iaafan wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2019 12:35 pm
VimSince03 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2019 12:00 pm
blueandgoldblitz wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2019 11:38 am
iaafan wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2019 10:56 am
All 3 Griz commits stated they were Griz fans growing up. Only two of five said that about MSU. Ferriter’s brother and cousin played for UM. So I’d say he’s the flip. Mellott has no allegiance. Not sure about Reitler.
You mean Richards brother and cousin right?
And Reitler's older brother had originally signed with MSU back in 2015 as a PWO but then went to Rocky instead for a full scholly.
Doesn’t sound like much of an allegiance. Has a 406 or Skyline story come out on Reitler? Usually they say their reasoning.
I don’t think you can base the recruiting battles solely on who got the best players. There isn’t much of a battle for most of them. I’d say a player with no strong ties that both teams are after (Mellott and Richards) is a strong indicator. You can say one team got a better class and the other team won the battle. They’re sometimes independent of one another. I’d say UM has the better players right now with 1, 2, and 13, but MSU is winning the battles right now. That can all change still.
I was just stating a fact. Wasn't trying to say there was any allegiance.
Also, of course you can base the recruiting battle on who got the best players (the true "best players of a class" prove themselves 3 to 4 years down the line however). Like you said, sometimes its a foregone conclusion with the top guys but MSU/UM still recruit the top guys knowing full well what their allegiance is/was. However, I completely understand what you're saying and it is a good discussion to point out those factors. Here is how I view the factors for "winning the in-state battles" in order of importance:
1) Talent - how will that kid develop in college
2) What is the student's career aspirations - has been a very important factor for MSU as of late
3) Coaching staff and system philosophy - has been another important factor for MSU as of late
4) Did they receiver the same/similar offer from both schools - this one can get wishy/washy with who is telling the truth on the offer (player or coach)
5) Is the kid in a legacy situation with either school - usually this is the tiebreaker as the kid will follow in family member footsteps or it can go in the opposite direction where the kid wants to define his own legacy elsewhere
6) Is the family a known "Griz or Cat" family - another tiebreaker
7) Family's vicinity to the college - the least important compared to the other six as Bozeman kids have gone to UM and Missoula kids have gone to MSU
Griz fans can like it or not...but Jesse Sims and Colin Bingham chose UM back in 2015 even though they leaned MSU on the top four factors. This is why Montana is such a unique recruiting landscape for the in-state kids. Despite all the factors going the logical way for one school, family allegiance will usually trump all of them.
"There's two times of year for me: Football season, and waiting for football season."