2024 Recruiting

[FUPlayer74]

Again, no inside info here but a couple more commitment date announcements from guys Furman has offered. Given the fact that Furman got 5-6 commits this weekend, anytime one of these guys with an offer, especially one that recently visited, announces a commitment date, it’s something to keep an eye on just in case.

Roper and Mainsah liked this one along with recent commit Jordan Miller and Malaki Dobbins (who I think MIGHT soon be a commit). Not sure how Dobbins and Varvel would have much interaction unless they spent some time together at Furman but who knows.

Committed!

6 FU coaches and incoming freshman Chris Luna liked this just fyi.

[FUwolfpacker]

As 74 said, Santino Varvel has committed!

Varvel is a 6’3”, 175 pound WR from AZ. He was 2nd team all-state in 5A, and he was the state champ in hurdles. Definite deep threat, smooth runner who seemed to effortlessly run by guys in his film. FU continues to push recruiting into the western US landing Garcia from CA and Varvel from AZ.

That’s 1 of the 5-6 commits from this weekend.

[The Jackal]

Panning out a bit, these WR commits - Hester and Varvel - are going to be fun to watch in tandem with the class we had last year, which had three WRs and a bunch of walk-ons at the position.

[FUwolfpacker]

Haven't updated the offer listings in a while. I probably missed some from last update, but I'll just post what I have.

Kevin Doddard
All Saints Episcopal School (TX)
5'11", 170, DB
Offers: Furman, Missouri St, Colgate
*Attended Furman's VIP day in early July

Ethan "Ace" Johnson
Shades Valley HS (AL)
6'1", 215, LB
Offers: Furman, App State, UT Martin, Alabama A&M, Army, North Alabama, CCU, Alabama St, Marshall

Nate Thomason
Helena HS (AL)
6'2", 207, LB
Offers: Furman, Memphis, Richmond, Columbia, Alabama St, Army, UT Martin, Lafayette, Austin Peay, Brown, SEMO, Navy, Mercer, Dartmouth, Southern Miss, Air Force, Jacksonville St

Jaquavion Smith
Forest Hills HS (NC)
6'1", 215, LB/DB
Offers: Furman, PC, Towson, Howard, Lenoir Rhyne

Chase Gregorek
TL Hanna HS (SC)
6'5", 290, OT
Offers: Furman, Bryant, PC, ETSU, Valpo, Army
*Attended Furman's VIP day in early July

Caleb Ballard
Thompson HS
6'1", 230, LB/DE
Offers: Furman, Lafayette

Fredrick Logan
Pine Forest (NC)
5'11", 185, ATH
Offers: Furman, Brown, Wofford, Army

Jayson Allen
Central Gwinnett HS (GA)
6'2", 180, DB
Offers: Furman, AF, EMU, Akron, Navy, Alabama St, Austin Peay, LIU, FIU, Alabama A&M, GT (? from Jan 2022)

Charlie Stewart
Watuga HS (NS)
6'5", 290, OL
Offers: Furman, Elon, Bryant, W&M, Lafayette, Colgate, Bucknell, Brown, Duke (PWO)
*Attended Furman's VIP day in early July

Isaac Cannizzaro
Meadow Creek HS (GA)
6'4", 270, OL
Offers: Furman, Alabama St, Alabama A&M, JMU, Kentucky, Troy, Maryland, VT, Missouri

DeSean Davis
Dallas HSAA (Dallas home school football team)
6'5", 220, DE
Offers: Furman, Army, Air Force, Brown, Rice, Lamar, Bryant

[FUwolfpacker]

This has been an incredibly slow work week for me, so I've been doing some twitter/IG investigation to see who was at the Furman VIP day this past week since we had 5-6 commits recently.

VIP Day attendees best I can gather. Could not confirm that Jordan Miller was in town for it on social media.

