UCF's Recruiting Bonanza
There are only two words to describe this week of UCF recruiting: holy shit. I mean really this has been an incredible week of recruiting for Scott Frost and his staff. UCF fans have not seen a recruiting cycle like this in a long time. Frost and his staff have gotten an influx of recruits for the 2017 class. In the course of the month of June, UCF has had 8 recruits commit, 7 of which will be counted in the 2017 class. UCF is now ranked 40th in recruiting service 24/7 rankings. Yes it is still early in the process and things change, but it is still impressive to see how hard this staff has recruited. They trail only Houston in the conference recruiting rankings. Erik Chinander, who has only been at the school since January, has already been named the best recruiter in the AAC by the same service. Sure this season may be rough at times, but the future is so bright.
This has been said time and time again, but when Scott Frost was hired, Danny White emphasized Frost's ability to put together a staff that could recruit. Not just recruit across the country, but primarily the state of Florida. Well the staff has done just that: recruit Florida. Of the 11 commitments, 9 so far have come from the state. Contrast that with the 2015 class. The 2015 class only had 5 Florida recruits. You read that right a Florida school only had 5 commitments from the state. So the fact that Frost and his staff have already gotten 9 verbal commitments is impressive. You see it is clear that Frost and his staff have repaired the relationship between UCF and Florida high school coaches that O'Leary and his staff neglected. Instead of looking in upstate New York for a gem, Frost is taking advantage of the amount of talent that comes from Florida. By building up these relationships with Florida coaches, Frost is setting UCF up for big things in the future.
Do you know how many IMG players UCF has had? 0. None during the O'Leary regime. For the uninitiated IMG is the premier football factory in the state of Florida. There is no pretense, no use hiding it IMG exists to produce football talent in the state of Florida. Every college coach knows this and has long coveted a IMG player. Yet under O'Leary UCF never managed to crack into getting a IMG player. Perhaps O'Leary did not like IMG's practices and never really wanted a player from there. Or maybe he shouldn't have allowed his best friend to be the recruiting coordinator. Whatever the case, Frost and his staff took the opposite approach with IMG. And that change as yielded a result UCF. The Knights have their first IMG commitment in wide receiver Emmanuel Greene. Greene was one of the more prized players in the 2017 recruiting class for UCF. Want to know why? Just go watch the highlight where Greene literally shakes a teammate out of his shoes. Yes he's only 5'9, but he is just so shifty and talented that Greene looks like a sure fire bet to be a stud in college. But the commitment of Greene means more than just signing a player, UCF now has an in with IMG which is important in future recruiting.
Bud Elliot Sbnation's "recruiting expert" came out with an article this week cautioning about being too optimistic about early recruiting rankings. About how most recruiting sites at this point reward quantity rather than quality. While this is true, this is not the case of UCF. Besides Emmanuel Greene, UCF landed the likes of Antwan Owens the defensive lineman whose offer list is impressive, Viktor Beach an offensive lineman who is a 3 star. But the most prized possession of this class is linebacker Demarco Artis. Artis formerly was committed to Kentucky, but decommitted earlier this year. The young man had a offer list that included the likes of NC State, Virginia Tech, etc. He has been deemed the closest thing to a sure fire stud. He will be the next Terrance Plummer for the Knights. So before people start saying that UCF is only that high because they have a lot of recruits, actually look at who the Knights have gotten commitments from. This class is all quality.
Oh and the Knights might not be done. Former 4* Alabama defensive back Sean Burgess-Becker is rumored to be transferring to the Knights. Sure some will say that the young man hardly played for Alabama last year, but let us not forget that Alabama had one of the best defenses in the country last year. DBs is one of the biggest areas of concern for UCF this year and the staff have already addressed that need if the rumors are true. Oh and Trysten Hill, a defense lineman that UCF wanted at signing day, but committed to UVA, may be enrolled as a surprise. And over the weekend UCF got a commitment from Nebraska 3 star quarterback Noah Vedral. The week of good feeling continues.
It is overwhelming for UCF fans right now. Last year was filled with so much despair and anxiety about the future of the program. But now that anxiety and worry have been replaced with feelings of hope. Scott Frost had already endeared himself to UCF fans, but this week he and his staff have reached a new level. They are building towards the future and that future looks to be brighter for UCF than in recent years.
