I’m usually kind of hesitant to write about recruiting, for a few reasons. For one, I don’t really know anything about these players, how good they are or what they’re thinking, and neither do most other people, whatever they might tell you. Outside of a few Youtube clips or maybe a single game here or there, I’ve never seen these guys play, and even if I have, I’m no talent scout. A couple of years ago I went with Danny and Andrew to watch Bothell play O’Dea. I could tell that Zach Fogerson was kind of special. Michael Hartvigson and Colin Porter were huge and stood out. I’ve also been to plenty of games where guys really stood out and weren’t anywhere close to being D-I recruits. I can’t usually tell the difference. If you’re relying on me for scouting, you’re in trouble.
The second reason I hesitate to write about recruiting is that it’s a pretty charged topic. The management aspect of sports has grown almost as compelling as the game itself. Prince Fielder and the Mariners roster construction has received far more attention than the Mariners’ season, and that’s not just because the Mariners were terrible. With fantasy sports becoming so popular, we like to play general manager. That’s hard to do with college sports, and so we speculate on recruiting.
That’s not necessarily bad. Continue reading