Guys, losing Wilson is not that big of a deal...

[Irish Envy]

While it would be nice to have an elite line class, OL is not our biggest need in this year's class. Also, while Wilson is a great prospect (should end up 5 stars), there are many other top notch prospects out there including Summers-Gavin, Romine, etc.

 

[jiggafini19]

Agreed. 100%.

 

[irishfan81]

Its hard to lose a recruit to other schools especially USC we need the horses to fire right back at them when we play them.
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Suzuki TS90

 

[irishnd31]

Svo, you know this and I know this, but for some reason I can picture a certain 17 year old young man in Evansville (this person will remain nameless) who is currently cutting out alphabet letters from a magazine to form some sort of death threat letter to send to Pete Carroll because of this announcement. Someone call the law enforcement in Evansville and tell them that we have a potential jumper!!!!

 

[scooper]

Svo, you know this and I know this, but for some reason I can picture a certain 17 year old young man in Evansville (this person will remain nameless) who is currently cutting out alphabet letters to form some sort of death threat letter to send to Pete Carroll because of this announcement. Someone call the law enforcement in Evansville and tell them that we have a potential jumper!!!!

Now THAT was funny.

 

[irishfan81]

I'm not a jumper I just wanna beat USC for once to make the Gold shine at ND.
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vapir oxygen vaporizer

 

[irishfan81]

Suit me up in a Irish Uniform and I will flat pick apart them anywhere.
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GL1200A

 

[A2McGowan]

I think Wilson is a super talent (balloon into a 6'8 guard?).........but someone just as great in the whole scheme of things is gonna come along and fill that spot. This announcement is probably a huge day for a kid that was waiting to see what Wilson was going to do.

 

[luckofirish8]

A2, i think you may have just the nail on the the head. Wilson is no doubt a great player, and personally I wish him well. However, there are plenty of great player still remaining (some of which probably haven't even made a name for themselves yet). The Irish will be fine...there is no doubt in my mind.

 

[irishfan81]

As long as we have Saint Charlie I'm fine. Since they've already started 2 a days it will be hard to recruit kids. But some time in that period we need to text some prospects and get committments.
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Yamaha XV1700A

 

[ChiND]

James is a 'nice to have; not need to have' player. The other Wilson is the guy I want to see at ND (Tez). Go get those Chicago boys!

 

[irishfan81]

We need the other Wilson Tez amen.
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headshop

 

[ColinKSU]

I don't quite understand how everyone can be so calm.

...You do realize that we just lost a TOP player to USC right? The same USC we have to play every year and is our #1 obstacle to the National Title every year, right?

You don't beat a team full of 4-Star and 5-Star players with a few 4-Star and mostly 3-Star players. It doesn't happen more than once in a blue moon.

We need 50 James Wilsons if we want to keep up with USC. We don't need 50 3-Stars. You can't even use examples like Ragone as why we're keeping up with USC because they offered him but didn't turn the heat up on him. USC and Notre Dame turned on the after-burners on James Wilson and they beat us. Like they do 90% of the time we are both going after someone hard. Butch Lewis? Chris Gallipo? Mark Tyler? Taylor Mays? Mark Sanchez? Brian Cushing? Reggie Bush?

Kids. That's why they've beaten us 4 years in a row. They have better talent. Because we've not been able to out-recruit them for anyone not named Jimmy Clausen or Konrad Reuland.

You can keep telling yourself it's not a big deal as much as you want. That's fine. While you do that, however, people with heads in reality are noticing USC kicking sand in our faces over and over.

 

[Óglaigh_na_hÉireann]

I wouldn't be so quick to say ND is being out-recruited. Yeah, USC gets a lot of 5/4 stars, but I think ND is doing very well in finding 3-star guys that have 5 star potential. Guys like Toryan Smith, Munir Prince, the entire '06 safety class, Kerry Neal, and Aaron Nagel (it might surprise some, but Nagel is sweet). Just remember, AJ Hawk was a 3-star and so was Breylon Edwards.

