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Random Thoughts – Wray of Sunshine Edition – Volume XXVI
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Buff Trivia Question of the Week … How many returning Pac-12 wide receivers posted 1,000-yard seasons in 2018?
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Wray of Sunshine … Wray of Hope? …
Four-star offensive line prospect Jake Wray had his choice of teams to attend.
From last season’s top ten teams in the Associated Press poll, Wray had offers from No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 6 LSU, No. 7 Florida, No. 8 Georgia, No. 9 Texas and No. 10 Washington State.
Or, put another way, Wray had offers from every Top Ten from last year except Clemson and Oklahoma.
And yet Wray chose Colorado.
“I’m not going to go looking for a logo or a place that looks like the best on the outside, but once you get on the inside, it’s not exactly how you want to be treated, or the life that you want,” Wray told the Daily Camera about his decision. “This is one of the only times I can decide what I want to do in my life and I’m going to take advantage of that. I’m going to find the best place for me.”
Now, the Buffs did have a pair of “in’s” with Wray, who hails from Marietta, Georgia.
The first was his relationship with the CU head coach Mel Tucker and offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic.
“I’ve known coach Tucker for a while, so my dad was comfortable with him,” Wray said. “He’s got a five-year deal and he’s very impressive when we met with him.
“I love coach Kap; absolutely love coach Kap. I love the whole staff that they’ve got going on there. There’s a really big movement going on and my dad always told me about the times when Colorado and Nebraska and Georgia Tech were going at it in the early 90s.”
The other “in” was that Wray lived in the state of Colorado growing up, living in the state from 2002-10.
“I have a lot of great memories with my brother and I, and family vacations,” Wray told BuffStampede.com. “It is what you consider an ideal childhood memory, I would say came from Colorado. Little things from the first time I got in trouble, second grade having sleepovers and that kind of stuff. Mostly I remember going back out there to see family, because living out here I don’t have a ton of family.”
Wray originally committed to Ohio State, where his brother plays, but de-committed when head coach Urban Meyer retired. Now, Wray says he is all in with the Buffs, and plans on graduating early and being on campus in Boulder in January.
“My bother did that and he said it was one of the best decisions he could have made,” Wray said. “I’m going to do the same thing and I can’t wait. I’m really excited just to get to work. I don’t like to talk about it a lot. I’m excited about the potential of the opportunity that I have. I’m excited just to get to work and help out in any way that I can.
“I’m one of those guys that just wants to show up and I just want to work.”
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But will Wray lead the way? …
Jake Wray becomes the fourth commitment from the CU Recruiting Class of 2020, joining quarterback Brendon Lewis from Melissa, Texas, safety Joe Perkins from Madison, Mississippi, and offensive lineman Carson Lee, from Greenwood Village, Colorado.
With Wray’s commitment, Colorado moved up to 49th in the national Rivals rankings, sixth in the Pac-12; 53rd in the national 247 Sports rankings, also sixth in the Pac-12 (with all of the teams rated above CU having between 4-8 commitments).
A sign of good things to come?
Well, with over six months before the early Signing Day in December, a great deal can happen … including CU’s first regular season under Mel Tucker.
But Tucker & Co. are still facing an uphill challenge when trying to convince young men to come to Boulder, all of whom were born since the last season (2001) when the University of Colorado won a conference title.
And that holds even for players from the State of Colorado.
Of the top five players from the state from the Class of 2020 (Rivals rankings), one is committed to Notre Dame, one is committed to Northwestern. A third, offensive lineman Roger Rosengarten this week announced his decision to make his commitment to one of two teams … Washington or Oregon.
The Buffs under Mel Tucker are making some inroads in recruiting … but there is still plenty of work to be done.
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Not much love for Mel Tucker from Athlon Sports …
There are 27 new head coaches in FBS football this fall, including 11 from Power-Five schools.
The Buff Nation is excited about the future of the program under Mel Tucker, but that optimism is not being shared by the folks at Athlon Sports.
Of the 27 new head coaches, Athlon ranks Mel Tucker … at No. 21, behind the likes of Hugh Freeze at Liberty (No. 10), Gary Andersen at Utah State (No. 11), Jim McElwain at Central Michigan (No. 14), and Les Miles at Kansas (No. 19).
What Athlon has to say about Tucker:
A former defensive back at Wisconsin in the early 1990’s, Tucker spent a decade in the NFL before jumping back to the collegiate ranks as an assistant at Alabama in 2015. He then made the move to Georgia with Kirby Smart, where is was the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator the past three seasons. Tucker has an outstanding reputation, but as a coach and recruiter – though a lot of coaches would enjoy success coordinating defenses at schools such as Alabama and Georgia. He inherits a Colorado program that won the Pac-12 South Division just three years ago. The right coach can win in Boulder.
Nothing like damning with faint praise. Buff fans would agree with the final sentence, “the right coach can win in Boulder”, but Tucker’s ranking, and the rest of the write-up, indicates that the folks at Athlon aren’t certain it is going to happen.
#Relentless … and hopefully sooner rather than later.
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Buff Trivia Question of the Week … How many returning Pac-12 wide receivers posted 1,000-yard seasons in 2018?
Answer … Only one: Laviska Shenault of Colorado. Despite missing three games (and parts of three others), Shenault had 86 receptions for 1,011 yards (and six touchdowns) in 2018. Next on the list of returning receivers in the Pac-12 is Isaiah Hodges of Oregon State, who had 876 yards receiving last season, and Michael Pittman of USC, who had 758 receiving yards in 2018.
4 Replies to “Random Thoughts – Wray of Sunshine Edition”
< Fairly Random………………
VK-RUMORS- TRUTHS-POSSIBILITIES
There is a rumor that The Buffs will win 8 games this year. There is truth to that and it is a possibility.
There is a rumor That HCMT will play the best players. Truth to that and a high probability
There is a rumor that Jakes Brother will transfer from Ohio State to The Mighty Buffs. The truth is unknown at this time but the possibility is less than 50%. Or maybe not.
There is a rumor that the Mighty Buffs will take only 3 offensive linemen this year. There is some truth to that actually. And it is very possible that is all they will take.
There is a rumor the DB crew is a very weak link. Not sure that is true actually. It is very possible they could be an excellent group.
Again, randomness is a wonderful trait. I live it.
Buffs.
One correction: Chris Kapilovic was at North Carolina under Larry Fedora the last seven years.
Good catch!
Got it corrected.
Thanks,
Stuart
The first few months of Coach Tuck has been very encouraging. Mostly love the commitment to the message and how it seems to be backed up by the staff at every possible opportunity. Discipline and toughness….what Mac2.0 always talked about but never instilled.