Colorado University Athletics
Jon Embree NSD Press Conference Quotes
February 01, 2012 | Football
Opening Statement
"We signed a big class; we signed 28 kids. We're very excited about it. Today we got better. The Buffaloes definitely got better. There is a lot of excitement around our program. I was just down in the weight room and some of the guys up in my office earlier today, they're excited about their future teammates. I'm going to talk about each kid for about 15-30 seconds then open it up to questions. I imagine there will be a lot of questions today, so I want to give everyone an opportunity to get their questions asked. We're going in reverse alphabetical order:
On Defensive Back Yuri Wright
"We got Yuri out of Don Bosco where he was a teammate of Tony Jones. We're very excited about him. Defensive back and D-line were two areas of emphasis for us this year. If you watched us play last year, you know we had some issues with those positions from a depth standpoint. We feel like we addressed those appropriately in this class. So, we have Yuri coming in."
On Defensive Lineman De'Jon Wilson
"De'Jon is from Washington, D.C. He's one of the 'D.C. Three.' For those of you that have been around here a long time, we had the 'H Boys', who were Alfred [Williams], Kanavis [McGhee] and Arthur Walker. Now we have the 'D.C. Three.' De'Jon is one of those guys at defensive end. We're excited about him. He has a knack for getting turnovers and doing something with it when he gets them. He's a good pass rusher on the edge. We think he's a good addition to our program."
On Wide Receiver Peyton Williams
"Peyton Williams is a fantastic receiver out of Southlake Carroll. He blew his knee out in the state
semi-finals game. His team went on and won the championship. It's a very historic program down there in Texas and one of the biggest classifications. To get someone like him, we think he'll be fine by the time camp starts in August. He's rehabbing very vigorously and getting after it so we think he'll make it."
On Defensive Back John Walker
"Walker is part of the 'D.C. Three.' John is a corner. We think he can help us at the nickel position early on. He's a very physical player. He can run. Again, he can probably help us on (special) teams also. We're excited to have him."
On Defensive Lineman Josh Tupou
"He's a full grown man. He is six-foot-three, 302 pounds and a very lean looking kid. He will help us on the inside immediately. He's one of the defensive linemen, one of the eight we signed. He brings something to the table immediately. We're looking forward to seeing him get in here this summer and get with our guys."
On Wide Receiver Jeffrey Thomas
"We signed two receivers out of Texas with the name Thomas - Jeffery and Gerald. Bobby Kennedy struggles with names so he did that to help himself out. Jeff Thomas is six-foot-three. He has a good knack of going down the field and getting the ball. He has good jumping ability and catches at a high point. He wins a lot of the 50/50 balls. Again, playing from a good program in Duncanville. He'll be able to come in and compete immediately."
On Wide Receiver Gerald Thomas
"Gerald is the smaller of the two. Gerald I think will help us immediately with special teams and the return game. He is electric with the ball and he can get behind you. I think one game he had over 200 yards receiving. Once again, he's coming out of a very good program."
On Defensive Linemen Johnny Stuart
"Johnny Stuart from Westlake. One of two teammates, he was teammates with Justin Solis. Johnny is a defensive end. He's a very good athlete. He plays basketball also. He does a really good job of holding the edge. They lost the championship game to De La Salle. He's a guy that again, due to the nature of our positions and our depth at defensive end, has an opportunity early."
On Defensive Lineman Justin Solis
"He's an inside player. I believe he was defensive player of the year for his section. He's very active for a guy his size. I think we list him as weighing 280 or something around that. When I went to see him in December, he probably weighed 300. He's very active and very instinctive. He's a guy that we're really looking forward to."
On Tight End Austin Ray
"He's a tight end from Columbia, Mo. Austin's a big kid. I would say he's six-foot-five-and-a-half. He's another guy that plays basketball. You always like that out of your tight ends, for them to have that ability. He's a guy that can get down the field. He's a good blocker. We'll make him better. He's a kid that will come in and compete for us right away."
