FIU Panthers Prowl

This time, it's personnel

While Western Kentucky's Bobby Petrino all but dropped a blizzard of scholarship offers from a helicopter over Southern Broward, FIU got to work putting in face time and offers around the state.

Tampa Alonso running back Ish Witter, 5-8, 190, has and FIU offer, but 10 others also including Louisville and Missouri.

 

FIU's also sniffing around quarterback Jacob Kaiser out of St. Joseph (Mo.) Central High, a three-star recruit (CORRECTION: Kaiser isn't rated by ESPN or Rivals. I'd had another player slotted in here I'd heard, erroneously, FIU was recruiting and he was a three-star guy.)

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/627664/highlights/25355390

Two-star defensive tackle Keiwan Jones from Dunnellon High got an offer from FIU.

 

BASKETBALL

Men's basketball coach Anthony Evans said "none that I know of" when I asked him Thursday if he saw any more players transferring out of the program. Guard Deric Hill's headed for Barry and Malik Smith's following former coach Richard Pitino to Minnesota.

I asked Evans if there was consideration given to offering Hill, a walk-on who was the Die Hard battery in FIU's defense, a scholarship. Evans said he was going to wait until grades came out at the end of summer school, but Hill asked for his release.

With two scholarships left for next season, Evans remains unsure whether to use them or holster them for 2014. He didn't mention the probable postseason ban, but it's an obvious element. Unless there's a player who gives you the shivers, you want him so badly, why not get past whatever treading water will be done next season before using all the aresenal at your command. 

"If I hold for 2014, I'll have a larger class and I can build a foundation fo what I want this program to be," Evans said.

BASEBALL

Aramis Garcia is one of the 15 semifinalists for the Johnny Bench Award, given to the "most deserving Division I catcher nominated by his school." Finalists will be announced June 4.

 

Rainy days and Mondays

FIU threw an offer at Baker County defensive tackle CeCe Jefferson. Jefferson's 6-3, 265, already drawing interest from national powerhouses...and just entering his junior year.

What the heck, can't hurt to ask.

FUND-RAISING

If you've got an extra hundred or 10K sitting around or you can scounge up that scratch with your friends, you can get involved in the 4th annual FIU Athletics Golf Tournament June 14 at Doral. Chunks of football season tickets come with some packages.

Call 305-348-4263 for more information.

TRACK & FIELD

The FIU women finished seventh with 46 points, 90.5 behind winner North Texas, and the men were ninth with 34 points, 77 behind winner Arkansas State in the Sun Belt Conference meet hosted by FIU this weekend.

Obviously, when the recent past looks unimpressive, you look at the future. For FIU's men, that means the freshman jumpers. Marcus Ghent picked up 11 total points from a third in the long jump and a fourth in the triple jump (49 feet, 7 inches). Freshman Chris Sullivan tied for sixth in the high jump at 6-6 3/4.

Senior Aubrey Smith finished third in the triple jump (49-11). Smith's six points and Ghent's 11 points means exactly half of FIU's total points came in the long and the triple.

On the women's side, freshman Oriel Anu picked up points in the 100 hurdles (fourth, 13.90 seconds), the 100 (seventh, 12.30) and, with freshman Phillicia Fluellen, sophomore Desmika White and freshman Maya Balfour, in the 4x100 relay (eighth, 47.08). White was with junior La'Shae White (no relation), senior Juliette Normil and freshman Jaylaan Slaughter on the fourth place 4x400 relay (3:45.92).

In the field, freshman Tiffani Hernandez threw the javelin 136-4 and came in third. Freshman Miriam Pierre hurled the hammer 167-3, good for fifth place behind senior teammate Kimberly Dekrey's best, 169-5. Pierre totaled nine points in the hammer throw, shot put and discus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Football futures? Golf, softball, track postseasons...

FIU swung by Tampa Wharton recently to visit and extend an offer to quarterback Chase Litton. Litton's 6-6, rated at three stars, but reportedly already has a poker hand of offers, including one from LSU.

