UMass Football Recruiting 2018--Minutemen add Jacquez Carter and Elijah Miranda

Hudl.com image

UMass has added two recruits to their 2018 class. Jacquez Carter a 6-2 170 pound athlete has verbaled with UMass.

I've blogged about Carter a couple of times before.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on Carter's commitment to the Minutemen.

Carter chose UMass over four other FBS offers. He's a good athlete and could play several positions for UMass.

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Stuart Cahill image

Also Elijah Miranda, a 6-2 DE from BC HS in Dorchester has Tweeted he's verbaled to UMass.

247 Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on Miranda's joining the Minutemen.

Miranda chose UMass over an offer by Army.

UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Alex Azusenis

Hudl.com image

Alex Azusenis, a 6-6 290 pound OT from Powell, OH has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Azusenis holds seven offers, including five from MAC teams and Appalachian State.

UMass Football News--February 27th, 2018

Rams Wire has a post on Liam Coen being hired by the Rams.

Newportri.com has a better story on Coen joining the Rams.

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Some Underdog Dynasty writers discuss the decline of UConn basketball and discuss if they should move to the Big East. Also talks about UConn football and UMass. There is no chance of any of this happening.

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Bruins Nation discusses the new assistant coaches at UCLA including Jerry Azzinaro who spent a couple of years at UMass.

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UMass Football recruiting 2020--Fadil Diggs

Hudl.com image

Fadil Diggs, a 6-4 205 pound DE from Camden, NJ has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats.

Diggs has eight offers including BC and Rutgers from the Northeast. Diggs has made a unofficial visit to Amherst.

UMass Football News--February 26th, 2018

Football Scoop and social media are reporting former UMass player and coach Liam Coen has been hired as an offensive assistant by the LA Rams.

Coen will join former UMass assistant coach Shane Waldron at LA.

No Rams bio for Liam yet.

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This article about attendees at the Rutgers Junior Day mentions two players I've covered on the blog Shitta Sillah and Izaiah Henderson.

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Former Pitt transfer Patrick Amura, is facing three counts of rape after being indicted by a grand jury last month. Amura never saw the field for UMass.

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Former UMass player and athletic dept member Thorr Bjorn is featured in this story. The story talks about his time at UMass as well as the current status of URI football and basketball.

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OT, but longtime readers of the blog will remember I've been an amateur astronomer most of my life.

This article reports on UMass physicists and undergrads are building a dark matter detector.

WIMPS (weakly interacting massive particles) are possible explanation for the difference in matter that can be observed and the dynamics of mass distribution in galaxies. This page (for the non-math phobic) is a pretty good introduction to galaxy rotation curves with and without dark matter.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Darius Robinson

thedzone.com image

Darius Robinson, a 6-6 250 pound DE from Canton, MI has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports page here.

This article from 247Sports features Robinson.

Hudl.com has video.

Also plays basketball.

Robinson holds six offers including Iowa State, Purdue and three MAC teams.

UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Jarred Uran

Twitter image

Jarred Uran, a 6-2 195 pound OLB from Cincinnati, OH has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247 Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

This article from September 2017 features Uran.

2nd Team All-Ohio.

Uran has seven offers. All the other FBS offers are from MAC teams.

UMass Football Recruiting 2018--Jacquez Carter II

I've blogged about Jaquez Carter, a 6-2 175 pound dual-threat QB from Naples, FL before.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" reports Carter will take an official visit to UMass this weekend.

Carter would be part of the Minutemen's 2018 recruiting class. He currently holds six offers.

UMass Football News--February 23rd, 2018

Former longtime UMass assistant coach and current Maine offensive coordinator Brian Picucci has been hired by new Lions HC Matt Patricia as an offensive assistant.

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The MAC conference has released its 2018 composite schedule including UMass' game with Ohio.

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UMass QB Randall West had six rebounds and a basket in Wednesday's hoops game against VCU.

If you saw the game, West played really well. He took up space, rebounded and defended. Most of his minutes included guarding All-A10 Justin Tillman.

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WE'LL HAVE WHATEVER HE WAS HAVING

Arizona basketball staff claims star player Allonzo Trier's recent failed test was residuals from drugs he took ----- in 2016.

UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Terence Doston

Big County Preps image

Terrence Doston, a 5-11 175 pound WR from Tampa, FL has Tweeted he's received and offer from UMass.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats.

This article features Doston

West Virginia is currently his favorite.

Doston holds 10 offers with a mix of Power Five and Group of Five schools.

UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Crishawn Long

Long #11/ High School Sports of Cleveland image

Crishawn Long, a 6-2 200 pound OLB from Cleveland, OH has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports two-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats.

This article ranks him one of the top players in the Cleveland area.

Besides UMass, Long has offers from five MAC schools plus Temple.

UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Zududo Igwenagu

247Sports image

Zukudo Igwenagu, a 6-3 210 pound Safety from Worcester, MA has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Igwenagu is the cousin of Emil Igwenagu, who was a four-year letter winner at UMass (2009 to 2011). Emil functioned as a H-back. UMass used him as a fulback and TE.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" report Igwenagu will visit UMass this Sunday.

He currently holds four offers including Rutgers, Buffalo and Bryant.

UMass Football News--February 20th, 2018

Underdog Dynasty has a post on the UMass-New Mexico four game series starting in 2020.

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NJ.com has Adam Breneman as a 6th round pick in a mock Eagles draft.

The Bleeding Green Nation also has the Eagles picking Breneman.

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UConn adds three assistant coaches.

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UMass Football News--February 19th, 2018.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on 12 New Jersey players who made UV's to Amherst on the 17th.

New Jersey is arguably the top recruiting area in the Northeast. UMass signed 3 Garden State recruits in both 2017 and 2016. The Minutemen did not have a New Jersey recruit in the 2018 class.

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Speaking of recruiting, a SB Nation article has UMass showing the largest two-year drop in recruiting rankings in FBS football.

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The USF newspaper comments on the Bulls' 2018 season.

USF raises $7 million towards an on-campus football complex.

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The Penn State student newspaper has a story about UMass-Penn State Super Bowl bet that ended up in the Nittany Lions favor.

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Tennessee QB Quentin Dormady, who played most of the game against UMass last fall, is leaving the Vols as a senior transfer.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Izaiah Henderson

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Izaiah Henderson, a 6-4 265 pound DE from Middletown, NJ has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Henderson has five FBS offers including BC, Rutgers, Maryland and Buffalo.

UMass Football News--February 17th, 2018

UMass and New Mexico State add a four-game series starting in 2020.

New Mexico state went 7-6 in 2017 and broke a 57-year bowl drought with a thrilling overtime win against Utah State.

Aggie fans were pretty happy with their bowl win.

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UMass and Akron added a home and home series in 2019 and 2020.

The Zips, one of the MAC's perennial bottom feeders, surprised everyone by making the MAC's championship game.

Unlike New Mexico State, the Zips bowl game did not have a happy ending.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on UMass scheduling New Mexico State and Akron.

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Appalachian State has won 27 of its last 30 Sun Belt games. UMass and the Mountaineers will play again in 2020.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Shitta Sillah

Twitter image

Shitta Sillah, a 6-4 208 pound OLB from Middletown, NJ has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

NJ.com has an article featuring Sillah.

Sillah holds seven offers including Syracuse, BC, Rutgers and Buffalo from the Northeast.

UMass Football News--February 16th, 2018

UMass adds two graduate assistants. I blogged about Valerian Ume-Ezeoke back on January 31st.

UMass announcement here.

Troy's Stonehill bio here.

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MassLive reports Randall West brings energy to the the UMass hoops team.

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UMass 2018 opponent Georgia rises to #3 in the pre-season rankings.

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BYU picks up several three and four star transfers.

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Charolette 49ers look to rebound from a 1-11 season with their 2018 schedule.

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USF wishes for a $40 million indoor practice facility.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2019--David Ojabo

Rivals image

David Ojabo, a 6-6 245 pound DE from Blairstown, NJ Tweet's he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

This article features Ojabo.

Ojabo has eleven offers including UConn, BC, Syracuse and Rutgers.

UMass Football News--February 15th, 2018

Matty Vautour reports on UMass QB Randell West joining the basketball team.

West's UMass bio.

The Daily Collegian also has a post on West.

I watched the game and West played pretty good for only one practice. He defended well. Could have been more aggressive on rebounds, but definitely looked like he belonged.

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The Duquesne student newspaper has a story about the five FBS transfers in the Dukes' 2018 recruiting class.

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Georgia Southern adds former Eagle player Adrian Peterson to their staff. Peterson ran for a FCS playoff record 333 yards and five touchdowns against UMass on December 4th, 1999.

Georgia Southern signed the Sun Belt's top recruiting class including double-digit three-star recruits.

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FIU had a really good recruiting class---ranked higher than instate rivals FAU and UCF.

The Minutemen and the Panthers tangle on September 15th.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Taylor Morin

Will Palenscar image

Taylor Morin, a 5-10 160 pound athlete from Chantilly, VA has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

This article features Morin.

2nd team All-State.

UMass is the first offer for Morin.

UMass Football Recruiting 2018--George Georgopoulos II

Mike Traini has an article about kicker George Georgopoulos' signing with the Minutemen.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2018--George Georgopoulos

 
 UPDATE: Georgopoulos Tweets he's committed to UMass. The Minutemen now have commits from a kicker, punter and long snapper.

