Rebuilding Rams receive 29 commitments
Fleming foucses on trenches in third season
KINGSTON — With the type of recent history the URI football team has, in terms of wins and losses, recruiting is not the easiest task.
Despite winning just two games in the past two years, the Rams announced a class of 29 new players on Wednesday, and head coach Jim Fleming used a realistic pitch on the recruiting trail to get those 29 student-athletes on board.
"Our vision and our recruiting message is really quite clear to the people we recruit," said Fleming at the annual signing day press conference. "It's challenging. You're coming to the University of Rhode Island, and you're going to see a fantastic campus. You're going to see a group of people that care really deeply about the University.
"When we talk to these recruits, we don't go in telling lies. We tell it like it is. We're a program that has not had a championship in 30 years. We tell them the last winning season here was in 2001. Your challenge is to correct that and become a winning team, to become a champion."
The Rams’ pitch won over quite a few football players, located all across the country. The team came into the recruiting period targeting two important areas: size and speed.
"Big numbers, and big size," said Fleming of the new class. "Good bodies in here. We need to develop some girth. We brought that in, particularly on the offensive end, but on both sides of the ball. We went out and said we need to get eight big bodies, however it falls. We ended up with 10 of them probably."
The team added a handful of linemen on both sides of the ball, headlined by former Syracuse commit Brandon Ginnetti. Adefensive lineman coming off a year of prep at Cheshire Academy, Ginnetti is a 6'3", 240 pound monster that figures to instantly give the Rams a much-needed pass rush presence. URI had just 10 sacks a season ago.
"In terms of number of sacks, they were so down last year," said Fleming. "There were times when we pressured the quarterback decently. We brought in some guys that can make a huge difference.
“Brandon Ginnetti can come in as a freshman physically ready to go. Danny Harry, Geoff Horwitz, those guys are all big, strong bodies. Raees Johnson, A.J. Bibeault, all of those guys seem to have the physical skills. We're low on numbers, so they're going to walk in and be in the mix [right away]."
Looking to increase their overall speed, the Rams sacrificed size, adding some players with high skills and athleticism, who are on the smaller side overall. Players like Ja'Quan Buffaloe (WR, 5-9, 160 pounds), Deshawn Collins (RB, 5-8, 195 pounds), will add speed and talent to an offense that struggled mightily at times last season.
"Size is a weird deal," said Fleming. "Everybody's looking for height. When you're looking at running backs, like Deshawn [Collins], I had in my mind that I wanted to go out and get a six-foot, 215-pounder, that was a slasher. We were identifying a couple of those guys, and Deshawn came up and you're looking at him and he's a dynamic player. He's not a tall guy, but he's by not stretch of the imagination small. He's got some power going behind his pads."
Geographically speaking, Rhode Island and New Jersey were two of the hotbed areas for the Rams this class. Players with ties to Rhode Island include Andre Bibeault, a Cumberland High School standout at defensive end, Austin Catley, a safety who hails from Narragansett, and Shane Olson, a linebacker out of Bishop Hendricken.
"I want the in-state guys to get the exposure that they need," said Fleming. "We scoured the state, we offered every player we though worthy in-state, but it didn't work out in a number of situations. I've said this every year, we want to keep the Rhode Island guys in-state. We gotta get to the point where the best players stay. Don't go to Boston College, don't go anywhere else, this is your state university, you should stay and represent it."
New Jersey also proved to a fertile recruiting ground for the Rams this time around, with some of their most highly- rated recruits coming from that area. The team added a pair of conerbacks from Jersey, with AJ Baxter and Kwadir Brown both coming to the team after having great success in their high school careers.
"It's been huge." said Fleming of New Jersey. "Jimmy Maceli does a great job up in North Jersey. You're talking about some of the best programs in the country, not just in the region. Don Bosco's represented, Bergen Catholic's represented, DePaul Catholic's represented, you're talking about programs that have been winners nationally. We've been very successful [recruiting] in that area."
All told, Fleming was thrilled with the litany of players who traveled down to Kingston and made a commitment to the team. Fleming views this years class as a follow-up to last years class, that also saw a higher level of numbers and talent come to Kingston.
"Success begets success," he said. "To be able to put this kind of class together with the lack of wins in the last two years, speaks volumes to where we're going. These kids will come in and make an impact."