James Franklin Extends Recruiting Pipeline to Minnesota, Lands Four-Star Receiver

by Christian D'Andrea on Sep 13, 2011 12:09 PM EDT in Vanderbilt Commodores Football

Days after three-star wideout recruit Jaydrick Declouet decommitted from Vanderbilt, James Franklin's crew shrugged off the loss by adding four-star receiver Andre McDonald. The signing was another marquee grab for the Commodores. McDonald, a 6'3", 200 pound standout, is ranked alongside tailback Brian Kimbrow and defensive ends Caleb Azubuike and Stephen Weatherly as the team's highest-rated recruits for the 2012 season.

However, the most impressive thing about the signing could be how Franklin's staff pulled it off. After toiling in Georgia and Florida to pull some of the biggest recruits in Vanderbilt history, the coaches went north to pluck McDonald out of Minnetonka, Minnesota. The team went into Big Ten country and convinced a major-league possession receiver to choose Nashville over places like Columbus, Champaign, and his hometown Minneapolis. Now, James Franklin can add Ohio State to the growing list of team's he's sniped recruits from.

This expansion is an encouraging sign, to say the least. Most of the team's top prospects in 2012 had come from the south so far. It had appeared that Franklin's staff was focused on selling the SEC's top academic school to high school students who had grown up in Team Speed country - an easier task thanks to the familiarity of the league. With McDonald's signing, the Commodores have proven that Franklin's pitch of building a legacy applies outside of the southeast, even up against proven NCAA powerhouses.

As for the player himself, McDonald will have the chance to immediately bolster a developing corps of receivers. Though Chris Boyd, Jordan Matthews, and Jonathan Krause appear to be the team's immediate future at the position, there will be opportunities for the big target to play immediately thanks to the graduations of John Cole and Udom Umoh. His size will make him a big-time red zone target for Jordan Rodgers, Josh Grady, or Austyn Carta-Samuels next season.

So maybe Saturday's comeback win against UConn was bigger than we realized. McDonald had to have been pleased with the step forward that Franklin's squad took by not folding in the face of adversity against the Huskies. Now, he'll get that chance to witness that firsthand as a member of the class of 2012.

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This is a huge grab for CJF and staff. Imagine if he could get Lafonte Thourogood to switch to full-time WR as well? He was a 4-star recruit at WR as well as at QB. Now we need some 4-star linemen to commit and our class will be stacked!

by jfreudenthal on Sep 13, 2011 1:40 PM EDT reply actions

what lineman do we have on the way?

Who are we recruiting and who have we signed?

by Cornelius Vanderbilt on Sep 13, 2011 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions

2 three-star recruits so far.

One is a 6’8" monster.

Anchor of Gold - for all 45 Vanderbilt fans out there.

by Christian D'Andrea on Sep 13, 2011 3:14 PM EDT up reply actions

Is one of them

the kid that did not qualify in this year’s class? I think he was going to go to spend another year at his prep school.

by Nolegrad89 on Sep 13, 2011 4:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Well, for this year:

Blake Fromang – OT – 6’8", 280 lbs – three star recruit
- turned down Illinois, Ole Miss, Virginia, West Virginia, Virginia Tech to commit.

Barrett Gouger – OT – 6’5", 285 lbs – three star recruit
- turned down Wake Forest, Memphis to commit.

The guy you’re thinking of is probably Larry Mazyck, a three-star recruit to followed Franklin from Maryland. He took an extra year in HS after committing but now looks like he’ll be attending New Mexico. Go figure.

Anchor of Gold - for all 45 Vanderbilt fans out there.

by Christian D'Andrea on Sep 13, 2011 4:48 PM EDT up reply actions

In addition to those 2, OL remains basically our top priority

And those two are a big deal for us anyway, most of our OL recruits in the past haven’t been that big, and the ones that have been big generally have fallen to us because they are poorly rated. These guys are both quite big and good.

But we have been in on a guy named Kevin McCoy, a 3-star from Florida. We seemed to be in good shape for a while, but he didn’t pull the trigger we’re going against USF which is closer to home.

Andrew Jelks is a local kid, 3*, not as big, so he would probably not be an immediate impact, but he’s good, and he’s local which means we need to try to get him. Our biggest competition is UT, and they may lead.

I’m sure we’re still going after Blake Bars, 4* from MBA, but he’s verbal to Michigan.

Robert Conyers is a 3* from Florida, he was planning to take an official here though I’m not sure if he did or is still planning to.

We are working on two guys, Jordan Diamond 4* and Ronnie Stanley, 3* and both are quite large. I don’t think we’re really close to the lead on either, but both appear to be really early in the process, so we are in the conversation, and have time to make progress on them.

by The Goche on Sep 13, 2011 8:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Actually Stanley is also a 4*.

by The Goche on Sep 13, 2011 8:38 PM EDT up reply actions

big time

This is great news. If we want to consistently hang with the big boys instead of just pulling off an upset every couple seasons, these are the type of recruits we need. Let’s keep them coming, CJF!

by patrickrfr on Sep 13, 2011 2:06 PM EDT via iPhone app reply actions

As much as this signing excites me

I am not getting my hopes up until Feb. I know Kimbrow is solid but everyone else is still up for grabs and just as I fully expect CJF to steal some recruits, I fear that a few of our gems may be plucked away. Regardless, I take nothing away from the job CJF and his staff have done in recruiting and creating an expectation of success.

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by VUfanInNJ on Sep 13, 2011 3:15 PM EDT reply actions

McDonald had committed to Minnesota

We landed him after 3-star Jaydrick Declouet decommitted from Vanderbilt in favor of Houston. Hopefully, any other recruits we lose are replaced by a better recruit…

by Vandy Dan on Sep 13, 2011 10:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Word on another recruit

According to apparently his coach, on Twitter, Torey Agee is committing.

He’s a 3* DE (on Rivals and ESPN, 2* on Scout, unrated on 247).

Depending on which service you read we already have somewhere between 3 and ~16 DEs.

But the kid is athletic and unlike most (or on at least one service, all) of our other DE recruits, he’s listed as a strongside DE and most of our others are WDE. He’s 6’3 and 245, which as you might guess for a SDE is heavier than all of our other DE recruits.

He is the son of a former Auburn RB and NFLer, which I know people tend to like.

by The Goche on Sep 15, 2011 1:14 AM EDT reply actions

Also...

…depending on where you look, he was offered by Stanford and Duke. So I’m inclined to think he’s probably the sharpest tool in the shed in Opelika. I like a smart down-lineman.

What bothers me is that his dad was Bo Jackson’s fullback. Which means I am getting OLD. FML.

"Well, if that ain't a show, I'll kiss your ass." - Gov. Jim Folsom Sr. (D-AL), 1948-52

by VandyImport on Sep 17, 2011 1:34 AM EDT up reply actions