Norvell the recruiter
It's pretty safe to say new Memphis Head Coach Mike Norvell killed the press conference that introduced him to the Memphis faithful.
In his presser he talked about recruiting. Starting in Memphis and then working his way out would be how he'd recruit.
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Fans love looking at the Rivals star rankings and ratings. They have also complained that former coach Justin Fuente mainly got 2-3 star kids to commit. They haven't complained about how he coached up those kids but that's a different story.
His former boss Arizona State's Todd Graham has said that Norvell was his best recruiter.
Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Mike Ferrell had this to say about Coach Norvell, "He's an energetic guy who likes to recruit and the kids love his enthusiasm. Well regarded out west."
Norvell talked about how building relationships was an important part in his recruiting.
"He has some really strong relationships in Louisiana. He is very well respected in the New Orleans area and his style of play should help draw talent to Memphis," said Rivals Texas/Midlands Recruiting Analyst Jason Howell.
Let's take a look at some of Norvell's recruiting classes.
This year he was on fire. He has 6 commitments (1- 5*, 2- 4*, 3- 3*) with an average rating of 3.67.
Last year he got 6 commitments with an average of 3.17 starts. In 2014 he got 5 commitments with an average star rating of 3.2.
His prized recruit this year for ASU has been 5* Wide Receiver N'Keal Harry (Chandler, AZ).
Harry, the 2nd best WR in the nation, chose ASU over Texas A&M, Texas, UCLA, Oregon, Oregon State, Wisconsin, and many others.
Check out what Harry told Rivals when he committed, "I just love how they run their offense and how they do everything at ASU. It's just a great program. I have a great relationship with the coaches and have known them for a long time with them being the first offer and everything."
Did you catch what he said? He loves the way ASU runs their offense. Who ran the ASU offense? Mike Norvell. Harry also said he had a great relationship with the coaches. Who was his recruiting coach? Mike Norvell.
I could go on but you get the picture.
Coach Fuente brought Memphis out of the gutter and now Coach Norvell is primed and ready to take Memphis higher and further than they've ever been before.