 

FIU also dropped by Oviedo, where they showed some love to quarterback Chris Davis, more a runner than  a passer (future wide receiver?) and defensive end Tyree Owens, a 6-4 recruit ranked at zero to three stars by the recruiting services.

FIU also offered 6-3 Orlando University tight end Brandon Pylar.

WOMEN'S GOLF

FIU sits 18th, 27 shots back of leader, No.2 Alabama, in the NCAA East Regional after Thursday's first round.

Freshman Meghan MacLaren and Shelby Coyle came in with FIU's best rounds of the day, 3-over 75s. Tania Tare and Yolecci Jimenez each shot 5-over 77. Sophie Godley finsihed 7-over 79.

SOFTBALL

A pair of losses, 8-7 to Louisiana-Lafayette Wednesday and 14-9 to Troy Thursday, ended FIU's Sun Belt Conference tournament and season.

TRACK & FIELD

The school leaving the conference in a month and a half hosts the track championships even though they don't actually have a track facility: FIU, Sun Belt Conference championships, Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar.

Senior Daniela Espino has the best chance for a first place on the women's side, as she comes in with a 5,000 meter best time of 17:12.24, second in the Sun Belt. On the men's side, check out Sun Belt Indoor Track Freshman of the Year Marcus Ghent in the long jump or triple jump. Ghent's out of Northwestern and it never hurts to have a big meet near your home turf. 

 

 

 

 

 

Coming, going on grass & winning in sand

When you've got a small roster that might be getting shorter after grades say some guys had trouble with the "student" part of student-athlete, you start recruiting the next class as soon as possible.

FIU's thrown out offers to Neptune Beach Fletcher quarterback/punter Luke Medlock (brother of Jake Medlock), Jacksonville Bishop Kenny John Wolford....

  

Davie Western defensive back Juwon Dowels and Vero Beach wide receiver Will Dawkins.

 

 Grades posted Thursday. I'm hearing the football Panthers either ineligible for the first four games (at least) or in need of summer savings number at least eight. Most of the names I've heard are on defense, but three are offensive skill position players.

Of course, considering FIU's looking at a 1-3 record in the first four games -- going to Maryland in the first game for a new coach, hosting Bethune-Cookman and Central Florida, going to Sugar Bowl-champion Louisville -- not much harm there. But there won't be much time to integrate those players heading into the Conference USA schedule.

SAND VOLLEYBALL

Meanwhile, FIU exported two pairs to the 16-pair "Best of the Rest" tournament at the American Volleyball Coaches Association Sand Volleyball National Championship. Each went 2-0 Friday.

Jessica Mendoza and Maryna Samoday, the No. 3 seed in their group, today face No. 2 seed Kelly Reeves and Meg Norton from UCLA and Bethanie Thomas and Kariana Hirini from Alabama-Birmingham. Kate Stepanova and Ksenia Sukhareva No. 2 in their group, will face No. 1 Tylor Nyquist and Sammie Strausbaugh from Jacksonville U. That's in the afternoon, after they get Loyola Marymount's Felicia Arriola and Litara Kell earlier in the day.

BASKETBALL

Leading scorer Tymell Murphy announced via Twitter that he'll be staying at FIU for his senior season.

 

 

 

Friday at Camp Mitch

A few things from Friday morning's football practice, occasionally in cooling rain:

Wide receiver-turned-strong-safety Adrian Jenkins picked off E.J. Hilliard in team drills. But when working in the red zone, Hilliard looked like he had a better day than Jake Medlock.

"I think both of them right now are just focusing on learning the offense, knowing exactly what we're doing so they can react," head coach Ron Turner said. "Neither are to the point where they can react yet. Every play they're thinking. That's going to happen for a while."

