NY Times inside story on Lufkin DT Jamarkus McFarland committing to OU...

[g$$]

Good read & insightful look inside the recruiting process. McFarland committed to OU on Christmas Day (signing day in Feb. of course, so we'll see). Seems pretty set on OU w/ mom & grandmother on board now.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/26/sports/ncaafootball/26recruit.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=sports

[Bigworm]

Good for him, glad to see Stoops have his WHOLE roster full of Texas boys! If their were a law where you had to go to school in your homestate, Oklahoma would not be good and all Texas teams would wreck.

[cshscougar08]

And we are certainly glad to have him. :D

[Rabid Cougar]

Ridiculous. Both on the school's and the kid's part.

[Gobbler Fan]

Texas has 2 very good DT verbally commited one from Arkansas and one from Texas . While it would have been nice to get McFarland this was just a bump in the road for the Longhorns in recruiting 2009 . The Longhorns have the 2nd best recruiting class in the Nation . The best of the group is Austin Lake Travis QB Garret Gilbert *ESPN Rise Gatorade Player of the year , USA Today Player of the year, State Player of the year* and DE Alex Okafor from Pflugerville ...but it would be nice to keep Texas recruits instate :cool:

[wildstangs]

OU can probably provide a better job for him down at Big Red Automobiles as well.

[Looking4number8]

Originally posted by wildstangs
OU can probably provide a better job for him down at Big Red Automobiles as well.

I have never been a OU fan but I went on a couple of recruiting trips (junior days) with Kenny Vacarro last year. Nothing impressed me more than OU. Their facility were great, just like the rest. What really impressed me was the way they kept telling the kids that they will be students first. Everyone from Bob Stoops, Josh Heupel and Sam Bradford talked about football some but the emphasis on classes a lot.

Just from my one day visit, any athlete going to OU is lucky to be there.

Congrats to this young man!

[Z-RO]

The author of this article is from Oklahoma. Thus the bias against Texas. Enough said, to be honest with you after reading all of this I am glad he will never step foot in Austin.

[Z-RO]

One more thing! McFarland wasnt even first team all-district in his own district, I think he is going to be an over hyped recruit like Darrell Scott.

[kepdawg]

Originally posted by Z-RO
One more thing! McFarland wasnt even first team all-district in his own district, I think he is going to be an over hyped recruit like Darrell Scott.

Uh, yes he was.

[Dogman_1969]

Originally posted by Looking4number8
I have never been a OU fan but I went on a couple of recruiting trips (junior days) with Kenny Vacarro last year. Nothing impressed me more than OU. Their facility were great, just like the rest. What really impressed me was the way they kept telling the kids that they will be students first. Everyone from Bob Stoops, Josh Heupel and Sam Bradford talked about football some but the emphasis on classes a lot.

Just from my one day visit, any athlete going to OU is lucky to be there.

Congrats to this young man!


That's funny. Not the word I got from a recruit that visited OU.

[Sweetwater Red]

Originally posted by Z-RO
One more thing! McFarland wasnt even first team all-district in his own district, I think he is going to be an over hyped recruit like Darrell Scott.



McFarland named second team all-state in 5A; Seven Panthers make All-Academic team


Click-2-Listen
By EDWIN QUARLES
The Lufkin Daily News

Friday, December 19, 2008

Lufkin defensive tackle JaMarkus McFarland, one of the nation's top recruits, was named to the Associated Press Sports Editors Class 5A all-state second team on Thursday.

McFarland, who earlier was named to the District 14-5A first-team all-district, had 53 tackles on the season, including 10 for losses and four quarterback sacks.

"It's an honor to be recognized at this level and to be named as one of the top players in the state," McFarland said.

McFarland entered the year as one of the nation's top recruits and was being looked at by such schools as LSU, Texas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M. Late in the season he was the 13th-ranked player by Rivals.com and also the No. 51 recruit according to the ESPNU 150. In November, McFarland was selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl game on Jan. 3. The game is considered the nation's premier high school football all-star game.

