to the big dance with Woodside’s class that was recruited to play in the BSA!!!! Stig does a great job at SDSU. I hear people in SD sometimes call for his job and I don’t think they realize what he does with lesser facilities, finances and the incredible fan support the Bison fans sometimes take for granted.
bisonjeff….ditto…..good post!
Bohl didn’t say 5 would play. He was being sarcastic and put a sheet of paper over his head like the Johnny Carson swammy. Dam Hammer reported that too. You guys must have listened but didn’t watch the press conference live or else you didn’t pick up on the Johnny Carson humor!
Anyway, SDSU beat the Bison out on 2 players and that’s it. Birkachek and Carr. I know those are guys we wanted. If the Bison missed out on anyone else,it’s because they didn’t have enough scholarships. That’s pretty obvious since we only have 9 seniors next year and this was probably the smallest walk on class I have ever seen.
But overall, this is like the old NCC days. The Bison win the National Championship and the rest of the conference gets better and better. UNI had a great class. SDSU had a great class. They have to because getting to the playoffs will probably be harder than winning in the playoffs. Just like this year. Unless your UNI and you choke again..
The only difference is we had a complete kick ass recruiting class. There are 6-8 guys who I would consider blue chippers at the FCS level. These guys are bigger, stronger, and faster and had more offers from schools.
Keep up the great coverage guys you are getting really good.
Gabe, I was the one who asked Craig on the amount of freshman that would play, after his Carnac trick he did say at the end of his bit, “I could imagine 5 playing.”
I listened again your right he said it at the end
If I stick the paper on my forehead…I would say with Woods or Gray plays (the kansas kid will be rusty with a year off) and Brantley at safety or special teams. They are physically ready. Jacon Davis is physically ready but middle linebacker is a tough gig as a frosh. Same with Plankers or Zack Johnson
This years redshirt class has some studs. Veldman, Sonnefeld, Dinwiddie, Corville, Albers, and Champion will be pushing for those spots, plus Zack Vraa and Gebheart will show improvement.
Dinwiddie had his redshirt pulled
I know but mainly for special teams next year he will be playing a position
He tore up his knee in his first year at Hutchinson CC so that was, for all intents and purposes, his redshirt year. He graduated in 2010 and will be coming into NDSU as a sophomore.
Gabe
How did you ascertain that the kids are physically ready?
You can tell by just looking at their height and weight. Guys like I listed are already close to their typically college position weights
I agree with Gabe. Our recruiting class was as good as it gets at FCS. We had a better recruiting class than 70% of FBS schools. Just like we made DII teams better, we are already doing the same in FCS. The entire MVFC riding our coattails. We’ve been here before!!!
No bites huh Joe?
Obvious is troll is obvious…
Yep…the conference revolves around NDSU football!!! Get a grip. I love the random numbers you throw out there, “70% of FBS schools.”
If you are comparing only two (Farnlof, McGinnis) two star players in NDSU’s 2012 recruiting class to a low end Big Ten School (Indiana, MN, NW) or a Georgia Southern or Youngstown, the stars say otherwise. At this point, rivals star ranking is the only objective ranking you can go by, instead of stating that “this as good as it gets” why don’t you try to get out of Fargo once in a while and discover the rest of the country. SDSU recruited one of the best players in the Midwest in Mike Shoff (OL), three stars.
The recruiting class talk is just that. Talk. Read Kevin schmepf’s column. It is all about buying into the program and chemistry amongst all of those recruited. Great job Dom.
When it comes to the quality of this years recruiting class I am willing to give the Bison coaches the benefit of the doubt. They have had two great recruiting classes in a row and I feel this class will be good too. Would low end Big Ten teams recruiting classes have more 2 or 3 star recruits? Of course they would. But I bet they would have and should have every year and yet the Bison have beaten the Gophers 2 out of 3 years meaning the Bison can get some recruits who should have been at an FBS school. If you don’t think that is true look at Phil Hansen, Craig Dahl, Ramon Humber and Joe Mays. FBS coaches miss on kids too. I just don’t understand why people come to this blog to hate on the Bison and those of us who follow the Bison?????? Go to an Alabama, Notre Dame, LSU, Florida State, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Michigan, USC or Florida Blog if that is your thing. The Bison are FCS national champs we’re not saying they would win the SEC or Big Ten!
Go Bison!
In all fairness, go to any of those places you mentioned and you’ll find people trashing those schools as well. It’s a fact of life on the internet, just get used to it.
I agree Tim.
