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Recruit faces long odds to join Buffs
Mohler must complete 22 credit hours by next fall
Shaun Mohler spent a few relaxing hours on his couch in his Southern California home Saturday afternoon watching a little golf on television.
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Tranquil times have been few and far between for the only junior college player in the 2008 Colorado football recruiting class.
Mohler is in a similar position this spring to the one in which former CU running back recruit P.T. Gates found himself in a year ago at this time. He is trying to complete 22 credit hours in six different classes at Orange Coast College this spring as well as one summer course in order to be eligible to play in Boulder next fall.
It's a heavy load and a lot of stress, and Mohler admits he's feeling the pressure to comethrough. But he vows to get the job done. Gates made similar promises and was unable to meet them, but Mohler is emphatic.
"I'll pull it off," he said. "It's kind of ridiculous right now. I've got no life."
With one member of CU's talented group of recruits at linebacker, true freshman Lynn Katoa, having already been arrested and suspended from the program, Mohler's availability has become even more important.
He is one of eight four-star recruits to join the program this year and has two years experience at the junior college level. He will be 20 years old when he arrives in Boulder on July 7 if all goes well in the classroom. That maturity and experience should give him some advantage when competing for playing time, especially now that Katoa has forfeited any advantage he might have had being the only new linebacker eligible to participate in spring ball before his arrest.
Mohler, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound player with three years of eligibility to play two, said CU coaches told him he was being recruited to play the same position as former standout Jordon Dizon. Coaches sent him a playbook and expect him to study it on top of everything he has on his plate this spring. He plans to be in Boulder for the spring game April 19.
Mohler said he continues to workout in order to stay in shape and maintain his weight and strength levels. He also makes time to work on pass rushing and pass coverage skills. He is considered more of a run-stopper at this point.
"My strengths would be always pursuing the ball," he said. "I don't give up on any plays and I tackle well."
Mohler said CU coaches are recruiting two of his former teammates at Orange Coast College. They are Dean Deleone, a linebacker from Park City, Utah, and Ben Soza, a defensive back from Newport Harbor, Calif.
Still Tinker-ing around
Colorado coach Dan Hawkins still has several open scholarships available and has offered one of them to Pittsburgh-area wide receiver Ed Tinker.
The 6-1 product of Brashear High School still hasn't received a qualifying score on his college entrance exams, but he said he is 80 percent sure he would choose CU over Louisville if he does pass when he takes the SAT on May 1.
Tinker, rated a three-star player by the major recruiting services, said he fell 70 points shy of passing when he last took the test in January. He said he is confident he will pass this time, but if he doesn't, he will attend a prep school in North Carolina next fall and sign a national letter of intent next February.
Regardless of what route he has to take, Tinker said he favors the Buffs. He visited CU last season when the Buffs hosted Florida State.
"There was so much stuff up there that was new to me," he said. "It was my first time being on a mountain and there was a lot of people who were real different from people where I come from. I liked that a lot."
Notable
Former CU tailback Hugh Charles has been invited to workout for the Houston Texans this week. Charles will be at the Texans' training complex on Thursday and Friday at Reliant Stadium, where he played in the 2004 Houston Bowl. Charles is also scheduled to workout for the Dallas Cowboys on April 11.
Posted by Ralphie2 on March 30, 2008 at 1:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Come on Shawn. Get 'er done.
Posted by mgmtgrad on March 30, 2008 at 2:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Shaun, I grew up in OC and went to CU after community college. And yes I did attend Orange Coast Community College for some of my classes. You can do it and you'll be glad you did. While California's JCs are pretty good, CU will require you step it up to the next level in both academics and training. Good luck, I'm sure you have a lot of good people behind you to push and help you make your goal.
Marcus J
Posted by Saheeb on March 30, 2008 at 11:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Christ, how many of our top recruits do we have to hear about being at risk for not qualifying!? Once his actual suspension comes down, I hope Sipilli talks to Katao and convinces him to stick around CU and make it.
Posted by nwbuff32 on March 30, 2008 at 1:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We still have Major and Rippy.
Posted by MDBuff on March 30, 2008 at 2:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How does a student take 22 credits in a semester? Isn't 15 a full-time course load?
Posted by CaliBuff on March 30, 2008 at 3:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Come one man, you need to get focused. If you're reading this, then turn your damn computer off and start studying.
Posted by archalon on March 31, 2008 at 8:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Quit recruiting these kids. As much as I like what they can do on the field, make em prove it in the classroom first. How much time and money has been spent on a kid that after two years at a JC is 22 credits behind ? Did he ever go to class ?
Posted by rodrigo on March 31, 2008 at 8:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm with Arch. Shouldn't we know this s*** long before handing them a pen?
Posted by buffalo_flyer on March 31, 2008 at 8:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
you buff fans are so freegin fickle it makes me sick, get the players, win all your games, don't ever whisper that someone might not be a 4.0 student, I can't wait for the end of spring just so i don't have to listen to all you soap boxers pontificate
Posted by rodrigo on March 31, 2008 at 9:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Big difference between 4.0 and not qualifying academically, flyer.
