Okay. Lots of little stuff to go over:
- There were a LOT of good looking future prospects that I got the chance to speak with Friday night. Going to get those exclusive interviews up as quickly as possible.
- I know people are making a lot of the fact that Penei Sewell and Dawson Jaramillo were roommates during the week, and while it certainly did not hurt that someone who is a hardcore recruiting recruit was in his ear all week, don't make too much of it; a lot of people were in his ear.
- Some of those in his ear were USC commits and they made some progress. enough to get them over the top? I don't think so, but this one is going to be interesting.
- Also don't make too much of Mariota speaking to the players. He was very practical with what he told the prospects. Basically told them to make the decision that is best for them and to make sure that they are very comfortable with it. He is definitely not 'recruiting' for any school.
- I saw Joe S. at the celebration dinner Friday night. He was there to see his old coach Dick Tomoey and to do some recruiting. This is one of those things about which you can read into it. Every recruit I spoke to Friday night loved coach Joe. He is the lead recruiter for every Polynesian kid regardless of position and he is going to make an impact for the Ducks. There are a couple who I will post my exclusives with that should excite Duck fans very much.
- I have an interview with Devon slated for the morning. He is a pro at this and did not really tip his hand - except that he did just a little bit. All I can say is that this weekend will be very important and could be the deciding factor; I have a higher confidence factor today than I did Monday.
- I got the chance to speak with Hawaii head coach Nick Rolovich. He told me a great story about Justin Herbert. Rolo was on a recruiting trip and he was really excited because he thought he had Herbert as a done deal. He is flying home and when he gets there het gets a call from an assistant coach "What! He said" That was the night Oregon offered and Herbert jumped. Rolovich knew how special Herbert was going to be and was really bummed to miss out on his.
- Chevan Cordeiro signed with Hawaii as the next great QB from St. Louis High; I got the chance to meet Chevan's successor at St. Louis and will update you all in the near future with an interview.
- A Fun fact, Dick Vermeil is a red wine guy while Terry Donahue is a micro brew guy. I think I convinced Terry he needs to get to Portland to check out the micros up there.
- Deforrest Buckner was by far (outside of Marcus) the favorite player at the celebration dinner. He probably took at least 100 pictures with people. Everyone wanted his picture.
- JuJu Smith-Schuster was funny as hell. When he accepted the award for Poly Pro Football player of the year, he made the entire room break out in laughter when his first word of advice to the younger players was to 'avoid girls. They'll get you in trouble.'
- An interesting stat: 10% of all 4 and 5 star players this year were Polynesian - and yet they make up less than 1% of all high school players.
- I got the chance to speak with Marcus. First, he was not consulted at all on the head coaching search; he felt it would be like putting himself above the rest of his team mates to speak about the search and decision. He also said he was glad because that is far too much stress for him!
Another thing he told me was that he likes the hire of Cristobal and expects the Ducks to improve greatly under him. Marcus us doing well and excited to have an offseason where he can focus on getting healthy again. He played through a lot of nicks and dings (and more) this year and really wants to get healthy for next season.
The beard? he says he got lazy. He laughed when he and I talked about his first game because he remembers me asking him about coming out of the tunnel. He spoke privately with several recruits during the media availability on Friday before the dinner; I was the only person who stayed around to eavesdrop. These kids in Hawaii really listen to him and respect him beyond whatever words I can say. You should have seen their faces light up when they heard Marcus was going to be there.
He gave them some very candid and pointed advice to follow their own hearts and make sure it is what they really want not just what they think others want for them. He is a passionate advocate of Oregon, but he is more passionate about those young men making the best decision for themselves and will always put that first.
- I gotta say, I really enjoyed doing this week. If you ever come here I have two suggestions
1) Go to the Honolulu Zoo. This is the closest I have ever been to animals at a zoo. One exhibit; either Gazelle's or Antelopes, the animals were roaming free. It was really a cool zoo
2) Go to North Shore. The further up the better. I took my wife up there today and she absolutely loved it; much more than the 'hotel row' at Waikiki.
