Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Reche Thomas. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Reche Thomas. Sort by date Show all posts

Monday, January 05, 2015

Recruiting 2015--Reche Thomas

Hudl.com image
Several recruiting sources including Twitter, indicate Reche Thomas, 6-4 325 pound OL from Vero Beach, FL will take a recruiting visit to UMass on 01/23/15.

Rivals three-star player.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudle.com has video.

Thomas has 15 total offers including 9 from FBS schools. Purdue, Illinois, Marshall and Temple have offered.

Thursday, February 05, 2015

Thursday--February 5th, 2015

Some takeaways from Coach Whipple's press conference:

UMass will have 20+ more players taking part in Spring ball. Close to a hundred players are on campus , which is a lot more than 2014.

Whipple is OK with Sosinski and Lynn being interested in basketball. He said "it's our scholarship, so basketball, will be happy." Sosinski was touted as a DI basketball prospect as a power forward. Sosinski's MaxPreps basketball page here. Matty Vautour has a post on Sosinski and Lynn's basketball interest.

Whipple said repeatedly that one goal of 2015's recruiting was more "length", which is the current coaching buzz word for tall players.

Spencer Whipple said UMass' pro-set offense is a recruiting tool in the fact that many colleges are going to the spread offense. UMass not only plays the pro-set "heavy" (with two backs), the Minutemen use NFL play terminology. Spencer Whipple related Sekai Lindsay came to UMass because he wanted to run from the pro-set.

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Dan Malone has a post on the seven UMass Spring Enrollees.

Dan also looks at the wide-ranging recruiting localities of this year's recruits.

Finally, Dan has five takeaways from this year's recruiting class.

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Matty Vautour looks at the 2015 Minutemen recruits.

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Max Moore of Hustle Belt says UMass signs an impressive class.

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The UMass Daily Collegian has two articles on Letter-of-Intent Day here and here.

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The Boston Herald says UMass prospects improve.

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The Boston Globe says UMass bolsters the offensive line.

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Nj.com has an article on kicker Mike Caggiano joining the Minutemen. The News-Transcript also has an article on Caggiano.

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MassLive has a story about offensive line recruit Michael Yerardi.

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The Boston Herald has a post about Xaverian players Joe Parsons and Kenny Kern joining the Minutemen.

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The Shreveport Times says Artayvious Lynn like snowball fights.

UMass football yesterday
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The TC Palm has some images, including Reche Thomas, during the Varo Beach signing day ceremony.

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St. Thomas Aquinas has 17 players, including James Oliphant, sign letters of intent yesterday.

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Buford HS had 15 signees, the most ever, including Brandon Mangram.

Access North Georgia has more on Buford's signees.

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The News-Herald says UMass recruit Andy Isabella set the Ohio state record in the 60-yard dash last week.

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Tomorrow, my thoughts on the 2015 recruiting class.

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Monday, January 26, 2015

Monday--January 26th, 2014 UMass gets seven verbals

Dan Malone reports UMass received seven verbals from it's recent campus visits.

The UMass Daily Collegian also has an article on the commitments.

Some are recruits I've blogged about before; four are new. On the ones previously covered click on the link for images, bios and other links posted at that time.

Verbaling were:

Michael Caggiano, a 5-10 kicker from Manalapan, NJ. See previous blog coverage. NJ.com has an article on Caggiano's verbal.

James Oliphant, 5-9 170 pound DB/Athlete from St. Thomas Aquinas Fl. See previous blog coverage.

Reche Thomas, a 6-4 325 pound OL from Varo Beach, FL. See previous blog coverage.

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New to the blog are:

Hudl.com image
Artayvious Lynn, a 6-6 200 pound TE from Bossier City, LA.

Lynn's 247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has highlights.

Rivals page here.

Was highly rated while participating in a national prospects camp.

Lynn chose the Minutemen over an offer from South Alabama.

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Hudl.com image
Arron Kinsey, a 6-4 225 pound weakside DE from Miami, FL

247Sports two-star player.