On Defensive Linemen Kory Rasmussen
"Kory Rasmussen is from Hawai'i. The one guy that we have this year from Hawai'i. Kory is a great kid with a great personality. He's an inside player for us. He reminds me some of Curtis Cunningham, in regards to his stature. He finds a way to make plays and does a good job of using his hands."
On Fullback Christian Powell
"Two guys that are really sleeping good tonight are Eric Bieniemy and Kanavis McGhee. They wanted fullbacks and defensive linemen. We have two fullbacks in this class. Christian was a kid that we thought was going to commit to us early in the process. Texas A&M, Nebraska, Washington - he had a lot of schools on him. Right before he was going to commit to us, he told us he was going to visit UCLA. We were worried, thinking he might want to stay close to home. He committed to them and then called us this weekend and decided to let us know that he would rather be a Buff. We're happy to have him."
On Running Back Davien Payne
"Davien is a running back out of California. He's a bigger back. He's not a big back in the sense of Chris Brown, but he's a bigger back from a weight standpoint. He's a very physical runner. He does have the ability to take it to the house when he gets to that second level. Obviously with Tony Jones, Josh Ford and some other guys, he's going to be in the mix competing early."
On Fullback Clay Norgard
"I'm really happy to have him. I played with his father Erik. Clay is an in-state kid, one of the three that we got. He's going to play fullback for us. He enrolled early. He's already here. In fact, he's next door in the study table area. I'm sure mom and dad will be happy to hear that. He's doing a good job so far. He'll get a head start in everything during spring football."
On Defensive Back Marques Mosley
"Marques is one of the three kids that we signed from Upland, Calif. Marques, [Christian] Powell and Donta Abron. Marques will play corner for us. He went both ways there. He has very good speed and great length. I think when you look at the success that Coach [Greg] Brown has had with defensive backs, they are all guys with great length. Him, Yuri [Wright], Jeff [Hall] and Kenneth Crawley all have good length."
On Defensive Lineman Derek McCartney
"Derek will be coming in with us. He's a defensive end and Coach [Bill] McCartney's grandson. He's a great kid. He has an unbelievable frame. He plays three sports and is a state champion in all three. He's a highly decorated athlete and we're very excited to have Derek as part of our program. We're anxious to see how he continues to grow. Our coaches were shocked at how much bigger he had gotten from when he was in our summer camp to when he came up to Boulder in January."
On Offensive Lineman Gerrad Kough
"An offensive linemen from Pomona, Calif., he's a guy that what really jumped out at us when we were watching him: You see he's nasty and finishes you to the ground. He gets after you. There's a certain toughness about him. We're excited and we think that that kind of mindset and mentality are what we need."
On Offensive Lineman Alex Kelley
"Alex is a legacy also. His father played here with Brian Cabral. He's a kid that broke his foot last summer so he came in as a grayshirt. He's been very impressive in the weight room and with his running. He's a kid that we will look at as a guard. With his athleticism and his strength, when you watch him run and do other things, you wouldn't believe it. He's a kid that through the spring, we'll be talking about more in the fall."
On Defensive Lineman Samson Kafovalu
"Defensive end out of California. Samson plays with an unbelievable motor. He has pretty good technique right now. That's a great combination. Both him and Josh Tupou were guys that a lot of schools in our conference were really hammering to try to get them to flip to them. They stayed strong to us."
On Defensive Lineman Kisima Jagne
"Kisima might have the upside of all of these defensive linemen. He has unbelievable length. He's all of six-foot-five and probably has the wingspan of a seven-footer. He does a good job at getting on the edge. He has great speed closing in on the quarterback. Kisima is also an unbelievable basketball player. He really is a very good basketball player. He's not just a kid that plays a sport, he excels at it."
