To Juco or not to Juco

Kansas State Head Coach Ron Prince made recruiting news in 2008 by bringing a recruiting class featuring 19 junior college players. That's a lot of juco kids and represents a considerable risk for Prince, who, if things don't improve fairly soon in Manhattan, could be looking for another job in 2009.

As Nebraska fans we know all too well about the ups and downs of recruiting junior college players. During the Callahan era, recruiting juco players was a failry common practice, peaking in the 2005 recruiting class which featured a dozen junior college athletes. The generalization is that while junior college players typically only have two years of eligibility (there are exceptions) and at times come to a school with questionable academic backgrounds, they are also older and more prepared to contribute right away.

As with recruiting prep players, junior college kids can be hit and miss. Much of the success of former K-State Coach Bill Snyder was due to his effective use of juco athletes such as Michael Bishop. And, of course, our beloved Cornhuskers have hit junior college gold several times in the past with names such as I.M. Hipp, Mike Rozier and Terrell Farley. But 19 juco recruits? That's either a career saving or ending risk.

Will it pay off? Let's take a look at the junior college recruits from the Bill Callahan era to see what kind of success rate Ron Prince and the Wildcat faithful can expect:

Big Time Successes (3)-- These Huskers made a considerable contribution, playing at a all-conference level or higher.

• Zac Taylor, QB, 2005 recruiting class -- The most obvious juco success story. Zac was the Big 12 offensive player of the year his senior year.
• Maurice Purify, WR, 2006 class -- Though his stay wasn't without legal troubles, Mo was a real match up problem for opposing defenses.
• Carl Nicks, OT, 2006 class -- Offensive linemen seem to struggle most with the transition to I-A football. However Carl Nicks's considerable size and pass blocking skills lead to him being drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the 5th round.

Contributors (10) -- These are the juco recruits who started or played considerable snaps.

• Zack Bowman, CB, 2005 class -- Showed glimpses of awesome talent, but two knee injuries kept Bowman from making more of an impact.
• Barry Cryer, DT, 2005 class -- An effective starter during 2007 season.
• Ola Dagunduro, DT, 2005 class -- Started alongside Cryer on the best defense of the Callahan era.
• Frantz Hardy, WR, 2005 class -- Speedy receiver and sporadic game breaker with maddeningly poor hands.
• Steve Octavien, LB, 2005 class -- Physically talented linebacker who tempted us with flashes of brilliance, but left Lincoln with an underwhelming legacy.
• Bryan Wilson, CB, 2005 class -- Fairly effective dime package substitute and spot starter.
• Andre Jones, CB, 2006 class -- Kind of like Bowman, but without the legitimate injury excuse for disappointing play.
• Armando Murillo, CB, 2007 class -- Murillo was relatively effective on a 2007 defense that had no pass rush and put incredible pressure on the DBs.
• Larry Asante, S, 2007 class -- Like Murillo, hard to judge his performance on last year's underachieving D. Has the ability to move into the Big Time Successes category with two more successful years wearing red.
• Kevin Dixon, DT, 2007 class -- Made some small contributions to the 2007 D-line. Has a chance to help turn around the 2008 Blackshirts.

Minor or zero contributors (13) -- Players who contributed little to nothing to the team.

• Shukree Barfield, DT, 2007 class -- Like Kevin Dixon, but a little less so. Still has a year.
• Kenny Wilson, RB, 2006 class -- An impressive combination of power and speed, but was stuck behind younger backs, then suffered a badly broken leg.
• Cornealius Thomas, OT, 2004 class --Played in eight games on the O-Line before being injured during his senior year.
• Jordan Adams, QB/S, 2004 class -- Second best clip board holder behind Beau Davis.
• Marque McCray, WR, 2004 class -- Nada.
• Shamus McCoy, WR, 2004 class -- Less than nada.
• Dontrell Moore, LB, 2005 class -- Played sparingly for one season then left team before senior year.
• Brock Pasteur, OL, 2005 class -- Big doesn't always equal good.
• Jordan Picou, OL, 2005 class -- Again, juco OL success rate is generally not good.
• Tyrell Spain, WR/DB, 2005 class -- Missed his first year with eligibility issues, never contributed.
• Justin Tomerlin, DE, 2005 class -- Flamed out at both Florida State and Nebraska.
• Victory Haines, OC, 2006 class -- Played some snaps with little effectiveness.
• Brandon Johnson, DT, 2006 class -- "The Beast" had a better nickname than game.

Too early to tell (1)

• Zac Lee, QB, 2007 class -- After redshirting in 2007, will compete with Patrick Witt to be back up to Joe Ganz in 2008.

The totals come out to 13 contributors and big time contributors, 13 minor to zero contributors and one too early to tell. What does that tell us? Expect nine-and-a-half players from the K-State 2008 recruiting class to play a role for the Wildcats. Will that be good enough to save Prince's job? Maybe he should call Bill Callahan and see how it worked out for him.