and I'm guessing that you've been there or live there because that looks like Mount Ranier in your avatar- is that they have some very tall, athletic, and strong looking people up there in general. So, they have some people that are pretty good athletes that they can develop into good football players.
USC, with them being in California and Los Angeles where there are a LOT of great players and a lot of great coaches, they can get more of the "finished product" type of players- guys that have talent, the measureables and are also fundamentally sound, and typically when they aren't on probation, they have the depth to allow those players to adjust to the college game. Those "finished product" type guys are the ones that are typically given the four and five star ratings.
Shifting to MSU- we're in a state that has a lot of talent, but we're also small and very rural. This year I don't think we have any five star players and I think, depending on the service, we have somewhere between 8-10 four star guys for the whole state. Most of those players are from or near the larger metropolitan areas like Madison, the coast, etc. or South Panola, which has at least one great player every year it seems. We're doing what we need to do- which is try to get as many of those four star guys that we can, but at the same time, we have to get some of these lower rated guys that have measureables that we can develop into hopefully solid players. Joe Price is a great example- he's 5'8", but has 4.2 speed, and McKinney from Rosa Fort is not a well known prospect, but he's 6'4" 220 or so and can be developed into a good linebacker or defensive end.
I went back a couple of days ago and looked at the four star guys that we've brought in from 2006 forward. I didn't include JUCO because they automatically get three or four stars, and I think that's ridiculous. Here's the list (scout):
2006 Anthony Dixon- one of the best in school history.
2007 Robert Elliott- bust, but that's at least in part to knee injuries.
2007 Derek Sherrod- Possible first round draft pick at OT.
2007 Jazzmen Guy- bust because he didn't qualify.
2008 Charles Mitchell- Very good safety for us, probably will play in the NFL
2008 Templeton Hardy- WTF? Posterboy for stars don't matter crowd.
2009 Chad Bumphis- Very good player so far. Probably will end up as one of the best we've ever had.
2009 Josh Boyd- Very good DT.
2009 Fletcher Cox- Very good DT. Both he and Boyd look like possible NFL players.
2009 Montrell Conner- Bust, left school.
2009 Tyler Russell- QB of the future for MSU.
2010 Damien Robinson- Redshirting.
2010 Matt Wells- Redshirting.
2010 Kaleb Eulls- Redshirting. The last three guys are very promising though.
So, of all of those guys, four are certifiable busts. And at least Elliott has some use. And one was a bust because he couldn't make the grades. Six of those players are legitmately good players, and the other four the jury is still out, but all of those four have looked promising thus far. But of the players that we know are good or are busts, six out of ten is pretty good.
