Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Recruiting 2016--Raquan Thomas verbals to UMass

East PA Football lmage
Bob McGovern reports Raquan Thomas, a 6-6 340 pound OL from Philidelphia, PA has verbaled to UMass. I've blogged about Thomas before.

McGovern's article here.

Dan Malone also has a story on Thomas' verbal.

247Sports two-star prospect.

Hudl.com has highlights.

EastPAfootball.com has a bio on Thomas.

How tough is Thomas? He was shot five times in a 2013 incident and returned to play football the next year.

This article from Philly.com has some nice comments from Thomas, especially the last paragraph.

UMass was Thomas' only offer, but he drew interest from most FBS Northeast schools.

Wednesday--January 20th, 2016

Both Matty Vautour , Dan Malone and Bob Mcgovern have posts on seven UMass players leaving the program. Several of the players would be fifth-year seniors and probably graduated.

Vautour's here.

Dan Malone here.

Bob McGovern here.

Only one starter left: Tryell Smith who started at left tackle for most of the last two years. The last two-deep depth chart had Tyshon Henderson, a 6-6 SR (2016) as the backup.

Lorenzo Woodley had 10 rushes for 36 yards. Shadrack Abrokowah had 11 rushes for 77 yards.

Daiquan Kelley was a transfer and probably not a scholarship player.

Sharif Custis had 6 receptions for 76 yards.

A.J. Doyle had no stats.

Chris Carter had 3 UT 8AT 11 TT. His leaving makes a rather thin Minutemen DL thinner.

 I want all UMass players to do well, but only Smith and Carter would have had any significant future playing time.

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Dan Malone has a story about Tajae Sharpe and Blake Frohnapfel at the East-West Shrine game.

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Matty Vautour reports Blake Frohnapfel is going to stay at UMass and finish his degree instead of attending a NFL physical-training program.

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This article from Football Insiders mentions Tajae Sharpe.

This article from SB Nation also covers Sharpe.

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Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Recruiting 2016--Leon Flanagan IV

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I've blogged about Leon Flanagan, a 6-3 195 pound OLB/DE from Staten Island, NY a number of times before.

This article by SILive.com talks about him joining the Minutemen for the Spring Semester.

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Recruiting 2016--Peytton Pickett verbals to UMass

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Several sources report Peytton Pickett, a 5-10 194 pound RB from Arlington, Texas has verbaled to UMass.

I've blogged about Pickett before.

Bob Mcgovern has a post on the commit.

So does Dan Malone.

247Sports page here.

Was All-District First Team Offense.

Chose UMass over offers from UTEP, Kansas and SMU.

Tuesday--January 19th, 2016

RotoWorld talks about Tajae Sharpe going up against top corners Brian Poole (Florida) and D.J White (Georgia Tech) during the Shrine game.

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Rotoworld also has Sharpe the #2 WR in the Shrine game.

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Blake Frohnapfel will also be playing in the Shrine game. Both the East and West squads will have QB-WR combos from college.

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Lindy's Sports covers the Shrine Game and mentions both Frohnapfel and Sharpe.

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NFL.com reports from the Shrine Game practice.

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Rant Sports say Victor Cruz must restructure his deal with the Giants to stay with NY.

Victor still has cool sneakers.

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Monday, January 18, 2016

Recruiting 2016--Hamp Cheevers

247Sports image
Several recruiting services report UMass has offered to Hamp Cheevers, a 5-10 165 pound DB/Athlete from Trenton, FL.

247Sports two-star player.

Hudl.com has highlights.

This article says his final five are UMass, Buffalo, Idaho, Kansas and Marshall.

MaxPreps has stats. Note the 11.4 yards/carry in rushing.

First Team All-Florida Class 1A.

Cheevers holds eleven offers including six from FBS.

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Monday--January 18th, 2016

From the UMass Football feed:


Tajae Sharpe at the Walther Camp All-American dinner.