And let's not forget that we have a legitimate shot at bringing in four 5 star prospects, too: Clausen, Benn, Wilson, and Ryan Miller. I think Miller will come to his senses during the football season.

Now if we can somehow pull Chris Donald from Tennessee....look out. That guy is a beast.

 

[calidomer]

I agree, we're not being out-recruited. Being out-recruited is not even being in the mix. It came down to ND and SC for Wilson. Geez, sounds like some people aren't going to be happy unless we fill a class with 25 five star players. A lot goes into winning, yeah talent helps and is important, but so is coaching. Look at the guys that went in the first round of the NFL draft, yeah some were 5 star recruits, but a lot of them were not. Don't cut a guy short if he only has three stars next to his name. Most of us are cool about losing Wilson cause we know we can win with or without him. Geez, I remember when we were just hoping not to lose a recruit to schools like Miami of Ohio and Vanderbilt. Not to knock on those schools, but they're not even on the same playing field as SC. We will be okay.

 

[ColinKSU]

You can say it came down to USC and ND for James Wilson. That's fine.

...What team will he be playing for next year, though?

In recruiting, second-place means nothing. You know what happens if we finish #2 to every team we recruit against? We lose to D-1AA teams. There are no consolation prizes in losing a recruiting battle.

 

[Óglaigh_na_hÉireann]

It could be worse. Imagine how crazy we'd be going if the top QB in the nation and one of the most highly touted prospects ever was from just outside of South Bend... and he committed to USC.

Now that wouldn't just be bad, it would be embarassing.

 

[Subway Alum - MA]

I agree with many of the points made above regarding James Wilson - both pro and con. My disappointment, beside the loss of a great talent, was the fact that it represented a decision by a National recruit who was not an in-stater. Losing more players to the U of Scandal and Corruption from CA is understandable. Let's face, its harder to do things the right way in the dog-eat-dog game of recruiting and they do have some attractive pluses to point out to these 17-and 18-year-olds. (Has anyone heard anything about the progress of the NCAA investigation? They seem to have changed their strategy in recruiting this year and are going after players early instead of their former, arrogant approach of waiting until almost the end - resurgence of Notre or fear of sanctions?)
However, this young man seemed like a perfect fit for Notre Dame and had made a point of emphasizing the importance of education in his decision. As I said in another post, when Coach Weis is able to add to his body of work as a college coach by having a few more winning seasons and begins to send a steady stream of players to the NFL (Don't think a few No. 1 draft choices this year won't help); Notre Dame will begin to win more and more of these battles. It takes time. As fans, we simply have to exhibit some patience. There are still some big battlesahead. I'm comfortable with what Coach Weis has done with moving the program forward in a positive direction. That's really all anyone can ask at this point.

Subway Alum - MA
ND Fan Since 1952

 

[jiggafini19]

What is going to happen if and when guys like Austin, Barksdale and Blackwell commit to other schools that AREN'T USC? Some of you will be slitting your wrists and jumping into traffic. Considering we knew almost two weeks ago Wilson was going to choose SC, I'm not sure why some of you are so upset and let down. You got your hopes up for nothing.

Imagine a pay site leaking the night before an announcement that Wilson was going to ND, no SC, no ND, no 50-50. Irishenvy OVERLOADED there were so many people on line and Domer Domain had the most people on line EVER at their site.

Mission Accomplished by the gurus.

After taking FOUR interior linemen last year (Carufel, Stewart, Wenger and Olsen), Notre Dame realistically needs two at the most, probably one. Didn't get Tray Allen, didn't get James Wilson. Now they step up for Emeka Nwankwo. He hasn't visited, by the way and Tray Allen never did.

Notre Dame needs offensive and defensive tackles. Start flipping out when everyone starts turning them down at those spots. Notre Dame has a great shot with Miller, Romine and Will Blackwell, but all three of those guys favor ND with their state schools. So be prepared for a couple of uphill battles that could end in more disappointment. Or maybe, just maybe, wait 6 months and see how things play out. Official visits are awfully big.

