The JUCO Recruiting Trail

Most Indiana football fans know that we don't usually recruit many players from the Junior College ranks. Yet so far this year we have 2 JUCO commits and have a couple more coming to campus to visit. With some of the needs on next years squad I strongly believe that the staff needed to go out and get some JUCO's. Generally, the big ten teams don't recruit many Junior College players because the big ten has a tougher standard than most other conferences for those players academically. However, I am so glad that we have picked up two so far and am telling you that you shouldn't be surprised if we pick up 1-2 more. We currently have 23 commits and 25 available scholarships so we could potentially pick up some late commits.

Looking at the 2 JUCO's we have verballed so far it looks like they will be immediate impacts. Andre Kates (cousin of Clinton Portis) is likely to start from day 1 at corner and Jeff Thomas will probably start at one of the linebacking spots. Usually you don't bring in a player who only has a few years left of eligibility to play back up but I think the JUCO's we have landed can fill holes at some critical spots. Looking at our linebacking core, we lose Matt Mayberry, Will Patterson, and Justin Carrington. This leaves Tyler Replogle as the only remaining starter. I think our young linebackers all have bright futures for IU but it makes sense to bring in a guy like Jeff Thomas (the other JUCO commit) because he already has some experience and is more developed physically than some of the younger players. By filling in a spot at linebacker and corner it will lessen the pressing needs that we have going into the season. Going after the right type of JUCO is key, and I believe that Coach Lynch and staff have found two very good ones so far. The two biggest reasons why players choose to go to a Junior College is either because they weren't highly recruited out of high school or they couldn't make the grades to get cleared to play Division 1. If you read the link at the bottom of the page you will see in Andre Kate's situation however, those weren't the case.

This past week we had another JUCO linebacker visit IU by the name of DeAndre Boughton. He seemed to have had a very good time and will be making his college decision very shortly. The reason being that the JUCO's would like to enroll for the spring semester to give them more time to acclimate to the college and get a familiarity with the football team. Don't be surprised to see another commit or two in the coming weeks from the JUCO ranks.

I have found a great article written about Andre Kates. It is a goo read and will give you a better understanding of how hard this kid has worked and how much he deserves success. http://www.fiveborosports.com/ssp/news?news_id=3783