"I've gotten some honors for my play and it just shocks me each time," McFarland said. "It's not something expected. I work hard every day and strive to get better day by day. These honors are a blessing."

McFarland says he's narrowed his college choices down to two schools — Oklahoma and Texas — but did not put a timeline on when he'd make a decision only that he's considering both.

McFarland and the Panthers struggled early in the season, going 2-3 in non-district games before recovering to go 4-1 in district and advancing two rounds into the playoffs.

"We had a tough schedule and our biggest loss was by two touchdowns," McFarland said. "We played some good teams, but we kept going and playing with enthusiasm."


http://www.lufkindailynews.com/hp/content/sports/stories/2008/12/19/mcfarland.html

[Looking4number8]

Originally posted by Dogman_1969
That's funny. Not the word I got from a recruit that visited OU.

Maybe it all depends on the visit. Lots of juniors and their parents there that day. I was impressed and I am a long time UT fan.

[Johnny Moxen]

That article is a friggin joke. Your telling me that a family that thinks of academics first is going to select OU, which has the lowest graduation rate (46%) in the Big 12 (possibly just the South conference). If academics are that important then they should have selected Texas Tech which has a 76% graduation rate.

[BIG BLUE DEFENSIVE END]

Who cares? Really, you should all be happy for the kid. He's worked hard and is getting to continue his football career and further his education at the same time. He could have not went to school and worked a meaningless job for the rest of his life or even worse got into participating in illegal activities. Just because he decided to go somewhere aside from a Texas school doesn't mean that he's a traitor to our state or disloyal, it means that he's ambitious and doing what he feels is the best thing for him. I think he's doing a great thing by going to the school that he had the opportunity to pick and hope that everything works out for him. I didn't read the article at all, either.

[Aesculus gilmus]

The article reminded me of Smash and his mama on the "Friday Night Lights" TV show. It seems the recruiting vignettes on that show are fairly close to what happens in reality, after reading this article.

[cshscougar08]

Originally posted by Johnny Moxen
That article is a friggin joke. Your telling me that a family that thinks of academics first is going to select OU, which has the lowest graduation rate (46%) in the Big 12 (possibly just the South conference). If academics are that important then they should have selected Texas Tech which has a 76% graduation rate.

TEXAS TECH is the joke. They are a total joke academically. My 8th grade sister could have a 4.0 there. And whoever said that the article writer was biased against Texas is also an idiot. Just because the guy is from Oklahoma. Wow you're a moron.

[Matthew328]

Agreed, who cares where the kid goes. He's got a chance to further his education. I say congrats.

[kepdawg]

Rebuttal from Orangebloods (http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=893523)

[JR2004]

Originally posted by cshscougar08
TEXAS TECH is the joke. They are a total joke academically. My 8th grade sister could have a 4.0 there. And whoever said that the article writer was biased against Texas is also an idiot. Just because the guy is from Oklahoma. Wow you're a moron.

The hypocrisy of your signature vs. calling people idiots and morons is strong!

[Rabid Cougar]

It was an easy choice. OU playing in the Championship game and Texas isn't. If it was the other way around he would have gone to Texas. If it was about academics, he would have gone to Rice.

[Phil C]

Everyone has the choice to make even though I wonder if they made money on the article. Anyway what Texas and other Big 12 Schools have to do now is simple. Recruit OL that can block him. That is similar to what UT did in the 70s when top running back Billy Sims went to OU and won the Heisman and had a great NFL career. UT recruited two great DL from my hometown of Freer (Steve McMichael and Bill Acker - both who played in the NFL). They stoped Sims enough to have a 2 - 1 - 1 record against him and Oklahoma.

[Phil C]

Hey BBDE have you noticed a recruiting trend lately? It seems there are always a few top players in the country that wait until late and some till the last day to announce where they are going for whatever reason they have. It seems that there is so much interest on a few that many times folks overlook the great players that have already committed to them.