Plenty of players haven't even played their senior years of high school. There could be some high risers out there who suddenly enter the radar. You probably dont' know them because Rivals hasn't plastered their faces on their site all summer. Truth is, the coaching staff knows who is out there. Not us, not Rivals.

The tone of this board has been disgusting lately. Year Two for Charlie Weis and some of you are typical fickle college football fans. This isn't Playstation where you can rig up your team with the top two recruits at every position. Life doesn't work that way. Gain a little perspective and start preparing yourselves for the fact that not every guy with an offer is "Irish." You can be disappointed that Wilson or Gilchrist or whomever isn't coming to ND, but trolling out "USC is killing us" recruiting posts will cause you unnecessary stress and quite frankly, make you sound foolish.

There are 36 uncommitted players with ND offers right now. There is room for 17 as of this moment if CW plans on taking 25.

Brace yourselves for the shock and awe of not getting the others.

 

[TDJesus3]

very well said jigga

 

[scooper]

Wow, Jigg. Great post. Somebody give him some reps. I can't at the moment.

Some of you need to chill the hell out or go ahead and jump off that ledge.

 

[BigIrish]

Some of you need to chill the hell out or go ahead and jump off that ledge.

there's a line forming behid irishfan81.

 

[Irish Envy]

I don't quite understand how everyone can be so calm.

...You do realize that we just lost a TOP player to USC right? The same USC we have to play every year and is our #1 obstacle to the National Title every year, right?

You don't beat a team full of 4-Star and 5-Star players with a few 4-Star and mostly 3-Star players. It doesn't happen more than once in a blue moon.

We need 50 James Wilsons if we want to keep up with USC. We don't need 50 3-Stars. You can't even use examples like Ragone as why we're keeping up with USC because they offered him but didn't turn the heat up on him. USC and Notre Dame turned on the after-burners on James Wilson and they beat us. Like they do 90% of the time we are both going after someone hard. Butch Lewis? Chris Gallipo? Mark Tyler? Taylor Mays? Mark Sanchez? Brian Cushing? Reggie Bush?

Kids. That's why they've beaten us 4 years in a row. They have better talent. Because we've not been able to out-recruit them for anyone not named Jimmy Clausen or Konrad Reuland.

You can keep telling yourself it's not a big deal as much as you want. That's fine. While you do that, however, people with heads in reality are noticing USC kicking sand in our faces over and over.

We almost beat them this past year with a bunch of 3 stars, 2 stars and some unranked prospects to boot. The Earth was not built in one day, and this program isn't going to be built in one season.

 

[irishfan81]

With USC getting every player they want but not Jimmy. The thing is we have to have 4/5 star players that can make a impact and start for the Irish not 3 star guys.
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[TDJesus3]

every player they want?

do you even know who they have landed or who they want?

do they want benn? they are not getting him

did they want sam young? they didnt get him

they are going to get kids but not everyone they want, they are just like us, they will win some and lose some

 

[irishfan81]

Arrelious Benn is Irish we all know which is good. I don't recall Sam Young being recruited by USC. They are starting to recruit nationally and a lot of them will be a Condum while we get some but not as much as they do unless of course we win Titles.

 

[BGIF]

There are 36 uncommitted players with ND offers right now. There is room for 17 as of this moment if CW plans on taking 25.

OMG!

We're going to lose more than half of them!

Holy rejection!



Perhaps ND should go back to the Willingham Way and hand out offers like Ebenezer Scrooge. That worked well, didn't it?

 

[ColinKSU]

We almost beat them this past year with a bunch of 3 stars, 2 stars and some unranked prospects to boot. The Earth was not built in one day, and this program isn't going to be built in one season.

What do they say about Horseshoes and Hand Grenades?

 

[BGIF]

What do they say about Horseshoes and Hand Grenades?

They're popular in Coventry.

 

[scooper]

They're popular in Coventry.

BGIF is