Hey Bison Jeff, I beg to differ with you. I think the Bison could have beaten Alabama in head to head. Basically similar defenses. Alabama offense was nothing special, and the Bison could have scraped enough points to win 10-6. Now that ought to get some people thinking I am nuts, or at least spur some thought. Ha. Go Bison.
I’m a huge fan Bison but beating Alabama is asking a lot! Too much speed, especially on defense! I love the enthusiasm yet I gotta believe beating ‘Bama would be a bridge too far.
Trent Richardson is not Shakir Bell or Tim Flanders…. he is much much better. Holding the Tide to 6 points would’ve been a Lake Placid like miracle.
Star rankings are a joke. Would you rather have a 3 star player with 1 offer to Minnesota or a zero star ranking player that has offers from 12 FCS schools.
The strength of our team was the D Line. None of the starters received any stars except Juckem, with 2. Drevlow and Boyer didnt even have a rivals page!
Marcus Williams and Colten Heagle. Zero stars.
Unless they are 4 or 5 stars, its irrelevant.
right on gabe!….coaches know what there doing!
The stars that count are the ones the opponents see after getting hit by Heagle and the boys.
newnameguy…..quote of the day!….awesome!
Coach Bohl and crew has certainly earned my respect, they have proven to be good coaches and good recruiters. I trust their judgement regarding all of the new Bison recruits. If other programs get good recruits, good for them. The NDSU football program has proven itself as best in the nation!
Our backfield is going to be absolutely loaded next year. 3 guys with bigtime FBS offers this year along with the Arizona safety with the offer from Boise St. Our recruiting gets better every year.
Well, considering all of them had FBS offers, 3 of which were BCS schools(ok, so Crockett never “had” that offer, but we obviously know why), I’d say it’s shaping up to be a great backfield…one with as much talent as we’ve ever had. Producing on the field, obviously, is another discussion completely.
I think either Jeff or Dom said that Matt Jones could have played as a true freshman but the Bison didn’t need him to. As far as Crockett I think the simple fact the Bison are still trying to get him on the field after two years of trouble with grades speaks volumes about his potential. I think if each of the players lives up to expectations that Lakes could very well be right this group could be elite! Time will tell. This group of RBs along with Lang will be very exciting to watch on the new turf in the FargoDome! Go Bison!
I will wait until the recruits actually get on the field and play before I decide how they compare with players of the past and present.
When Coach Bohl made Tyler Roehl the featured running back, converting him from fullback, many were worried about him. I think he did great.
Sam Ojuri will be the starter. What the Bison want or need is another guy to split the carries so Ojuri can stay fresh and not get so banged up. Two years ago DJ carried most of the load by himself so if need be Ojuri could do that as well. The success on the field of the back that shares the carries dictates whether they are evenly split next season or if Ojuri gets most of them. It isn’t that big of an issue unless Ojuri gets hurt and the other guy hasn’t shown he can cut it.
hey no way…why dont you just get lost!
Yeah, I mean don’t let facts get in the way of your argument right? Dinwiddie had an offer from KSU out of HS, Matt Jones had an offer to Colorado, and I covered that Crockett was a non-qualifier, so he never had that offer. I know Ojuri had a couple of MAC offers, so no surprise there. Matt Jones came here because we also recruited his HS QB, which I believe is one of his best friends. Not hard to understand a kid following his friend.
Care to enlighten us with your elite football mind about why he’s wrong?
Or is it simply because your cynicism won’t allow you to believe anything without seeing it? In which case, that’s a personal problem and not a legitimate discussion point.
Hey it was great to read Kevin Schnempf’s article today and realize that next season (2012-13) could be the last for the basketball teams in the old BSA! The track and field facility will be done in September of this year. It will be great for the basketball and track coaches who have had very successful programs despite not having adequate facilities. Great win for the men last night! Let’s fill the BSA Saturday night and knock off ORU! Go Bison!
The point was great players dont always have stars. Only 1 back up on tbe Dline had stars and that was Juckem. Linebackers? Littlejohn and Grant had 2 stars but the starters had none. Heck Preston Evans only had a D2 offer. Willson? Late offer. How about Cornick or Richard? Heagle? Nope. Unless they have 4 stars its pretty much meaningless. Were Champions. Trust the coaches.
You the man. Cool story bro.
Trust me, its always been this way. It just took someone like you to stalk players on facebook, twitter and at sporting events and than post about it. The players at NDSU have always been very receptive when it comes to recruiting talent.
Yet I have forgot more about Bison recruiting that you pretend to know. Thats what is so funny about you being the fan police