Turner said he doesn't know whether his offense exceeds FIU's previous offense in complexity or diversity, but knows "it is as opposite as it can be. So, it's completely different. Terminology, schemes, techniques, fundamentals, there's not one thing that's similar."

Freshman linebacker Patrick Jean and redshirt freshman wide receiver Dominique Rhymes, at separate times over the last few days, complimented the coaching staff on its teaching ability and attention to instructional detail.

Jean said linebackers coach Tom Williams, "explains
football to us in a way we understand, so that we actually know the game.”

When I asked for an example, Jean said, “In meetings, he showed us the mannerisms of the back. That’s something I never knew before. I never looked at the footwork of the back, I never saw his
shoulders. I always watched the o-lineman in front of me. He’s training my eyes instead of my feet. The physicality, that’s going to come. The technique, that’s going to come. I can work on that. But if I get it right with my eyes, I can play faster now.”

Wide receiver Raymond Jackson hasn't been at the last few practices. Turner gave the almost euphemistic explanation that Jackson is "taking care of some personal stuff, focusing on academics" but also said, "We'll get together at the end of spring and see where we go." I suspect offensive lineman Prince Matt's in the same boat.

BASKETBALL

I'm hearing that Tymell Murphy, last year's leading scorer, will wait to see who the new coach is before deciding whether or not to transfer.

Local native Tony Pujol, now an assistant at Alabama, has been in the mix the last couple of times this job came open. Pujol worked at Virginia Commonwealth and Alabama under Anthony Grant, another Miami native. Also, at Appalachian State, Pujol helped with a multi-year team APR that was consistently above 970.

The Pitino-Donovan connection: Grant coached under Billy Donovan during Donovan's first 10 seasons at Florida before heading for VCU and Bama, five of those seasons as associate head coach. Donovan thinks highly of Grant who thinks highly of Pujol.

GOLF

FIU enters next week's Sun Belt Conference tournament with the best team stroke average and the individual with the best stroke average, freshman Meghan MacLaren.

RIP

Jonathan Winters, an artist as a comedian and a comedian who was a funny artist -- some of his paintings possessed smarter wit than a season of average sitcoms. Winters might've been the most complete comedian we've seen. He could bring down the house and leave other comedians in awe doing stand up, prop, improvisation as well as comic acting, a comic cycle few attempt.

Winters reminds me of Dave Letterman in that some people just didn't get him, but those that did laughed very hard. For a very long time. He died Thursday.

 

Welcome to Conference Sun Belt USA; Alexander Belt Pitcher of the Week; Swimming Scholars

Western Kentucky's leaving the Sun Belt for Conference USA in 2014, the school and C-USA officially announced today. So, that means FIU, FAU, North Texas, Middle Tennessee State and Western will make that move between July 2013 and July 2014.

My first thought was, "That's only one year away from Bobby Petrino." Petrino won't head up Western's football program for long, four years at the outside, more likely three. But the man can recruit and coach and his track record says he'll be a problem for the rest of his conference, whatever that conference is. That's the Sun Belt this year and Conference USA with FIU after that.

BASEBALL

Junior Tyler Alexander's four-hit, 10-strikeout 1-0 win against Arkansas State got him named Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week, the conference announced Monday afternoon.

SWIMMING & DIVING

FIU's 3.15 GPA from the fall got them recognized as a College Swimming Coaches Association of America Scholar All-America Team. The honor goes to teams that achieve a 3.0 team GPA for a semester. This is FIU's fifth consecutive semester above that mark.

New football signee; sand volleyball tournament

Ron Turner said he wanted to get more offensive linemen on the football roster. Turner's apparently picked up one, FIU announcing the signing of Byron Pinkston, a 6-3, 300-pound center from Dean College. Pinkston was a Honorable Mention Junior College All-America selection in 2012.

Reminder: tomorrow night, 7 p.m., the football team will scrimmage.

