How good do we feel about Gabe?

[akili1133]

After losing Easley, Gabe is now a huge priority for us. We have seemed to be leading for a few months, but I just saw on Rivals that he is down to USC, CAL and Oregon. He states that no one has an edge. This scares me. I like to be optimistic but I just don't have a good feeling about him picking the Ducks. I really hope I am wrong.

[gofightingducks]

The longer he stretches it out the worse it looks for the Ducks. I bet he chooses USC. It is probably going to be another year of misses on the big talent.

[oreducks77]

He's no longer making his announcement at the AAA game.... not good for us.

[sx1080]

He's no longer making his announcement at the AAA game.... not good for us.

is not for everyone and may be wearing on King.

Remember he has always had CAl as his leader. Some "insiders" say Ducks over took CAl, but who really knows.

[ksmack]

I agree with the posters, I would say...he leaves Oregon...a scenery change is what is in store for Gabe king.. I mean if Gabe king was sold on Oregon strongly then he would of committed already...a player knows right away with a school if he really wants to go there! The coaching staff needs to have a back up plan on other 3 star recruits on there radar..seems these type of recruits are locks for us..that is why winning the Rose Bowl was huge for this team. wins secure recruits and it makes it easier for a recruit to choose. Oregon hasnt won a rose bowl since 1917 compare that to USC...they have sunshine, rose bowl victory and bcs titles...tough for Oregon! GO DUCKS

[bellsduck]

The longer he stretches it out the worse it looks for the Ducks. I bet he chooses USC. It is probably going to be another year of misses on the big talent.

I hate being a downer and obviously hope I'm wrong, but I'm also starting to get that feeling that we're going to be 2nd choice again on all these 4 and 5-star guys that haven't yet committed. I keep waiting for us to have that breakthrough year on the recruiting trail, but it never quite happens. I'm starting to wonder if it ever will? Winning the Rose Bowl would've been good.

[sx1080]

The longer he stretches it out the worse it looks for the Ducks. I bet he chooses USC. It is probably going to be another year of misses on the big talent.

I hate being a downer and obviously hope I'm wrong, but I'm also starting to get that feeling that we're going to be 2nd choice again on all these 4 and 5-star guys that haven't yet committed. I keep waiting for us to have that breakthrough year on the recruiting trail, but it never quite happens. I'm starting to wonder if it ever will? Winning the Rose Bowl would've been good.

Not sure if it would have mattered. Ducks did not recruit very well after Fiesta Bowl win and #2 in Nation. As I recall Ducks finished 2nd to a lot of stud recruits. Appears History is repeating.

It comes down to a small town, with strange culture,and RAIN. When its not raining its cloudy. The weather is pretty darn depressing for 8 months out of the yr. ( school yr) And no real City life either.

[hines]

It comes down to a small town, with strange culture,and RAIN. When its not raining its cloudy.

wow. so you've been to Penn State too? cool!
wow. so you've been to Nebraska too? cool!
wow. so you've been to Boise St. too? cool!
wow. so you've been to U of Illinois too? cool!
wow. so you've been to Wisconsin too? cool!
wow. so you've been to U of Arkansas too? cool!

shall I go on?

[gofightingducks]

I don't know if Eugene being a small town and the overcast weather most of the time is a big deal to most recruits. Certainly distance is a factor but the biggest thing is the fact Oregon is recruiting the same players as USC, Florida, LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma, Ohio State, etc. and those are all elite programs that have won National Championships and are always in a BCS game and have high winning percentages. Oregon is not a elite program and have only played in 2 BCS games, though Oregon is a winning program they have yet to win consistently against the big boys in the big games, until Oregon can string together a few BCS wins they will continue to lose out to those elite programs. It is frustrating for us fans (and coaches) to hear guys saying the Ducks lead but in the end they choose to go elsewhere, but the fact of the matter is the Ducks are the most successful program in recruiting across the nation but it will take success on the field and time before the Ducks do land more high 4* and 5* guys.

[MacDuck]

Brandon Huffman, who writes for Scout, says he's down to Oregon, Cal & USC per his interview with him. He says Oregon & Cal are ahead of the Trojans.

Many folks still feel we'll win this one, but I agree with others that King has flipped a little recently as it did appear we were solid leaders a few wks ago. This could go either way.

