Chris Harper: Injured but OK (and other updates updated)
Aug. 12, 2008 @ 12:58 p.m. by Joannaby joanna
Got an e-mail from a reader who said he heard Chris Harper got hurt. So I texted him, and yep, he did.
Harper said he strained his rotator cuff, but he’s OK now.
Here’s some stories that I dug up from Oregonlive on Harper’s injury: here. There was another story on Harper, too.
In other updates:
Blaize Foltz
I found this link to Foltz on a fan site and then found this at scout.com, although it says he was Top 11 and he was actually Second 11 by The Eagle.
I went looking for Blake Lawrence, the SM West quarterback who was Top 11 in 2006 (he goes by Blakey, just like my son). Here’s a link to the Nebraska media guide on him.
Here’s what I found in the Missouri State media guide on former Northwest running back Jeran Trotter.
I looked for Jervon Graves, a Top 11 player in 2006 from Olathe South, and here’s what I found.
Those are just a few top athletes. Anyone out there we should check out?
Hovpen took us up on the updates and they’re below in the comment area.
Here’s an update on Steven Foster from Sedgwick. His coach e-mailed me his preseason survey and said that Foster has been seeing time at fullback and in short-yardage situations. Coach Jeff Werner said he’s on scholarship and “was getting reps ahead of the players that did transfer before they decided to leave. He is also running on many of the special teams.”
August 12th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Here is one on one of the linemen from Wichita. Surprised you didn’t have it. David Arkin
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August 12th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
While we’re at it Trey Hobson is also at Missouri and expected to play a lot this year.
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August 12th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
There was also a story on Darius Parish being expected to play a lot on the Jayhawk Slant, but its premium and you have to be a member of Rivals.com to read it.
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August 12th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Thanks Rivals guy. Hee, hee.
This was only a quick search between meetings and phone calls for our previews. You the man for helping out our readers.
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August 12th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
I assume the check is in the mail. :)
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August 12th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Foltz 2nd team really makes you wonder who and how do they pick the top 11 there at the ole eagle “out of a hat”. because ANYONE who that understands talent (hands,feet,technic) for oline play could see that kid is top 11 easy. I really dont know how its done but from the outside it looks bad.
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August 12th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Blaize is certainly a good player. No one disputes that.
Here’s the Top 11 team from 2007 to critique for those not familiar with it.
First 11 School Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr.
Mike Besler BV West QB 6-0 189 Sr.
Arthur Brown Wichita East LB 6-1 215 Sr.
Bryce Brown Wichita East RB 6-0 215 Jr.
Logan Dold Garden Plain QB-DB 6-3 210 Sr.
Matt Fairchild Andale LB 5-11 185 Sr.
Kyson Ginavan Olathe South WR-DB 6-2 215 Sr.
Kirk Palmer Smith Center OL-DL 6-0 220 Sr.
Logan Pegram Silver Lake OL 6-4 295 Sr.
Forrest Stucky Hutchinson DL 6-0 225 Jr.
William Thacker Hutchinson OL 6-2 255 Sr.
Braden Wilson Smith Center RB-DL 6-5 220 Sr.
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August 12th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Arthur will be the first one of those on a D-1 field, then its a toss up between Logan and Blaize. Believe me, if Blaize is second team at TCU as a true freshman, he will be in the game before the second quarter.
This is one thing I agree with Fballfn on for certain. Of that group, Blaize probably should have been top five at least.
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August 12th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Basically in for the Top 11 this last year unless your name was Brown you had better played in the State Championship or at least a Sub-State Championship. Just for the record, Pegram who was top 11, was only offered at Northern Illinois Univ. only after Foltz called them and turned them down . According to my sources, their coaches said it wasn’t even close on a comparsion of the two & made Blaize their #1 national recruit. So basically, Pegram got his offer because Foltz went to TCU. Recruiting is a business and that is part of the game. They have a A, B, and a C list etc.
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August 12th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Like your name :)
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August 13th, 2008 at 8:03 am
Didn’t Steven Foster quit KU football last year? If so, how is he on a scholarship this year? Just curious…..
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August 13th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Steven Foster didn’t quit,he was a Redshirt.Pretty common thing
at D-1 schools.He is listed as Fullback which in K.U offense isn’t in the game much.I know there was some talk about him moving to Linebacker but he didn’t .
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August 13th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Ahh, sorry about that. I must have got some bad info last year. I’m a supporter of any local kid that can “make it,” so please don’t think I’m trying to stir anything up….Cause I’m not.
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August 13th, 2008 at 10:47 am
It’s me, nice. Nothing wrong with asking questions. I know I’m sensitive to the dogging that goes on at times, and I think we all jump on anyone that even questions the Browns because so much dogging has gone on.
I’m just glad I don’t have to call you out!
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August 13th, 2008 at 11:53 am
For the most part, I usually agree with the top 11 teams. I know some coaches from a team that beat Rose Hill last year that said Foltz didn’t do squat against them as a Defensive lineman, but of course he’s playing O-line for TCU which is his natural position.
I think that the top 11 list from the eagle has a special niche. It’s not like rivals and scout who rank guys as college prospects…the eagle is looking at who was the best high school players,
Chris Harper would be exibit A in this argument. I can easily think of 11 players in Kansas last year that I would rather have on my high school team than Chris Harper, even though he is clearly one of the top 2-3 college prospects in the state.
If I had a choice on offensive lineman for a high school team, I would choose Hutch’s Thacker and Hartman over Braydin Burris in a heart-beat even though Burris is a D-1 prospect and Thacker and Harman are juco guys.
From purely a “high school” perspective, I’d take Forrest Stucky over Darius Parish (unless Parish had some Hutch coaching for 4 years), but Parish is going to play for KU as a true frosh and have a chance at the NFL.