SAND VOLLEYBALL

No. 1 Pepperdine, FAU, Tulane, Georgia State and South Florida come down for the Doctors Hospital FIU Surf & Turf Tournament that runs Friday and Sunday at FIU's mini beach across the street from The Branch on the main campus. Saturday, games will be played at Fort Lauderdale's South Beach Park (not to be confused with the real South Beach of story and thong).

BYOBS (Bring Your Own Beach Stuff). The first 100 students each day will receive a pair of FIU sunglasses.

FIU lost 5-0 to Pepperdine (6-0) a few weeks ago, but seemed confident they'd take Pepperdine in the rematch. FIU's ranked No. 6, moving up two spots last week.

 

New football signee; sand volleyball tournament

Ron Turner said he wanted to get more offensive linemen on the football roster. Turner's apparently picked up one, FIU announcing the signing of Byron Pinkston, a 6-3, 300-pound center from Dean College. Pinkston was a Honorable Mention Junior College All-America selection in 2012.

SAND VOLLEYBALL

No. 1 Pepperdine, FAU, Tulane, Georgia State and South Florida come down for the Doctors Hospital FIU Surf & Turf Tournament that runs Friday and Sunday at FIU's mini beach across the street from The Branch on the main campus. Saturday, games will be played at Fort Lauderdale's South Beach Park (not to be confused with the real South Beach of story and thong).

BYOBS (Bring Your Own Beach Stuff). The first 100 students each day will receive a pair of FIU sunglasses.

FIU lost 5-0 to Pepperdine (6-0) a few weeks ago, but seemed confident they'd take Pepperdine in the rematch. FIU's ranked No. 6, moving up two spots last week.

 

Tim Thomas chooses FIU

Crowley (Tx.) High's Tim Thomas, a 6-5, 325 guard, tweets that he's decided on FIU. If FIU's decided on him, that'll be signee No. 20 in the 2013 recruiting class.

 http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1378588/#highlights/32177379

 

The Wright Effect

Getting Louisville Trinity QB Travis Wright doesn't by itself save FIU's 2013 recruiting class in the national rankings that'll get reshuffled in two years once some guys soar like eagles, some guys flop like penguins, some guys flunk like dummies and some guys get arrested like cast members from Different Strokes.

But there's no question Wright's a good late get who could have a domino effect on FIU's season.

(For what it's worth, here's ESPN Recruiting's Ratings on four quarterbacks: Collins Hill (Ga.) Suwanee High Brett Sheehan, who decommitted post-Mario Cristobal firing and signed with South Alabama, 67, two stars; 2012 freshman backup E.J. Hilliard, 73, two stars; Wright, 75, three stars; 2012 starter Jake Medlock, 76, three stars).

All logic says Medlock enters camp as the No. 1 guy. Behind him, Wright should provide legitimate competition to Hilliard. Hilliard's edge in experience gets mitigated because everybody will be learning a new offense. Expect Hilliard to respond to Wright's imminent challenge with a more finely honed diligence in the spring and when Wright arrives in the late summer. 

That makes for a better Hilliard and a better backup, whether its Hilliard or Wright. With a line light on experience and physical maturity, nobody's betting on Medlock making it through the season with perfect attendance.

Israel "Tofi" Paopao? Recruiters comb California for quarterbacks and Paopao didn't show up on anybody's list with any kind of stars until FIU signed him. That says something. His Oceanside High teams had a great record with him as a starter, but when you're beating teams 56-0 and 49-6, a whole lot of other guys are playing well, too. If I'm wrong and he winds up in the mix, too, all the better for FIU.

 

QB Travis Wright claims offer

Louisville Trinity quarterback Travis Wright claimed on Twitter that FIU offered him one of its remaining 2013 scholarships.

Wright, 6-1, 185, quarterbacked Trinity to three consecutive Class 6A state titles. Last year, he completed 64.2 percent of passes for 3,529 yards and 39 touchdowns with 11 interceptions.

