Arland Bruce IV commits to Iowa

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dpodoll68

dpodoll68

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Not a super impressive offer list. Gophers may have identified athletes they like more
 


Yes, I think we have been doing quite well with WRs, DBs and QBs. Not sure where else he would fit
 



Arland and PJ were in training camp together with the 49ers in 2004. Arland was a special teamer for the 2003 squad, but got cut after the 2004 camp. PJ was in camp in 2004, and made the practice squad. They were obviously in competition with each other for that spot.
 


Here's the main reason I posted this: a couple weeks ago, I caught this small feature on ESPN about a barber shop in Kansas City where Patrick Mahomes gets his hair cut, and they've become semi-famous for offering that cut to others as well:


Bruce IV was shown in the feature, and check out what he's wearing:

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20200428_224811.jpg

So after seeing the news of him committing to Iowa, it raised the question in my mind: is he committing to them because he thinks it's the best offer, or because he wants to stick it to the Gophers for not taking an interest in him? Or both? His first offer was from Iowa St. and by all accounts he had a strong relationship with them before the Hawkeyes offered.
 

Hawkeyes have complained before about "early" offers from Minnesota and Iowa State.

So no surprise that Iowa St had a relationship first, and then Iowa swooped in after.
 



MplsGopher said:
Hawkeyes have complained before about "early" offers from Minnesota and Iowa State.

So no surprise that Iowa St had a relationship first, and then Iowa swooped in after.
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I think Brian's comments were more about the volume of offers MN and other schools make.

I haven't heard Brian say much since then, I'm guessing his dad told him to be quiet ... again.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Here's the main reason I posted this: a couple weeks ago, I caught this small feature on ESPN about a barber shop in Kansas City where Patrick Mahomes gets his hair cut, and they've become semi-famous for offering that cut to others as well:


Bruce IV was shown in the feature, and check out what he's wearing:

View attachment 7797
View attachment 7798

So after seeing the news of him committing to Iowa, it raised the question in my mind: is he committing to them because he thinks it's the best offer, or because he wants to stick it to the Gophers for not taking an interest in him? Or both? His first offer was from Iowa St. and by all accounts he had a strong relationship with them before the Hawkeyes offered.
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I mean I guess if players we don't want will go to Iowa to stick it to us, I'd be okay with that. As I mentioned in the recruiting thread, I hope he isn't near as good as the Atwell kid at Louisville.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Here's the main reason I posted this: a couple weeks ago, I caught this small feature on ESPN about a barber shop in Kansas City where Patrick Mahomes gets his hair cut, and they've become semi-famous for offering that cut to others as well:


Bruce IV was shown in the feature, and check out what he's wearing:


So after seeing the news of him committing to Iowa, it raised the question in my mind: is he committing to them because he thinks it's the best offer, or because he wants to stick it to the Gophers for not taking an interest in him? Or both? His first offer was from Iowa St. and by all accounts he had a strong relationship with them before the Hawkeyes offered.
Click to expand...


It would be a really weird choice to pick your college ... based on the desire to stick it to some other school who isn't interested in you.

Hey man i'm sticking it to you!!

Uh... who are you again?
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
I think Brian's comments were more about the volume of offers MN and other schools make.

I haven't heard Brian say much since then, I'm guessing his dad told him to be quiet ... again.
Click to expand...
https://www.startribune.com/iowa-co...tions-p-j-fleck-s-recruiting-style/421458863/

"
Fleck's aggressive recruiting style has helped the Gophers get off to a strong start with the Class of 2018, as they have 13 commitments and currently rank 10th nationally in the 247Sports Composite Rankings. By mid-February, the Gophers already had offered scholarships to 134 players, dozens more than they had made by that point in the recruiting cycle under previous coaches Tracy Claeys and Jerry Kill.

Iowa State also has been more aggressive with offers under second-year coach Matt Campbell. The Cyclones have five commitments and rank 56th in the 247 Composite Rankings. Iowa has five commitments and ranks 43rd.

“The guys in Ames and the new guy in Minneapolis seem to have no problem throwing early things out," Brian Ferentz said on the Hawk Central podcast. "What I’ve learned, certainly about the guys in Ames, we’ll find out about the guys in Minneapolis, what does an offer really mean?

