Rating Recruiting is Risky

Recruiting lists from Rivals, Scout and ESPN are notoriously incomplete at this time of year. The ESPN site, for example, has just one name listed for Dartmouth and even that one should have an asterisk. Rivals lists five Big Green recruits.

As for Scout, if it even has a link to FCS schools it's not obvious, although if you work backwards and do a search on individual names you can discover some players who committed to FCS schools.

The bottom line is that making any broad generalizations about recruiting in the Ivy League based on what is not on the lists is foolhardy. It's a little safer to judge a school's class by what is on the list, which brings us around to Harvard.

Both ESPN and Rivals have 13 names committed to Harvard, and while the lists are similar, they aren't identical. The "star" ranking system for these services is easy to debate, but it makes for good conversation, so here goes. Rivals has the Crimson with three "three-star" recruits (QB, OT, DE) and six "two-star" recruits (WR, TE, DE, K, OL, ATH). ESPN has the same trio of "three-star" names, a couple of "two-star" (DE, DE) and four more "one-star" types (DE, CB, OT, ILB). All totaled there are 12 different names on the two Harvard lists that receive "star" recognition.

What does it all mean? Again, it's risky to put too much confidence in these sites but the perception would probably be that the Crimson is loading up.

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In case you were wondering, the very incomplete Dartmouth Rivals page lists a a pair of two-star players in defensive back Bennie Niles and offensive lineman Scotty Whitmore. Rivals has Penn with one three-star and two two-star recruits, Brown and Cornell each with a single one-star pick and Columbia, Princeton and Yale with no starred players. Caveat emptor.

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One name that doesn't show up on the Dartmouth lists is kicking specialist Riley Lyons, a "three-star" according to ESPN. But check out this from Scout.com (italics are mine):

Chris Sailer Kicking recently wrapped up it's 2010 Nike Fall Camp Tour. The final stop was Atlanta, GA after previous stops in CA, IL, NC, and TX. Take a look at the results:

Camp Champion: Riley Lyons (2011 GA). Riley had a phenomenal day and once again proved why he is a top 10 national K/P prospect and definite D1A Scholarship Pick. He won 3 of the 4 competitions, the first time this has ever been done at a Nike Camp. He was the field goal, kickoff, and punt champions.

Field Goal: Riley kicks off the ground with excellent height, distance, and accuracy.

Kickoffs: Averaged high 60's with over 4.0 hang-time in brutal snowy and windy conditions.

Punting: Proved that he is a true combo player and can compete at any level.

And this from Rivals:

Day 2 of the prestigious invite-only national specialist camp in Los Angeles saw the top national talent turn in impressive performances once again. The focus was kickoffs, punting and long snapping.

Kickoffs: Riley Lyons (2011 - Ga.) came out on top as the kickoff champion. He was solid both in technique and result. Riley averaged about 70 yards with 4.10-plus hang time.

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ESPN's SEC blog is reporting that Brent Pry, son of Dartmouth defensive coordinator Jim Pry, is heading to Vanderbilt as the Commodore's co-defensive coordinator, ironically sharing the duties with former Columbia coach Bob Shoop. The younger Pry had most recently been at Georgia Southern.

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To steal a line out of Sports Illustrated, today's Sign of the Apocalypse is from Connecticut's New London Day:

Robert G. Burton wants UConn to give him his $3 million back.

Burton gave the money to the University of Connecticut to build the Burton Family Football Complex in Storrs. Now, citing disagreements with the school's athletic director and a desire to be consulted about the new football coach, he wants that donation returned and his family's name taken off the facility altogether.

Now read the letter Mr. Burton wrote, in its entirety here. Seriously. Click and read it.

Wow!