[Gobbler Fan]

Corso said it best Oklahoma does not know how to win if they are behind that was proven against Texas . This game will be all Florida ... Stoops will choke once again in a BCS game.

[cshscougar08]

Originally posted by Gobbler Fan
Corso said it best Oklahoma does not know how to win if they are behind that was proven against Texas . This game will be all Florida ... Stoops will choke once again in a BCS game.

What does THAT have to do with this recruiting thread?

[Electus Unus]

Someone told me that he was having trouble beating the one on ones this season and that he may be overhyped. Anyone have any truths to this?

[Gobbler Fan]

Not a thing ...but all the nonsense that article is saying it fits right in .

[cshscougar08]

Originally posted by Gobbler Fan
Not a thing ...but all the nonsense that article is saying it fits right in .

Well if you say that the nonsense fits right in, then what you said about it being all Florida is nonsense too. Way to contradict yourself!!! :D:clap:

[LH Panther Mom]

Originally posted by Phil C
Everyone has the choice to make even though I wonder if they made money on the article.
Articles don't make money. Advertising, subscriptions & sales are the money-makers.

[DDBooger]

Originally posted by LH Panther Mom
sales are the money-makers.
if it is a hot story, you'd expect a influx in sales. no?

Certainly, not big enough a story to sell more than average papers though. blah, who cares, it isn't like Texas doesn't have a plethora of talent committed already.

[Gobbler Fan]

I'll say this much, the Texas-OU weekend is out of control and wild beyond belief. Of course the parties that weekend will be crazier than the average Saturday night shindig in Norman, Oklahoma. By the way, OU was the home team this year in the RRR, which means Jamarkus WAS AN OU RECRUIT THAT WEEKEND!!! OU was responsible for him throughout his visit, and Texas coaches and players could not even speak to him. If anything did indeed happen that weekend, it was on the OU coaches' collective watch.

[bp80884]

After reading this, I have to say that this is a load of HORSE- POOP. No Bad language just in case Mrs Adams is reading this and does not want to taint her innocent little boy's ears.

I have to say I am not a fan of either school. As a matter of fact, I pretty much hate them both equally. However, I can say that this story has many holes in it. It is obviously that the recruiting process is not squeeky clean, but I do not think either Coach Stoops or Coach Brown would be this blantly obvious about their indiscretions. To me, this sounds like an agenda on behalf of the family and/or the reporter. As top level athletes, there is one thing all players have to realize. they have to do it better and cleaner than others. they have to remove themselves from these types of situations. Mr. McFarland and his mother Mrs. Adams need to learn how to take care of their business and do it the right way. If these accusations are true, then they need to provide this information to the NCAA, not to a reporter would can be biaed without consequence.

I have 1 last question:

Would Mrs Adams have made these accusations if it meant that her son could be punished if these accusations were not true or even slander? How about if her son could not take a NCAA scholarship if they we fabricated? If the answer is yes, then talk to the NCAA and let them work it out. Otherwise, apologize and learn to shut your mouth. Learn what to say, when to say it, and who to say it to.

This kind of crap takes place when there are no consequences for peoples actions. When athletes are forced to take responsibility for their action and words, then changes will be made. Thanks to Roger Goodell, David Stern and Gary Bettman for not putting up with players arrogant statements and holding players accountable at a professional level. There are ways to take care of this type of situation and the media is not that place.

I do not look at any of these schools any differently. The only thing that could change the way I feel is if OU asked Mr McFarland to either come totally clean on this story or not attend OU. If this happened, I would be an immediate OU fan. Heck, I would even put an OU sticker on my Jeep right next to my A&M helmet!

[DDBooger]

There are accusations and then reality
"BOMAR"
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff30/BarkingCarnival/206233437_d9e362a354.jpg
lmao j/k ou fans!