Wright's rated at two stars by Rivals.com and in Rivals top 20 nationally for dual threat quarterbacks. MaxPreps has him as the No. 1 quarterback in Kentucky, No. 11 in the nation. ESPN rates him at three stars. Scout.com and 247Sports don't rate him at all.

Despite a stellar high school career, this is Wright's first offer. I'm not sure why -- nobody I know in Louisville has anything negative to say about him -- but check out this story, done back in September by Sports Illustrated.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/highschool/09/24/uncommitted-quarterbacks-remain-patient/index.html

 

Tim Thomas coming to visit

No, not the former Bruins' gardien de but, but an offensive guard out of Crowley (Tx.) High.

The 6-5, 325-pound Thomas calls himself an "FIU commit," is coming on an official visit this weekend, but already did the letter of intent signing pose with several teammates for a newspaper photo a few days ago. Of course, many of those "signings" for photos are ceremonial with the actual letter already having been faxed to the school. Or, sometimes, just elsewhere even if Mom doesn't run off with it.

Anyway, FIU says no Tim Thomas has signed yet. Thomas isn't rated by Scout.com or Rivals.com. FIU still has seven scholarships to dish out this year.

You want answers? You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!

The best part about that Jack Nicholson performance is he did it with the same intensity for the all the takes where the camera's on Tom Cruise saying his lines as well as the takes where the camera's focused on Nicholson. Usually, in a scene shot and edited as that one was, the actor not on camera reads his lines with half intensity.

So, I come back from a day off ready to talk about 2012 wide receiver recruit Nick England transferring to Old Dominion, the reports that Vero Beach kicker Karson Dietrich would walk-on here, the possibility that 2012 freshmen Johnnie Durante, linebacker Leroy Owens and quarterback Favian Upshaw are transferring and, boy, what a comments section! Comments begging for commentary!

So let's throw on The Crusaders' Southern Comfort, grab some Fanta Grape and get started...

1. No, I don't hate FIU. I hate Purdue. I hate Indianapolis Ben Davis High. I hate any school swimming against Miami Country Day. I don't care enough about FIU sports to hate it. Hate to break it to you, but few do.

"Oooo, they fired coaches he got along with..." Maybe some of you are that childish. I'm a little too old for that. I've been doing this job over 25 years, almost 24 at The Herald. Many coaches I've gotten along with have been fired. Many more will. The Florida Panthers fired two of my favorite people to cover, Bryan Murray and Terry Murray, on the same day. I never wished that franchise ill.

Was I surprised by the Isiah Thomas firing? A little. Was I annoyed -- like the few others in the local media who care about FIU -- that I couldn't get an answer as to why he was fired? Sure. Did I also put in the blog once the team's 2010-11 APR came out that eight wins plus an 825 APR pretty much explains his firing? Sure did.

(Oh, I heard last year's APR could be another stinker, and FIU could be looking at some punishment from the Kollege Kremlin up on West Washington in Indianapolis. Also, I've heard this year's staff has been much more diligent in getting kids to class.)

I wasn't the only one in the media who thought Mario Cristobal's firing premature. FIU's been pilloried nationally and locally over that. But I handled the coaching search the same way I have every other search I've covered. And Ron Turner hired who he's hired and fired who he's fired (and when he's fired them). I didn't make a single decision. I just wrote about them.

I don't have an axe to grind against anybody. What have I written about Pete Garcia that's so savage? Or untrue? 

My point in saying I could really embarrass folks daily if I wanted, well, I'm not sure I could put it any plainer. Any reporter who's on a college beat for a while knows many things athletes, coaches, administrators have said or done that would embarrass the proudest supporter of that school. If a reporter wanted to humiliate the school he covers, especially a public one, he could have that school to where it's the butt of weak Jay Leno jokes and better Dave Letterman jokes in a month.

There's a reason Brent Musberger said in the Pony Excess 30-by-30 documentary on 1980s SMU, "When the local media turns its guns on you, you're finished."

