2009 was a magical year for Oregon head coach Chip Kelly, as the first year coach guided his Ducks to a conference championship and a berth in the 2010 Rose Bowl vs. Ohio State. Though the Ducks did not win that Rose Bowl game, they planted a seed that year that seemed to benefit the Ducks for years to come, and it’s going nowhere soon.
Talent wins games and it also wins championships. But most important, it beats the guy across from you. This is how the Ducks are operating now days, they don’t rebuild under Chip Kelly, they reload as the old saying goes. Never before had Oregon seen this level of achievement in the area of recruiting blue chip 4 and 5 star recruits that Kelly and his staff are signing. Now its commonplace in Eugene and true freshman are making an impact year after year.
The Ducks have recently recruited along with the best programs in the country, and most top prospects are at least considering Oregon as their future school. Last season it was Texas native Josh Huff, who turned down TCU and signed with Oregon on national signing day in early February. He was a 4 star athlete and the Ducks have used his talents at the Wide Receiver position the last two years, letting Huff become an impact player early. This last offseason, Oregon signed De’Anthony Thomas, from Crenshaw high school in Southern California, on national signing day, taking him away from his verbal commitment to USC that he held for months. Thomas “Black Mamba” has become a cult hero on campus as a true freshman this season and he has had more explosive plays than anybody on the Ducks roster through 13 games this fall. Getting these athletes and blue chip recruits has created a new program, and has taken their play to another level.
To this point in the year, the commitments are only verbal, until signing day approaches again in early February. This means that many more players can be added, depending on available scholarships, or players can sway away from their verbal commitment to a school and decide to sign elsewhere before national signing day when the faxed signatures of their commitments have to be sent in for good.
As I’m writing this, Oregon has 15 verbal commitments and all have interesting appeal to make a large contribution to the program over the next 4-5 years. Here are the names of the players and names to watch for high school seniors next season as college freshmen and years after as they take on the college stage of their careers. Stars on the recruits’ names indicate highly touted and blue chip recruits, 5 being the best and 1 being the lowest rating.
—-Byron Marshall, Running Back, San Jose California ( Valley Christian High School) 5’11 185 lbs. – 4 star recruit.
—-Dwayne Stanford II, Wide Receiver, Cincinnati, Ohio ( Taft High School) 6’3 187 lbs. –4 star recruit
—-Jake Rodrigues, Quarterback, Rocklin, California (Whitney High School) 6’2 210 lbs.—4 stars
—-Evan Baylis, Tight End, Aurora, Colorado ( Grandview High School) 6’5 220 lbs.—- 4 stars
—-Reggie Daniels, Safety, Chandler, Arizona (Hamilton High School) 6’1 185 lbs. — 4 stars
—-Bret Bafaro, Outside Linebacker, Hillsboro, Oregon (Liberty High School) 6’2 215 lbs. — -3 stars
—-Alex Balducci, Defensive End, Portland, Oregon ( Central Catholic High School) 6’4 255 lbs.—3 stars
—-Eric Amoako, Safety, Arlington, Texas (James Martin High School) 5’11 185 lbs. — 3 stars
—-Stephen Amoako, Cornerback, Arlington, Texas (James Martin High School) 5’11 185 lbs. — 3 stars
—-Oshay Dunmore, Athlete, Newport, Oregon (Newport High School) 6’1 195 lbs. — 3 stars
—-Terrance Daniel Jr., Defensive End, Oakland, California, (Bishop O’Dowd High School) 6’7 240 lbs.— 3 stars
—-Jeremy Castro, Defensive End, Murrieta, California ( Vista Murrieta High School) 6’1 235 lbs.— 3 stars
—-Jeff Lockie, Quarterback, Danville, California, (Monte Vista High School), 6’2 185 lbs. — 3 stars
—-Cody Carriger, Defensive End, Butte, Montana (Butte High School), 6’6 230 lbs. — 2 stars
—-Bryce Cottrell, Outside Linebacker, Plano, Texas (Plano West High School) 6’3 225 lbs…— 2 stars
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