On Tight End Sean Irwin And Offensive Lineman Jeromy Irwin
"Then we've got twins - Sean and Jeromy Irwin from Houston, Texas. Sean is a tight end. Right now his role is going to be a more blocking role. He can catch the ball and do some good things with it but he's great at the line of scrimmage. His brother, Jeromy, is an offensive lineman that we think has an opportunity to get into the mix early. He's a guy that we will look at for either tackle or guard. He gives us flexibility. One of the things that we wanted to get with our linemen was guys that gave us more flexibility on the line. The ability to be a tackle or a guard."
On Tight End Vincent Hobbs
"He's another very good basketball player. He's got good range. He's six-foot-five and weighs 240 right now. He'll be a 260 or 265 pound guy once it's all said and done. With his athleticism, that will be scary."
On Defensive Lineman Tyler Henington
"Coming out of Denver Mullen, he's another in-state kid. He was the Defensive Player of the Year for the state of Colorado. Tyler is another guy that a lot of schools made runs at. He stayed strong. He's a great kid and I'm excited to get him up here. He has a tremendous family and I really enjoyed my home visit with them. He's a kid that bleeds black and gold. We're excited about him."
On Defensive Back Jeffrey Hall
"A corner out of Louisiana and a very good baseball player. He plays center field. He has really good instincts. He was a quarterback, a receiver and then moved to defensive back this year and had nine picks. He was a guy that as he was learning the position, you could just see him getting better each week. I think Eric Bieniemy did a great job recruiting him. He recruited him hard early and that allowed us to get him. A lot of big schools made a run at him late and so we are glad to have him."
On Quarterback Shane Dillon
"Shane is the quarterback in the class. He committed to us early. We're very excited. He's about six-foot-five and weighs around 200 pounds. He'll be big once he stops playing basketball. As you can tell, we have some good basketball players in this class. He's been great. He's come up a couple times unofficially to help us recruit and get teammates to play with him. He's a guy that will come in this summer and compete with the rest of the guys."
On Running Back Terrence Crowder
"A running back that committed early, he got hurt about the third play of his senior year. He blew out his knee, which was unfortunate. He's a physical runner. He's a smaller guy but he's probably around 215, I would say. He has to work to keep his weight at that but he's got big thighs and he runs through tackles. He also has the speed to pull away when necessary."
On Defensive Back Kenneth Crawley
"The last of the 'D.C. Three.' He has a great personality. He'll make Coach [Greg] Brown's meeting room a little more lively. He's a great kid and we're excited to have him. He's another guy that stayed true. Originally he was committed to Tennessee. Then when he committed to us, Georgia, Auburn, Michigan, Michingan State - they all came in and tried to get him. He stayed true to the Buffs. He's anxious to get out here."
On Running Back Donta Abron
"It was scary when we watched his tape. Eric [Bieniemy] and I were laughing because he reminded us of Maurice Jones-Drew when Maurice was being recruited. Like Maurice, he wasn't recruiting heavily early on in the process. Later on in the year in December of his senior year, other schools tried to come in. Eric did a great job, as well as Kanavis [McGhee], as far as developing a relationship with those Upland, Calif. guys."
"That's our class. We are definitely better and we are looking forward to spring ball."
On Recruiting In Texas, California, And Colorado
"There were three areas that we wanted to reestablish. We got it done in two. The third area was Colorado. We didn't do a good enough job. We got three kids. We missed on some of them. I know a couple of them wanted to leave state and that's sometimes going to be the case. The ones that weren't quite sure what they wanted to do, we didn't do a good enough job. When I say 'we', I mean 'me'. I've got to continue to try and figure out what it is that we need to do. For the kids next year, there are four kids that I was in their high schools during late January to let the coach know that we want to build our program with their kids. So we'll keep recruiting them. A lot of the kids that we did lose, we were the first to offer them. It wasn't necessarily us being late on kids. I have to do a better job of getting them to understand what this place is capable of. I understand that a lot of kids, when they are in seventh, eighth, ninth grade, that's when they maybe start following college football. I understand that we haven't been what we're going to be. They have to understand that they can come here and be part of us getting back to the way things used to be around here. We'll continue to work at it and we'll keep doing our best at it and eventually it will turn."
