I would like to continue something I started last year, by putting in comparison the 2018 class with some previous years. Last year I said:
Quote:
The 2017 class is one you should be excited about.... If the team goes to a bowl game, gets some momentum, and Butch has a whole year to recruit, I firmly believe the class of 2018 will be something very special.
I still stand by that. We saw multiple contributions by freshmen last season. Bryce Singleton, Shermar Thornton, and D'Vonte Price all made solid contributions on offense. The Dames brothers got some solid playing time on defense. Noah Curtis and and Kevin Oliver were significantly involved in the D-line rotation. It was an exciting season for FIU football. And after all that... the 2018 class really is something special. Below are the number of 3-star signees of individual recruiting services since 2010:
247-Sports Composite # of 3-star signees:
2010: 11
2011: 1
2012: 13
2013: 3
2014: 3
2015: 7
2016: 6
2017: 12
2018: 16 (including 2 4-star signings --> Teair Tart-Spencer, Tayland Humphrey)ESPN # of 3-star signees:
2010: 4 (including 1 4-star --> Willis Wright)
2011: 5
2012: 7
2013: 2
2014: 7
2015: 7
2016: 3
2017: 13
2018: 13 (including 1 4-star --> Tayland Humphrey)Note that ESPN changed the requirement of a 3-star recruit from a score of 75 to 70 starting in 2013, thus depending how you score it, you could say we had more 3-star recruits in those classes before 2013 (such as in infamous 2012 class). For my tally, I used the scoring of the ESPN system in place at that time (so 75 and above before 2013). I should point out that the average rating of the guys in the 2018 class that have been evaluated by ESPN is significantly larger than last season, with most guys listed as upper 3-star guys.
Rivals # of 3-star signees:
2010: 10
2011: 10
2012: 19
2013: 2
2014: 0
2015: 3
2016: 2
2017: 8
2018: 9 (including 2 4-star signings --> Teair Tart-Spencer, Tayland Humphrey)
Note that Rivals is missing a rating for Demery. Also note that prior to 2013, it seems 3-star labels were given out much more liberally to all schools.
Below is the 247 Sports composite national ranking of FIU's recruiting classes:
2010: 82
2011: 92
2012: 79
2013: 114
2014: 109
2015: 100
2016: 104
2017: 83
2018: 70As you can see, regardless of recruiting agency, we had our best class since at least 2012. By some agencies, we had our best class ever, as shown in bold (note some don't go back before 2010 anyway). Of course the number of 3-star players is not the only way you can evaluate a class, but I thought it was the simplest. Using 247 Sports national composite rankings, we have never had a national ranking as high as 70 before. You can also see how inferior the recruiting was under the Ron Turner regime. As Butch continues to convert the roster to be most of his guys, we should continue to see an increase in the talent on the field, and hopefully, more W's.
The most exciting part about the 2018 class, in my opinion, is how we recruited guys that can make immediate impacts. The JUCO DTs will likely be instant starters, the LBs we recruited (Georges, Sanders, Jacques-Louis) can compete for the open LB spots. Demery will likely anchor a starting OT spot. And we brought in some nice speed at the WR spot with Underwood, Turner, and Dillard. Once Townsend is healthy, I really think he will be a special player.
Ladies and gentlemen, FIU is only getting better.