Indiana University Athletics
Top 40 With a Bullet
2/9/2019 11:09:00 AM | Football
By Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - How should fans feel about this Indiana football recruiting class?
Sanguine.
In part due to Sanguinetti.
IU capped off its highest-rated class ever, on paper, by adding defensive back Josh Sanguinetti and offensive lineman Tim Weaver as the
February signing period commenced Wednesday.
Sanguinetti rates among the top four prospects of Indiana's class, according to 247Sports, and Weaver bolsters the Hoosiers' offensive line picture in a year that was especially crucial.
That gets the Hoosier class to 21 signees – with 19 having signed in December – and ranked 37th nationally by Rivals and 38th by 247.
And that is unprecedented.
But the picture, in reality, is still brighter than that.
Indiana signed redshirt freshman quarterback Jack Tuttle, a transfer from Utah, as a member of this 2019 class. His waiver for immediate eligibility to play this fall is pending with the NCAA.
Tuttle drew a four-star rating coming out of Mission Hills (Calif.) High School and rates as IU's second-highest-ranked recruit ever, but as a transfer isn't tabulated as a member of this 2019 class by the services.
And the services count IU long snapper signee Sean Wracher as a two-star defensive lineman rather than rate him in his specialty – where organizations that do rate specialist positions consider Wracher a five-star.
247Sports currently rates Purdue's 2019 recruiting class of 26 players fifth in the Big Ten. But adding Tuttle and discounting Wracher's defensive-line designation would place IU's average rating per recruit above Purdue's (with Indiana at .8680 and Purdue at .8663).
And adding Tuttle's rating and discounting Wracher's would place Indiana at 27th nationally in average rating per player.
Coach Tom Allen and his staff went up against perennial powers in recruiting many of IU's signees, and the Hoosiers naturally didn't get everybody they wanted. A couple of those disappointments came Wednesday.
But there remains no doubt Indiana has raised its national recruiting profile significantly. Kevin Wilson began that process during his six-year Indiana tenure. Allen is elevating it further.
And in various ways.
Counting Tuttle, Indiana has five four-star recruits in the class according to Rivals, the most ever (the previous best being four in 2013). Adding Wracher's specialist rating makes six for 2019.
IU has always tried to recruit the state well, of course, but never since 247Sports started keeping tabs have the Hoosiers recruited more than one of the state's top five players. Until now.
Indiana recruited three of the state's top five players for 2019 – Avon running back Sampson James, Andrean linebacker Cameron Williams and Carmel defensive end Beau Robbins – according to 247. And Rivals has the Hoosiers recruiting four of the top six, including Decatur Central defensive back Larry Tracy III.
"That is a big deal for me," New Castle product Allen said Wednesday. "They came out with an article in The (Indianapolis) Star about the … top five in each class from the 15 years previous to this year, and where they went (to college) and how they fared … and out of all those years,
there's only three guys that came to Indiana."
Allen got that many in a single year.
"To get four guys to come that are really highly-regarded in this state is very important," Allen continued. "There's no question that it's a priority for me to be able to attract those guys, and to me the quality is the key."
Quality. Not necessarily quantity.
"That is the key component there, and to be able to attract guys here that will help us be successful in the Big Ten," Allen said. "That's the whole objective. And (I'm) just really proud of them believing in us … Beau and Sampson and Cam and Larry … that sends a strong message to the rest of the guys in our state."
Allen's messaging regarding family and football, and that of recently-elevated defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, certainly resonated with
Williams as revealed in his conversation with 247Sports analyst Allen Trieu during BTN's recruiting coverage Wednesday.
"Coach Allen and Coach Wommack, the way they presented themselves to me, was just really special," said Williams, who had Purdue, Arizona,
Kentucky and other Power 5 schools among his suitors. "We created a bond a long time ago, my sophomore year, and they reached out to my family. I couldn't go anywhere else. The bond we had was irrefutable.
"Some schools will over-sell themselves. Most people get caught up in that, will make their decisions based on that. But it was the genuine ones that stood out to me, and IU was the most genuine. They kept in contact. They were consistent.
