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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

LB Tharp commits

By J-W Staff Reports

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Huldon Tharp, an outside linebacker from Mulvane High, has orally committed to play at Kansas next season, according to the Web site Rivals.com.

A three-star recruit, the 6-foot, 208-pound Tharp selected the Jayhawks over Illinois, Boise State and Stanford.

Rated as the seventh-best player in the state of Kansas, Tharp endured an ACL injury earlier this summer that caused some teams to back off in recruiting. His decision to attend Kansas, he said, was based largely on the school's persistent interest even after the injury.

"I never had any doubts that I would play college football, but it was a stressful time for me," Tharp told the site. "After I tore my ACL, I just kept praying. Kansas is the only school that checked in after my injury. I just felt that Kansas was a great fit for me.

Comments

dagger108 (anonymous) says...

#18 WLB according to Scout/Phog. They also list Boise State, Kansas, Kansas State, Miami (Fl), Oklahoma, Stanford as the schools of interest, so apparently the latter are the ones that waivered after the injury. ESPN/Scouts Grade: 77, but they also list him as a RB with a Position Rank: 62. Either way sounds good to me.

Hope he doesn't loose much of that 4.45 speed. ESPN says he suffered a torn ACL this past summer, but does anyone know how he is doing now? Will he play for Mulvane this fall?

August 26, 2008 at 5:05 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jayhawkwz (anonymous) says...

Huldon is doing well in his recovery, he is not going to play for Mulvane this season but will pick back up with conditioning as soon as he is cleared. He is a great pick up for Kansas.

August 26, 2008 at 6:56 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jerhawk (anonymous) says...

rock chalk jayhawk

August 26, 2008 at 7:35 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

oldrocker (anonymous) says...

I'm glad the KU coaching staff was still interested in him after his injury. Huldon is a great kid and a true team player...a perfect fit for the Jayhawks.

August 26, 2008 at 9:01 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

justanotherfan (anonymous) says...

I like the speed. Hopefully it is still there after he recovers. He needs a little more bulk to play LB at the D-1 level, though. At 208, he will get owned by the TE's FB's and occassional OL's he has to face off with.

I also like that he is in-state. I noticed the article said he was the #7 player in Kansas. Since I know we are going to lose out on the #1 guy (Arthur Brown's little brother, who is following him to Miami), where do we stand on #2-6?

August 26, 2008 at 9:05 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

rockchalks7 (anonymous) says...

we have #2 in darian kelly DB but losing 3 and 4 to Oklhoma. Jaydan Byrd and Marshal Musil. we also have #5 in Kevin YOung, DE.

August 26, 2008 at 9:41 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KU (anonymous) says...

Speed is the new currency for linebackers at the college level. I'm convinced it's the only way you can defend the spread offenses. I would trade bulk for speed any day. Few offenses are even using a tight end (in the traditional sense) on every play and even fewer ever use a fullback. Linebackers are in space a lot more now than they are locking down the box.

What does James Holt weigh? Probably not more than 215 or 220. This kid will have no problem putting on 10-15 pounds.

August 26, 2008 at 9:45 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

justanotherfan (anonymous) says...

I decided to answer my own question.

1. Bryce Brown (RB) Wichita East - committed to Miami
2. Darian Kelly (DB) Girard - committed to KU
3. Jaydan Bird (LB) Conway Springs - committed to Oklahoma
4. Marshall Musil (ATH) Lacrosse - committed to Oklahoma
5. Kevin Young (DE) Olathe North - committed to KU
6. Ian Knight (DE) Wichita Heights - Colorado State, Duke, Illinois, Iowa State, KU, K-State, Tulsa, Vanderbilt
7. Tharp (LB) - committed to KU

Tharp is the last of the three stars in Kansas. Brown was the lone five star. There are no four stars currently. The rest of these guys are two stars.

8. Riley Spencer (OL) Hesston - committed to KU
9. Tanner Pope (TE) Girard - KU, K-State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State
10. Darron Harvey (DB) Shawnee Mission West - Army, Colorado State, KU, K-State, Missouri, Wyoming (missed most of last year with an injury, could get more stars with a strong senior year).
11. Duone Maxwell (RB) KC Washington - Air Force, Iowa, Navy, Wyoming, KU, K-State. A bit smallish, but fast (200 meter state champ, runs a 10.6 100).
12. Jake Morin (OL) St. Thomas Aquinas - still lists about 10 schools, including KU
13. Colby Duranleau (OL) Wichita Northwest - favors K-State, but also lists KU and others. May move up after suffering an injury as a soph.
14. Alex Schooler (OL) Wichita Collegiate - still lists 9 schools, including KU
15. Justin Aumen (OL) Junction City - does not list KU.

The success of our instate recruiting kind of hinges on two things. 1) getting Ian Knight. We can't afford to lose another top prospect from inside our own borders. 2) finding 1 or 2 more guys that can contribute in that bottom list. Whether it is bringing in a couple of those linemen to develop, grabbing the two most athletic guys there (Harvey and Maxwell) or mixing and matching, if we can nail down seven instate guys, that would be a huge coup for us, although I'd like to see us quit losing in-state guys to conference foes. That's a killer.

August 26, 2008 at 9:48 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

txrockchalk (anonymous) says...

Great info, justanotherfan. Thank you for sharing your findings with us.

Another option would be to move Tharp to safety with that kind of speed.

August 26, 2008 at 11:30 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

mvjayhawk (anonymous) says...

nice list above, but the Kansas class isn't that strong this year....and we've done pretty well. probably as well as we can.
Bryce Brown is still a "soft" verbal per Rivals. with all of our backup RBs gone....he would be "the man" in 2010...in a RS Fr. year. i can't believe that are out of the running with him. i'm thinking a strong push will be made at some point. Arthur can stay in South Beach...and the folks can Bryce play anytime they want. a perfect match for visiting for the parents.

August 26, 2008 at 1:08 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

justanotherfan (anonymous) says...

I don't know about moving a HS LB to safety in college. Without having seen him play, can he react to the deep ball? does he turn his hips fast? is he good one on one in space? Those are huge questions for a safety that he may not address at LB. How quick does he accelerate? Again, I haven't seen him play, so I don't know if he is lightning quick, but plays at LB because he's such a sure tackler or what. Also, its my understanding that both Harvey and Kelly are safeties in high school.

I'm guessing Mangino has tabbed him at LB, wants to bring him in, redshirt him, add about 15 pounds and some explosiveness, then move him into the lineup from there. Which is fine. But I'd have loved to have kept Bird and Musil out of OU's hands.

August 26, 2008 at 4:20 p.m. ( | suggest removal )