Andre McDonald moves away UPDATED 1/20: Enrolling at UW-River Falls

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GophersInIowa said:
Is Sam Maresh there as well?

Seriously, what ever happened to that guy? I know he went to a JUCO for a year, but that was the last I heard of him.
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Sam is alive, living in Minnesota, not playing football.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Is Sam Maresh there as well?

Seriously, what ever happened to that guy? I know he went to a JUCO for a year, but that was the last I heard of him.
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I had heard Sam was at a Juco in Iowa. He had a bad run with the heart trouble and then an alcohol issue.
 

gophertime said:
Is it my imagination or does Minnesota have an inordinate number of highly rated high school athletes that have issues that keep them from reaching their potential? McDonald is just the latest. Why is that?
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Yes, it is just your imagination. Something you made up in your head as a significant statistic even though you have nothing to compare it to.
 


There are two things a player needs to make as a Div. 1 athlete, physical ability, and mental discipline. Why is it always assumed that a kid with the physical skills will also have the ability to make the transition mentally? I know from military experience, that a lot of kids can not or will not accept discipline, why should an athlete be any different? I know that the coaching staff works very hard to minimize recruiting problem kids but they'll miss occasionally.
 



Gopherprof said:
I'm about 99.9% sure his comment was sarcastic. I hope so, anyway.
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Sarcasm is one of my staples. But, I've found it's often lost in print, especially if you're not familiar with the person delivering it. If it was, my apology. If not, I probably wasn't harsh enough. lol
 

killme said:
It would be easy to respond to your comments by calling you an idiot, but that wouldn't serve any useful purpose. I think the David Cobbs of the world will tell you that if you do what the coaches ask and buy in, you can be highly successful. You should seek out someone to help you get your life back on track.
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+1. The young man is responsible for himself and it did not include football.
 

nsmike said:
There are two things a player needs to make as a Div. 1 athlete, physical ability, and mental discipline. Why is it always assumed that a kid with the physical skills will also have the ability to make the transition mentally? I know from military experience, that a lot of kids can not or will not accept discipline, why should an athlete be any different? I know that the coaching staff works very hard to minimize recruiting problem kids but they'll miss occasionally.
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Especially if the kid is a home grown 4* player. What are they going to do, not recruit him? McDonald was head & shoulders above any other receiver we had in terms of athletic ability. You could see it in his stride & his fluidity. He was just a different class of athlete than Engel, Fruechte, et al. Too bad his head wasn't in the game, I have no doubt he would have been our go-to receiver this year if it was.
 



Costa Rican Gopher said:
Especially if the kid is a home grown 4* player. What are they going to do, not recruit him? McDonald was head & shoulders above any other receiver we had in terms of athletic ability. You could see it in his stride & his fluidity. He was just a different class of athlete than Engel, Fruechte, et al. Too bad his head wasn't in the game, I have no doubt he would have been our go-to receiver this year if it was.
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I think the U will run into this from time to time for exactly the reason you stated - if there's a 4* or heaven forbid a 5* that wants to come here what are you going to do - say no?? Until they get an established recruiting system in place after a few years of winning, any mid to lower tier program (sorry, but the U is still there today) will almost have to give those guys a shot even if you think it's a 1 in 100 chance. If he burns out you get his scholarship back after he leaves. But, if he figures it out he can be an impact player for a few years and bring more higher odds 4* players to the program.
 






mkAz said:
McDonald apparently headed to UW-River Falls to play football and basketball.

http://www.mndaily.com/sports/football/2014/01/20/former-gophers-wr-mcdonald-play-uw-river-falls
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I've spent time in River Falls and at the school there, I can say this has the potential to be a good situation for Andre. It's a small town, small class sizes, low stress environment.
He'll still be around structure with sports and such.

As long as his football teammates keep him sober and going to class, he's got a chance to sort himself out in a very supportive college community.
That said, it is a small town wisconsin type beer drinker's paradise and just like anywhere, if you are looking for trouble you can usually find it.
 

Now, McDonald plans to enroll at Division III University of Wisconsin-River Falls to play football and basketball, he told the Minnesota Daily on Tuesday.

