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When Being Picky Pays Off


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Being picky pays off

 

If there's one area in recruiting where coaches don't want to miss, it's in targeting a junior college prospect who may have three or fewer years to play. The learning curve is steeper because the need to contribute immediately – and thus justify the scholarship – is greater.

 

In his four short years at Nebraska, Bill Callahan recruited a glut of junior college players. He hit on his share – Zac Taylor, Larry Asante, Steve Octavien, Carl Nicks and Maurice Purify come to mind – and whiffed on guys like Victory Haines, Steve Allen, Brock Pasteur, Dontrell Moore and Tyrell Spain.

 

Bo Pelini's recruiting plan has been distinctly different. He's recruited just seven in three recruiting classes – and one of them, tight end Tyson Hetzer, never made it to NU and wasn't Pelini's recruit in 2008.

 

Four of them – wide receiver Brandon Kinnie, right guard Ricky Henry, linebacker LaVonte David and safety Dejon Gomes – start. One of them – left tackle Yoshi Hardrick – sees significant time. Only one – wide receiver Stanley Jean-Baptiste who technically attended Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College without ever playing there – hasn't seen the field yet.

 

Pelini said Tuesday his staff is “very picky” when it comes recruiting junior college players – and that choosiness is paying off.

 

“We don’t spend a lot of time recruiting junior college guys, but when we do we’re very specific not only on the kid, but the situation, the type of kid he is,” Pelini said. “There are a lot of things that go into that. We really do our homework as far as that’s concerned.”

 

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well, we know SJB would be playing, but he's not and... "dats because these coaches got my bro on da sideline watchin instead of playin he's one of da best wr's on the team so can someone please tell these play calling coaches to throw the ball or just change to green he's a throwin first qb not a runner."

 

haha - It's all Martinez and the coaches' fault. Martinez is such a pathetic QB, and he's destroying the draft stock of SJB each time he scampers for an 80 yard touchdown. Team first Martinez...quit stealing TDs and playing time from the the JUCO receivers! :sarcasm

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I been noticing that——that Pelini has been hitting home runs on nearly every juco we pick up. The article prolly should have mentioned Zac Lee too.

Zac was a Clownahan hold over so that is why he wasn't mentioned. As far as bringing in JUCOs I agree with Bo's philosophy. If there is a major glaring hole that needs a quick fix then by all means do the homework and get the best one out there. However, I'd much rather get in high school kids that you'd get for four years. We have seen how long it is taking some of these JUCOs take to adapt to the schemes and become a productive asset and when it is a 2 for 2 guy, is it really worth it vs getting a kid for four years and molding them into what Bo wants.

But when the quick fix is needed Bo and the staff have been pretty spot on.

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