Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Vanderbilt battles Gamecocks for recruits

This weekend, one of Vandy's verbal commitments, safety Sharrod Golightly, will be spending the final weekend before signing day visiting South Carolina. Last weekend, another Vandy verbal, defensive tackle Kyle Woestmann, had also been scheduled to take a journey to GamecockLand.

So how many of our recruits has Steve Spurrier extended offers to? At least five: Golightly, Woestmann, DE James Kittredge, OL Logan Stewart and S Kenneth Ladler. Ladler's safe in VandyLand, having enrolled in classes earlier this month.

South Carolina has offered scholarships to more Vandy verbals than any other school. In second place, with four each, are Kentucky, East Carolina and Central Florida. In third place, with three apiece, are Tennessee, Ole Miss, West Virginia, Duke, UAB, Western Kentucky and Tulane.

Here's a closer look, school by school, at some other offers our verbal commitments hold:

SEC SCHOOLS

Ole Miss: Golightly, WR Jonathan Krause, Woestmann
Georgia: Woestmann
Tennessee: DT Vince Taylor, QB Nash Nance, DE Thomas Ryan
Arkansas: DT Jared Morse
Kentucky: ATH Jerrell Priester, Morse, Ladler, Ryan
South Carolina: Kittredge, Golightly, Stewart, Ladler, Woestmann
Miss State: Taylor, Nance

TOP 25

Georgia Tech: Woestmann, WR Chris Boyd
Nebraska: CB Andre Hal
Pittsburgh: Kittredge
Clemson: Woestmann
West Virginia: S Andre Simmons, Kittredge, Nance
Stanford: Woestmann

BOWL TEAMS FROM CONFERENCES WITH BCS BERTHS
Boston College: Simmons, Woestmann
Miami: CB Steven Clarke
Northwestern: Simmons
Rutgers: Simmons, Kittredge
Florida State: Morse
Michigan State: Kittredge
Arizona: CB Karl Butler
Minnesota: OL Grant Ramsay
UConn: Clarke

BOWL TEAMS FROM MINOR CONFERENCES
Southern Miss: LB Chase Garnham, Taylor
Air Force: ATH Blake Gowder, Stewart
East Carolina: Priester, Stewart, Ladler, Ramsay
UCF: Kittredge, Nance, Ramsay, Ryan
MTSU: Boyd
SMU: Butler
Troy: WR Trent Pruitt
Houston: OL Chase White
Marsh: Ramsay

OTHER TEAMS FROM BCS CONFERENCES
Notre Dame: Priester
North Carolina State: OL/DL Andrew Bridges, Golightly
Kansas: QB Jordan Rodgers
Illinois: Simmons, Boyd
Maryland: Simmons, Kittredge
Duke: Taylor, Priester, Woestmann
Colorado: Kittredge, Butler
Louisville: Kittredge
Virginia: Kittredge
Indiana: Boyd
Purdue: Woestmann

OTHER D1 SCHOOLS
UAB: Garnham, Morse, Golightly
Arkansas State: WR Jordan Matthews
Western Kentucky: Rodgers, Boyd, Ladler
Tulsa: Taylor, Butler
Tulane: Morse, Butler, Hal
Akron: Kittredge
New Mexico: Golightly
Toledo: Krause, Ladler
Miami (Ohio): Hal
Florida International: Ramsay
Colorado State: Ryan
Rice: Bridges
Western Michigan: Clarke

D2
Furman: Gowder
Georgia Southern: Gowder, Pruitt
Murray State: Gowder
Samford: Gowder
South Alabama: Taylor
Elon: Boyd
Hampton: Boyd
Appalachian State: Stewart
Alcorn: Ladler
Harvard: Nance, Bridges
Chattanooga: Nance

4 comments:

Clark said...

I met Kenny Ladler yesterday, he seemed nice. It was very interesting, I met him while he was meeting Gaston Miller. That's a perfect picture of why BJ is considered as doing a masterful job. 4 years ago, Gaston was the type of recruit we typically got. Now, Ladler is enrolling early and immediately competing for a starting spot. The physical difference was probably what was most impressive. Ladler is all of the 6'2 that he's listed as, and if I hadn't known, would not have pegged him as a high school senior. He looks like a college player. Gaston on the other hand, is easily a full 8 inches shorter, maybe more. He wasn't wanted by other SEC schools, and he rarely saw the field after his freshman year. The quality of recruits, top to bottom, is light years away from where it was 4 years ago.

DIMON KENDRICK-HOLMES said...

Great post, Clark. Yes, Gaston is on his way out (with one year of eligibility left) and Kenny is on his way in (while he was still supposed to be in high school).

You're right, it does show how far Vandy's come in four years. By the way, are you a Vandy student?

Clark said...

Yes, for one more semester. I'll be interested in seeing how Ladler adjusts to life in the SEC and in school. However, spring ball sometimes is overrated. Elvio Tropeano shined in the spring game my sophomore year. And the fact that I had to go look his name up to make sure I spelled it right says something about how much of an impact he's made since.

DIMON KENDRICK-HOLMES said...

I believe this is the first time in VU history that a true freshman has enrolled early. While it's always misleading when a walk-on like Elvio excels in the spring game, Kenneth is a legitimate SEC safety who'll get invaluable experience and will be ahead of the other freshman safeties when coaches draw up the opening day depth chart.