All Things Blaise Andries Thread

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again - for new readers - I saw Andries play basketball this winter. He is at least 6'6" or 6'7" as a HS Junior. Size is not a problem. (not for the Marshall hoops team,either - they have two other juniors who are in the 6'7" range).
 

Keep us posted, son. You are our local expert down there. Does the area have a history of producing D1 athletics? Where have they gone?
 

diehard said:
Keep us posted, son. You are our local expert down there. Does the area have a history of producing D1 athletics? Where have they gone?
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I believe most prospects from that area have gone to the dakotas in the past. Not a ton of d1 prospects from that area usually.
 

diehard said:
Keep us posted, son. You are our local expert down there. Does the area have a history of producing D1 athletics? Where have they gone?
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The obvious examples are Tyler Marz from Springfield, MN - OT at Wisconsin, and Jonah Pirsig from Blue Earth - now a Gopher OT.

As mentioned earlier, the Tow-Arnett brothers from Redwood Falls played FB for the Gophers. There have been a few D1 Girls BB players from the area- Shannon Bolden from Marshall, Shannon Shonrock from Blue Earth, and currently Carly Wagner from NHREG for the Gophers. Worthington has had a couple of girls play D1 Hoops, including a girl at Iowa and a girl at Mississippi State. There have been a number of girls from the area who played D2 ball.

But, getting back to FB, most of the kids from this area who play college FB have been D2 or D3 players - several to SW MN State in Marshall. Windom had Kole Zimmerman play FB and baseball at NDSU back in the day. He tore up his knees pretty bad, or he might have had a shot at pro baseball. Wound up playing Independent ball for the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks. In general, most of the kids in SW MN lack the measureables for D1 - either a little small or a step slow for big time.

In boys hoops, two of the Schilling brothers from Ellsworth had nice careers at Augustana in Sioux Falls. Steve Esselink from Hills-Beaver Creek played a couple of years for the Gophers, then transferred to a smaller school.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
As mentioned earlier, the Tow-Arnett brothers from Redwood Falls played FB for the Gophers. There have been a few D1 Girls BB players from the area- Shannon Bolden from Marshall, Shannon Shonrock from Blue Earth, and currently Carly Wagner from NHREG for the Gophers.
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You're getting quite a ways away from southwestern Minnesota on those last two.

A couple of the more prominent Marshall football kids in recent years have been Beau Bofferding (UMD) and Tyler Gimmestad (NDSU). A few have stayed in town at SMSU. One of the more well-known to come from the area was probably Todd Bouman, who played at SCSU before a 7-year NFL career.

In hoops, Trevor Winter (Slayton) is probably the best-known for most here. Riley Nordgaard (Canby) is currently playing women's hoops at Montana State. Of course, probably the best-known area hoopster was probably Mary Jo Miller.
 

joshvanklomp said:
You're getting quite a ways away from southwestern Minnesota on those last two. A couple of the more prominent Marshall football kids in recent years have been Beau Bofferding (UMD) and Tyler Gimmestad (NDSU). A few have stayed in town at SMSU. One of the more well-known to come from the area was probably Todd Bouman, who played at SCSU before a 7-year NFL career. In hoops, Trevor Winter (Slayton) is probably the best-known for most here. Riley Nordgaard (Canby) is currently playing women's hoops at Montana State. Of course, probably the best-known area hoopster was probably Mary Jo Miller.
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Jeff Nordgaard (Dawson-Boyd) was a great quarterback, but better basketball player who went to Wisconsin-Green Bay and eventually was drafted by the Bucks. And to bring things full circle, Mary Jo Miller is the mother of current Gopher signee Drew Hmielewski.
 

Tyler Gimmestad (Marshall) could have absolutely played at the U. He started 3 years at NDSU, coinciding with their first 3 National Championships of their streak. Think Zac Epping clone.

Other D1's that haven't been mentioned yet...

Kyle Minnett (Ruthton, half hour SW of Marshall) was a star running back at South Dakota State from 2007-10. Rushed for 4,277 yards and 47 touchdowns in his career.

Raftyn Birath (Marshall) played volleyball at UConn in the early 2000's.

Jeff Nordgaard was mentioned above, but his sister Chari (Dawson, 45 minutes NW of Marshall) was also a D1 star at UW-Green Bay in basketball. She was Horizon League player of the year in 1999 and is the UW-GB all time leading scorer.

Most successful athlete from SW Minnesota though would have to be track and cross country star Carrie Tollefson (Dawson). She won MN state cross country as a 7th grader and I believe she never lost a race the rest of her HS career in either CC or track. She won the 1997 Nationals in cross country and 3000m and 5000m in 1999 while at Villanova and was member of 2004 Olympic team.
 