Hudl.com has 15 ways to kill a quarterback.

Rivals two-star recruit.

Chose UMass over an offer from UAB

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247Sports image
Sekai Lindsay, a 5-10 205 pound RB from Melbourne, FL

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

Originally verbaled to Pitt.

Chose the Minutemen over offers from Appalachian State, Cincinnati, FIU, Georgia Tech, Indiana, North Carolina, Pitt, South Alabama and Temple.

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Harley #15/ Patrick Johnson image
D'Shan Harley, a 6-6 220 pound OLB from Wichita Falls, TX

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Max Preps has some stats and video.

The Time-Record has a story about Harley verbaling to UMass and some stats.

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This weekend's commits look like a good group. Michale Caggiano has a chance to be a four-year starter for the Minutemen. UMass fans hope he fixes a two-year train wreck in the UMass kicking game. Kicking is offense. Punting is defense. Caggiano has the potential to also be a strong punter.

Running back Sekai Lindsay is another player UMass fans hope pans out. Despite the fact the Minutemen had several three-star running backs on the roster, the last two years have finished with former walk-on Shadrack Abrokwah as the starting RB. The UMass ground game is nowhere at the level of the Blake Frohnapfel and the passing attack. UMass needs better production from the running backs to be even in the middle of the MAC for a quality running game.

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Boston College was the lone vote against cost-of-attendance for college athletes.

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Wednesday, February 04, 2015

Wednesday--February 4th, 2015 Letter-of-Intent Day

Lots more recruiting stuff tomorrow, pant, pant :)

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UPDATES:

Spring Enrollees:

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Marquis Young, 6-0 200 RB from Milford Academy. I've blogged about Young before.

Randall West, 6-4 220 pound QB from Lawrenceville, NJ. I've blogged about West before.

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Lamarriel Taylor, 6-3 WR from Chula Vista, CA. I've blogged about him before.

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Thomas Rodrick, 6-3 230 LB from Liecester, MA. I've blogged about him before.

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Morel #6/ Boston Herald image
Micah Morel, 6-0 190 pound Safety from Milford Academy.

ESPN describes him as one of the best safeties in MA in this 2012 article.

Hudl.com has video.

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Image credit as above
Darrian Josey, 6-2 165 pound WR from Boyton Beach, FL. Transfer from Hawaii.

Whipple said UMass recruited Josey last year. Whipple also said Josey ran the 2nd fastest 100 in the state of Florida in 2014.

Hudl.com highlights. This article from January 2014 features Josey. So does this article.

Rivals two-star player.

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247Sports image
Dejion Evans, 6-3 200 pound WR from Boston, MA.

Hudl.com video.

ESPN player page.

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OK, I've got to do a couple of things and then I'm going to drive down to Amherst to go the 3:00 PM press conference. More updates to the blog in the evening.

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Travis Reynolds joins the Minutemen. Apparently they play football in Australia (Reynolds video highlights)

Bayside Ravens Football Club.

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James Sosinski joins the UMass QB corps.

This article from MaxPreps features Sosinki.

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Boston Globe image
ESPN reports that Kenny Kern, a 6-0 227 pound fullback from Xaverian Brothers will join UMass as a preferred walk-on.

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Jack Driscoll joins the UMass offensive line

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Reche Thomas signs with UMass

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Artayvious Lynn joins the Minutemen

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247 Sports image
Sam Franklin, a 6-4 185 pound WR from Crystal River, FL signs with UMass

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com video.

Rivals two-star player with offers from Cincinnati, Indiana, Kentucky and South Alabama.

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Aaron Kinsey signs with the Minutemen.

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Mario Patton joins UMass.

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James Bowe signs with the Minutemen. I received an e-mail from a UMass fan in Georgia saying Buford is a powerhouse program that has supplied a lot of talent to FBS teams in the past.

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Mike Caggiano joins UMass.

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D'Shan Harley signs with the Minutemen.