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In its final 2015 power rankings, the Jacksonville Times-Union has UMass as #105.

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UMass 2016 opponent BYU has a new HC. He inherits a veteran team and a tough schedule. Wonder what he'd think of playing three SEC opponents?

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South Carolina, the Minutemen's October 22nd 2016 opponent may start a freshman QB.

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Saturday, January 16, 2016

Recruiting 2016--K.J. Gray II

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I've blogged about K.J. Gray, a 6-1, 190 pound WR/DB from Jersey City, NJ before.

This article by Scout.com says his final three are UMass, UConn and Rutgers.

Gray decommitted from BC in December.

Recruiting 2016--Tyler Thompson verbals to UMass

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Bob McGovern reports Tyler Thompson, a 5-11 180 pound RB from Oakhurst, NJ has verbaled to the Minutmen.

McGovern's article here.

Dan Malone has an article on the commit here.

Hudl.com has senior highlights.

ESPN three-star player.

247Sports three-star player.

The Ashbury Park press has a post on his signing here.

This article from April 2015 details his recovery from a broken leg.

Chose UMass over offers from Syracuse, Old Dominion, Boston College, Virginia, Pitt and Virginia Tech.

Saturday--January 16th, 2016

Tajae Sharpe will named to the 126th Walter Camp All-america Team this weekend.

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Medical staff at college football teams will now have the final say on concussions.

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CBS Sports has UMass #111 in its final college football rankings.

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Post Game.com points out college football can learn from the demise of newspapers.

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Friday, January 15, 2016

Recruiting 2017--Patrick Amara, Jr.

Pitt Athletic Dept image
Both Bob McGovern and Dan Malone report UMass has added Patrick Amara Jr, a 6-2 195 pound DB as a transfer from Pitt. Per NCAA regulations, he will have to sit out a year and will be eligible in 2017.

Dan Malone's story here.

Bob McGovern's story here.

Amara's Pitt bio here.

This story from ESPN tells about Amara's long journey to a college football scholarship.

This article also features Amara.

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Friday--January 15th, 2016

The UMass Football feed says former UMass QB Scott Woodard returned to UMass as a graduate assistant in 2015.


Woodward's UMass player bio. His current graduate assistant bio.

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Dan Malone says UMass will have to wait it out to see if the Big Twelve expands.

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Former UMass player David Thompson will not return as HC for Amherst HS.

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Blake Fronapfel is one of three QB's on the East Squad for the East-West Shrine game.

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Thursday, January 14, 2016

Recruiting 2016--Peyton Pickett

Bob McGovern reported a couple of weekends ago UMass has offered to Peyton Pickett, a 5-8 183 pound RB from Arlington, TX.

Pickett's 247Sports page here.

Rivals.com has him as a two-star player.


Besides UMass, Pickett holds offers from UTEP, SMU and Kansas.

Thursday--January 14th, 2016

Well, I didn't win Powerball last night (I had two numbers), so it looks like UMass football's new Frank Smith Memorial Stadium is on hold...

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Rutgers changed coaches and so far they have eight decomitts. That includes a highly-rated pro-style QB Anthony Russo.

I have a link for those players who had a UMass offer or interest prior to signing with Rutgers. Russo is rumored to be interested in LSU or Pitt.

Russo is the eighth player to decommit from Rutgers' recruiting class of 2016 following Nassau (Garden City, N.Y.) offensive tackle Malcolm Pridgeon and Venice (Fla.) defensive tackle Jarrod Hewitt, as well as Poly Prep (Brooklyn, N.Y.) linebacker Elias Reynolds, West Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.) defensive tackle Tymir Oliver, Grand Street (Brooklyn, N.Y.) wide receiver Ahmed Bah, South Brunswick (Monmouth Junction, N.J.) safety Phil Campbell and Poly Prep (Brooklyn, N.Y.) offensive tackle Justin Morgan, who flipped their pledges following Flood's firing.