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George Georgopoulos, a 6-3 215 pound punter form Greenville, SC has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

He's also recently visited UMass.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Kohls Kicking Camp bio here.

Also has an offer from FCS Furman.

UMass Football News--February 12th, 2018

Some non-seniors missing from the 2018 Spring roster:

Cycoby Burch RSFR Safety.

Domenico Cipriani RSFR DL

David Weinstock FR OL

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Roto World says scouts still expect Adam Breneman to be drafted late in the third day of the NFL draft.

Matt Miller of Bleacher Report says Breneman was the biggest snub of the NFL combine (at the very end of the article).

Sports Day also has Breneman as one of the biggest NFL Combine snubs.

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Robin Jutwreten, a Swedish 6-4 240 pound DE took a visit to UMass. He ended up signing with Rutgers.

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UMass Football News--February 10th, 2018

UMass has changed recruiting coordinators. Previously, Charles Walker was recruiting coordinator. The current staff directory lists Steve Costello as defensive Recruiting coordinator and Darius Smith as offensive recruiting coordinator.

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SB Nation has s 2018 preseason ranking and has UMass at #102, which is a big jump from last year.

SB Nation also has a graphic on which college recruited best in every state.

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Liberty signed Jesse Lemonier, who had a UMass offer.

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The Knoxville News says in college football recruiting rankings, three may be the gold nugget.

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UMass Football News--February 9th, 2018

The first Spring 2018 roster is up on the UMass website.

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UMass Chanchellor Kumble Subbaswamy welcomes the 2018 football recruits.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on some of the preferred walk-ons who visited UMass the last weekend before LOI Day. Fan favorite Khalil Hunter is headed to JUCO, but is still interested in UMass.

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This article mentions UMass signee Justin Lewis.

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BC Interruption looks at the Eagles recruiting class.

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Georgia Southern signs the top-rated recruiting class in the Sun Belt.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2018--Josh Jefferson

Josh Jefferson, a 6-2 295 pound OL from Washington, DC has signed with the Minutemen.

247Sports three-star recruit.

The Washington Post has a story about D.C. area players, including Jefferson, signing with college teams.

USA Today image

Under Armour All-American. UMass' first ever Under Armour signing. Jefferson is also the second-highest rated player to ever sign with UMass out of high school.

UMass Football recruiting 2018--Helber Fagundes

Herald image

Helber Fagundes, a 6-5 290 pound OL from Everett, MA has signed with UMass.

247Sports page here.

This article states Fagundes was a dominate lineman for Everett HS.

Massachusetts Football Coach's "Super-26" All State team.

Mike Traini reported the UMass coaches intend Fagundes to "gray shirt" , i.e. join the team in January of 2019.

Fagundes is an intriguing prospect. He hasn't been playing American football long. He could remind UMass fans of Vladimir Ducasse, who is still playing in the NFL.

UMass Football News--February 8th, 2018

Matty Vautour reports UMass adds five recruits to it's 2018 total.

Mark Chiarelli of Mass Live has a story on the Minutemen's Signing Day and bios of several of the recruits.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" reports on what we learned about this year's UMass recruiting class.

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Former Everett coach John DiBiaso praises his players including Helber Fagundes, who signed with UMass.

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The Victoria News features DL Jake Ounsted's signing with the Minutemen. Ounsted is a straight "A" student and will study business at UMass.

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Some who got away:

Marshall signs two players who had UMass offers.

Jesse Lemonier, a DL from Hialeah, FL picked Liberty over an offer from UMass.

Will Lewis, a pro-style QB chose Penn State over an offer from UMass amoung others. Penn State also scooped up Massachusetts' top-rated player Pat Freiermuth.

Caleb Okechukwu, who was a UMass target, signed with Syracuse.

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UMass' opening 2018 opponent Duquesne, signed five FBS transfers, mostly from Power Five schools.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2018--Timothy Moulton

247Sports image

UMass has signed Timothy Moulton, a 6-4 250 pound DT from Archbishop Ryan HS in Philadelphia, PA.

247Sports two-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

Philly.com reports Moulton has been a two-way force for Archbishop Ryan.

Chose UMass over FBS offers from Akron and UCF.

UMass Recruiting 2018--Cooper Garcia

UMass filled a need today signing Cooper Garcia, a 5-10 200 pound kicker from Ventura College, CA

Ventura College image

247Sports page here.

Hudl.comn has 2017 highlights.

2017 JUCO All-American.

Kicking stats here.

Hope Garcia has an All-American career at UMass

UMass Football News February 7th 2018--National Signing Day

UPDATE: A.D. Ryan Bamford related UMass has signed a ten-game series with Army and a eight game series with Liberty. Good news, that. Both teams are in our wheelhouse. Army is close and a historic program. Minuteman fans should have a good showing both home and away for the Black Knights.