- There were a LOT of good looking future prospects that I got the chance to speak with Friday night. Going to get those exclusive interviews up as quickly as possible.
- I know people are making a lot of the fact that Penei Sewell and Dawson Jaramillo were roommates during the week, and while it certainly did not hurt that someone who is a hardcore recruiting recruit was in his ear all week, don't make too much of it; a lot of people were in his ear.
- Some of those in his ear were USC commits and they made some progress. enough to get them over the top? I don't think so, but this one is going to be interesting.
- Also don't make too much of Mariota speaking to the players. He was very practical with what he told the prospects. Basically told them to make the decision that is best for them and to make sure that they are very comfortable with it. He is definitely not 'recruiting' for any school.
- I saw Joe S. at the celebration dinner Friday night. He was there to see his old coach Dick Tomoey and to do some recruiting. This is one of those things about which you can read into it. Every recruit I spoke to Friday night loved coach Joe. He is the lead recruiter for every Polynesian kid regardless of position and he is going to make an impact for the Ducks. There are a couple who I will post my exclusives with that should excite Duck fans very much.
- I have an interview with Devon slated for the morning. He is a pro at this and did not really tip his hand - except that he did just a little bit. All I can say is that this weekend will be very important and could be the deciding factor; I have a higher confidence factor today than I did Monday.
- I got the chance to speak with Hawaii head coach Nick Rolovich. He told me a great story about Justin Herbert. Rolo was on a recruiting trip and he was really excited because he thought he had Herbert as a done deal. He is flying home and when he gets there het gets a call from an assistant coach "What! He said" That was the night Oregon offered and Herbert jumped. Rolovich knew how special Herbert was going to be and was really bummed to miss out on his.
- Chevan Cordeiro signed with Hawaii as the next great QB from St. Louis High; I got the chance to meet Chevan's successor at St. Louis and will update you all in the near future with an interview.
- A Fun fact, Dick Vermeil is a red wine guy while Terry Donahue is a micro brew guy. I think I convinced Terry he needs to get to Portland to check out the micros up there.
- Deforrest Buckner was by far (outside of Marcus) the favorite player at the celebration dinner. He probably took at least 100 pictures with people. Everyone wanted his picture.
- JuJu Smith-Schuster was funny as hell. When he accepted the award for Poly Pro Football player of the year, he made the entire room break out in laughter when his first word of advice to the younger players was to 'avoid girls. They'll get you in trouble.'
- An interesting stat: 10% of all 4 and 5 star players this year were Polynesian - and yet they make up less than 1% of all high school players.
- I got the chance to speak with Marcus. First, he was not consulted at all on the head coaching search; he felt it would be like putting himself above the rest of his team mates to speak about the search and decision. He also said he was glad because that is far too much stress for him!
Another thing he told me was that he likes the hire of Cristobal and expects the Ducks to improve greatly under him. Marcus us doing well and excited to have an offseason where he can focus on getting healthy again. He played through a lot of nicks and dings (and more) this year and really wants to get healthy for next season.
The beard? he says he got lazy. He laughed when he and I talked about his first game because he remembers me asking him about coming out of the tunnel. He spoke privately with several recruits during the media availability on Friday before the dinner; I was the only person who stayed around to eavesdrop. These kids in Hawaii really listen to him and respect him beyond whatever words I can say. You should have seen their faces light up when they heard Marcus was going to be there.
He gave them some very candid and pointed advice to follow their own hearts and make sure it is what they really want not just what they think others want for them. He is a passionate advocate of Oregon, but he is more passionate about those young men making the best decision for themselves and will always put that first.
- I gotta say, I really enjoyed doing this week. If you ever come here I have two suggestions
1) Go to the Honolulu Zoo. This is the closest I have ever been to animals at a zoo. One exhibit; either Gazelle's or Antelopes, the animals were roaming free. It was really a cool zoo
2) Go to North Shore. The further up the better. I took my wife up there today and she absolutely loved it; much more than the 'hotel row' at Waikiki.