Former UMass player E.J. Barthel  who was a recruiting assistant with the Scarlet Knights,was let go when Rutgers changed head coaches.

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Bleacher Report breaks down Florida's offseason QB battle.

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It looks as if the Big 12 will not expand. That, in turn means there won't be an open slot in the Group-of-Five conferences for UMass.

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Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Recruiting 2016--Earnest Edwards

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Bob McGovern reported a couple of weekends ago Earnest Edwards, a 5-10 170 pound WR/Athlete from Rochester, NY has added an offer from UMass.

Rivals page here.

MaxPreps has stats.

This article features Edwards.

A 67-yard TD by Edwards made MaxPreps Top 10 plays of 2015.

Besides UMass, Edwards holds an FBS offer from Buffalo.

Wednesday--January 13th, 2016

Would the Big-12 invite Temple football?

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A 247Sports writer looks at South Carolina's 2016 schedule.

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Florida makes the final 2015 Top-25 poll.

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Boston College changes their OC.

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New Tulane HC Willie Fritz announces his coaching staff.

Pro-style Tulane QB Tanner Lee announces he will leave Tulane.

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Underdog Dynasty reviews FIU's 2015 season.

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UMass and Boston College get a D+ in final 2015 grades from USA Today.

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Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Recruiting 2016--Zach Cannon verbals to UMass

JUCO Football Frenzy image
Special thanks to a blog reader who pointed out to me Zach Cannon, a 6-4 270 pound strongside defensive end from Nassau C.C. verbaled to UMass yesterday.

Rivals two-star player.

247Sports has Cannon as three-stars.

Hudl.com has video highlights.

Partial quote from a August Scout.com article on Cannon's visit to UMass:

Last weekend, Cannon and his teammate, Ali Ali-Musa, took an official visit to UMass and the big and versatile defensive lineman came away impressed. 

"My visit was great," Cannon told JCFootball.com this past week. "I really enjoyed the academic aspect about the school. The coaches and players also showed me a lot of love and seem very interested about getting me on the field right away. 

"They did a great job of almost reeling me in, but I decided just to wait on some things and see how things go this year."

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Tuesday--January 112th, 2016

This article about Holy Name coach Mike Pucko mentions former UMass players DL Brandon Potvin andTE Emil Igwenagu.

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Now that UMass is out of the MAC, Buffalo will play Albany this year.

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Bowling Green's Roger Lewis will forgo two years of college eligibility and declare for the NFL draft.

Lewis went 8-142 1 TD 68 LONG against the Minutemen on October 10th.

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Alabama won the FBS National Championship again.

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OT, but John Calapari's price for returning to the Nets is $120 million.

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Monday, January 11, 2016

Recruiting 2016--Sadiq Palmer

B51 Photography image
Several recruiting services indicate UMass is interested in Sadiq Palmer, a 6-3 185 pound WR/Safety from Red Bank HS in New Jersey.

Rivals page here.

Verbaled to Syaracuse, but the Orange pulled his offer.

Hudl.com has senior highlights.

247Sports three-star player.

This article features Palmer.

Palmer holds an FBS offer from Old Dominion. He will visit UMass on January 23rd.

Monday--January 11th, 2016

Former UMass player John Griffin has joined the athletic performance staff at Baylor University.

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Florida, UMass' opener in 2016, continues with facility renovations.

Speaking of Florida, the alligator looks at gator players to watch in 2016.

Florida also has one of the top-ranked mascots.

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Mike Neu replaces Larry Lembo at Ball State.

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Most fans think they could coach college football. Rich Rodriguez shows why they can't.

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One offshoot of the new college playoffs is championship rings that look like the NFL designed them.

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Speaking of amateur coaching, I think players who take part in really cold weather games like the Vikings-Seahawks game, should gear up. If you play football, you are by definition, tough. Any mental energy a player expends dealing with the weather, takes away for that used for playing his position. If I were coach, I'd tell my players to dress warm enough so that they don't have to think about the weather.

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