Toben Opurum Commits to Kansas
It's been crazy busy around the house lately, I've got in-laws and my own parents in town but I wanted to throw up a quick update on recruiting. Jayhawkslant.com is reporting that 4-Star Texas running back recruit Toben Opurum has committed to Kansas over Purdue, Notre Dame, Florida and Arkansas. Opurum a 6'2" 229 pound running back could likely have an immediate impact on the Kansas running attack in 2009 and is another great pickup for the KU coaching staff in what is turning into an outstanding class overall.
about 1 year ago
Owen Kemp
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This type of signing represents that we are here to stay. We aren’t one of those teams who came out of the wood work for 1 or 2 years, then slides back to mediocrity. The fact that we are landing recruits of his caliber will help build depth and reduce drop off from year to year. I’m really liking this year’s class.
Insanity is just a state of mind.
When you look...
at this class in its entirety it’s clear we are building depth and consistency with a better caliber of player from the ground up, couldn’t agree more.
Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.
Awesome, awesome, tremendous news.
Opurum is a guy we’ve been on for over a year now, so it is nice to see all of that pay off and to get him to verbal.
He should be a perfect complement, as a bigger back, to another incoming freshman in Deshaun Sands (yes, Tony Sands’ son) who is short, quick and difficult to tackle. Opurum, on the other hand, is a big chunk-of-change, and while he is different than B-Mac, he should fulfill a similar role in our spread offense.
Between those two...
it sounds like Angus’ move to LB is likely permanent.
by hiphopopotamus on Dec 23, 2008 2:29 PM CST up reply actions
I thought the same thing...
between Mangino commenting on the Quigley move now, which he rarely does and the verbal from Toben I think Quigley’s future is elsewhere.
Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.
Another great thing about Opurum is...
he has been used in a spread throughout high school and to a high level of success I might add…roughly 1400 yards running and 800 receiving, great pickup for our offense.
Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.
Just wanted to add to this...
Just rewatched the video of Toben in HS, and very similar offense to Kansas and that is a great thing. He’s a big powerful back, not necessarily going to make a lot of people miss but he’ll lower his head run you over, great hands out of the backfield and should be fairly comfortable in making the reads out of the shotgun set since he’s been doing it all through HS. I think he provides a very solid back for our offense and the way Mangino uses his backs.
Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.
Sounds as if there is a...
slim chance we hear of one more over the coming weekend…but we’ll have to see.
Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.
Another comment...
I know at Kansas with our success with lower star recruits I try not to get too caught up in rivals star rankings, but one thing I do put a lot of faith in is where a player has other offers from.
Lately we are landing kids that have some legitimate big time offers and that combined with the higher star rankings are good indicators that we are still moving in the right direction with this thing.
Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.
Florida and Notre Dame
Yeah when KU can beat out the likes of Florida and Notre Dame for a player it’s impressive. I also don’t pay much attention to stars but I like to see who else is seriously recruiting a player.
That doesn’t always work either (see Talib, Reesing etc.)
But I think it’s telling to see what other teams wanted a guy.
Kind of like last year when Tech wanted Crawford as a DB (telling)
His write-up on Scouts.inc
is not quite as flowery. To quote the negative:
“he displays very little burst through the hole and runs without good body-tilt. Will struggle retaining current yards after contact production at the next level and could expose his body to big hits. He is a big target out of the backfield as a pass catcher, but his long body often hinders his suddenness as an in-line runner. Marginal extra gear when he gets outside or finds a north-south seam. Overall, Opurum looks good on paper as a running back prospect but lacks good explosiveness as a downhill, in-line runner and the perimeter speed and quickness to hurt you outside.”
They are mixed reviews no doubt...
and for what it’s worth rivals has him as a 4star at FB so I don’t know if that would be different as a true RB or not but nonetheless this is a guy as a few here have already mentioned that the staff has been after since very early.
I think he is a good fit in our system and some of his negatives at the next level can be coached (running position, retaining yards at contact). Obviously the comparison to B. McAnderson has already been made and if he can fill that role…great pickup. As always though it does remain to be seen on the field but still good momentum builder in recruiting and a guy we can certainly look forward to watching develop
Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.
I was offering it as
a devil’s advocate sort of thing. It certainly doesn’t make me any less thrilled. I am a believer in our player development abilities. Speaking of player development, I’m looking at Josh Gordon. He’s a huge receiver (6’4", 211) who appears to be toolsy. He may need some coaching but we’re on his radar. It looks like all the top talent in Texas is tapped out. Hopefully, Ed Warriner is having some success in Ohio…
Look up the name Bradley McDougald...
if Warriner pulls this off, it would be another great get out of Big10 country…Josh Richardson’s high school.
Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.
Sweet versatility
I’m all for tall running backs that can be used in our spread for blitz pickup and as receivers out of the backfield…honestly the way the spread works you just need someone who can make quick decisions and a single hard cut, as the lanes are already there due to the wide splits and 4-5 WR sets.
Heres where this really matters though – recruiting is all about momentum, and this marks the second consecutive year we’ve had two four-star recruits (with the possibility for more in this class), meaning that KU is becoming more of a brand name with heralded recruits. Like you guys I don’t think stars matter all that much, except in the perception of a program. And in that regard, things are only going up with the Mangenius
by 2.1 seconds left on Dec 23, 2008 4:05 PM CST reply actions
and I meant to add that neither Kande or Opurum are Jucos like the two four-stars from last year, which makes their additions all the more awesome
by 2.1 seconds left on Dec 23, 2008 4:09 PM CST up reply actions
The difference this year
is our 4-star recruits are High School players. D’Cuhna and Crawford were JC players and didn’t contribute much. Did Crawford mean 2,000 yards for his career?
That would be sweet
Since he’d have to have an incredible season next year to accomplish that. Heres to JoCraw2000
by 2.1 seconds left on Dec 23, 2008 4:16 PM CST up reply actions
2.1...
Welcome to Rock Chalk Talk and I couldn’t agree more momentum seems to be huge with regards to recruiting and right now Kansas seems to have the ball rolling in the right direction…
On a personal note look forward to having you around and hearing more of your thoughts, we’re a small group around here but always looking to get a bit bigger, different perspectives, and new thoughts and ideas. Again welcome.
Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.
Its a shame
that Todd Reesing couldn’t convince his High School successor, Garrett Gilbert to follow him to Kansas…
You know I always wondered if...
we might get a look from him because of Todd, but in all honesty if Texas had offered Todd we would’ve never had him either.
While we have been very successful recruiting the state of Texas the reality is most of the kids from Texas do have a desire to stay in state and play for TU, A&M and now to an extent Tech. We’ll keep getting some good ones but as I think you mentioned above the ones we really are going to need to land in that 4-5 star caliber are our homegrown kids…Keeston Terry, Justin McKay, Bell etc.
Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.
I sometimes wonder...
What Bryce Brown and his older brother would have done if they’d come out of high school two years later…maybe getting out of state wouldn’t have been their only options. Oh well, I look forward to locking up the borders and mining that undeveloped talent from texas/oklahoma for years to come.
by 2.1 seconds left on Dec 23, 2008 5:40 PM CST up reply actions
We really need to lock Kansas up better
next year I need to see some more of that. It seems like we are still losing the Wichita talent to the bigger schools.
by I need more Esteban on Dec 23, 2008 5:42 PM CST up reply actions
by the way labbadabba...
really enjoyed your increased input lately surrounding football, keep the good stuff coming.
Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.
I agree...
but I guess that’s just the way College BBall is now, load up make a run then rebuild/reload for another run…I guess we are lucky we pulled it out in what was really Self’s first run at it with his 1st couple recruiting classes and now we’ve just got to hope he can put us in position again…and I think he will.
Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.
Wow
This is awesome. I’ve really been following recruiting and when I saw we were in on this guy I really wanted to get him. Let’s hope he is as good as advertised.
Now we just need to land Ronnie Wingo and the WR McGriff (Crime Dog’s son).
by I need more Esteban on Dec 23, 2008 5:36 PM CST reply actions
Sounds like McGriff is...
a very high possibility at this point…as for Wingo, the common feeling is he is MU bound but you never know getting that official visit can certainly increase our chances.
Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.
I wouldn't say that Wingo...
was dependent on Opurum and Kansas would certainly take them both…I just think Wingo’s visit was a big surprise so if Warriner was able to lock him down it would be a MAJOR surprise at least for me.
Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.
Thanks for the welcome
I’ve been perusing the site for several months now and really liked how back-and-forth the discussions are so I thought I might want to join in. You guys are “it” for guys like me that can’t read enough about the jayhawks. Keep up the good reporting and rock chalk!
by 2.1 seconds left on Dec 23, 2008 5:36 PM CST reply actions
good to hear...
and again look forward to getting your insight on the discussions.
Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.
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