2010 Big East Football Recruiting Roundup

2009 was a solid year for the Big East conference on the field. A winning bowl record coupled with a newfound level of respect across the country for the league appears to be taking root with recruits as well. While the league generally doesn’t receive the same amount of accolades that the rest of the BCS leagues do in recruiting, it has been a solid year for the Big East.

Here are rankings from top to bottom in average star rating:

• Pittsburgh Panthers, 24 commitments, Average Star Rating: 3.09

The Panthers have one of the league’s biggest classes and are the best in conference in average star rating, finishing 25 th in the country. With defensive ends T.J. Clemmings and Bryan Murphy (both chosen among the top 150 by Scout.com) headlining the class, there is plenty of top end talent. Dave Wannstedt continues his recruiting roll thanks again to a plethora of in-state talent.

• West Virginia Mountaineers, 19 commitments, Average Star Rating: 3.008

The Mountaineers would have built an even stronger class had former assistant coach Doc Holliday not accepted the Marshall job, resulting in some of WVU’s top commitments to look elsewhere. Still, the Mountaineers have the conference’s 2 nd highest average star rating and their commitments include three prospects chosen to be among the top 150 in the USA by one of the major services. This class could also improve further should 4/5 star defensive back Latwan Anderson out of Ohio sign a letter of intent in the next few weeks.

• South Florida Bulls, 19 commitments, Average Star Rating: 2.771

South Florida has done a solid job maintaining their recruiting class in spite of undergoing a coaching change after their bowl game. The Bulls are capitalizing on the talent in their backyard and have put together a strong class, led by consensus 150 defensive back Terrence Mitchell and ESPN 150 DT Todd Chandler. Despite losing a few star athletes down the stretch, this class is an excellent start for new coach Skip Holtz.

• Louisville Cardinals, 26 commitments, Average Star Rating: 2.750

New Cardinal boss Charlie Strong was hired, in part, for his excellent recruiting acumen under Urban Meyer at Florida and he immediately built upon that reputation once he was brought to Louisville. Strong has received numerous commitments, including Rivals150 wide receiver Michaelee Harris, and this mammoth 26 member class has seen its average star rating skyrocket to 4 th in the conference. This is a very good start for Strong.

• Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 25 commitments, Average Star Rating: 2.631

When I first put this article together a week before national signing day, Rutgers had the league’s smallest class and boasted one of the lowest average star ratings. I was ready to designate the Scarlet Knights’ recruiting efforts as the Big East’s worst in 2010. However, Greg Schiano rallied and turned his class from an absolute disaster into a moderate disappointment. A year after bringing a group ranked in the top 25 nationally, this class has to be considered below expectations but it is barely below the league-wide average.

• Cincinnati Bearcats, 21 commitments, Average Star Rating: 2.484

Unlike Louisville, Cincinnati has seen a once-promising class fall off in a major way thanks to the departure of coach Brian Kelly. New coach Butch Jones managed to hold together a lot of the commitments but he is in uncharted territory as he’s never been a head coach at a BCS level. In the end, Cincinnati has to be happy that this class hasn’t completely fallen off with the coaching change but this is not the type of class that will maintain Cincinnati’s spot atop the league.

• Syracuse Orange, 29 commitments, Average Star Rating: 2.431

Doug Marrone’s first full class at ‘Cuse is certainly a large one, the biggest in the Big East! With a newfound competitive spirit, it is no surprise that the Orange received a pledge from so many commitments but it will take some winning seasons for those pledges to come from some of the more highly though of players in the country. While there are undoubtedly some future stars in this group, Syracuse still has the 4 th lowest average star rating among BCS conference teams.

• Connecticut Huskies, 22 commitments, Average Star Rating: 2.371

After a tough but ultimately successful season, it is very surprising to see Connecticut at the bottom of these rankings. This class is disappointing in many respects, the most damning being that the Huskies have the lowest average star rating among the BCS conference schools! Randy Edsall needs to do better if he wants his team to remain competitive in the improving Big East. Perhaps next year will be better for the Huskies as recruits begin to notice UConn’s consistent postseason presence.

