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NCAA Football News | March 15, 2010
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Seantrel Henderson is officially a Trojan. (Well, almost ...)
By Matt Hinton
March 15, 2010
Good news for USC, part one: Hotly sought recruit Seantrel Henderson, the top-ranked Minnesota behemoth who seemed to be wavering on his verbal commitment to the Trojans since withholding his signature on signing day, was academically cleared last week and plans to sign a letter of intent to SC in the next few days:Henderson, the top-ranked recruit in the nation for his class, had committed to USC on Feb. 2 in front of a national television audience in New York, but waited to officially sign. USC is under investigation by the NCAA, but Sean Henderson, Seantrel's dad, said Monday his son is committed to the Trojans.
Seantrel Henderson had been waiting to see if USC would be sanctioned, but he made a final decision on Sunday night and confirmed it Monday morning.
"We are definitely, 100-percent USC," Sean Henderson said.
Good news for USC, part two: Besides solidifying a staggeringly good recruiting class that already includes four other five-star prospects, Henderson's recommitment also is a hopeful sign that the damage handed down by the NCAA's Infractions Committee won't be the crippling blow Trojan fans have feared (and for which Trojans haters have so lustily yearned) since the epic Reggie Bush scandal first broke four years ago.
Henderson's stated reason for holding out on Feb. 3 was concern over major sanctions with the school's secretive hearing in front of the Infractions Committee on the horizon later in the month. Now that they've passed, we don't know anything from those proceedings that we didn't know going in, but whatever vibe the Henderson clan is getting from USC in the meantime has obviously convinced them the Trojans are still worth the gamble. We'll know for sure when the NCAA issues its ruling sometime in April.
Of course, this was the easy part. Now Henderson is expected to become one of the most physically dominant members of a lineup already consisting almost entirely of former high school All-Americans. Good luck, big guy, but remember: From here on, recruiting stars (like all kinds of stars in L.A.) are a dime a dozen
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Purdue aims to make more noise in 2010
By Adam Rittenberg
March 15, 2010
West Lafayette, IN — Several photos line the wall outside Danny Hope's office at the Mollenkopf Center, commemorating Purdue's string of bowl appearances under former head coach Joe Tiller.
Hope's first season at the helm of the Boilermakers' program won't make it to the wall. There's no bowl championship trophy, no pictures of players and coaches wearing T-shirts and shades in the dead of winter. Hope's players don't tote any bowl swag, because they didn't get any.
A 5-7 season doesn't produce any tangible rewards. But it left Hope feeling very optimistic about the future.
After a 1-5 start filled with turnovers and near misses, Purdue rallied to go .500 in Big Ten play. The Boilers stunned then-No. 7 Ohio State, snapping a 19-game slide against ranked opponents. They also notched their first win at Michigan Stadium since 1966.
So, what exactly did Purdue accomplish in 2009?
"We made some noise," Hope said. "We've got a lot of work to do, and we haven't arrived yet, but we made some noise on the field the second half of the season. We weren't that far off, and everybody could see that. We kept swinging away, and we kept getting better as a team.
"When it was all over, we had some special moments in 2009."
The next steps are obvious for Purdue. Find ways to win close games, avoid the 10-minute disaster stretches that cropped up throughout last season, improve ball security, run defense and special teams, and, most importantly, get back to the postseason.
Simply making a lower-tier bowl isn't enough for first-team All-Big Ten wide receiver Keith Smith.
"We want to go to a January bowl game," he said. "That's our goal."
Purdue might have the personnel to get there. Despite losing 20 seniors, including quarterback Joey Elliott, safety Torri Williams and defensive tackle Mike Neal, the Boilers should be a deeper team in 2010.
Wide receiver was a major question mark for Purdue entering last season, but Smith emerged as the team's latest top option with a league-leading 1,100 receiving yards on 91 catches. He'll lead a group of wideouts and tight ends that also features Kyle Adams, Keith Carlos, Antavian Edison, Cortez Smith and others.
Ralph Bolden came out of nowhere to finish third in the Big Ten in rushing (77.9 ypg) and second in scoring (5.5 ppg), and the speedy junior expects big things this fall, especially if Purdue can reload along an offensive line that loses three starters. Al-Terek McBurse is a promising No. 2 option, and fullback Dan Dierking also returns.
"From a skill standpoint, we could have as much skill as Purdue has had on offense in many, many years," Hope said. "We're very promising at running back, we have all our tight ends back, we have Keith Smith back.
"There's some firepower there. We have to develop it."
Many eyes will be on the quarterback competition this spring, specifically Miami transfer Robert Marve. Marve, who will compete with Caleb TerBush for the top job, gets a fresh start after a tumultuous two years at Miami that got ugly at the end.
Purdue coaches and players say Marve has matured a lot in the last 10 months, and Marve's ability as a former blue-chip recruit has never been in doubt.
"In [offseason workouts], he's taking control," Bolden said. "He pretty much knows our offense. I don't know how, but he just jumped in and knew it, telling people to run this, changing routes and everything. He pretty much knows what he's doing, so I'm just following his lead."
Big Ten sacks leader Ryan Kerrigan leads a defense that must get tougher against the run after finishing last in the Big Ten in each of the last two seasons. The Boilers are helped by greater depth up front and the return of standout linebacker Jason Werner, who received a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA last month.
Hope and his assistants will spend much of the spring evaluating the secondary, which must replace all four starters.
"Obviously, the bar has been raised," Hope said. "The record that we had last year, even though we had some signature wins, was not good enough. We didn't make postseason play.
"The standard is set, and the expectation level is always high at Purdue."
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