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Sekai Lindsay joins UMass Football/

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Brandon Mangram signs with the Minutemen.

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Lee Moses joins UMass

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Hudl.com image
Marshall Robinson a 6-4 330 pound DL from Mars Hill, PA signs with UMass.

Robinson's Hudl highlights.

Also had offers from Temple and Bowling Green.

From the UMass feed:

Fun fact about Marshall Robinson - he can dunk a basketball from a standing position according to coach Sollazzo

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From John Sinnett's office:

Fans are invited to join UMass football Head Coach Mark Whipple and his staff for a College Football Signing Day Party tomorrow, February 4th at the Amherst Brewing Company starting at 5:30 PM. The event is free to attend and light hors d'oeuvres will be provided. The Amherst Brewing Company is located just off the UMass campus at 10 University Drive in Amherst.
Coach Whipple will highlight his incoming class of newcomers for the 2015 season and will be joined by his coaching staff to speak with fans about the newest additions to the UMass football family. The evening celebration will cap off what is sure to be a day of great excitement with players signing their National Letters of Intent beginning that morning.
SECOND RECRUITING EVENT CELEBRATION IN BOSTON
This event will be held at the UMass Club in Boston on February 26th, 2015. This is another opportunity to get to know the newest additions to the maroon and white family, and hear what Head Coach Mark Whipple and the UMass Football coaching staff have in store for the upcoming season.
To RSVP or for more information, please contact Jason Germain in the Minutemen Club Office at jag@admin.umass.edu<mailto:jag@admin.umass.edu> or 413-577-0267.
SIGNING DAY COVERAGE
For full coverage of the day along with an interactive blog check out www.UMassAthletics.com<http://www.umassathletics.com/>. Fans are also encouraged to follow twitter.com/CoachWhipUMass<http://www.twitter.com/CoachWhipUMass>, twitter.com/UMassFootball<http://www.twitter.com/UMassFootball> and twitter.com/UMassAthletics<http://wwww.twitter.com/UMassAthletics> to get the news of each signing as soon as it happens.

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The UMass website has a Signing Day Central Page up.

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Dan Malone says this year's recruits will lead the Minutemen into a unknown future.

MassLive.com will also have live updates.

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Looks like UMass Lax may be playing at McGuirk this season after Garber Field suffered unspecified "damage' from the latest storm.

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BC signs seven Massachusetts players.

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Campus Insiders thinks Sekai Lindsey will be star of the Minutemen's 2015 recruiting class.

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Future UMass opponent BYU got a big boost after it was named a honorary Power Five team.

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Saturday, January 31, 2015

Saturday-- January 31st, 2015

UMass Athletic Dept image
Slow day on the Intertubes for UMass football stories, so let's look at where UMass stands on recruiting as we go into the final stretch before Wednesday's Letter-of-Intent Day.

UMass has some visits planned this weekend.

The Minutemen currently have 16 verbals.

My take on UMass' needs going into this year's recruiting cycle were:\

  1. a kicker
  2. running back
  3. defensive help everywhere especially in the front seven.
On the kicking front, UMass has a verbal from Michael Caggiano. Most teams make kickers walk-on (even highly rated ones), but the Minutemen apparently offered a scholarship to fix the most glaring need from last year. 

UMass has verbals from two running backs: Sekai Lindsey and Marquis Young (both rated three stars by 247Sports). Lindsey could have an immediate impact in 2015.

The Minutemen have commits from five offensive linemen: Joe Parsons, Michael Yerardi, Jack Driscoll , Derek Dumais and Reche Thomas. UMass will now have 20+ offensive linemen on the roster. All the recruits are true freshman and will help down the road. Thomas is probably the highest rated recruit in this class (so far).

The conventional wisdom in FBS is to recruit a QB every year. This year James Sosinski a 6-7 230 pound QB from Chandler, AZ joins the team. 

The Minutemen have only one receiver, TE Artayvious Lynn a 6-6 200 pound player from Bossier City, LA.

