BARNETT RECRUIT SIGNING DAY QUOTES

BOULDER ? The University of Colorado held its 2004 recruit signing day Wednesday at the Dal Ward Athletic Center, as head coach Gary Barnett addressed the media about the incoming freshman class. The following contains quotes from the afternoon press conference.

ON THE 2004 RECRUITING CLASS?“This particular class was a class that because we have a number of players coming back and a number of good players on the depth chart at some positions, it was a class that we could take a lot of athletes. You’ll see four or five guys on this list that we thought were just tremendous athletes. We project some of them into a position, but some of them we can’t predict yet. The only position that we felt like would be a position to have a chance to compete, just because of the numbers, would be at the receivers position. After that, I think most of the guys are guys who we’ll have to take a look at and see how they’ll show up in camp before we can make any projections. This is a very accomplished class, and like with all recruiting classes, they are recruited for their potential. You don’t really know for two or three years how everything will pan out.

“I saw an article recently, I don’t remember which paper it was in, but it talked about the top 10 classes from four years ago, and I think five or six of those classes didn’t even finish (last) season in the top 25. Really, a top prospect to one coach may not be a prospect to a guy who writes articles. And, what’s a top prospect to one coach may not be a top prospect to another, because one, their need factor may not be the same, and two, they may not have had a chance to get that kid anyway. There are just a lot of things that go into play here. What one school classifies as a great prospect may not be what another one does.

“It’s harder to project (freshman play) this year because our needs are not the same. I don’t know if I could tell for sure. I think Abraham Wright, obviously because he’s a junior college transfer, stands the best chance to play early. After that, we need to just wait and see who shows up and how ready they are to play. Certainly, we will play anybody who is ready to play that wants to play. To tell you which ones they are right now, I really am not sure. Plus, I have been wrong on predictions like these the past two years.”

ON RECRUTING IN MICHIGAN?“I think we are going to keep a presence in Michigan. Judging from the kind of interest right now that we already have, we will start recruiting the juniors out there right now. Judging by the interest level there now, it will be a good area for us. We did not go into (Michigan) until this year. Two of our three recruits actually came to us before we went in there. It was about as good of a deal as you could do to take three players like that early on.”

ON DL ABRAHAM WRIGHT?“He really only played one year at NEO. We watched his film and thought he was an extremely explosive player. He is an excellent young man. If I don’t miss my guess he’ll be a team captain here. He has three years to play ? three years with three years of eligibility, which is difficult to find in junior college. He is going to be in the position to come in here and compete right away.”

ON DE ALONZO BARRETT?“He is a grayshirt, which is something that is happening more and more. Alonzo is a player that we were recruiting (in 2002) and he really wanted to come here, and so we asked him to sit out the fall semester and he could start in January. Now he can count (as a scholarship) for this next class. He hung around all fall in Boulder, and now has started school and working out with our team.”

ON ILB MAURICE CANTRELL?“We were impressed with one, that he is a captain and also that he has a lot of athleticism. With this day in age with defenses, it used to be that you could just take a big middle linebacker and play the run. Nobody just runs the ball anymore, so you have to take linebackers who are great athletes that are able to cover in the passing game. Maurice is one of those guys, who I would say is a lot like Terry Pierce, who is with the Broncos right now. He has the ability to play the run and the pass. He is tremendously sudden in the run game, as well.”

ON RB HUGH CHARLES?“He is a tremendous young man. He was ranked very highly in the state of Texas. He is not big; he is 185, maybe 195. This kid is a great athlete. We project him to play running back, but he could play corner and he is also a tremendous kick returner.”

ON OL GARRETT COLLINS?“I had the fortune to coach his father at Fort Lewis College; his dad was also a great player at Columbine. I watched Garrett play, and I watched him play all 40 plays that he was in on and on every single play he knocked the guy he was blocking on the ground, and twice he knocked two guys down. I have never seen anybody as relentless as he is on the line of scrimmage and at his position. He is just really, really a good football player. I did not see a better offensive lineman that him this year.”

