Bigger, faster, heavier

A Hofstra University professor has taken a look at Scout’s recruiting rankings from 2001-2009 to determine if there are any common factors which predict player rankings.  His findings probably won’t come as much of a surprise.

… The study used scouting data on 2,560 elite high school football players between 2001 and 2009. Factors such as height and weight, sprint time, and vertical height jump were analyzed for association with the players’ “star” rankings, as assigned by a national ranking website (www.scout.com). Dr. Ghigiarelli looked for factors that could differentiate “highly recruited” players (4- and 5-star rankings) from “recruited” players (2- and 3-star rankings). Both groups were considered competitive on the Division 1-A collegiate level.

The most consistent factors identifying the two groups of players were height, weight, and sprint speed. On average, the 4- and 5-star players were about one inch taller and five pounds heavier than the 2- and 3-star players. Average 40-yard sprint time was 4.76 seconds for the highly recruited players versus 4.84 seconds for the recruited players.

I should probably make a snarky comment here about Willie Martinez’ penchant for smurf defensive backs, but I’ll let it pass.

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Dialing for dollars

Mike Slive is getting religion, at least when it comes to Jim Delany’s proposal to up the scholarship money allocated to student-athletes.  And if that means breaking a few mid-major eggs to make the omelet, so be it:

… Slive acknowledged the SEC and other leagues have more resources than others to devote to this issue. But that shouldn’t shut down this conversation. If anything, some FBS schools should use their resources more wisely and abandon a football arms race they’ll never win.

“Often times when I think of the foundation and basis of a lot of NCAA legislation, a lot of it tries to ensure a level playing field,” Slive said. “It’s an unattainable concept, but that’s often the foundation. If you say the foundation ought to be student-athlete welfare, it’s a different place for which to start thinking about full cost of attendance. Using that as the starting point, I think it’s time for the national conversation to begin in a very serious way about the full cost of attendance.”

It’s too bad if Kent State can’t schedule enough games as a sacrificial lamb to keep up.

Eloquence

Scheduling oral surgery the day before The Rapture may have been a gutsy move on my part, but it sure put a damper on blogging – it’s hard to type when you’re holding an ice pack to your face.  Still, the show must go on.

I wasn’t going to comment on Will Muschamp’s guarantee of a win against Georgia this year – really, what else would you have expected him to say in response to the question? – but since Ray Drew was stirred by it, his comment is certainly worth a mention.

I beg to differ with coach mus"chomps" comment at the gator club about beating uga next year

— Ray Drew (@RayDrew47) May 20, 2011

Sounds like somebody’s gonna be a fun interview this season.