RB Jeremiah Gavin Hall COMMIT
NG Bruce Knauber COMMIT
QB Terry Hedden III COMMIT
WR Devin Hester Jr COMMIT
WR Santino Varvel COMMIT
TE Jackson Pryor COMMIT
DE/LB Jalin Edwards
OL Steven O’Dell
DB Kevin Doddard
DE/LB Malaki Dobbins
OL Charlie Stewart
OL Chase Gregorek
OL Noah Akinsola
S/ATH Edward "Tre" Brown (I'm fairly certain this was the other guy but still can't find the confirmation)

If we are operating on the 5-6 commits from this past week and that Pryor and Varvel are two of them, there are probably 3-4 from this list that might have committed.

Again, I have no inside info so I'm just guessing, but I feel pretty good about Dobbins. I feel decent about Doddard. O'Dell committing next week after being at this event is certainly encouraging depending on where he goes this week (if he has a visit).

We'll see where it shakes out over the next few weeks though.

[The Jackal]

Not sure how the class pans out, but Bruce Knauber sounds like an interior lineman already.

[Afurmanfan]

My understanding is that we have 12 commits so far.

[FUwolfpacker]

My understanding is that we have 12 commits so far.

Based on the 7(?) that are public right now, plus the reported number over the weekend, that certainly adds up. I think I had us at a suspected 11 but I may have missed 1 in the flurry of tweets. Not sure I want to go back and look to see where we were last year at this time, but it certainly feels like we are ahead of scheduled compared to last year.

[FUwolfpacker]

Tre Brown confirmed at VIP day.

[apaladin]

Kinda funny how all the recruits are dressed up in thr gosh awful black and purple unis instead of the classic. I guess the kids like them which is ok.

[FUwolfpacker]

Kinda funny how all the recruits are dressed up in thr gosh awful black and purple unis instead of the classic. I guess the kids like them which is ok.

It’s so funny you posted this. I almost made a post after the previous one talking about how every kid except Noah Akinsola (and I think that was only because two kids had on the same number) has been in the black uniforms.

Regardless of how anyone on here feels about them, the recruits (and a lot of their friends in their comments) really like the black uniforms. I’d choose the classics 10 times out of 10, but they have grown on me. Also, I don’t really care what we wear as long as we win!

[The Jackal]

The black uniforms are generally well-regarded. It's a cohesive look and fits with the Furman brand of moving black in as the primary alternate color among all of the sports programs. I like that they fully committed to it being a different look from the traditional set. I

As far as the football recruits, though, it may be something more simple than that. (1) having all the commits take photos in the same uniform creates brand cohesion across the social media platforms. (2) The black may show up better with the graphics and photos Furman wants to use across social media.

Honestly, it may be something as simple as the fact that our social media team uses "Furman" and "Paladins" in purple and white and a player wearing those colors in the photo makes it more difficult to see. Using Hedden as an example - the graphic probably wouldn't work if he had on our traditional uniform with white pants.

[The Jackal]

There are others on this forum way more knowledgeable about this stuff, but these graphics decisions aren't throw away calls. Most of these kids probably aren't even ON twitter as a social media platform, but primarily use it as a recruiting tool.

Just for the sake of comparison, I pulled a random Furman player's social media (Bo Layton in 2015). It looked like this:

A few years later, we were a bit better on the brand cohesion and graphics front, but still were very cookie-cutter.

What Furman is doing now is pretty impressive on the graphics/branding font. Hedden's post, for instance, is tied to the graphic (using "Home" in both areas). You see that same theme picked up from other recruits across their social media platform.

I'm sure there's a whole science to it. Furman's definitely gotten better at it. I think the black uniforms are just part of the plan, not a commentary on tradition.

[HB88]

As someone who also follows UGA, too, the 'non-traditional' uniforms are often the most frequent choice for recruits on their visits. The all white (helmets, jerseys, pants), for example, have never been worn (at least in recent history), but recruits absolutely love them.

[Davemeister]

Black uni's I can handle - it's the purple numerals that drive me crazy. Especially at a night game. Hard for us Seniors to see.