WinLoseOrTy said:
Most successful athlete from SW Minnesota though would have to be track and cross country star Carrie Tollefson (Dawson). She won MN state cross country as a 7th grader and I believe she never lost a race the rest of her HS career in either CC or track. She won the 1997 Nationals in cross country and 3000m and 5000m in 1999 while at Villanova and was member of 2004 Olympic team.
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Didn't Heather Van Norman single handedly win Windom two state team track titles by herself! I believe she won the 100, 200, 400 and long jump both times.
 

Otis said:
Didn't Heather Van Norman single handedly win Windom two state team track titles by herself! I believe she won the 100, 200, 400 and long jump both times.
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Oh good one that I missed. Yes, Odell Beckham Jr's mom was dominant in the sprints. Won all Windom's (75 minutes SE of Marshall) points in 1987, giving them the "team" title. Also won again in 1988, this time with some actual other teammates. Went on to dominate at LSU, winning several national championships. Definitely in the conversation with Tollefson as most successful SW MN athlete.
 

Here are stats from the RBs Blaise helped block for in 2015:

Jefferson Lee: 138-1,453-27
Max Roelfsema: 83-682-14
 

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Blaise is playing at Burnsville HS tonight - Marshall v. Fridley, State Qtr. Finals - 7pm



athlete_959923_profile.jpg
 

Marshall beat Fridley 40-7. Maybe everyone will get a live preview if they televise the game next Thursday at US Bank Stadium, 4:30 vs Benilde St Margarets.
 

http://www.prepspotlight.tv/MSHSL
Here's a link to the broadcast of the Marshall vs. Fridley game, along with all the quarterfinal State Playoff games. Video doesn't work until about the 21:45 mark
 

kb sabre said:
Marshall beat Fridley 40-7. Maybe everyone will get a live preview if they televise the game next Thursday at US Bank Stadium, 4:30 vs Benilde St Margarets.
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Nice feature game for a couple of big guys in the trenches... Blaise vs. Harvard-bound Eric Wilson.
 

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Go Gophers!!
 

per the STrib:

Offensive lineman Blaise Andries of Marshall, one of the top in-state recruits, tweeted in support of his future teammates Thursday, saying, “I am committed to be a part of a family, not just any other team.’’

Andries, rated at three stars by recruiting services, is one of 14 commitments for the Gophers’ 2017 class.

Nathan Bursch, a tight end at Woodbury, is similarly sticking with his verbal commitment to the Gophers. He echoed a text from his high school coach, Andy Hill, saying his plans are unchanged and added, “No matter what, I stick with my brothers.”

Andries’ father, Joe, said earlier Friday that “as long as Coach [Tracy] Claeys and [offensive line] Coach [Bart] Miller are intact and everything is a go from that perspective, then certainly we would have no reason to look in the rearview mirror.’’

Since he had been out of town until Friday morning, Joe Andries said, he had not talked with his son or any of the coaches since the players’ boycott began. A parent of another recruit had sent him a text, but he said he had “not had a chance to really digest it.’’

Andries called the national attention from the episode “unfortunate’’ for the university.

“I come from the business sector,’’ he said. “I would never want a company that I work for or lead have this kind of exposure.’’

http://www.startribune.com/recruiti...s-in-wake-of-investigation-boycott/407255456/

Go Gophers!!
 


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Go Gophers!!
 


STrib: Marshall's Andries finds his college home with Gophers

Over the past decade, college football recruiting has become a complex industry, with a player rarely recruited solely on what a coach sees on game video. It’s about exposure, with a trinity of websites, national combines and myriad camps combining to give even the most obscure players a chance at a higher national profile.

That shift has resulted in Minnesota standout linemen landing at schools that would not have known much about them before, such as Seantrel Henderson (Miami), J.C. Hassenauer (Alabama) and Frank Ragnow (Arkansas).

Andries, however, is a throwback. His love for his home-state team can be traced to his parents, both lifelong Gophers supporters despite neither having matriculated at Minnesota.

“We’ve always just had a passion for the Gophers,” said Blaise’s father, Joe.

http://www.mnfootballhub.com/news_article/show/749902

Go Gophers!!
 

There are countless kids like him although not as talented that will do anything for the chance to play for the home town Gophers.

We only hear about the super athletes that were plucked out of Minnesota by the super programs. Hopefully, the trend will reverse fully when the Gophers start bringing home championships.
 



Jaykay said:
He was their backup center this year, played a little bit.
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I'm curious to see how that plays out. I think he was backup to a sophomore if I am not mistaken. It's not clear to me what his path is to playing time.
 

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