"I love consistency. And the school that's the most consistent in getting you to (campus), meeting new people, getting to know the coaching staff, creating that bond with you – that's the school that had the most impact on me … you know that they're real."
Reality is that IU could still add to its 2019 class. The Hoosiers have as many as three spots open, giving them ongoing flexibility, and the recent emergence of the NCAA transfer portal has made processing transfers – and not just grad-transfers – more overt.
"That's why I think sometimes you go through spring and you'll know where you feel like you may have a certain area that you just need a little more depth here," Allen said. "And that's…having that flexibility.
"I think is a really huge advantage for us now … I think that will kind of be evolving as time moves along and as we continue to evaluate our guys, their progress, how well they're developing. It's about getting the right guys that can help us win games on Saturday."
Allen seems in the process of doing that year-in and year-out.
Indiana's 2018 class ranked in the consensus Top 50 nationally (45th by Rivals, 49th by 247), the first time that had happened since 2014. Now the 2019 Indiana class has attained new heights in national ratings and ranks solidly among Big Ten brethren (8th in both services, 7th if counting Tuttle), in a competitive position.
"I don't even know where we rank … I know that we've got a lot of real good players that we've signed, and I love our class," Allen said
Wednesday. "I think it's a deep class. It's a very broad class. It addresses a lot of different positions, both sides of the football, special teams.
"Whenever you invest so much into recruiting like we do, I expect our class (to be well-rated). And they've gotten better every single year I've been here, so I don't expect that to change.
"We have to stack a good class upon another good class and another good class, and obviously you like -- everybody talks about Top 25. I like to talk about Top 25 offense, Top 25 defense, Top 25 football team. So next goal is to be a Top 25 recruiting class. That's kind of how I would approach this. Whatever that means, to me it's attracting better and better players to help us get where we want to be on the field."
Readers of a certain age will recall Top 40 radio. If a song was included in that listing, it had "made it."
Indiana is starting to make it, by current measurements.
And in the parlance of radio, pertaining to entrants riding higher up the charts, IU football is:
"Top 40 with a bullet."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - How should fans feel about this Indiana football recruiting class?
Sanguine.
In part due to Sanguinetti.
IU capped off its highest-rated class ever, on paper, by adding defensive back Josh Sanguinetti and offensive lineman Tim Weaver as the
February signing period commenced Wednesday.
Sanguinetti rates among the top four prospects of Indiana's class, according to 247Sports, and Weaver bolsters the Hoosiers' offensive line picture in a year that was especially crucial.
That gets the Hoosier class to 21 signees – with 19 having signed in December – and ranked 37th nationally by Rivals and 38th by 247.
And that is unprecedented.
But the picture, in reality, is still brighter than that.
Indiana signed redshirt freshman quarterback Jack Tuttle, a transfer from Utah, as a member of this 2019 class. His waiver for immediate eligibility to play this fall is pending with the NCAA.
Tuttle drew a four-star rating coming out of Mission Hills (Calif.) High School and rates as IU's second-highest-ranked recruit ever, but as a transfer isn't tabulated as a member of this 2019 class by the services.
And the services count IU long snapper signee Sean Wracher as a two-star defensive lineman rather than rate him in his specialty – where organizations that do rate specialist positions consider Wracher a five-star.
247Sports currently rates Purdue's 2019 recruiting class of 26 players fifth in the Big Ten. But adding Tuttle and discounting Wracher's defensive-line designation would place IU's average rating per recruit above Purdue's (with Indiana at .8680 and Purdue at .8663).
And adding Tuttle's rating and discounting Wracher's would place Indiana at 27th nationally in average rating per player.
Coach Tom Allen and his staff went up against perennial powers in recruiting many of IU's signees, and the Hoosiers naturally didn't get everybody they wanted. A couple of those disappointments came Wednesday.
But there remains no doubt Indiana has raised its national recruiting profile significantly. Kevin Wilson began that process during his six-year Indiana tenure. Allen is elevating it further.
And in various ways.
Counting Tuttle, Indiana has five four-star recruits in the class according to Rivals, the most ever (the previous best being four in 2013). Adding Wracher's specialist rating makes six for 2019.
