Johnson holds ten offers including 2017 opponents Mississippi State, Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina. UMass is his only offer from the Northeast.
Earlier this week I blogged about USF player Hassan Childs being shot multiple times during a road rage incident. He's now been dismissed from the team.
Partial quote from a 03/06/17 247Sports article by David Lake:
"Park Vista High School 2018 WR Atorian Perry is a name to keep an eye on. At 6-feet-4 and 175 pounds, Perry has good size and long speed for the receiver position. He currently claims an offer from Howard University. Schools like Pittsburgh are showing interest, but haven’t offered yet."
UMass was the first FBS team to offer Perry. Appalachian State followed one day later.
Franz Beard of Scout.com has thoughts for the day. Has comments on two of UMass' 2017 opponents (Mississippi State and Tennessee) plus his take on UMass hiring Matt McCall.
Speaking of Mississippi State, Football Scoop says if you're looking for the school with the best overall football, basketball and baseball programs, then try the Bulldogs.
Partial quote from a Scout.com article dated 2/27/17 by Michael McCammon:
"Playing on both sides of the ball for Atlanta (Ga.) Grady, Jaylen Rivers has the ability to suit up as a receiver or defensive back on the college level. Last September Rivers picked up a scholarship offer from Louisville and has remained in contact with the 6-foot-2, 180-pound prospect since doing so."
Rivers has eight offers with UMass as the only school from the Northeast.
"The Minutemen will technically be a 4-3 defense under Pinkham, but he said it’s more like a 4-2-5 with a linebacker/safety hybrid instead of a third linebacker. The players are learning the system’s nomenclature and making adjustments after spending the past three years in a 3-4 defense."
Philly Sports Network profiles the NFL prospects of Jalen Williams. in 2016 Williams went 11-7 GP-GS 27-520 19.3 AVE 6 TD's 74 LONG. He was the third leading receiver on the squad and second among the wide receivers. Williams' UMass bio.
Ford finished 46th in passing efficiency in 2016 and 25th in TD's thrown. With Adam Breneman and Andy Isabella coming back, he should have two receivers to rely on. Isabella went 62-801 12.9 AVE 7 TD's 55 LONG.
Partial quote from a 02/17/2017 article from Scout.com by Drew White:
"Morrison, who is also a basketball star at Greater Atlanta Christian High School, said that he does not have any early favorites in recruiting. "I like all the schools who have offered," he said. "
Morrison has 19 offers including UMass and Boston College from the Northeast.
This article has notes about Pro Day at BC and UConn.
As a WAG, I would speculate Khary Bailey-Smith would have the best chance of landing a free agent contract. Back in 2015 he was third-team All-MAC as a kick returner. He could be an asset on special teams.
University of Hawaii concluded their Spring practice schedule with a controlled scrimmage. UMass and the Rainbow Warriors open the 2017 college football season on August 26th at McGuirk.
This will make you feel better (click and Blogger displays a larger image) :
US DOD image
Retired Army Col. Ben Skardon, 99, a survivor of the Bataan Death March, walks in the annual Bataan Memorial Death March with two Army medics at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., March 19, 2017. Army Reserve photo by Staff Sgt. Ken Scar
Several recruiting services indicate UMass has offered to Jamari Currence, a 5-11 180 pound DB from Rock Hill, S.C. I've blogged about Currence before.
"The thing that excites me as a coach is the challenge of building a program," he (Pinkham) said. "We were in a situation (at Western Michigan) where we took a team the first year, didn't have much and we went 1-11. You say each year we're going to get better and better and better. Through recruiting and trying to keep it simple, we were fortunate enough to have some success."
One of the main reasons for the rise of Western Michigan was recruiting. The Broncos led the MAC in recruiting ratings four straight years. As well as X's and O's, I hope Pinkham can turn UMass' defensive recruiting up a notch or two.
Breneman should rack up a ton of stats in 2017 catching passes from Andrew Ford. Whipple's pro-set offense works best with an effective TE and a power running game. Hopefully, Breneman will a great year and position himself well for the NFL draft. Along with good numbers, leading the Minutemen out of the wilderness with some wins would also be nice.
Matty Vautour, the only beat reporter still covering UMass, reports on the opening of Spring practice for the Minutemen. Matty says Ross Comis is still recovering from a torn ACL, but is running. It usually takes a year to fully return from an ACL injury. It will probably be the middle of the 2017 season before he is 100%.
Matty also reports Matt Dawson has been named the defensive coordinator at Norfolk state.
OT, but I think A.D. Ryan Bamford's decison to hire Pat Kelsey as HC of UMass hoops is a good one. I've been following UMass basketball as long as I have for football. The Minutemen program needs a high-energy guy. I accept we are a mid-major in sports, I will not concede we're doomed to be a low mid-major. With the budget and facilities UMass has, the Minutemen should be contenders for A10 crown, if not every year, then at least often.
So far, I like the hires Bamford has done as A.D.
Hope Kelsey brings five good years to UMass basketball. I'll be happy for him when he moves to a big-bucks ACC job. A resurgence in UMass basketball would also help in UMass finding an all-sports conference.
Appalachian State has gone 20-2 against Group-of-Five football teams since moving to FBS. This long SB nation look at the Mountaineers gives Appalachian State a 74% chance of defeating the Minutemen when they meet at McGuirk on October 28th.
