Recruit Me Up: Buffs Get Surprising Visit from Byron Moore

Shame on me for leaving the post of the computer for an hour! That deafening silence that had been the last couple of days is now gone with a surprising turn of events. Once again, Hawkins and Co. have made recruiting interesting. That interesting event is S Byron Moore from Narbonne, California who is the teammate of recent visitor QB/Ath Josh Moten. Moore, a former USC commit, will now take a trip to Boulder the last week of the 2009 recruiting cycle. He once called USC his dream school but he now has softened on them, enough to decommit and visit CU. The return of Taylor Mays to the Trojans as well as the depth of safeties seems to be part of the reason Moore decommited. This is major news on a national level as Moore is very highly regarded in most recruiting circles. Rivals ranks him the 6th best safety and the 98th ranked player in the nation. Scout has him also ranked as the 6th best safety and a four star recruit. Moore played on the offensive side of the ball as well during his high school career but he seems to project in the defensive backfield, a need position for the Buffs. I think Hawk would let him play on both sides of the ball if he wanted to! Right now, CU has two young but solid safeties in Patrick Mahnke and Anthony Perkins plus guys like Paul Vigo but Moore would add another dimension that the Buffs could most definitely use on defense. ESPN.com reviews Moore from a WR's perspective but their are a few great adjectives to describe him in their post; versatile, excellently size, extremely tough, smooth, fluid, good speed for his size...sounds good to me. Moore stands 6'1" 190 pounds but he looks much bigger on film than that sounds (that picture doesn't look like a 190 pound guy).

The quick synopsis on Moore is he's a quick, big, hard hitting DB and a tough, physical wide receiver but Moore prefers defense. Moore recently played in the Army High School All Star game with Nick Kasa. It sounds like Moore will make the decision between Notre Dame, Colorado and USC. Doesn't that have a nice ring to it Buff fans? I like being sandwiched between those three schools this late in the process with Hawk getting the last visit. It will be 50+ degrees in Boulder this weekend so we have that going for us!

Great job by the staff on this one to keep in touch and establish a relationship over time. If the Buffs can keep Diante, get either or both of Blake and Ussery, and somehow get Moore, can you say needs addressed and then some?

In other recruiting news, Moore's teammate, Josh Moten, loved his trip to Boulder last weekend. Greg Biggins of ESPN reports: 

I really liked it at Colorado, it was a great visit," Moten said. "The campus is incredible, I loved the coaches and it felt like a home away from home for me. The players on the team treated me like a little brother and I got the feeling that if I went there, they would really look out for me.

"Boulder is a really nice college town and the fan support they have is tremendous. My whole family went up there with me and they all loved it as well. Just like Washington, they're recruiting me as an athlete but said I would get first crack at quarterback and that's what I'm excited about."

Moten is now thinking it over with his family and will make a decision whether it will be Washington or Colorado. Washington came into the weekend a slight favorite. Moten is a good enough player (3*) to get excited about by itself but if him and Moore are close, this only helps our chances for getting a package deal. Let's hope that happens!

CU has promised Moten a chance at quarterback, something he said he wanted from any school he committed to.

Also, RB Carl Winston is down to two schools according to Biggins of ESPN: Colorado and Washington State. Winston is in the mold of Speedy Stewart and sounds like he is favoring the Cougars. Winston says Washington State has better academics than CU which is one reason he like Wazzou over the Buffs...this is me confused?