Ragin' Cajuns land two JUCO standouts

[Bankruptcyman]

Tyrell Gaddies is 6' 2" 275 lbs and was a 110 meters hurdles champion in high school. Sounds like an unusual combination of size and speed. Looks like our coaches have found another great athlete that was off of everyone else's radar. Keep up the good work!

Our coaches seem to have a different approach to recruiting. Boomer is right. All of the lists and charts we see about UL recruiting are almost meaningless. In the last few years, most of the players UL signed were not even reported has having been offered a scholarship. This coaching staff appears to be very guarded and tight lipped about who they are targeting. I think for UL that is a good thing. Look at what happened to Tech last year. They had this great recruiting class on paper and was very public about their commitments. In the end, Tech lost several of their high level recruits at the last minute. Once again, ULM and Tech both have over a dozen public commitments. UL stands to be the recipient of some good high school players that are the victim of the over-recruiting practiced by bigger schools. Let's see who everyone signs in February.

[Parrott]

_ I found myself saying the exact same thing after reading the comments about Ryan McCoy the day after the blow out loss to Lamar. Yes, I'm guessing they are seeing something we can't but that's fairly typical. They were hot to sign receiver Ladarius Green last year and I had never heard of him. Derreck Dean looked way too small to pay NT to me but guess what. _

Ladarius Green had offers from FIU and FAU to play football but also had an offer from Tulane to play basketball. Late in the process that he decided to do football. Some schools overlooked him because they weren't sure if he was fast enough to be a WR or big enough to be a TE. Looks like UL's gamble worked out.

Despite being a few inches shorter than the typical DT, Derrick Dean got offers from Memphis and FIU and had a lot of interest from Minnesota. He was overmatched at times this season as a true freshman, but he'll get stronger in the offseason and will make a big impact next fall.

Ryan McCoy signed with Tulsa out of high school but didn't get a high enough ACT score. He won two NJCAA national titles at junior college powers before signing with North Texas but didn't get cleared because of a health issue. He's a Division I talent that has gone through some tough times, but so far is has shown to be worth the risk.

[jllanclos]

we took Dwight Bentley as CB from the JC ranks and he was one of our top corners as a freshman-he did not play in JC. _

As in didn't play CB, or didn't play at all???

[zephyr]

_ As in didn't play CB, or didn't play at all??? _

Didn't play at all because he redshirted which is why we are fortunate to get him for 3 more years!!!!

[CajunT]

_ Ladarius Green had offers from FIU and FAU to play football but also had an offer from Tulane to play basketball. Late in the process that he decided to do football. Some schools overlooked him because they weren't sure if he was fast enough to be a WR or big enough to be a TE. Looks like UL's gamble worked out.

Despite being a few inches shorter than the typical DT, Derrick Dean got offers from Memphis and FIU and had a lot of interest from Minnesota. He was overmatched at times this season as a true freshman, but he'll get stronger in the offseason and will make a big impact next fall.

Ryan McCoy signed with Tulsa out of high school but didn't get a high enough ACT score. He won two NJCAA national titles at junior college powers before signing with North Texas but didn't get cleared because of a health issue. He's a Division I talent that has gone through some tough times, but so far is has shown to be worth the risk. _

LaDarius visited Illinois but he did not get offered. He also was invited in to FSU late in the game as a fall back prospect, but he did not visit. Because he was a basketball prospect, other programs didn't give him a look.

[Parrott]

_ LaDarius visited Illinois but he did not get offered. He also was invited in to FSU late in the game as a fall back prospect, but he did not visit. Because he was a basketball prospect, other programs didn't give him a look. _

He mentioned back in October that Illinois had offered. But he might have been a little more tired than I thought after that practice.

Either way, that doesn't really matter though. He's at UL now.

Kind of like talking about former UL target Damaris Johnson, who finished second in the nation as a freshman at Tulsa with 2,201 all-purpose yards. (He led the nation with 1,319 kickoff return yards.)

Only Missouri's Jeremy Maclin (2,646) had more all-purpose yards this season.

[Boomer]

Maybe a good time to check----How did our recruiting class fair as of this year--who played/// who played well//// who red shirted and looks good????? Green --the real deal ---Benoit thrown in --ok for a true Freshman---who else can make a case for a damn good ,08 recruiting class??????

[VObserver]

_ Maybe a good time to check----How did our recruiting class fair as of this year--who played/// who played well//// who red shirted and looks good????? Green --the real deal ---Benoit thrown in --ok for a true Freshman---who else can make a case for a damn good ,08 recruiting class?????? _

Bentley will play on Sundays. Derrick Dean may well join him. Devon Lewis-Buchannan played well at times, especially for a guy we wanted to redshirt.

Word is that Draylon Booker and Yobes Walker are real.

Still very early to make assessments, but this class looks like a winner.

[CajunT]

_ He mentioned back in October that Illinois had offered. But he might have been a little more tired than I thought after that practice.

Either way, that doesn't really matter though. He's at UL now.

Kind of like talking about former UL target Damaris Johnson, who finished second in the nation as a freshman at Tulsa with 2,201 all-purpose yards. (He led the nation with 1,319 kickoff return yards.)

Only Missouri's Jeremy Maclin (2,646) had more all-purpose yards this season. _

Nope, you are correct. They denied it when I made the call to the Illinois staff last year. So I
have no clue if they are were being straight we me or not.

Damaris is a very special athlete! He is the only one I was personally disappointed in losing out on.

[Cajunsmike]

_ As in didn't play CB, or didn't play at all??? _

Bentley did not play at all in JC. He was a freshman in 2008 here and will be a sophomore in 2009.