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***This is the 1st of a 2 part series looking at the recruiting class of 2002***
They say you can't judge a recruiting class until those athletes who enter as a class leave the university. At that time you can step back and look at what they accomplished. In this article, PantherNation.Com takes an in-depth look at Mark Farley's 1st recruiting class. This article looks at the Signing Day article from 2002, so there were some who were added late in the game that year.
The way this process began was a 0-5 ranking system, where points were awarded to players based on their contribution to the team on the field. Some players have the intangibles that help the team build chemistry, that push the starters in practice, and that set the bar of work ethic in the weight room. Those characteristics are not easily noticed on the playing field, if a player isn't good enough to crack the 2 deeps. In order to make this as unbiased as possible, I invited 4 other very knowledgable members of Panther Nation to help with this ranking process. The backgrounds of these four individuals are diverse, yet the common theme is the fact that they have been around these teams to know how good each of these guys are.
With that said, it is my hope that this can continue to be a yearly column. One that provokes commentary and opinions from many posters. It was a fun process to look at how this class compares to some of the others. This Class of 2002 was truly one that helped mold the National Championship run. There were Juco transfers that were unable to see that National Championship game on the sidelines, but the incoming freshmen were able to fulfill a lifelong dream to be playing on the field of the biggest game in your division.
So, with that said, here's the demographics:
9 Iowans
8 Border staters
3 from Florida, Oklahoma, and Alabama respectively
20 Total Signees
16 HS Preps
3 Jucos (2 Iowa JC's, 1 Kansas JC)
1 1-A Transfer (from Kansas)
Ranking System:
0: No contribution
1: Minimal contribution
2: Mini-Role Player
3: Contributing Role Player
4: Significant Impact
5: Star player
Some athletes were not given scores by the pollsters, however, this was taken into consideration when the average rating occurred. So, onto the ratings as a class. This class had an overall average total of 57.0 points...which was good enough for a 2.71 Average. So, what does this mean? Well, probably that the average player in this class was somewhere between a 1-2 year role player or a solid role player.
They say you can't judge a recruiting class until those athletes who enter as a class leave the university. At that time you can step back and look at what they accomplished. In this article, PantherNation.Com takes an in-depth look at Mark Farley's 1st recruiting class. This article looks at the Signing Day article from 2002, so there were some who were added late in the game that year.
The way this process began was a 0-5 ranking system, where points were awarded to players based on their contribution to the team on the field. Some players have the intangibles that help the team build chemistry, that push the starters in practice, and that set the bar of work ethic in the weight room. Those characteristics are not easily noticed on the playing field, if a player isn't good enough to crack the 2 deeps. In order to make this as unbiased as possible, I invited 4 other very knowledgable members of Panther Nation to help with this ranking process. The backgrounds of these four individuals are diverse, yet the common theme is the fact that they have been around these teams to know how good each of these guys are.
With that said, it is my hope that this can continue to be a yearly column. One that provokes commentary and opinions from many posters. It was a fun process to look at how this class compares to some of the others. This Class of 2002 was truly one that helped mold the National Championship run. There were Juco transfers that were unable to see that National Championship game on the sidelines, but the incoming freshmen were able to fulfill a lifelong dream to be playing on the field of the biggest game in your division.
So, with that said, here's the demographics:
9 Iowans
8 Border staters
3 from Florida, Oklahoma, and Alabama respectively
20 Total Signees
16 HS Preps
3 Jucos (2 Iowa JC's, 1 Kansas JC)
1 1-A Transfer (from Kansas)
Ranking System:
0: No contribution
1: Minimal contribution
2: Mini-Role Player
3: Contributing Role Player
4: Significant Impact
5: Star player
Some athletes were not given scores by the pollsters, however, this was taken into consideration when the average rating occurred. So, onto the ratings as a class. This class had an overall average total of 57.0 points...which was good enough for a 2.71 Average. So, what does this mean? Well, probably that the average player in this class was somewhere between a 1-2 year role player or a solid role player.