As you can see, the league is pretty clearly split into three convenient tiers: The Top (Pitt and West Virginia), Middle (South Florida, Louisville, Rutgers) and Bottom (Cincinnati, Connecticut, Syracuse). Overall, the league only attracted one Consensus 150 player and only eight Top 150 players overall. The Big East’s final tally produced a haul of 184 recruits and a league-wide average rating of 2.682 stars.

The top two teams both boast average star ratings above 3.00 and have combined for five of the Big East’s eight Top 150 players. The Backyard Brawl should continue to be filled with plenty of talented athletes and these two classes are the type that can lead teams to conference championships.

The Middle Tier has a little bit different of an identity. South Florida fell off from an average star rating that was comparable to Pitt and WVU after Jim Leavitt was fired but Skip Holtz’s new staff did a great job bringing in the league’s only Consensus 150 player. Louisville, who finished right on USF’s heels, saw a major uptick in recruiting under Charlie Strong and really put together a strong group. Also, as I mentioned above, Rutgers had a strong closing kick to sneak into this group. The top two teams are definitely more highly thought of compared to the new group of Scarlet Knights.

When it comes to the bottom three, it isn’t a major surprise to see Syracuse or Connecticut in this group. Neither has a great in-state recruiting base and generally have to do a good job developing their players. However, Cincinnati fell apart after head coach Brian Kelly left for Notre Dame, dropping almost a third of a point in average star rating to finish with a thud. New coach Butch Jones had better take advantage of all of the in-state talent in Ohio in the Class of 2011 if he wants to continue Kelly’s success.

SUPERLATIVES

Most Surprising (Best): Louisville Cardinals

Louisville was definitely the most surprising class. The Cardinals were coming off of three consecutive disappointing seasons and new coach Charlie Strong had less than two months to throw together a recruiting class that was underwhelming at best upon his arrival. But with a strong closing run, the Cardinals put together the 5 th highest average star rating despite bringing in the conference’s 2 nd biggest class. The closing effort from Strong has to give Louisville fans hope for a very bright future. Expect the Cardinals to continue to recruit well in 2011.

Most Surprising (Worst): Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Rutgers’ class is almost inexcusable. After a top 25 effort in 2009, a lot of high school talent left the state of New Jersey in 2010, including Pittsburgh signee T.J. Clemmings, a Top 150 recruit. As Rutgers’ 2009 class was so highly thought of and produced immediate dividends on the field (including starting QB Tom Savage and star playmaker Mohammed Sanu), their follow up effort looks even worse by association. In a year where Rutgers won eight games, including a bowl, this class beats out Cincinnati’s transition class as the most disappointing in the Big East.

Worst Class Overall: Connecticut Huskies

I hate to be a downer for UConn fans after an emotional season ended with a blowout bowl victory over South Carolina of the SEC, but their class isn’t very highly thought of by the major services. This is the lowest average star rating among BCS conferences and eight of the ten non-BCS teams I profiled boasted a stronger average star ranking as well. In short, this class will have to massively exceed expectations for the Huskies to maintain their success in the future.

Best Class Overall: Pittsburgh Panthers

The Panthers always have seemed to recruit well under Dave Wannstedt and 2010 was no different. The Panthers brought in 24 players who combined to produce the conference’s highest average star ranking. Only rival West Virginia can come close to Pittsburgh’s excellent star rating and their class was five players smaller, meaning that Pitt has put together a deep and talented class that should be the backbone of future success to come for the Panthers. There is little doubt that this group is the conference’s most highly thought of class by all of the experts.

Pittsburgh is the winner of Collegesports-fans.com’s 2010 Big East Class Of The Year!

Matt Baxendell is collegesports-fans.com’s football writer. If you want to get in touch with him, email him at Matt.Baxendell@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @MattBaxendell