What did the recruiting resumes of the starting lineup of a top-10 college football program look like when they were high school prospects?
Indiana is probably not like the others.
Below we take a look at the high school recruiting rankings of Indiana’s starters on offense. It should become immediately apparent the media’s ability to evaluate high school talent is far more art than science. While rankings get the fans excited, how much do they really matter?
No. 8/9 Indiana has more 0-stars/walk-ons in its starting lineup than 4-stars, and no 5-stars. Talent evaluation by the coaches is the real science here.
IU head coach Curt Cignetti stresses production over potential when recruiting the transfer portal, and that’s why even when it comes to transfers, IU doesn’t necessarily focus on former 4 and 5-stars in the portal.
Rankings are according to the 247Sports Composite.
QB – Fernando Mendoza (Class of 2022 2-star, No. 2,149 overall, No. 140 QB). Mendoza was headed to the Ivy League before Cal stepped in with a late offer.
RB – Roman Hemby (Class of 2021 3-star, No. 1,767 overall, No. 127 RB). While he wasn’t high in the rankings, Hemby had multiple Power 4 offers and chose Maryland over offers from Duke, NC State, West Virginia and more.
RB – Kaelon Black (Class of 2020 3-star, No. 2,416 overall, No. 150 RB). Black chose James Madison out of high school. He had a couple early P4 offers but it appears Toledo and JMU were his main options.
WR – Elijah Sarratt (Class of 2022 0-star, not ranked). Sarratt took the best opportunity he had at St. Francis (PA). He had no FBS offers.
WR – Omar Cooper, Jr. (Class of 2022 4-star, No. 299 overall, No. 43 WR). Cooper was a major win for Tom Allen. Had several P4 offers and appeared to reconsider his commitment during signing week after a disappointing 2021 season by IU.
WR – E.J. Williams (Class of 2020 4-star, No. 69 overall, No. 13 WR). Williams was a highly-coveted recruit with all the top national programs watching him. He chose Clemson over dozens of top programs.
TE – Riley Nowakowski (Class of 2020 0-star, not ranked). Nowakowski walked-on at Wisconsin over offers from New Mexico State, Air Force, Army, Northern Illinois and some Ivy League schools.
LT – Carter Smith (Class of 2022 3-star, No. 730 overall, No. 61 OT). Smith chose IU following their strong 2020 season over Tennessee, Northwestern and Virginia. He was a solid win for Allen.
LG – Drew Evans (Class of 2022 0-star, not ranked) Evans walked-on at Wisconsin. He also considered Carleton College.
C – Pat Coogan (Class of 2021 3-star, No. 613 overall, No. 42 IOL). Although he wasn’t the highest-rated, Coogan had several P4 offers, including some prominent ones (Ohio State, LSU, etc.) that came in late. He picked Notre Dame, which was his favorite team.
RG – Bray Lynch (Class of 2022 3-star, No. 1,033, No. 95 OT). Lynch’s other finalists were Duke and Oklahoma State, and the remainder of his offers were Group of Five programs.
RT – Khalil Benson (Class of 2020 3-star, No. 714 overall, No. 43 OG). Benson had a few other P4 options, but Mississippi State ended up being the primary P4 competition for IU.
Other key contributors:
- Lee Beebe, Jr. (Class of 2022 0-star, not ranked, walk-on)
- Holden Staes (Class of 2022 4-star, No. 288 overall, No. 11 TE)
- Jonathan Brady (Class of 2022 2-star, No. 2,198 overall, No. 262 WR)
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