The Banham’s are quickly becoming the “First Family of Gopher Sports.”
Blake Banham, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound running back from St. Paul (MN) Cretin Derham Hall, figures to be one of the state’s top rushers this upcoming season.
Banham helped lead the Raiders to a 6-3 mark last season. He comes from an athletic family with plenty of Minnesota Gopher ties. His sister, Rachel, was a first team All-Big Ten selection for the women’s basketball team. His brother, Cole, shined in Saturday’s spring game as a running back.
Gopher Hole caught up with Banham Saturday to learn the more about his recruitment and playing at the same school as his older siblings.
Gopher Hole: What is the latest on your recruitment?
Blake Banham: I have been talking to a lot of Big Ten schools right now. Obviously, Minnesota, Michigan State, Iowa. I am getting a little bit from Missouri. Iowa State, too. No offers yet, but some teams said that they just want to see me in person and then they might make an offer. That is the latest on it right now.
Gopher Hole: Have you had a chance to go to many spring practices or Junior Days?
Blake Banham: I was just at Wisconsin last weekend and I went to Iowa State the weekend before that. I wasn’t able to make it to Michigan State, but hopefully soon, I’ll be able to go down and visit there.
Gopher Hole: Have you thought much about football camps for this summer?
Blake Banham: Yes. Michigan State, Minnesota and Iowa State and then we’ll see where I go from there, depending on how teams are looking at me.
Gopher Hole: What are you hearing from the Gophers right now?
Blake Banham: I am hearing a little bit. They, obviously again, want to see me at their camp and see if they can make an offer from there.
Gopher Hole: What would it mean to play for the Gophers? Obviously, your sister goes here and your brother started at Mankato before transferring to Minnesota. What would it mean to be at the same school as the two of them?
Blake Banham: It would be fun to play with my brother and sister. It would be fun to have the “Banham Trio” there. It would mean a lot to play with my brother and also my sister here as well.
Gopher Hole: What do you see as your strengths as a running back?
Blake Banham: I feel that I am a balanced running back with speed and power. I am able to make a move on someone and beat them to the corner, but also, I can lower my shoulder on somebody, too.
Gopher Hole: What things are you working on to continue to improve yourself as a player?
Blake Banham: Obviously, I need to get bigger in the weight room and also continue my speed regiment. I am working on both my power and speed right now and keep developing that and keep improving as a player.
Gopher Hole: What about Cretin Derham Hall? I know that you had a good year, but not as quite as strong as in the past with your great tradition. You lose James Onwaalu (who signed with Notre Dame) and Conor Rhoda (a walk-on quarterback at Minnesota). What are the expectations for Cretin this season?
Blake Banham: I think that we are going to have a great team this year. Our goal is always to make it to state. I think that we have an excellent opportunity to potentially win state this year. We are losing some good players as you said, but we are also gaining some good players as well. We have a lot of junior who are going to be seniors next year and we are a good collective team as a whole. Our class is. We also have a lot of younger class guys that fill our voids as well, so I think that we will have a good team this year.
Gopher Hole: You had James last year who played wide receiver, but also played running back. How does your role change with him being gone?
Blake Banham: Obviously, I will get a lot more carries at running back. Touching the ball a little bit more, but other than that, my role doesn’t really change. I am a team player and wherever they need me to play, I’ll play.
Gopher Hole: Do you have a little bit of a chip on your shoulder because you guys didn’t have as good of a season as you would have liked to? Is that a motivating factor for you this upcoming season to do even better?
Blake Banham: Definitely. Like you said, we did not play as well as we wanted to. At our school, we always make a goal to play as well as possible and make it to state. We always have like a chip on our shoulder, but definitely, we did not end our season as well as we wanted to, so that is extra motivation in the offseason training to do better this season.