ON ATH JORDON DIZON?“He is a guy you wouldn’t know much about here. He is a tremendous representative of not only the program but also the state. He was considered at one point the No. 8 running back in the country. He is one of those athletes, who might be a linebacker, might be a running back and might be a fullback. Our contacts on the island thought he is one of the best football players to come out of there in years.”

ON RB BYRON ELLIS?“As the year went on, he became one of the best running backs out there. We think he’s a big back, probably along the lines of Chris Brown, but probably faster than Chris. He is a tremendous student, a tremendous young man and one heck of a football player.”

ON S REGGIE FOSTER?“We’ve projected Reggie to be a safety. We are pretty sure that this is one of those projections that will not be either or. He wants to be a safety. We love him as a person.”

ON DE JOSH HUNT?“We project him as a defensive lineman. He has tremendous explosion; he’s a big kid. Michigan offered him a scholarship, and he really wanted to be here, so we’re very pleased with him.”

ON ILB BRAD JONES?“Brad committed to us early, and we were very fortunate because the whole world wanted Brad. He’s a great player, and his dad was a great player at Indiana. Brad Jones is a tremendous athlete. He fits that mold that I talked about earlier.”

ON WR REGGIE JOSEPH?“He’s one of those guys who will get a chance to be looked at early on. He has tremendous work habit. Tommy Jones (former NFL player and trainer) said he is the most unbelievably hard-working kid around. He has great skills and is a tremendous young man.”

ON ILB GREG NEWMAN?“This is a throwback kid. This guy is 6-4, about 240 right now. If you have ever been around Dick Butkus and those guys, it’s about big bones, big arms and big legs. He will be a captain here more than likely. He makes everybody else play better when he is in the huddle. There is a tremendous upside to Greg Newman.”

ON CB COREY REID?“We project Corey to be a corner and we had him in camp, and coach Joseph worked with him at corner and we were really impressed with him. He committed to us early, as did all the Michigan guys we recruited. If you could see his film, you could understand his great speed, change of direction and his size.”

ON OL DANIEL SANDERS?“He is not 6-4, and that is probably why he was not highly recruited. Daniel is probably about 6-2. Coach Borbely loved the guy in camp, coach Wilson even loved the guy because they’d go against each other on offense and defense. Daniel will surprise you. He is already big enough, physical enough and strong enough to play.”

ON ATH CHARLIE SHERMAN?“What a great kid. We project him to be a safety, but we won’t rule him out as a receiver. He grew up watching Colorado-Nebraska games, and just couldn’t believe he was getting a chance to come to Colorado. After he committed to us, we had a lot of other schools try to recruit him as a quarterback, but he stayed with his commitment. He is a tremendous athlete. He is another one of those projections, but you know he can play football. If you go in this guy’s community, this guy is a legend out there.”

ON DL CHRIS TODD?“We’ll probably project him as a defensive tackle inside, but he can probably play (end as well). He’s a tremendously talented youngster.”

ON DL DAVID VEIKUNE?“He is a really interesting young man. His highlight film was incredible to see how sudden he is. We fell in love with this guy. He’ll probably be a defensive end for us and be a classic pass rusher.”

ON QB RYAN WALTERS?“His dad played here at Colorado, and I coached his dad. His dad had tremendous potential, but he really hurt both his knees early on. Ryan is a tremendous student and a very athletic quarterback. You are beginning to see around the country that many teams are going to those kinds of players.”

ON WR PATRICK WILLIAMS?“He’s listed at 6-3, 195, but he’s probably a little bigger than that. He has a 3.9 GPA, and a lot of schools recruited Patrick. He came on his visit to Colorado and fell in love with the school. He brought his video camera and you could just tell; it looked like he had seen Cindy Crawford. His desires are big. We want him to play receiver and we project him at receiver all the way. He is one of those guys who will get a good look in camp early. He has great speed and great athleticism; he catches the ball really well.”

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