Let's end this part with one simple fact: I actually like FIU. I try to write about most of FIU's teams either in the paper or on the blog. If I hated FIU, I wouldn't make the effort. I'd write about football, basketball and a little baseball and that's it. That's what drives this blog's readership and the print readership. If I wrote less than 100 words about any of the other sports, it would make no difference in any performance review I received at The Herald or the number of people who read this blog.

How do I know? I look at when blog readership increases, decreases and what gets comments. Football moves the needle. Basketball, some. Baseball, a quiver. Everybody else, zzzzz. For example, during swimming and diving's spectacular conference meet last year, I was blogging updates soon as the official results posted over several posts. FIU had the conference Swimmer of the Year (Johanna Gustafsdottir) and Diver of the Year (Sabrina Beaupre) yet readership flatlined. All those posts drew one, "Yay for FIU! Good job, ladies!"-type comment. 

This year, I hope to do the same updates and hopefully add end-of-day interviews. But, I hate FIU. Yah.

2. I didn't volunteer to cover UM because, No. 1, that beat wasn't open. This one was. Adam Beasley left the beat. It was open. See, like most positions in companies, a job has to be open before you ask for it.

No. 2, FIU is a public university with a nice walkable campus filled with mostly polite young people still optimistic they can change the world. That's good energy. One FIU employee, who used to be based away from the main campus, told me she used to reenergize by walking through the GC when she'd be called back to Camp Mitch. It feels much better spending my days around that than in a windowless media room waiting to talk to Dolphins players in the midst of another non-playoff season then in the offseason wondering who they'll draft.

No. 3, it works well for schlepping my daughter to school, picking her up from school and handling other daddy duties. Speaking of my daughter, a corollary to something I often tell her:

3. If it doesn't happen or almost nobody knows it happened, it doesn't get reported. That simple. And I've been on this beat for 20 months now. I hear more than I once did.

There's a reason coaches used to almost patrol the dorms at night. If something happens and they're on the scene, they can help defuse the situation or help erase it before official reports have to be made.

Well, the alarm rings in four hours. Froot Loops atop tonight's taco dinner should make for a fun midday. Good morning.

Cyp & Tourek going to The NFL Combine; Turner talk

The NFL Scouting Combine gives NFL teams a chance to look into the minds of future NFL players and NFL scribes a chance to look into the downtown Indianapolis night life (which, if done properly, should include Steak 'n' Shake. http://www.nfl.com/combine/story/09000d5d827473d9/printable/indy-intel-combine-observations-on-and-off-the-field)

In between, during the days, players do some lab rat testing that shows how well they'll play football when football's turned into an indoor decathlon.

This party's invited FIU's Johnathan Cyprien, who had a great Senior Bowl week according to all who saw him, and defensive end Tourek Williams, who impressed at the Texas vs. The Nation All-Star Game.

TURNER SPEAKS

What Turner had to say about the Prince Matt arrest is on that post. Thursday afternoon also discussed the firing of secondary coach Jeff Popovich right after FIU finished signing recruits Wednesday, the first day of the signing period.

"I'm looking for a good fit, making sure the chemistry of the staff is what I want going forward," Turner said.

Turner said there wasn't a personality conflict: "I don't know if I'd say that. I'm looking for the right fit. I think he does a good job and is a good coach. There's no question about that."

Popovich said he felt bad for the families of defensive backs who heard in their living rooms from he and Turner that Popovich would be their position coach.

"A student-athlete shouldn't base their decision entirely on coaches," Popovich said. "But you realize it does have an effect, especially when it's your position coach."

Turner admitted the timing, right after FIU finished signing four defensive backs, two of whom (Bartow's Vontarius West, Belen's Xavier Hines) were their consensus highest rated recruits.

"This wasn't anything I had planned three weeks ago," he said. "It was a decision I made in the last couple of days."

2013 Signing Day for football, soccer, track; Popovich fired

The first day of the signing period rained down news in the manner of punches in a Sugar Ray Leonard finishing flurry.

