Big Recruiting Weekend Upcoming for the Buffaloes

If you’ve been living under a rock for all of 2016 and just popped out, this offseason may seem like a bizarro world for Buff recruiting. After consistent classes in the 60s and 70s nationally, CU stepped up their game for the 2017 class, pulling in highly sought after players left and right and making a sizable splash nationally. It doesn’t look like its slowing down anytime soon, either. The next big date to mark on your calendar is coming up quick. CU is hosting a barbecue in the Champions Center, and top high school players from all over are coming to sample what Boulder has to offer. This is in no way a complete list, but a list of all the players that publicly announced that they are attending this event.

User WasianCU on Allbuffs (h/t to Allbuffs) also compiled a nice list of probably attendees:

Probably attending:

OT Alan Ali

WR Maurice Bell (CU Commit)

TE Josh Falo

RB Alex Fontenot (CU Commit)

DE Shamar Hamilton

ILB Malik Horton

WR Jaylon Jackson (CU Commit)

ATH Isaiah Lewis (CU Commit)

QB Tyler Lytle (CU Commit)

ATH Chris Miller (CU Commit)

CB Morrell Osling III

OT Heston Paige (CU Commit)

OT Grant Polley (CU Commit)

OG Casey Roddick

DT Trey Schuman

WR Laviska Shenault (CU Commit)

OLB Jonathan Van Diest (CU Commit)

Some super important names on that list.

QB commit Tyler Lytle is coming back to Boulder for the THIRD TIME. No one can question his loyalty and no Buff fans should be worried about him flipping. Joining Lytle on return trips, Chris Miller and Maurice Bell are coming back to strengthen the bond between the current commits and help recruit the potential Buffs. It looks like every Texas commit is making the trek up to Boulder, which is impressive. It shows just how tight this incoming recruiting class is. Jon Van Diest is making the 45 minute drive up, as is Heston Paige. The staff did a fantastic job inviting every commit back and making them part of the atmostphere for the event.

The big target here (literally) is TE Josh Falo. Falo is now officially a national prospect, as he just gained an offer from Alabama. Josh is one of the best TE’s in the country and a high 4-star, but CU has some inside track on Josh. If his last name sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Both of Josh Falo’s brothers played for Coach MacIntyre, one at SJSU and N.J. here in Boulder. The Falo household is well versed in Coach Mac, and it seems that the increased familiarity has only bred good things. CU is trying to make Falo the third brother to play under Mac, but his recruitment should be a long one. He is a big boy, but he moves very well in open space and has good quickness for size.

Malik Horton is a quick-twitch linebacker from Georgia. Standing at 6-3 and 220 pounds, he has a P5 body and his tape shows P5 athleticism. Horton would step in at a position of need in LB and potentially gain immediate playing time due to his coverage skills and college ready body. His final two schools are Colorado and Maryland, but hopefully this event pushes him over the edge to CU.

Jalen Harris is a very intriguing DE prospect out of Arizona. He actually splits time at WR and DE for his high school, which you can see in his highlights. Any DE who has the athleticism to play out wide on offense is good enough for me. At 6’6, he has more than enough length for rush-end (think Derek McCartney), and his offer list is impressive. CU is in the top 6 for Jalen Harris, who also includes Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State, and Washington State. He is an Arizona legacy, so you have to figure that the Wildcats are in the lead right now. We’ll see if the barbecue changes his mind.

Morrell Osling is an interesting prospect. He plays in a very tough league in California, and was the state triple jump champion last year. He obviously has athleticism, and it shows. Osling has a nice, easy stride that eats up yards and it never looks like he’s running very hard. He makes nice, agile cuts and has nice reads. So why hasn’t he had more offers? Fresno State, Nevada and UNLV are his biggest offers other than Colorado, a stark contrast to most of this 2017 class. He has visibility and he has athleticism, so what makes other programs pause? To me, there are two likely explanations. One, he might focus on track for his college career. This is the Isaiah Oliver scenario, seeing as the Buffs were Oliver’s only P5 offer, despite playing in one of Arizona’s best programs. Now, Oliver is a dual-sport athlete for CU, a great ambassador for both track and football, and is in-line to start next year. The second scenario is that the MW schools offered Olsing as a QB, where he plays in high school, while CU offered at DB, where his length and athleticism could be better used. That would make him a project and somewhat raw coming into college. But based on his tape, I could see him being a tool player of sorts. Have him gun on special teams, play some defensive back snaps and put him in on exotic packages on offense. His athleticism translates to a lot of spots on the field.

The other two big names are the two uncommitted offensive linemen, Alan Ali and Casey Roddick. Ali, an SMU commit, holds big time offers (Oklahoma and Texas A&M) and obviously CU faces the hurdle of a prior commitment to another school. Hailing from Fort Worth in Texas, Ali is a big boy at 6’5 and 275 pounds. He moves well for a man his size and locks his arms immediately at the point of attack. Ali would be a nice tackle get for this class that could play pretty soon in the system. Casey Roddick could be playing next to him down the line. Roddick is HUGE for a high school guard at about 6’4 and 350 pounds. Some older fans may recognize his high school, St. Bonaventue, as the high school of CU Buff great Darrell Scott (*sigh*). Roddick moves mass fast and in a big way. I apologize if you’ve already had breakfast, because you just had a lot of pancakes. Ali and Roddick would just about cap off the offensive line in this CU recruiting class and give the Buffs plus athletes at every line position.