“It’s really difficult to come to grips with,” McDonald said, “but I put myself in that situation and I have to get myself out of it.”

McDonald wants to teach elementary school and be a role model for students.

“It’ll definitely play into my career once I do [teach],” he said. “Use what happened to me as an example.”

Go Gophers!!
 

Wow. I may actually attend a non-hockey UW sporting event for the first time ever
 


you never know, maybe once he gets himself figured out he can elevate himself back up to this level. but right now it seems like he's got his head on straight about the situation. Wish him the best.
 

I wonder why he chose to go to a D-III school, when he could have gotten a scholarship at a D-II school. Then again, the D-III schools do seem to be good at helping their players find financial aid.
 

RodentRampage said:
I wonder why he chose to go to a D-III school, when he could have gotten a scholarship at a D-II school. Then again, the D-III schools do seem to be good at helping their players find financial aid.
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The WIAC is DIII in name only. Many of the schools have enrollment at 10k+ and the crowds for games are on par with a lot of DII schools. It's a really good league for what it is, actually.
 

Gopherprof said:
The WIAC is DIII in name only. Many of the schools have enrollment at 10k+ and the crowds for games are on par with a lot of DII schools. It's a really good league for what it is, actually.
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He'll see good competition no doubt.
Also River Falls is very affordable. The WIAC colleges are underrated for their value, class sizes, and cost of living. One main attraction is they "rent" their books for free.

I really do hope it works out for Andre, I never heard anyone say anything bad about his character, just that he was a good kid who lacked focus/maturity and had a pot issue.
 

Gopherprof said:
The WIAC is DIII in name only. Many of the schools have enrollment at 10k+ and the crowds for games are on par with a lot of DII schools. It's a really good league for what it is, actually.
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I'm not saying it's not a good league, just that they don't offer scholarships. It's just a little surprising that a player would choose to play without a scholarship if he could have school paid for.
 

His need based scholarship might be larger than the 1/4 to 1/2 scholarship at a MNSCU D-II school.
 

Yeah he'll get the equivalent of at least a half scholarship. I teach at a school in the WIAC, and the text rental system is fantastic.
 

Gopherprof said:
The WIAC is DIII in name only. Many of the schools have enrollment at 10k+ and the crowds for games are on par with a lot of DII schools. It's a really good league for what it is, actually.
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maybe if you're from the east coast that be your perception of D3, but if you're from Minnesota you should know better as the MIAC is the D3 attendance leader with a 3400 average. Games involving Bethel, St. Thomas or St. John's will be around 10,000. The Northern Sun averages 2600. All that said, River Falls is rarely competitive and will need more than a four star receiver to get over .500
 


go4rube said:
UWRF has an excellent elementary education program. Good for him!
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Yes, UWRF's education college has consistently ranked in the top ten nationally. Great place to go for a teaching degree. UWRF used to have a solid football program and especially good ground game on offense, but the past 10 years have really been bad for a once proud football program. Perhaps McDonald will bring in other players to surround him and take the Falcons out of the cellar in the WIAC. UWRF's basketball program has been mediocre for ages with a couple good years interspersed between .500 level teams. The lower stress level at RF may be great for McDonald. There are some good groups on the campus that could be very positive and the folks in the education college will be very helpful. I wish him all the best.
 

Back when I was in college in the mid-70's, River Falls used to run a wishbone-style offense, and they were very competitive against MIAC teams.

Their Basketball team has never been very good that I can remember.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Back when I was in college in the mid-70's, River Falls used to run a wishbone-style offense, and they were very competitive against MIAC teams.

Their Basketball team has never been very good that I can remember.
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They ran the wishbone up until maybe 2004?
I think they even had their o line go down in a 4 point stance.
Not the O they run now, but it looks like they had a rough year in 2013.
 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Tonight at 10:45: <a href="https://twitter.com/DarrenWolfson">@DarrenWolfson</a> sits down w/ ex-<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Gophers&src=hash">#Gophers</a> WR Andre McDonald. He admits to cocaine use. Very apologetic toward coach Kill.</p>— KSTPSports (@KSTPSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/KSTPSports/statuses/435225111302393856">February 17, 2014</a></blockquote>
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