The saga of Boom Perkins is finally over, as the heralded running back from South Bend, Indiana has chosen to play for Ohio State. Orange Nation has been teased by Boom since the summer, but Syracuse had looked to be out of the mix over the last month. Interestingly, Perkins committed to the Buckeyes as a linebacker, even though he wanted to play running back and SU had offered him that chance.
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Boom’s dance with the Orange began in June, when the 4-star athlete¬†told The Fizz he was ready to commit to SU¬†because of his relationship with Tyrone Wheatley and a chance to run the ball.¬†Just weeks later he suddenly¬†committed to hometown Notre Dame. Buzz built almost immediately that Perkins’ decision on the Irish was shaky, and as expected he decommitted in the fall. SU fans had their hopes built up once again when¬†he called Syracuse coaches¬†promptly after his decommittment. But by last month it became painfully clear SU was not going to be a true player in the race, as the country’s powerhouse programs all joined the fray.
As recently as November, things looked good for SU. Perkins’ coach told The Fizz, his recruitment¬†was wide open, the ACC move could be a swing factor, and Syracuse was unofficially in his final 4. But with Oregon, LSU and Boise State as the other three schools, it seemed unlikely Boom would end up in Orange.
Predictably, Urban Meyer has been killing it on the recruiting trail. He built a champion at Florida by recruiting an insane amount of speed (and having Tim Tebow didn’t hurt). He‚Äôs repeating the process at Ohio State by collecting fast cars. Perkins ran a combine-verified 4.35 in the 40, which is fast enough for many NFL first-round picks. At 6‚Äô2‚Äù, 209 lbs. he’s big enough to have been an every down back for the Orange, and could have been the best playmaker SU had in years.
Perkins tweeted his decision:
@StudntOfDaGame: Good morning #BuckeyeNation
@StudntOfDaGame: Official #Buckeye
This was inevitable news for the the Orange, once Boom scratched Syracuse last month from his final 5. But it does sting knowing Perkins preferred to play running back, and instead decided to switch to defense for the Buckeyes.
Encouragingly, the Orange has had a strong final push toward Signing Day. Syracuse was able to reel in Georgia running back George Morris¬†in December to help add playmaking to the roster. Adding another Georgia product, DL Josh Manley, last week was enormous for the Orange as well. And SU is seemingly on the verge of picking up NYC’s best player, Wayne Morgan. Excitingly, Morris believes he can be the next great back to come out of SU – a lineage that dates back to the legendary Jim Brown. Welcome to New York, George. Boom? We hardly knew ya.
Posted: Craig Hoffman
22 responses to “Saga of Boom Perkins Finally Ends, Onetime SU Recruit Chooses Ohio State”
That’s fine. I get the impression Morris is the better running back anyway. Perkins may be a great LB, but he just didn’t look as impressive as Morris on film at the RB spot.
Morris is a big win too because landing him further establishes the GA pipeline. It’s going to be huge as we go into the ACC to bring in kids from the backyard of our new opponents.
Gotta agree, I love how we’ve opened pipelines in Georgia and with Tyrone Wheatley’s help, Michigan. Although I would love to have New Jersey back, I think the south and midwest hold the key to our recruiting future.
Who cares about not getting a verbal. WE had way to many of those lately. The story should be who is serious about playing for the CUSE. This class is very important to our development and HCDM’s future here. Not who we didn’t get. With BB undefeated the FB recruiting seems second nature. The fizz is a major source of info on recruiting. So please let us know who serious about coming. Your man Axeman and Ryan even don’t cover it correctly on Wednesdays. 1/2 to 3/4’s of that time is joking around. Last week was a joke from Ryan. No real info at all. Only hear say. DA you site tells us more. Thank You!!
DM is doing a great job getting athletes and we are ranked in the high 40’s on Scout.com. As for next year we have to open up the offense. A mobile quarterback would be great. Hunt and Kinder need to come to camp in A1 shape…
GO SU
Dont forget Broyld… this Spring is going to be interesting.
40’s your hopeful!!
Again they had Murray talking about the SU/ND BB game on the Axeman show. WHY??? 2 weeks to go and Murray talks about or jokes about the ND BB game. And they want fans to pay for this service??? Please DA give us the proper coverage of SU recruiting. Thank you!!
Trying to find any video or even a picture of Mike Garrick is proven to be impossible. Was he a sophomore or freshman at Feather River CC?
Mark Garrick, DT:
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/869872/mark-garrick
Garrick looks like he should be a good get. Will the Fizz get in touch with Manley? Looks like he’s gonna visit Missouri with Thomason now, and has made it very clear he’s a soft verbal at best. Time is getting short and we need to know who is serious about being here this next year so we can fill all our needs in time.
Great look BF. Also for those that are non believers in “star ratings”, ESPN recruiting home page has a great recap of the class of ’08 and what became of the top 150 of that year. Recruiting is a crap shoot at best.