IU has always tried to recruit the state well, of course, but never since 247Sports started keeping tabs have the Hoosiers recruited more than one of the state's top five players. Until now.
Indiana recruited three of the state's top five players for 2019 – Avon running back Sampson James, Andrean linebacker Cameron Williams and Carmel defensive end Beau Robbins – according to 247. And Rivals has the Hoosiers recruiting four of the top six, including Decatur Central defensive back Larry Tracy III.
"That is a big deal for me," New Castle product Allen said Wednesday. "They came out with an article in The (Indianapolis) Star about the … top five in each class from the 15 years previous to this year, and where they went (to college) and how they fared … and out of all those years,
there's only three guys that came to Indiana."
Allen got that many in a single year.
"To get four guys to come that are really highly-regarded in this state is very important," Allen continued. "There's no question that it's a priority for me to be able to attract those guys, and to me the quality is the key."
Quality. Not necessarily quantity.
"That is the key component there, and to be able to attract guys here that will help us be successful in the Big Ten," Allen said. "That's the whole objective. And (I'm) just really proud of them believing in us … Beau and Sampson and Cam and Larry … that sends a strong message to the rest of the guys in our state."
Allen's messaging regarding family and football, and that of recently-elevated defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, certainly resonated with
Williams as revealed in his conversation with 247Sports analyst Allen Trieu during BTN's recruiting coverage Wednesday.
"Coach Allen and Coach Wommack, the way they presented themselves to me, was just really special," said Williams, who had Purdue, Arizona,
Kentucky and other Power 5 schools among his suitors. "We created a bond a long time ago, my sophomore year, and they reached out to my family. I couldn't go anywhere else. The bond we had was irrefutable.
"Some schools will over-sell themselves. Most people get caught up in that, will make their decisions based on that. But it was the genuine ones that stood out to me, and IU was the most genuine. They kept in contact. They were consistent.
"I love consistency. And the school that's the most consistent in getting you to (campus), meeting new people, getting to know the coaching staff, creating that bond with you – that's the school that had the most impact on me … you know that they're real."
Reality is that IU could still add to its 2019 class. The Hoosiers have as many as three spots open, giving them ongoing flexibility, and the recent emergence of the NCAA transfer portal has made processing transfers – and not just grad-transfers – more overt.
"That's why I think sometimes you go through spring and you'll know where you feel like you may have a certain area that you just need a little more depth here," Allen said. "And that's…having that flexibility.
"I think is a really huge advantage for us now … I think that will kind of be evolving as time moves along and as we continue to evaluate our guys, their progress, how well they're developing. It's about getting the right guys that can help us win games on Saturday."
Allen seems in the process of doing that year-in and year-out.
Indiana's 2018 class ranked in the consensus Top 50 nationally (45th by Rivals, 49th by 247), the first time that had happened since 2014. Now the 2019 Indiana class has attained new heights in national ratings and ranks solidly among Big Ten brethren (8th in both services, 7th if counting Tuttle), in a competitive position.
"I don't even know where we rank … I know that we've got a lot of real good players that we've signed, and I love our class," Allen said
Wednesday. "I think it's a deep class. It's a very broad class. It addresses a lot of different positions, both sides of the football, special teams.
"Whenever you invest so much into recruiting like we do, I expect our class (to be well-rated). And they've gotten better every single year I've been here, so I don't expect that to change.
"We have to stack a good class upon another good class and another good class, and obviously you like -- everybody talks about Top 25. I like to talk about Top 25 offense, Top 25 defense, Top 25 football team. So next goal is to be a Top 25 recruiting class. That's kind of how I would approach this. Whatever that means, to me it's attracting better and better players to help us get where we want to be on the field."
Readers of a certain age will recall Top 40 radio. If a song was included in that listing, it had "made it."
Indiana is starting to make it, by current measurements.
And in the parlance of radio, pertaining to entrants riding higher up the charts, IU football is:
"Top 40 with a bullet."
Players Mentioned
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/ Football
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/ Football
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OL
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LS
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