On Recruiting Players That Love The Game
"I think when you watch them when the ball doesn't go their way or when they are away from a play, what do they do? That will tell you how important the game is to them. If you love doing it, if you're passionate, you're running around and always moving, always doing something. That's one of the things. Another thing is when we talk to high school coaches, do they play hurt? To me, if you're a guy that will go out there and play hurt then obviously it's important to you. You've got to know the difference between hurt and injured though. Those are just a couple of the components. As you talk to a kid, you can get a feel for how important it is to them and what it means to them. What would happen if they didn't have it? I think all those things help you with that decision and help you make that judgment on whether or not they are passionate about football."
On Positions Where He Did Not Sign Many Players
"Linebacker really wasn't a priority. When I first got hired, when I looked at the board, we had a lot of holes, so I kind of prioritized how we needed to fill them. This year it was defensive back and D-line, so when we took three (linebackers) in that first class I was a part of I told them that unless it was a great player that we're not going to take one this year because we had other issues that we had to address. That's what we did. There were a couple guys that we looked at. We didn't take one of them and then another one decided he wasn't going to be a Buff. We just felt like there were other issues that we needed to address; we'll address that next year. Same with the offensive line; we feel fine with where our line is at. Is it great depth as far as three-deep? Probably not, but at the same time we had other pressing issues that we needed to fix. I feel after next year we can probably recruit a little more, I don't want to say normal, but maybe more like other schools in that you're taking a couple at each position every year instead of having to load up at a few positions to provide depth and players."
On High School Teammates Coming To CU Together
"Colorado is a unique program in that we have three kids in-state this year and last year we had two, so there are 25 kids in this class that are leaving home. So it's unique in that manner in that there are guys who are going to be going through different things, homesickness at different times, going through other issues, and so the good thing about having that sheer number is that there will be someone to listen to them and have some empathy in what they're going through. They can say all they want, they're all tough, and then they're in my office on my couch talking about momma and the dog and everybody else that they miss. They all go through it, so it will help having other teammates. It will also help too in I think our parents do a great job around here. So the 'D.C. Three,' when one of the parents comes out, I'm sure they'll look out for the other two and a couple of others. It takes some pressure off the parents from the standpoint that they won't have to be here every week. There will be somebody here watching their son or grandson play football and take them out to dinner, help them, feed them."
On Whether They Have Any Scholarships Left
"We still have one. You kind of like, as J.D. [Brookhart] says, you kind of like to have one in your pocket. You never know what happens later on down the line, someone qualifying late, or somebody slipping through the cracks. It's always good to keep one, so we'll keep one in our pocket for now."
On Recruiting The Irwin Brothers
"Steve Marshall and Kanavis [McGhee] did that and it was-when I did the home visit and went in there, first off, they can eat. I told his mom and step-dad, you guys are going to go and cruise around the world with all this money you're about to save. They can eat. They're great, great kids. They're actually triplets. There is another one, but he doesn't play football, so you can imagine the dynamic in that house. They're practical jokers, they're really good kids. That locker room downstairs is about to change."
On Signing Two Players Coming Off Serious Knee Injuries
"One happened in September (Terrence Crowder) and he had committed to us. We tell them, if you commit to us and say you're with us, then we're with you. Same thing with Peyton [Williams], they had both committed. We're not overly concerned about them coming back. Technology and medicine, the way it's changed, it's like tearing cartilage back when I was playing; it was like no big deal. I'm not worried or concerned. It wasn't anything where there was significant damage, it was just an ACL. A lot of athletes today come back from that, generally without an issue."