FBS schedules also reports a home and home with Akron in 2019 and 2020. More future games will be announced after the contracts are signed.

More info on today's signings maybe later today or tomorrow.Until then, 247Sports has a list of the current signees.

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The UMass National Signing Day show will be available on-line here. It will also be available on some cable TV outlets. It's not on any Comcast channel I can find.

The UMass Football Twitter feed will report as the faxes come in.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on what to expect.

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Boston College signs a trio of Lawrence Academy All-Scholastics.

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Middle Tennessee State hopes to sign UMass target Josheph Norwood.

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UMass Footbal Recruiting 2018--Evan Deckers verbals to UMass

247Sports image

Evan Deckers, a 6-3 245 pound long snapper, has Tweeted he's verbaled to UMass.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on Decker's verbal.

UMass Football Recruiting 2018--Jake Ounsted II

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post and an interview with Jake Ounsted, who verbaled to UMass yesterday.

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UMass Football News--February 6th, 2018

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on the coaching changes recently announced by UMass.

UMass announcement here.

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Two who got away:

Chad Ryland, a 6-0 177 kicker from Michigan chose Eastern Michigan over interest from UMass.

Gabe Brkic, a 6-3 170 pound kicker from Ohio has signed with Oklahoma. Brkic had an offer from UMass. I blogged about Brkic last month.

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A SB Nation writer feels previews 2018's Georgia Southern team and feels Georgia Southern could have the tools to rebound quickly.

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FIU adds a QB transfer from Bowling Green.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2018--George Caratan

Hudl.com image

George Caratan, a 6-2 210 pound punter from Pacific Palisades, CA has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports page here.

Chris Sailor kicking camp bio here.

MaxPreps has stats.

UMass Football Recruiting 2018--Jake Ounsted verbals to UMass.

Several Twitter feeds have announced Jake Ounsted a 6-0 260 pound DT from British Columbia has verbaled to UMass as a preferred walkon.

I've blogged about Ounsted before.

Ounsted is the fourth Canadian player to sign with UMass this recruiting cycle.

UMass Football Recruiting 2018--Khalil Hunter II

Khalil Hunter, a 6-0 250 FB visted UMass this weekend. I've blogged about Hunter before.

Hunter is the #1 rated JUCO fullback. Besides blocking, Whipple likes to have the FB catch the ball out of the backfield. Not many teams run a pro-set "heavy" with a FB. It would seem UMass and Hunter would be a good match for each other.

247Sports has UMass as Hunter's favorite.

UMass Football Recruiting 2018--Michael Sullivan III

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts has a post on OL Michael Sullivan's verbal to UMass.

I've blogged about Sullivan a couple of times before.

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UMass Football News--February 3rd, 2018

Matty Vautour reports Andrew Ford is probably one of a few Eagles fans on the UMass team..

TE Taylor Edwards supports the Eagles.

Philadelphians Charlie Timite roots for the Giants and Ray Thomas-Ishman Jr is a Steelers fan.

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SB Nation has a post on the scarcity of high ranked recruits in New England.

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ESPN has a story on the weird and wonderful moments from the 2017 season.

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ACC Sports has a post on Boston College's running backs for 2018. The Eagles already have A.J. Dillion (the ACC rookie-of-the-year). The Eagles added Javian Dayne, the son of NCAA all-time rushing leader Ron Dayne.

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Former UConn QB Dan Orlovsky calls the UConn A.D. "a kind of schmuck". Probably not a good way to remembered if Orlovsky want to be employed by the UConn athletic dept any time in the future.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2018--Joseph Norwood

Joseph Norwood, a 6-1 170 pound WR/S from Chattnogna, TN has a UMass offer.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

Took a UMass visit last week.

His final three had been UMass, Middle Tennessee State and Tulane. Drew late interest from Nebraska and Tennessee.

This article says he will not take a visit to Nebraska after the Huskers decided not to offer.

As a recruit, a player needs to figure out who really wants him, not a school who views him a an afterthought.

UMass Football News--February 2nd, 2018

Victor Cruz is rooting for the Eagles.

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The Patriots road to the Super Bowl started in Amherst.

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UConn went 3-9 in 2017 and is lowering their season ticket prices.

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Georgia went to the National Championship game and is raising theirs.

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Rutgers cancels a 2020 and 2021 series with UCLA. UMass has openings in its schedule both years. The Scarlet Knights would be a good Northeast match-up.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2018--Michael Sullivan verbals to UMass

Michael Sullivan, a 6-6 305 pound OL from Norwood, MA has Tweeted he's committed to UMass.

I've blogged about Sullivan before.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post about Sullivan's verbal.

Sullivan is a former Kent State commit. He's the second OL recruit in the 2018 class.