Seattle Orange, Thomason or current Cuse verbal TE Thompson?
Justin Thomason, DE out of Georgia. Rumors are that JT will be visiting Mizzou on the 27th and fellow Georgian, Manley, will be visiting with him. Reading into Manley’s brief quote (which isn’t always beneficial) it doesn’t sound good for us. Hope I’m wrong, at least he liked us enough to verbal, maybe he stays.
Don’t think we have anything to worry about with Thompson. He seems to be solid and have a good releationship with Wheatley.
DA,do you or any of your staff at the Fizz know if Coach Marrone and staff is looking at any JUCO players?
If they are who are they looking at? Any information,shared with your readers, concerning this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
GO CUSE
I just read on the Post Standard web site that we had 4 JUCO players on campus last weekend and Mark Garrick a 6’4″ 270 lb. DE from California committed to play at Syracuse on Wednesday.
I hope that the other 3 decides to follow him to the upstate area to continue playing football.
Good catch Coach Marrone.
GO CUSE;
Thanks one and all for reading. To answer some of your questions:
Ron – We’re gonna be in contact hopefully with Garrick soon. We also know SU’s looking at Markus Pierce-Brewster who’s one of the best JUCO guys in the country at DE. His team won the national title. He’s down to about 6 schools including, as far as we know, SU.
Manley questions – Kanell talked to Manley and he was VERY excited about SU. His quote is pretty clear though in that he’s still open. If he’s that open, I’m not sure why he committed. Kanell is in touch with him and we’ll have an update soon.
Lou – I would love to see a mobile QB and spread some things out offensively. Unless Kinder, Hunt or Broyld is playing at an insane level in camp there’s no way the job’s not Nassib’s. I think I just puked
Derek – In fact, Broyld is on campus as an early enrollee. That’s huge for him to get going with the team, learn the playbook and participate in spring practice.
As for Boom vs Morris – I hope you guys are right and Morris is better. There’s no doubt Perkins is the better prospect but Morris has huge potential and it seems like a great head on his shoulders which could lead him to panning out as a better player than Boom.
Keep firing away! Busy day and you guys stacked up the comments…I love it! Keep firing away.
Why do I smell puke?? Oh, nevermind…
I don’t understand the verbal either, unless it was based on emotion and maybe Thomason convinced him to travel to Mizzou with him. But that’s pure speculation from a guy who knows close to nothing. I think there’s still a chance we keep him do to his original excitement, but I hate not knowing.
MPB would be a great get and we need him. Haven’t heard anything on him in a while though. But MPB and Manley would have been my personal two top DL gets.
Any news on Whitehurst?
Nassib..back at QB….Oh No…..we need a moble playmaker…..keep Nasib as backup for Young gun…..we know what he can do…does nassib still have an up side? as far as recruiting goes….I would love to see su really get back into the Jersey area….Jersey produces a lot of players…maybe..once we enter ACC, top Jersey talent will want o play for the Cuse again……no question…got to love the Georgia….and Michigan recruits coming our way……HCDM said from the beginning…Meto. areas..like Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta…should be targets for Su…and within striking range. With Florida, Jersey, Georgia, and Pennsylvania……we should be able to compete in the ACC…..We need a QB….and an exciting offensive scheme….but QB is key…Nassib is as good as he will get….
I find it hard to believe Broyld will be able to grasp Hackett’s playbook. From friends that knew Broyld through all star teams and such, they said that he was pretty stubborn and maybe didn’t have the mental want to and or capacity to follow complex schemes. Maybe at the college level that will change with better habits and dedicated coaching. Kinder was erratic at best when given playing time during scrimmages. I think Hunt will be the difference maker for this program in the future. After seeing game footage he has tons of qualities you want in a leader as well as a super competitive nature, thing is kid needs to get off the Karen Carpenter diet and try eating a sandwich or two in order to withstand the physical rigors of D-1.
Manley thinks he’s a rock star now. He’s history.
I can’t stand Nassib as much as the next guy. He’s so incredibly frustrating because he’s so smart and has an arm but due to schotty mechanics and un-intelligent play he’s never been good. Broyld will be interesting to watch. We’ll have reports on him throughout camp.
Seattle – Kanell is talking with Whitehurst tomorrow and Terry, he spoke with Manley today. We’ve got you covered! Post on Manley tomorrow.
Hey Dr. Bill – I feel like it’s been a while! Glad to see you roaming around in Fizz land. I agree with you on Jersey and wrote about it last week a bit in my “Morgan is the key to NY” article. First step is owning NY. Next Marrone HAS to expand into NJ. There’s so much talent.
Forget about Jersey because Schiano has a fence around that state now. We are not getting any top jersey players while he is coach. They just got top O-Lineman JJ Denman from Wisconsin. The are taking recruits from Big Time schools and we have to catch up. Sure the talent we get from the south is good but if Georgia offered Morris, he woukd be a Bulldog