Basically, what I’m trying to say, is that if all the Eagle did was choose the best 11 college prospects for their all state team, they’re basically just duplicating something that’s already done by rivals, scout, espn and a bunch of other sites. Heck, they could publish the top 11 prospects even before the season started if they wanted to, as everyone knows who those guys are. The top 11 has a special niche in my opinion in that it selects players that made the most meaningful impact on the landscape of Kansas high school football for that given year.
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August 13th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Bryce Brown is now the #1 running back in the nation according to Rivals.com, and 6th overall in his class.
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August 13th, 2008 at 11:58 am
TFL, I do believe you said it better than I could.
As we always say to the athletes at our luncheons for All-State football and basketball — You were not picked on what your potential is or what you will do in the following years, you were picked based on what you did this season.
Hence, Chris Harper and Kamerion Wimbley never being named All-State. Obviously talented athletes — we’re not blind — but you’ve got to have numbers to back you up, too, you know?
Also, please note that we don’t pick all quarterbacks and running backs, we do mix it up.
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August 13th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
There are good high school players, and their are good college prospects, not necessarly the same guys. However, when the Eagle says “top 11 players in the state” should they not really be the top 11 players in the state and not just the top guys on their state championship team?
TFL- well said, and I agree with you on Stucky, and what you said about the coaching :)
However, based on putting up the numbers, can U see someone running it up……..for the numbers…..
But based on the numbers, where were the top two receivers in the history of Kansas on this team, Brett Soft and Aaron Wedel???
Sorry Joanna. stiring the pot. :)
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August 13th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Hovpen, feel free to stir the pot. Nothing wrong with that.
Your point is certainly valid. Although I wasn’t involved in the picking of the team, due to the fact that I was on maternity leave, so it would be unfair of me to critique or back it. I do think it was a good list, though. There will always be excellent players left off lists, no doubt.
And while I do say numbers are important, they aren’t the end-all, be-all. We obviously take into account who a team plays, as well as where they end up.
As for the state championship team picks, I can understand your point.
My main point about this, though, is that we’re not picking these teams on potential. Chris Harper is the perfect example, as TFL pointed out. I think it would have been unfair to put him on the team when there were other quarterbacks with better numbers, better seasons. Is that a knock on Chris? No. I thought he was an outstanding athlete.
It’s the same situation with Kamerion Wimbley. Here’s a kid who was Parade All-American, but his numbers weren’t anywhere near what other quarterbacks had.
Let’s take Huldon Tharp. He’s a great athlete, who I would guess, probably would have been Top 11 this season. But he’s hurt. Now, he will go onto a college career and be a stud. I believe that. But he won’t be Top 11. That’s probably a little extreme, but do you get my point?
We do hear from people who think that only 6A and 5A have the best talent, but we don’t see that, either. We also could load the teams with quarterbacks and running backs, but we mix it up by putting linemen and d-backs, etc.
It’s not a perfect system — it’s subjective. But we do research, we do talk to a lot of people.
What I love about these teams, though, is that they are great discussion points. (Have I said the word point enough for everyone?) We have discussions here in the office about it. Rather lively, too.
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August 13th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Joanna and Hovpen–
It has to be incredibly hard to come up with a top 11 list. I just tried to make a list that I would have come up with, and I would be second guessing myself for days before compromising on a list.
and on the stats, I completely agree with Hovpen. Tate Hancock, Parker Wallace, and a bunch of other guys that put up incredible rushing numbers for Diener’s great Salina Central teams come to mind when looking at stat padding. Guys like Diener leave their starter’s in for a long time even in blowouts…teams like Hutch pull guys early in the 3rd quarter in a blowout. Last year’s Hutch squad would have absolutely put up incredible rushing yardage numbers had they left their starting offense in the game for 4 quarters, as they basically put up 4500 rushing yards and 68 rushing TD’s with the starters averaging only 3 quarters worth of play, and when the backups came in, they ran the play clock down before snapping the ball, thus eliminating a bunch of plays.
I think that what the Eagle is doing now is about the right mix of looking at both production stat-wise and by the “eye-ball” test getting input from coaches/media that have actually seen the players in person. Obviously, there is has been a precedent set that championship teams are going to get atleast 1 guy on the top 11 team, and I don’t have a problem with that…that is until Hutch isn’t winning state championships, then I’ll complain :)
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August 13th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Hutch = 53 returning letter winners and how many did they graduate? LOL No child left behind when it comes to playing time.
Highly subjective, but I really didn’t see two linemen from 2A Smith Center as being the best 11 football players in Kansas last year. But everyone has guidelines to go by. We have ours, and the media has theres.
And it is all a matter of ones opinion. If everyone had the same opinion, Ruger wouldn’t have nicknamed me ladle.
On a side note. A big thank you to the publishers of Pregame magazine (Tim McGonagle and John Baetz) this year for including information on over 250 football teams in the State, and having that information available this early. Well worth picking up for the football fan. Full of information.
Point taken, no matter who is selected, there will be those who feel others should have been included.
Another case in point would be Barfield, who played on a Haven team which could barely score two years ago, received hardly any post season mention, and is being mentioned quite a bit by KU writers this fall as being one of the top defensive backs on the team after red shirting his freshman year.
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August 13th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Bishop Carroll’s whole defensive line should have been top 11 in 2006. Those 4 guys alone had over 40 sacks and 200 tackles.
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August 14th, 2008 at 12:13 am
Just skimmed on the comments here but I said earlier that Harper would have the best overall career of any of these guys, I dont retract entirely but Arthur is the only one ahead of him. Chris is gonna be seen on national tv this year as an amazing freshman weapon that can lineup just about anywhere on the offensive side and create a spark.
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