“I can tell you this much, if the University of Iowa offers you a scholarship and you commit to us, we intend to sign you and we intend to take your commitment. I think you have to look no further than in-state to see there were a lot of offers that went out in the 2018 class very early out of Ames. And I’m not sure all of those guys were able to commit to them if they wanted to, because some of those guys have since gone other places.”
"
 



MplsGopher said:
Hawkeyes have complained before about "early" offers from Minnesota and Iowa State.

So no surprise that Iowa St had a relationship first, and then Iowa swooped in after.
Click to expand...
Seems like Iowa coaches particularly Brian Frentz complain quite a bit. Wonder what they teach the players down there?
 

dpodoll68 said:
Here's the main reason I posted this: a couple weeks ago, I caught this small feature on ESPN about a barber shop in Kansas City where Patrick Mahomes gets his hair cut, and they've become semi-famous for offering that cut to others as well:


Bruce IV was shown in the feature, and check out what he's wearing:

View attachment 7797
View attachment 7798

So after seeing the news of him committing to Iowa, it raised the question in my mind: is he committing to them because he thinks it's the best offer, or because he wants to stick it to the Gophers for not taking an interest in him? Or both? His first offer was from Iowa St. and by all accounts he had a strong relationship with them before the Hawkeyes offered.
Click to expand...
I guess I'd look at it a little differently myself. If he really wanted to play at MN, other than his dad having played here, what else would have attracted him? Midwestern, B1G school, good academically, etc. As much as I hate Iowa, being honest about it, they check a lot of the same boxes the U of MN does. Or it may have just "felt right". A relative of my wife went down there and she was blown away by the visit. Apparently they did an amazing job lying about the school (I kid).

And, in the end, he may not have wanted to play here. He might like wearing U of MN stuff to honor his dad, but may have never considered it for himself for any number of reasons.

I'd be shocked if he chose Iowa out of spite, myself, but I've seen stranger things.
 

dpodoll68 said:
is he committing to them because he thinks it's the best offer
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I'm guessing this is it. Iowa is his best offer. Time may be running out, as they are filling up with high quality players. He probably figured he'd better take his best offer while it is still on the table.

It would have been kind of fun though, to have Demetrius Douglas, True Thompson, Seth Green, Zack Annexsted, Tutu Atwell II, and Arland Bruce IV all on a Gopher roster, no? All sons of former Gophers. I guess we do have a few of them.
 
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tjgopher said:
I'm guessing this is it. Iowa is his best offer. Time may be running out, as they are filling up with high quality players. He probably figured he'd better take his best offer while it is still on the table.

It would have been kind of fun though, to have Demetrius Douglas, True Thompson, Seth Green, Zack Annexsted, Tutu Atwell II, and Arland Bruce IV all on a Gopher roster, no? All sons of former Gophers. I guess we do have a few of them.
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I agree about the legacy aspect of this. I guess the thing I'm most surprised about is that he doesn't have a better offer list, lack of Gophers offer aside. He won the Simone Award for best football player in the Kansas City metro (as a junior), and past winners of that award include the likes of his dad, Darren Sproles, Ladell Betts, Josh Freeman, Nathan Scheelhaase, Drew Lock, and Graham Mertz. Scheelhaase, Lock and Mertz were all 4-stars with a ton of offers (Lock and Mertz both top-100 overall) while Bruce's offer list looks like a borderline P5 prospect.
 

tjgopher said:
I'm guessing this is it. Iowa is his best offer. Time may be running out, as they are filling up with high quality players. He probably figured he'd better take his best offer while it is still on the table.
Click to expand...

I would assume this is it as well. Think of it from Arland's point of view. He currently has two P5 offers. One of them is to play B1G football at a competitive program in Iowa City. The other is to play Big 12 football at a less competitive program in Ames.

Add in the fact that his dad played B1G football and the decision makes a lot of sense. He could wait to see if better offers come in, but that's a gamble he could lose and he already has a good offer on the table.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Bruce's offer list looks like a borderline P5 prospect.
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Prospects that have a borderline P5 offer list are usually borderline P5 prospects. Doesn't mean he won't blossom into a great Big Ten player, but he probably IS a borderline P5 prospect.
 

Didn't Arland Bruce make the 4th down deflection catch in the 1999 upset of Penn State? That play put us in position to pull a major upset. I'd find a youtube link to that if I wasn't lazy.
 

Crosby said:
Didn't Arland Bruce make the 4th down deflection catch in the 1999 upset of Penn State? That play put us in position to pull a major upset. I'd find a youtube link to that if I wasn't lazy.
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Yes. See post #7.
 


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