The $12,500 recruiting package

The Duck Stops Here is working way too cheap.

Having scanned the Will Lyles recruiting package, perhaps it's time to repackage the recruiting previews we've done here on the 2012 class. They include videos, player evaluations, quotes and news from around the country about the player's skills and prospects, school information, heights and weights. These are links to the player profiles so far this spring on DSH:

2012 Oregon verbal commits: (name, position, state)

Cody Carriger, DE, Montana
Alex Balducci, DE, Oregon
Jake Rodrigues, QB, California
Oshay Dunmore, DB, Oregon
Evan Baylis, TE, Colorado

2012 Oregon prospects: (name, position, state)

Jared Afalava, OLB. Utah
Eddie Goldman, DT, Washington D.C
Kwon Alexander, OLB, Alabama
Azziz Shittu, DT, California
Ellis McCarthy, DT, California
DeForest Buckner, DE, Hawaii
Reggie Daniels, DB, Arizona
Matthew Rowe, OLB, California
Thomas Tyner, RB, Oregon (a 2013 prospect, but so fast and talented the Ducks have to get on him early)
Jordan Simmons, DT, California
D.J. Foster, WR, Arizona

The Duck Stops Here has a staff of one. We're not in a position to interview players directly (it would be unseemly for a 55-year-old man to be bothering young men and their families at dinner or during homework hours.) We do simple internet research and compile all the information we can from published reports, and try to attribute it as carefully as we can.

The point is, there is more useful recruiting information gathered on this page than what Oregon paid Will Lyles $25,000 for. The players are from the current recruiting year. They are eligible and uncommitted. Almost all of them are legitimate D-1 prospects. It's a national list of top talent, although far from a complete one.

Will Lyles says he's misunderstood, that he's been unfairly characterized by the media. He says he was trying to use his coaching experience to help young men market themselves and get into college. LaMichael James defends him emphatically and heartily, and Duck fans know how big LMJ's heart is.

One thing is certain. Lyles produced a very lazy, poorly-documented product. He's put Oregon in a terrible spot with his incredible sloppiness. Did he not understand that in his business, he was certain to face the scrutiny of the NCAA., an organization that approaches an investigation like the IRS, turning over every piece of paper in hopes of finding something to penalize?

We did better in a few hours at a $500 computer. Where do I send the invoice?