Posted by NorCalLovesDaBuffs on March 31, 2008 at 10:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Have we heard anything from Hawkins regarding all these academic issues?
Posted by archalon on March 31, 2008 at 10:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Whose is being fickle Flyer ? I'm happy to not have the academic causalities - just don't recruit them. They don't win us any games on the bench anyhow.
No one has to be a 4.0 student - but 22 credits behind says that the guy missed almost a full year at a JC school. Complete idiots can do better than that, so its lack of effort on his part.
Posted by BuffNut99 on March 31, 2008 at 12:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
No need to be totally pessimistic here - we are deep at LB (still) if Moehler doesn't qualify, but here's the point.... This is Division 1 football! This is the Big 12! (sorry, felt the need there)
If Moehler gets his work done and qualifies, he will be that much of a better student and athelete for climbing the mountain. Just because his situation resembles Gates' on the surface doesn't mean that Moehler is in trouble. Gates had a full year to get his work done and couldn't - Moehler has 2 semesters to change his life. I think he'll get it done.
Go Buffs! 4.19
Posted by BuffTime on March 31, 2008 at 1:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
No one said he was 22 credits behind. He has 22 credits to pass this semester. Assuming he would be taking 15 credits for regular full time, then he is about half a semester behind. Big difference to "almost a full year". Considering the kid obviously had academic issues out of high school or he wouldn't have gone to a JC to begin with (he is a talented kid so he would have had 4 yr scholarship offers most likely). Who knows, might actually be a bright kid who has a learning disability. You don't know, I certainly don't know. I do know that linebackers tend to need to be pretty sharp to run an offense so the kid can't be too slow.
Give the kid a chance and don't write him off before he has had his chance to prove himself. P.T. Gates was a disaster for sure, but that doesn't mean that Buff Nation should turn its back on all JC kids.
Posted by Realist on March 31, 2008 at 9:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I suspect that the Huskers are not at all sorry that he left them and committed to CU. I agree, he is probably not the sharpest tack in the box or he would not have needed a JC.
Posted by JAWS on April 1, 2008 at 1:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Actually - if any of you would actually sack up and pay the $10.00 per month for a rivals.com membership, then you WOULD know that he was diagnosed early on in his JC career with a learning dissability, and that he's busted his as* to conquer (with growing success - read the article cheapskates) it. Tallisall - in particular, instead of spending all of your time being negative and trying to bash the buffs - work a bit harder and save your pennies for the $10.00/ month. Then you can actually sound like an INFORMED idiot - not just a regular idiot. BTW, since your such a 'big fan' why don't you show your pride and identify yourself to all of us at the spring game - stop hiding behind the computer. Oh and also, go do Hawk's job better... we're all REAL sure that your the right man for the job based on your brilliant postings.
Posted by archalon on April 1, 2008 at 8:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
By the article, its 7 classes - thats alot. Who knows how the credits transfer - qtr. or semester or what not - but 7 classes is a lot.
If he has a disability, Ill happily eat crow for calling out a lack of effort. My apologies.
Point still remains: either dont recruit academic problems, work with the admin to resolve the standards for those with disabilities (only, not lazy idiots too); or do mandatory redshirts on JC players.
We all want to win, but not at the expense of becoming a K-State or Arizona State, glorified JUCO.
And dont start with the hypocritical "not supporting the team" - Id happily take 7-8 win seasons at the expense of being a top 10 program, if there were no felonies and no academic problems on the team. And I've said the same supporting the team for the last 22 years, through thick and thin.
Posted by BuffNut99 on April 1, 2008 at 9:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If 'tallisall' identifies himself at the Spring Game, I'll buy him a beer. He appears to need one constantly.
BTW, I don't shell out $$$ for Rivals or Scout because a) I don't really consider them to be informed and b) anything that is interesting and valid on those sites eventually makes its way around Buff nation.
Prediction: Doug Rippy will be the best linebacker from this class, even if Katoa and Moehler make it on the field.
Posted by nwbuff32 on April 1, 2008 at 9:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
BuffNut,
Did you forget about Jon Major? Not saying that Rippy won't see the field, but Major is one of the most physically gifted and smart players we have ever brought in. He is currently working out with Givens and they are both on a tough S & C regiment. Major will be arriving on campus this summer so that he can have some extra time to learn the defense.
Posted by archalon on April 1, 2008 at 11:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
My bet - Major will be a DE, not a LB. I can see him racking up alot of sacks at CU
Posted by buffman30 on April 1, 2008 at 11:48 a.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by nwbuff32 on April 1, 2008 at 12:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Major's abilities would not be truly utilized if he were to play DE. The staff may give him a couple of looks there, but they know he is best fit to be a LB. Cabral will turn this kid into a AA and Butkus finalist down the road.
Posted by BuffNut99 on April 1, 2008 at 2:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
nwbuff32,
How could I forget about Major? He's going to be awesome, too. I just like Rippy's upside better, he hasn't played a whole lot of football and appears to be a total specimen. I think he will be like Knavis.
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