On How Many Recruits Can Play As Freshmen
"All the D-linemen are going to be in the mix. Receivers, DB's, and we'll see what happens with the offensive linemen. I'd say about 75 percent, 80 percent of them have an opportunity to come in and earn some playing time, special teams or regular."
On Concerns About Being Young Next Season
"The good thing about young is they grow up. I actually have thought about that, about how young we possibly could be. It's good and bad. The good is they don't know any better. There are no bad habits. Thanks to the senior class, they don't have to hear about the (road losing) streak anymore, so they don't have to worry about that. At the end of it, it's still football. I played a lot as a 17 year-old kid and I remember what I thought, and the reality of it is after the first three or four plays, I didn't think twice about it. Greg Henderson played 800-some snaps for us last year and I thought he did a real good job. I'm sure there will be some mistakes that are made because of their youth, but also there is not just youth in this class, there is talent. Hopefully the youth shows up in practice and the talent shows up on Saturday."
On Whether He Had Any Second Thoughts Recruiting DB Yuri Wright
"A couple things about Yuri-no, I didn't have any reservations. Yuri had been on our campus a couple times so I had an opportunity to get to know him, and then obviously phone conversations. And then being the father of a couple of boys who are similar age range, I understand that he made a mistake, but I don't think that's a reason you bury a kid. I had great conversations with the chancellor, and I told him that I believe part of my responsibility sitting here in this chair is to mentor and teach African-American boys how to become men, and how to be men, and to help them through when they make mistakes and somebody to be there to pick them up. Too often in our community there is no one there to help them. They all want to be their friend-Yuri Wright had a ton of friends before this incident, and what I told Yuri, 'Now you know who really is for you.' It was a hard conversation; the kid had been crying. I talked to him the Friday, I believe it was a Friday afternoon. I talked to Mike Bohn and let him know we were going to continue to recruit the kid. We let the chancellor know; we had conversations there. I called the kid and told him that no matter what happens, and there are a few kids that aren't here that we've recruited, that no matter what happens that if they need to talk, I'll be there to talk with them and that you just don't have to be here, because I want to help them, and they do need help. Not just Yuri. Having that conversation with him and knowing how much it hurt him, I'm glad that he chose to come here.
"It's easy to judge, it's easy to call someone out, and I know I'm not the only one in this room that's glad I was 17 years-old in the 80's, when we didn't have cell phones and Facebook and you could just say whatever (without the world seeing it). I have shared that with our team, about the responsibility that comes with social media. I don't want to ban them because that train has left the station. That's part of them, and growing up is learning some of these lessons. Sometimes it's a hard lesson and yet at the same time I don't think it's a reason to not allow a kid an opportunity to improve himself. It has nothing to do with football. I know people will sit there and say, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah.' We had some highly rated players that I didn't take because I didn't think they would do the work academically or some other things. There were kids last year that I didn't take because I felt like from a character standpoint that wasn't what we needed in our program. I've heard from a lot of people; it's been amazing the support. I've heard from four people (in opposition), and really three because one I don't count. If you can't put your name on it, don't worry about sending it to me. But three people at least had courage enough to do that and I appreciate that and I will reach out to them throughout the process and talk to them because I want them to understand what's going on.
"Part of my job-if I don't win, I'm not sitting here, but at the same time there are 105 kids in that locker room and I have to help them become men. Plain and simple. All of them come from a different set of circumstances and some of them, their journey is going to be a lot longer than others, and some of them their journey won't end while they are here. I pride myself on the fact that a lot of athletes that I've coached or recruited at other schools and back here; they reach out to me when they need help. That's what I'm here for, so it never once crossed my mind not to help this kid; be it if he came here or went somewhere else."
On Assurances That DB Yuri Wright Will Finish High School
"Yes, yes, yes. He's appealing; I think he finds out tomorrow or Friday. He's already set to enroll in another school, so he'll finish. There are already people back there that are helping him along with that process."