[dthomas=ddixon]

You guys are so right. Lets just end recruiting right now & be thankful for all the lowly 1*s we somehow got. I mean, we will never get the bigtime 4*s. We're just poor little Oregon. We have no shot.

[glazeduck]

Thought I'd try to brighten this topic up a tad...

One thing that SC and CAL doesn't have is 3 of King's best friends pulling him to Oregon.

W/ 2 of his NC boys already committed and Allen reportedly WANTING to commit, you have to imagine that all 3 of these guys want King coming to Oregon. Also, while I'm not sure about the family situations, if Scales' and McCain's familes are friendly w/ King's parents, that could help w/ familial pressure on King as well.

He's been to alot of our games and is no doubt in almost constant contact with our other commits and our coaches (as much is allowed), so while I certainly see where and why the negativity is coming from, I think there is cause for some positivity as well!

[gofightingducks]

You guys are so right. Lets just end recruiting right now & be thankful for all the lowly 1*s we somehow got. I mean, we will never get the bigtime 4*s. We're just poor little Oregon. We have no shot.

I don't think anybody is upset with the recruiting class so far and for me I am very happy with the caliber of players the Ducks have been getting the last few years. I just think there is a level of frustration that the Ducks are unable to land more of the big time players, particularly because all of the indicators say the Ducks are the team to beat and then that player ends up somewhere else. Like I said we as fans should be very happy with the level of talent we do get because we are not an elite program and will lose out more often then not on the top talent because we are recruiting against the elite programs. The coaching staff has done a great job recruiting across the country and garnering interest in the program and being in it til the end with the top talent in the country which is much more then any other non elite program can say. 3 years in a row the Ducks are in it for the #1 player in the country, not even any of the elite programs can say that. Eventually the Ducks will land one of the top players but it will take time and the coaches just need to continue doing what they have been. The level of talent the Ducks have been getting is a far cry from the local 1-2* guys they got every year until recently.

[featherbutt]

wow. so you've been to Penn State too? cool!
wow. so you've been to Nebraska too? cool!
wow. so you've been to Boise St. too? cool!
wow. so you've been to U of Illinois too? cool!
wow. so you've been to Wisconsin too? cool!
wow. so you've been to U of Arkansas too? cool!

shall I go on?

Penn State is close to major population centers here on the east coast. They also have a huge stadium.
Nebraska has tradition and are the only player in the state. They have a very large, nice stadium.
Illinois? I would guess that their level of recruits is not much different than ours. They have a large, redone stadium.
Wisconsin's town and campus are MUCH more appealing to the general student IMHO. I loved my time in Eugene however going to school in Madison would have been a lot more fun. They have a large, rowdy stadium
Arkansas's town aint much, however their facilities are fantastic and the weather, at first glance, is better than Eugene. They have a large, newly redone stadium

Should not be in the same argument:

Boise gets it done with coaching and chip on the shoulder attitude. We are not losing recruits to Boise.

I don't know about going against the listed schools for recruits. Seems to me that we have done OK going against Wisconsin and Nebraska with a few. Suh aside.

The one constant with all these schools (minus Boise) is stadium. That, I think is the most obvious gauge to most recruits. We as duck fans must come to grips with the fact that Autzen is nicer than it was, but it is still a tiny little dump of a place. The crowd can only do so much. Watching an Oregon game on TV is like pulling teeth for me. The camera angles make it look more like a HS stadium than a college shrine. In person it looks like a nice place, however if a recruit just came from a visit to Penn State, Nebraska, Illinois, or Wisconsin Autzen would look like a toy.

Fancy locker rooms only do part of the job. Indoor practice facilities try to hide another problem.

We can't change the fact that the weather in the Eugene/northwest area possibly could be the worst in the nation in the eyes of many recruits. Snow and cold does not bother a lot of people, especially if they are from an area like that already. Rain bothers everyone. Lack of sunshine bothers everyone. Everyone, that is, except Oregon Duck fans I guess.

Although I am sure that finishing the north side of Autzen might not be worth the dollars right now (or ever), I do wish it somehow could get done. We need 70,000+ to open some eyes. We can't change the weather. We can't change Eugene. We can try to overcome them.

The distance we have come since I was in school is substantial to say the least. Have we just hit the roof? I'm thinking yes.

[ncduck]

College Station is way out in BFE. For East Coast standards it is faaaaaar away from anything!

Not sure stadium size was the point.