FIU signed 18 players, 17 of them from Florida. Only Oceanside (Cal.) quarterback Israel "Tofi" Paopao's parents get to kvetch about state income tax.

Anyway, on to the recruits:

Loxahatchee Seminole Ridge running back Silas Spearman, 5-10, 195: Spearman wasn't rated by anybody until recently when, suddenly, Rivals and 247Sports had him at two stars. Scout and ESPN don't have him rated at all. When a running back's this accomplished -- over 1,200 yards rushing, 212 yards and two touchdowns on just four catches, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Player of the Year Class 8A-6A -- in a talent heavy area, but is lightly recruited and not rated by some services, that usually means a question about academics.

Royal Palm Beach Seminole Ridge Michelle Howell: captain of the track and cross country team (hey, it's not just football Signing Day).

Ocala West Port tight end Jonnu Smith, 6-3, 210: 247 has him at three stars, Scout and Rivals at two stars, ESPN not rated (they don't get around to everybody).

Smith's schoolmate and pal, running back Alfonso Randolph (5-11, 185), was unrated when he committed three weeks ago, now rated at two stars by 247, Rivals and Scout.

Palm Beach Gardens offensive lineman James Cruise (6-5, 275): 247, Scout and Rivals each has him at two stars. ESPN doesn't rate him. 

North Palm Beach Benjamin tight end Jonathan Pavlov (6-4, 225): 247, Scout, Rivals have him at two stars, with 247 putting him on the cusp of three. ESPN doesn't rate him.  FIU salivates over the talent.

Bartow High defensive back Vontarius West (6-0, 185): ESPN and 247 have West as FIU's best recruit, Rivals has him as one of three three star signees and Scout has him at two stars.

Belen defensive back Xavier Hines (6-0, 175): 247 ranks Hines just behind West and Rivals ranks him on the same level as West, both at three stars. Scout puts him at two stars and ESPN didn't get around to him.

Vero Beach offensive lineman Chris Flaig (6-5, 305): ESPN, which has been high on Flaig for over a year, ranks him at three stars, FIU's second best recruit behind West. Everyone else has him at two stars. Turner said Flaig's got a chance to play as a freshman -- as a long-snapper. Undependable long-snapping cost FIU two games last year and greatly effected two others.

Columbus linebacker Jordan Guest (6-4, 195): Two stars across the board, although I would swear that's a pretty recent rating.

Tampa Gaither wide receiver Shug Oyegunle (5-9, 175): two stars from 247, Rivals and Scout, nothing from ESPN.

Bradenton Manatee defensive back Willie Smith (6-0, 175): three stars from 247, two stars from everybody else. He suffered a knee injury last season, but said he's months ahead of schedule. He liked Ron Turner's resume, so he kept his commitment made last year. If not for the injury, Smith might be the highest ranked recruit.

Hallandale linebacker Jeremy Derrick (6-1, 180): two stars from everyone, except ESPN, which didn't rate him.

Tampa Robinson wide receiver Cody Hodgens will be a preferred walk-on. Riviera Beach Suncoast offensive tackle Garrett Scott will walk-on with a full academic scholarship.

Plantation American Heritage Luis Betancur is signing with FIU. No, not American football, although somebody should check into whether he'd be interested in kicking. He's a stud futbol player with a slew of Player of the Year awards and was recruited by Virginia, a serious soccer power.

Californian Vincent Reyes, another player recruited by ACC soccer powers, also signed with FIU.

Fort Lauderdale University High offensive lineman Jordan Budwig (6-4, 330): Everybody's got him at two stars.

Norland linebacker Treyvon Williams (5-11, 230): Two stars across the board. Williams teammate, 6-3, 235-pound defensive end Akeem Barton, wasn't rated.

Orlando Jones safety/running back/athlete Wilkenson Myrtil (6-0, 185): two stars except from ESPN. 

