Boulder – The good news for Colorado coach Dan Hawkins is that little of what has happened on the field with his 0-6 Buffaloes has seeped into recruiting.
In fact, it has been quite the opposite.
Hawkins has landed Rivals.com’s seventh-ranked weakside defensive end in the country in Conrad Obi, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound four-star recruit from Grayson High in Loganville, Ga. He is the first four-star out-of-state recruit since 2003, when CU signed New Orleans linebacker Travis Berry; California quarterback Bernard Jackson; Fresno, Calif., defensive back Lorenzo Sims; and Nashville, Tenn., linebacker Chris Russell. That class was ranked 19th by Rivals and was the last CU recruiting class ranked in the top 20.
Obi originally committed to Georgia, but changed his mind and took a visit to CU, and gave the staff his commitment.
“Anytime you can go to that territory and pull a kid out, that’s a good sign,” Rivals.com recruiting analyst Jeremy Crabtree said. “He was pretty heavily recruited and had some good SEC options and could have played anywhere in the Southeast.”
Obi has played only part of this season because he recently suffered a finger injury, which required surgery. As a junior he had 61 tackles, 14 tackles for loss and six sacks.
Obi isn’t the only big-time recruit who has the Buffs on their lists. Two more are in-state in Columbine tackle Ryan Miller and Montbello wide receiver Drew Davis.
Miller is the nation’s No. 16 prospect overall, according to Rivals.com, and is deciding between Colorado and Notre Dame. Davis is a four-star prospect, ranked No. 21 at his position nationally and No. 2 overall in Colorado. Some schools on his list are Georgia Tech, California, Oregon and Washington.
CU has 12 known commitments for the 2007 class, which should grow to well over 20.
“They are doing well in Texas, they are recruiting well in California, which is what we expect them to do because of the ties from Coach Hawkins’ Boise State days,” Crabtree said. “I think for what has happened on the field, they’ve put together a very solid class that will probably end up ranking toward the top of the Big 12 once everything is said and done.”
Hawk’s view at halfway
Hawkins was asked Tuesday at his weekly media luncheon where he thought the areas of great improvement were at the halfway point.
“Now that you’re 0-6, where would you like to improve?” Hawkins quipped. “Well, that’s a long list. You know the thing that I think separates us from being 0-6 and being 4-2, 5-1 or 3-3 is just making a couple critical plays here or there.
“You know, coming up with a play, and that’s probably the biggest thing we need to find and get over the hump with, and that will happen and that will come.”
Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
