IMMEDIATE IMPACT PLAYERS:

Terry Hawthorne (4-star WR from ESL, Parade Mag #1 receiver in the nation)
I get a Deron Williams vibe from Hawthorne. Part of a tandem of top recruits at his school, all the way until the end of his senior season the other guy was hyped more, and near the end articles like “you know, Terry Hawthorne might be the best player in the entire Midwest” start popping up.
I’ve said this before, but I think our top three recruits this decade are as follows:

1. Rashard Mendenhall
2. Arrelious Benn
3. Terry Hawthorne

Here’s the most amazing stat about Hawthorne: In ESL’s 5 playoff games, he intercepted SEVEN passes, and, AND, ran 4 of them back for touchdowns. He’s that slick, speedy, athletic WR who drives you nuts on punt return one play by running backwards and then breaks off an 82 yard TD on a reverse the very next play.

We probably had to make a “we’ll keep you on offense” promise to keep Oklahoma away. But I still want him at free safety.  And returning punts.  And punting – yes, punting.  He averaged 45 yards per punt in high school, and can be the world’s first Wildcat Punter if we let him.

GREAT GETS:

Nathan Scheelhaase (4-star QB from Kansas City Rockhurst)

Everyone should read the News Gazette article on Scheelhaase. He’s a Lou Tepper dream recruit, except he’s talented, fast, and the 7th best dual threat QB in the country. And, as this MaxPreps article states, Nathan Scheelhaase to Terry Hawthorne may not sound pretty, but it will look pretty in Champaign for years to come.

Spring practice in 2010 will be loads of fun, as 5th year senior Eddie McGee, rs-soph Jacob Charest, and rs-frosh Nathan Scheelhaase battle it out to replace Juice.

Lendell Buckner (4-star DT from Chicago Leo)

Big DT who will hit the weights and hopefully show up in the rotation after Brent graduates and Liuget leaves early. He’s just a very, very large man with huge feet and hands. That’s what you want in a DT.

Justin Green (4-star RB/CB from Louisville)

Stole him from Ohio State by promising him we’d give him a shot in the backfield (tOSU was going to put him at corner). Won the Kentucky State Championship in the 100 meters running a 10.67. Blazing fast.

I’m most excited about this guy because of Aaron Brown at TCU. Brown was the pre-season Mountain West POTY before getting injured this past season. But he was a Mike Schultz (our new OC) project. He was a track star in high school (ran a 10.55 in the 100) that had played in only one high school football game. Schultz recruited him to TCU as a football player and turned him into a scatback in his run-out-of-the-spread offense. Schultz was then heavily involved in recruiting Justin Green away from tOSU, undoubtedly to do the same thing. Daddy like.

Michael Buchanan (4-star DE from Homewood-Flossmoor)

Tall 4-star DE (6’-6”) who is thin right now. Give him a redshirt, let him work out 24/7, and introduce a corner-rushing rs-soph DE to the Big Ten in 2011. I especially enjoyed this one due to a Purdue tool showing up on several recruiting message boards saying how he was a lock to Purdue because of “stuff that went on at Homewood-Flossmoor” during our recruitment of Russ Ellington and Supo Sanni. Fail.

GUYS I’M EXCITED ABOUT BUT HAVE VERY LITTLE REASONING AS TO WHY:

Walt Aikens (2-star safety from North Carolina)

Safety that was completely off the recruiting radar (hence the 2-star), and then all of the sudden there’s offers pouring in from North Carolina and Louisville and Clemson and Illinois. Any time I see a guy like that, I think of Jon Asamoah (was a 2-star headed to Northern Illinois and all of the sudden we’re fighting Wisconsin and Northwestern and Cincinnati for his services). And I love Jon Asamoah.

Eric Watts (3-star ATH from Florida)

He’s from Florida. He’s fast. He projects as a linebacker. The end.

Steve Hull (3-star WR/DB from Cincinnati)

My love for him is simply based on a couple highlights (one was a 100 yard INT return for touchdown that made the top plays on Sportscenter). And the catches he makes on the INT and the deep bomb in this video

make me want him ball hawking at safety. I can’t bear to take another year with only 5 interceptions. I want this guy at safety. (See a theme here?)

Hugh Thornton (3-star OT from Ohio)

Has that huge, athletic, tall frame that screams left tackle. Was our highest ranked 3-star per Rivals. Again, redshirt, 3 years lifting weights, and debut him at LT at the beginning of the 2012 season.

Bud Golden (4-star RB from Cincinnati)

His highlights are just… OK. But he has an awesome name. Which means he will be awesome.

GUYS I’M JUST NOT THAT EXCITED ABOUT AND I HAVE NO REASON AS TO WHY:

Leon Hill (4-star OL from Chicago Leo)

Any time a guy is projected as a guard, for some reason, I get worried. We run the spread option, so we need o-linemen getting out in space. When I hear “projects as a guard”, I think “run-blocking road grader”, which isn’t a very good fit for our offense.
He’ll now go on to 3 years all-Big 10.

Justin Lattimore (2-star TE from Florida)

Besides us and Iowa, his offers were MAC-ish. And I still have too many Ron Turner nightmares to get excited over MAC recruits. I have big hopes for Hubie Graham and London Davis in the future, so I don’t see room for Lattimore.

Greg Fuller (3-star fullback from Chicago)

Granted, I haven’t seen Schultz’s offense yet, but it doesn’t sound like he used a traditional fullback much at TCU. So I’m not sure where a Carey Davis clone fits in this offense. Can he play linebacker??

Jake Feldmeyer (2-star OL from Ohio)

“Projects as a guard”. “Chose Illinois over offers from several MAC schools”. Well, there you go.

GUYS I HAVE VERY LITTLE COMMENT ABOUT BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT THEM:

Darryl Lee (2-star LB from Florida) Didn’t sign?
Aaron Gress (3-star JuCo LB) Might play strong safety?
Andrew Carter (3-star OL from Florida) I should know more, because he’s pretty good.
Tommie Hopkins (3-star DB from ESL) Teammate of Hawthorne
Tim Kynard (2-star DL from Toledo) I got nothin’
Akeem Spence (3-star DT from Florida) Co-nothin’
Joelil Thrash (2-star DB from DC) A Locks recruit I was surprised to see hang on