On defense UMass has two defensive linemen: Mario Patton (three stars from 247Sports) and Aaron Kinsey. The de-commitment of Desjon Robinson hurt this group.

For linebackers the Minutemen have: Tom Rodrick (may not play in 2015) and D'Shan Harley from Wichita Falls,TX

UMass has commits from two defensive backs: Lee Moses from Warwick, RI and James Oliphant from  Fort Lauderdale.

Ten of the 16 verbals are offensive recruits. It seems we have addressed some critical needs on the offensive side of the ball. On defense, thus far, it does not look like this recruiting class will have an immediate impact. We could use some JUCO or FBS transfers on the defensive side.

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The NY Giants blog "Big Blue" takes a look at the more than 500 prop bets available for the Super Bowl.

BTW, Mrs Blog and I met at a Super Bowl party. If you're planning one for tomorrow, be sure to invited your single friends.

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Wednesday, July 01, 2015

Wednesday--July 1st, 2015

The ink was barely dry from my highlighter when the UMass website puts up another iteration of the 2015 roster. This time all the freshmen are included and most have bios.

Latest roster

Marquis Young--RB 5-11 200 wearing #8 same as Shane Huber
Randell West--QB 6-5 22 wearing #13 worn by Jordan Broadnax last year
James Sosinski--QB 6-6 240 wearing #17 same as Jovan Santos-Knox
Micah Morel--DB 6-0 200 wearing #22 same as Shadrach Abrokwah
Andy Isabella--RB 5-10 185 wearing #23 and J.T Blyden is still missing
Mehki Williams--RB 5-9 180 wearing #25 same as Joe Colton
Mike Caggiano--K 5-11 170 wearing #31 worn by Iric Harris last year
Sekai Lindsey--RB 5-9 210 wearing #35 worn by Stanley Andre last year
Lee Moses--DB 6-1 190 wearing #40 worn by Jon Lucier last year
Brandon Mangram-- DB 5-11 180 wearing #43 worn by Matthew Wylie last year (transferred)
Kenny Kearn--RB 6-0 227 wearing #46 same as Lucas Amato
James Oliphant--DB 5-8 165 wearing #48 number not assigned last year
Mike Yerardi--OL 6-4 295 wearing #50 worn by Mike Wynne last year
Joe Parsons--OL 6-4 305 wearing #56 worn by Sam Zeff last year (transferred)
Reche Thomas--OL 6-4 315 wearing #57 worn by Leo Krizanovic last year
Peter Comaroto--LS 5-11 215 wearing #59 number not assigned last year
Derek Dumais--OL 6-5 325 wearing #72 worn by Rich Queen last year (transferred)
Lamarriel Taylor--WR 6-2 185 wearing #86 worn by Shaquille Harris last year (now wearing #14)
Jon Derolus--WR 6-0 175 wearing #81 same as Kevin Lovaincy
Travis Reynolds--TE 6-5 245 wearing #87 same as T.J. Kelley (G'Day mate!)
Jack Coventry--K 6-1 180 wearing #91 worn by Chris Carter last year
Jesse Noel--WR wearing #93 worn by Seamus Murray last year
Kyle Horn--TE 6-4 250 wearing #95  same as Sha-Ki Holines
Mario Patton--DL 6-4 315 wearing #96 worn by Brian McDonald last year
Aaron Kinsey--LB 6-4 210 wearing #97 worn by Daniel Maynes last year
D'Shan Harley--LB 6-5 210 wearing #98 worn by Ryan Heath last year
Dejion Evans--WR 6-3 no number assigned
Tom Rodrick--LB 6-3 230 no number assigned

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The Notre Dame blog "One foot down" discusses the Irish's 2015 including UMass as a "layup" game.

Scout.com has a story about the strengths and weaknesses of Notre Dame's opponents.

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Marshall fans complain about the Herd scheduling Appalachian State.

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Bloguin.com has five MAC conference story lines for 2015.

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Some UMass fan compiled this Minutemen pump-up video. It's well done.

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