Recruiting News Warms Up As Temperature Cools Down

Chilly enough for you today? It's 13-below zero here on the shoulder of Moose Mountain as I write this and it's supposed to get c-o-l-d tonight. Our last digital thermometer used to bottom out at 24.9 below (something about the batteries according to the manufacturer) and I'm hoping if we top (bottom?) that tonight our newer thermometer will report just how low we go. Bragging rights are important when it comes to cold!

Cold weather aside, the hot stove topic this morning is recruiting. There's news of an interesting recruit coming in for a visit this weekend from a warmer clime (remember the flannels) and another recruit who has received a Dartmouth "offer."

Reported to be coming to town is Mike Tree, a 6-1, 216 middle linebacker/defensive tackle from Arizona's Brophy College Prep, a school that has been kind to Dartmouth the past few years. Scout.com had him listed as visiting Princeton last week and has him visiting Hanover this week. Tree is the star of a series of humorous, short videos promoting Brophy games on YouTube.

Said to be sitting on an offer from Dartmouth according to his coach is Akil Sharp, a running back from Sierra Vista High School in Las Vegas. According to his profile on Rivals.com, the 5-9, 189 Nevadan ran for 1,646 yards and 20 touchdowns last fall and also made 67 tackles. Rivals lists him as running a 4.4 40 while Scout.com has him running a 4.49. A very detailed evaluation of Sharp is available on the ESPN site which listed Stanford and UNLV among his earlier choices. ESPN says he, "won't wow you on film but consistently hits it up hard inside and possesses workhorse type qualities in a small package. Potential high-carry back at a mid-major school." Find a junior year highlight video here and video of him at the Long Beach Nike Combine here. You might also want to check out akilsharp.com.

A couple of other recruiting notes. "Signing Day," is Feb. 4, and the Ivy League, of course, doesn't use the Letter of Intent that a great many high school seniors will be signing that day. (When you see pictures of Ivy League athletes "signing," what they are signing is provided mostly to give them something to be part of the festivities.) If you are curious about exactly what the LOI is, check out a detailed primer from the College Sporting News.

Recruiting, by the way, is taking a hit at some schools in these tough economic times. The New York Times has a story headlined, "Athletes and Colleges Feel a Recruiting Pinch; Tighter Budgets Affect College Sports Recruiting."

While it may be tough times for recruiting, it hasn't had much of an impact on Dartmouth's applications. According to Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Maria Laskaris in a Daily Dartmouth story, the college received 17,768 applications for the class of 2013, a record. From the story:

Laskaris, in an interview with The Dartmouth, placed schools into three categories with respect to the ongoing economic crisis: public universities; Dartmouth and other members of the Ivy League that have “all significantly enhanced (their) financial aid institutions” and colleges that have tuitions similar to those in the Ivy League, “but don’t have the strength of our financial aid.”

Note: The numbers mentioned in this space earlier today on the size of the freshman class, taken from The Daily Dartmouth, were in error. As noted earlier, there will be about 2,200 students accepted with designs on a class of 1,09-1,100.