On The Content Of DB Yuri Wright's Tweets
"I had a meeting with the players, and we'll talk about it again. We're going to continue to address this issue and talk about it. Basically what I told the players is don't tweet anything about girls, don't use the 'N-word,' don't tweet anything about your teammates. Even if you think it's a joke and you want to say something about a player and you're joking, other people might not know it's an inside joke. Other people might take it a different way. Those are the basic ground rules that we've talked about. We'll talk about it more as we continue to go on this semester. That was probably the most disappointed thing about what Yuri did is using the 'N-word.' It's just there is no place for it. I know, unfortunately, it is a generational thing. They say it like they're saying 'my homeboy.' What they don't understand, I don't think they truly understand the connotation of that word. I don't think they, unfortunately, understand the struggles associated with being an African-American to overcome some of those things. Then, obviously, with music, it kind of numbs you to it when the music that you listen to uses it. I'm not judging, I'm just speaking for me. That was the most disappointing thing about that, not that the other things weren't disappointing. That's something that all of us, and when I say all of us I mean us African-Americans, we need to change that."
On DB Yuri Wright Becoming More Mature Because Of This Adversity
"He touched a hot stove; I'll be surprised if he touches it again. He's very remorseful. I know he had an apology that was put out there. You know, he is a good kid. He made a mistake. He made a mistake and one I'm confident that he will not repeat."
On DB Yuri Wright's Appeal In Process At Don Bosco
"I have no idea. I'm not involved in any of that."
On Recruits Visiting During The Season Versus Afterward
"It's hard on official visits (during the season) because you don't get to spend time with them. That's something that we'll continue to revisit. Obviously if you get into a bowl game, that makes it a lot easier because you have that weekend where you have them and you're practicing, so I'd rather do it that way. It's hard during the season because you don't really get to spend time with them, and I tell coaches if you bring them in you're on your own because I'm focusing on the game. For those of you who have been lucky enough to be in my press conferences, you know how I am after losses, so I usually don't get a lot of time with guys. We'll play it by ear whether that's something we continue to increase doing. I prefer if it's a unique situation that we do that. Having said that, the kids who did come on official visits, our crowd was tremendous. It really impacted the players because, obviously winning one home game, some of those guys were in there for losses, but they were wowed by the support we have here. That did help."
On Whether QB Shane Dillon Can Compete Immediately
"Oh yeah. All of these guys. The first thing about him is his footwork and his size. He can really whip it. He can make all the throws. He runs well. He makes good decisions; you can see him go through his progressions. You can see him make good decisions. Then when he was in here and Rip [Scherer] had him on the (chalk) board, just talking with him, he had a good sense of what kind of quarterback he is. To play this position now, you have to be a gym rat. You have to be that guy who is in here all the time. Last night about 5 o'clock, Connor Wood was in the staff room watching tape. I was teasing him, I was like, 'Are you sure you know how to work it?' He was like, 'Oh did you change the password?' I was like, 'No,' just messing with him, but you have to have that nowadays if you're going to play that position. He had those qualities."
On Other Schools Coming In Late On DB Jeffrey Hall
"Missouri, Arizona, Indiana."
On How DB Jeffrey Hall Slipped Under The Radar
"I don't know. A lot of kids do. I remember when I was recruiting Maurice Jones-Drew. When I went in on the first visit to see him, it was Colorado, Washington State, and Wisconsin. That was it. And then by the time we went to our bowl game, it was Oregon, it was USC, it was Arizona State. UCLA didn't offer him until we went there, until Eric [Bieniemy] and I went to UCLA. It happens like that a lot for kids like that. I think people recruit off a list. Other times, guys get locked in on certain people. One of the things we did is Greg Brown, myself, and pretty much the whole staff, we sat down and watched all the corners and ranked them. We got our top four. We really don't, as you can tell by this class, care about who has been offering them at the time when we do it. There are a lot of schools that don't want to be the first to offer. We don't worry about that. If we want him and think he fits our system and can help us win, we'll offer him. If other people follow, great. If they don't, great."
