One of the major things about Gibbs’ recruiting strategy is that he needs to believe that you are a player. There are essentially no “fliers” with Gibbs.
Simply stated: If you can play, you get a scholarship. If you can’t play, you don’t get a scholarship.
With this in mind, Tech now sits with 3 defensive recruits for the 2018 class due to this strategy. Based off Gibbs’ strategy/selectiveness, we (whether you agree or not) can be assured that LB Benson, DL Hutchings, and DL Scott can be considered “players.” Any other non-offer/dropped recruit can not be considered a player solely based on the philosophy above. Gibbs wants to know that you can contribute. He has stated multiple times that they just can not afford to waste scholarships.
So here is my question, would you rather take the three recruits you have now and leave the scholarships open or maybe take a flier (or multiple) on any of the below prospects? These prospects never received an offer despite Tech expressing interest/these players expressing interest in Tech. In the end, no offers were ever extended. We can ASSUME no offer was extended because Gibbs didn’t think they could play (there was probably a variety of other reasons for these guys to have no offers but on the surface, this seems to have been the major reason).
Looking back, do you wish Tech would have extended an offer/kept any of these recruits knowing that some of them may not have amounted to anything? “Waste” scholarships? Take fliers? Or just save the schollies?
Discuss...
Cameron Valentine (Presumably dropped) -
John Graves (Presumably dropped) -
Mekhi Garner (Presumably dropped for other issues) -
Juan Henry (Definitely heard from Jamison on multiple occasions) -
Cade Barnard (Definitely wanted a Tech offer and did everything in his power ((camp with Tech)) to try and get one) -
Braden Cassity (Brother may/may not be on staff in some role....wanted an offer) -
Shabazz Dotson (Had an offer but was presumably not committable due to off-the-field issues) -
Quindell Johnson (Visited in the spring. Was a Juluke connection) -
Jevon Jones (Contacted Emmett Jones and Karl Scott in the spring. Was actually a 5.7 prospect at the start of the cycle) -
Rodney McGraw (Heard from Scott in the spring) -
Tre Allison (Went to Frisco scrimmage. Heard a little bit from Spavital) -
Mykel Gates (Was an off/on recruiting target of Spav’s) -
DL Michael Matus (Was one of the first 2018 D targets to visit LBK early last spring. Ultimately left with no offer) - https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/michael-matus-182101
DB Phillip Dixon (Was a late target this January) - https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/phillip-dixon-195402
DB JT Woods (Was brought in to LBK on an unofficial visit last spring. Left with no offer) - https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/j-t-woods-184644
DL James Williams - https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/james-williams-71475
DL Kai Golden (visited this past summer but Tech ultimately passed) - https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/kai-golden-39948
There are a lot more but you get the idea...
Simply stated: If you can play, you get a scholarship. If you can’t play, you don’t get a scholarship.
With this in mind, Tech now sits with 3 defensive recruits for the 2018 class due to this strategy. Based off Gibbs’ strategy/selectiveness, we (whether you agree or not) can be assured that LB Benson, DL Hutchings, and DL Scott can be considered “players.” Any other non-offer/dropped recruit can not be considered a player solely based on the philosophy above. Gibbs wants to know that you can contribute. He has stated multiple times that they just can not afford to waste scholarships.
So here is my question, would you rather take the three recruits you have now and leave the scholarships open or maybe take a flier (or multiple) on any of the below prospects? These prospects never received an offer despite Tech expressing interest/these players expressing interest in Tech. In the end, no offers were ever extended. We can ASSUME no offer was extended because Gibbs didn’t think they could play (there was probably a variety of other reasons for these guys to have no offers but on the surface, this seems to have been the major reason).
Looking back, do you wish Tech would have extended an offer/kept any of these recruits knowing that some of them may not have amounted to anything? “Waste” scholarships? Take fliers? Or just save the schollies?
Discuss...
Cameron Valentine (Presumably dropped) -
John Graves (Presumably dropped) -
Mekhi Garner (Presumably dropped for other issues) -
Juan Henry (Definitely heard from Jamison on multiple occasions) -
Cade Barnard (Definitely wanted a Tech offer and did everything in his power ((camp with Tech)) to try and get one) -
Braden Cassity (Brother may/may not be on staff in some role....wanted an offer) -
Shabazz Dotson (Had an offer but was presumably not committable due to off-the-field issues) -
Quindell Johnson (Visited in the spring. Was a Juluke connection) -
Jevon Jones (Contacted Emmett Jones and Karl Scott in the spring. Was actually a 5.7 prospect at the start of the cycle) -
Rodney McGraw (Heard from Scott in the spring) -
Tre Allison (Went to Frisco scrimmage. Heard a little bit from Spavital) -
Mykel Gates (Was an off/on recruiting target of Spav’s) -
DL Michael Matus (Was one of the first 2018 D targets to visit LBK early last spring. Ultimately left with no offer) - https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/michael-matus-182101
DB Phillip Dixon (Was a late target this January) - https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/phillip-dixon-195402
DB JT Woods (Was brought in to LBK on an unofficial visit last spring. Left with no offer) - https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/j-t-woods-184644
DL James Williams - https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/james-williams-71475
DL Kai Golden (visited this past summer but Tech ultimately passed) - https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/kai-golden-39948
There are a lot more but you get the idea...
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