Killian linebacker Jordan Gibbs (6-1, 220): two stars by 247, Scout, Rivals, not rated by ESPN. Again, I don't seem to recall those stars being there when FIU offered him.

Oceanside (Cal.) High quarterback Israel Paopao (6-1, 240): Not rated by Scout or Rivals.

 

Miramar wide receiver Sean Avant: ESPN and Rivals have him at three stars, 247 and Scout at two. And then, Wednesday, he flipped and decided to be a preferred walk-on at FAU instead of taking a scholarship to FIU.

POPOVICH FIRED

In a surprising move, secondary coach Jeff Popovich was fired moments before head coach Ron Turner met with the media to discuss the players signed and what might be done with the seven scholarships that remain (bet on quarterback, offensive linemen, kicker).

Turner told me two weeks ago he divided up recruiting and commit retention responsibilities among coaches by position. As secondary coach, Popovich had a big responsibility. FIU signed four defensive backs. Bradenton Manatee safety Willie Smith said Popovich was one of the reasons he committed early to FIU and stayed with it.

Tough business.

Signing Day Eve

All across this land, from Maine to Maui, grown folks with jobs and responsibilities wait on the edge of sweatness to see where a bunch 18-year-olds, most of whom can't make a credible supermarket run, will decide to play football and maybe go to a few classes.

This is National Signing Day.

Throughout Wednesday, I'll be updating Twitter and/or this blog.

One recent verbal commitment not listed: Tampa Robinson wide receiver Cody Hodgens is coming as a preferred walk-on.

One last warning on reading too much into tomorrow: I'm hearing four members of the 2012 recruiting class, two or three-stars depending on who you consult, have asked for transfers or been asked to transfer. Sources close to FIU say one of the four contributed as much as he could to the football team's GPA taking a dip during the fall semester.

Now, let's hear those fax machines purr...

Possible stopgap QB visit

Addendum to today's story at http://www.miamiherald.com/sports that I would've read over my Cap'n Crunch (with Crunch Berries) on a more leisurely morning...

Utah State quarterback Adam Kennedy, a senior who got a medical redshirt last year after a shoulder injury, hit FIU this weekend on his Where Will I Transfer? tour.

Kennedy, 6-5, played in eight games for Utah State in 2011 and started the last five after an injury to Utah State's starter. In five and a half games of playing time, Kennedy completed 72 of 105 passes for 926 yards, 11 touchdowns, four interceptions. Before Utah State, Kennedy started 10 games at San Joaquin Delta College.

With a possibly leaky line and a starting quarterback who's had trouble staying healthy, it's not surprising new head coach Turner would want a backup with more post-high school experience than the three and a half games played by sophomore E.J. Hilliard last year (although Hilliard played against four good teams...).

 

Sandley Jean-Felix to Marshall?

Perhaps FIU's most noted fall commit was Lauderdale Lakes Boyd Anderson offensive tackle Sandley Jean-Felix, rated a high three-star recruit.

But Jean-Felix committed to FIU under the former coaching staff. And the offensive line coach from that staff, Alex Mirabal, is now at Marshall and Jean-Felix visited there recently.

Don't be surprised if this is a verbal commitment that doesn't make it to Wednesday.

Wilkenson Myrtil commits

Orlando Jones Wilkenson Myrtil, who can play running back, safety or linebacker, verbally committed to FIU Saturday. The Orlando Sentinel had Myrtil as a "Lower Level Best Bet" as far as recruiting and theorized that he could be a star running back at a lower level school.

 

Reports: Silas Spearman commits

The recruiting reporters up in Palm Beach say that Seminole Ridge running back Silas Spearman gave his verbal word to FIU at the start of his official visit today.

Spearman ran for 1,258 yards and 12 touchdowns this year. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel named him their Class 8A-6A Player of the Year. Spearman isn't rated by ESPN, Rivals.com or Scout.com. He's 5-10, 190.