On Concern About Depth On The Offensive Line
"A little bit, but there is enough versatility in our guys that we're okay. Our depth more along maybe our third (unit is a concern), but not along our first two. I feel good about that. Obviously that's one of the advantages of playing young guys last year. Then when Daniel Munyer got dinged up and Jack Harris, that forced more guys to play. We have Jack back, Daniel Munyer can play center or guard, Kaiwi [Crabb] can play center or guard. Alex Lewis now is coming on. There is plenty of flexibility. It's up to your initial maybe 10 or 11 that you get a little thinned out, but that first couple groups, feel good about it."
On Position Changes
"Not off the top of my head. You know [Nick] Kasa (moving to tight end), that was last year. Nothing since Fall. DaVaughn [Thornton] is staying at wide receiver, but he played the last five or six games there."
On Re-evaluating The Recruiting Process After A Full Year To Put Together This Class
"I talked to you about trying to stay in our footprint and stick to that. Our footprint expanded. Now D.C. is an area we'll be going regularly. So, good luck, Kanavis [McGhee]. He'll be in that middle seat (on an airplane), sitting there mad at me. So we'll do that. We're going to sit down as a staff and talk about our areas. Some guys felt they had too much of an area to do an effective job. Other guys I think wanted a little bit more. We'll go through that.
"I think we did a good job of team recruiting. Each kid back in August, we assigned three coaches to each kid so that we could effectively recruit them. I thought that worked well for us. I went through our board, and besides some early commits, we had 53 kids on the board and out of that 53 we ended up getting I think 20 of them, so we feel good about that. Same with the D-line. As we looked through that, I remember Kanavis and Tui [Mike Tuiasosopo] looking at me like I'm crazy because they didn't feel like we were in on enough guys. I told them don't worry about, just get the ones we're on, and they did. I kind of like the direction we're going and how we're doing it from a staff standpoint.
"We're able to get a head start now, so I've evaluated some 2013's in-state and in some other areas, and a couple of 2014's. I feel like we're kind of catching up. I think as we continue to move forward and everyone gets in their areas, we can start getting ahead. Not only is recruiting year-round, but identifying people early is key, especially for us when you're talking about the number of kids you get from out-of-state because we have to get the 'Colorado' brand out in front of them so they have an idea of what we're about and start following us. I feel good about what we've done and how we've gone about doing it."
On How Recruiting Can Improve With A Better Record
"I think we can be better in recruiting. I believe the dynamics in our conference, things change. UCLA did a great job. Washington, what they did, taking some coaches from Cal. It was a lot of carnage in this conference recruiting this year. You have to improve to be competitive. I feel good about our staff and our ability to recruit in this conference. A lot of our guys have long standing relationships in this conference. I think because of where we are - the ability to go into Texas comfortably, to be able to go into Louisiana a little bit. To be able to go into D.C., for some of those programs, that's outside of the footprint. That's a little bit of a reach for some of them. Our location helps us. And to be able to go into California (the in-state schools) can't take all of them. Same in Texas, those schools can't take all those kids. Our location and past history allows us a little advantage over the other schools. As we get more successful, I hope that translates first off on kids wanting to stay home and be a part of it.
"I think it will allow us - maybe we don't finish second on some kids like we did this year. We lost some kids - the two I'm most disappointed about, one went to USC and one went to Oklahoma. The fact we finished second to those schools, if you're a half-full guy, like I know you are (joking with media), that's good you finish second. If you're looking at it from a competitive standpoint, you really want to get those kids. The fact we can go down to the wire and compete with those schools, the last part of the battle is to win some of them.
"The sooner the better, but I expect us to be able to put together competitive classes, and the thing I'm really proud about with this class is that our current kids did a great job helping recruit these kids. The name of the game is with this class, I want to bring somebody in who can beat these guys out. That's the job of recruiting; you want to bring in players that are better than what you have. That makes your team better. If they can't beat out the kids that you have, that means the kids that you have are playing at a high level. It keeps consistent competition going and it keeps pressure on kids to perform every day, and that's what you want in anything you do. This class will do that, from that stand point, this class will do that. This class got along great with the kids that are here. The current kids are excited for them to get here, they can't wait to reach out and do stuff with them. I expect them to be the same way with next year's class, it's important to keep that going."
On The Importance Of Finishing With A Top 30 Class
"I think all coaches when they finish in the top 30, they'll say it's important and when they don't finish that high, they'll say it's not that important. Last year, I talked about one of the programs I admire from a distance is Wisconsin. I read something the other day, so don't quote me on it, it was something along the lines of that they haven't been ranked inside of the top 40 since (Bret) Bielema's been there, but he's 69-13.
"Really at the end of it, you judge your class in four years, I wish they'd rank you then. You can see who stayed, who performed, who gets injured or maybe academics, some people don't make it. It gives you a little bit of a barometer of where you are. For the fans, it keeps excitement and people involved in your programs.
"Another thing, I've never heard a coach get up and say he had a bad recruiting class on signing day. You have to take it all with a grain of salt. It gives you a barometer of how you did against other programs. There's so many factors that go into it. Sometimes it's class size, I don't even know how they figure it out to tell you the truth. We are happy with our class. We feel like we got better."
On Colorado State's Class
"I haven't seen what they've done. I don't even know if they have their whole staff hired yet. I know with (Jim McElwain) getting a shot at another national championship, they got a really late start. I'm not sure what happened with their class."
On How Selective He Will Be With 2013 Offers Given The Smaller Class Size
"It will be basically this. If you don't want the kid to come, don't offer. Don't extend an offer, and then he calls the next day and you have buyer's remorse. That'll be the first criteria. You better be sure. I say you, we, our position coaches, if you only get one, you better be sure that's the kid you want with that one. That will be how we go along building it. We've been like that for the most part since we've been here. Making sure he says yes."
On Four-Year Scholarships
"I saw the Big Ten was approaching that. That's a good question. Our Associate AD Julie Manning could answer that better. Julie, is that something we're embarking on?"
Manning-"It's rescinded right now with the NCAA board of directors but they are expecting schools to come back with a proposal to figure it out and make it happen. They'll meet in April. The NCAA wants to see it happen; the coaches association is still pushing back. They're trying to find a medium."
Embree-"I think if they give us a playoff, we'll give them their four years."
On A Playoff
"I think it would be great, it's just how many teams. I'd want 64 (laughs jokingly). You can tell I've thought a lot about that one. I think it would be cool somehow, some way, that's the issue. If you say 16, No. 17 will be mad. I'm sure it will happen one of these days. I don't know when, but it will, I'm sure."
On Signing A Lot Of Defensive Players
"It was a need, I felt bad for the opposing team's cheerleaders a couple of our games, all those push-ups they had to do started adding up. Hopefully we can slow that down a little bit. We were decimated with injuries and other issues and with graduation. That's where you will win championships when it's all said and done what you do defensively. That was a need, we felt like we took a big step in the right direction trying to do that."
On Who Signed A Better Basketball Class, Embree Or CU Men's Coach Tad Boyle
"Oh, definitely Tad. You know how it is with these guys, when '88,' I call Tony Gonzalez '88,' and he always used to come in our meeting room, usually in November around the start of the NBA season telling me how lucky I am that he's in the room because he could be getting ready for opening day right now for the NBA. I would tell him he'd just be M.L. Carr, waving that towel on the bench. It's funny; every football player thinks they can be a basketball player. It's like I told my son when he was younger, there's guys that are 6-9 who can do what you can do. So, go out there and play catch, stop shooting those free throws. I'm sure those guys would get our guys out on the court and clean up with them."
