Caleb Bak Will be Walk-On at Minnesota

BleedGopher

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http://minnesota.scout.com/2/943060.html

Caleb Bak, a 6-foot-3, 255-pound defensive tackle/offensive guard from Roseville (MN) Concordia Academy, will be a preferred walk-on at Minnesota. Bak was named third team All-Metro by the Minneapolis Star Tribune and was honorable mention Associated Press All-State as an offensive lineman. Bak, who is an excellent student, talked to GoldenSports.Net today about his decision.

"First of all, it is a very good engineering school. It is rated really high, especially for a public school. The fact they can offer scholarships in the future is attractive. I was able to go to the summer camp and I really enjoyed training under Coach (Tim) Cross. I have a really enjoyable experience. That (the engineering program) was a huge factor. The U of M is close. That will make it easy to train during the summer since I will not be getting a scholarship right now. I'll have to be living off campus. "

Bak, who is a 3.8 student who scored a 33 on the ACT in Math, said that he received recruiting interest from several schools.

"South Dakota State wanted me as a preferred walk-on. Cornell wanted me along with St. Thomas."

Bak played both sides on the field in high school, but will focus on defense in college.

"I'll be playing defensive tackle. I started both ways in high school. I was All-State, All-Metro and All-Conference for being an offensive lineman. Our running back rushed for more than 1,000 yards. I don't that the coaches submitted me as a defensive player. I actually played defensive end most of the time, which would not be my position in college. We ran a three front and the Gophers run a four front. I'll be playing defensive tackle in college. I played defensive end, which is not my position since I am very quick, but not the outside rushing type. I played offensive guard and did a lot of pulling and trapblocked.

Bak, who has a 285 pound bench press, plans to work hard to get bigger for college.

"I am up to lifting four days a week. I want to see if the Gophers want me to do anything else. I am trying to put on weight. I am trying to increase my vertical. My vertical is 29 inches, which is actually significantly higher than any of the other defensive lineman, according to the Gopher coaches. I am trying to raise that along with all my weight marks."

Bak said that he has not talked to the Gophers about his ideal weight, but hopes to meet with the coaches this week.

"I am planning to go Friday to talk to the coaches about that, preferably Coach Cross or coach Sternquist. I have to see if Coach Cross will be available on Friday to talk about that."

Go Gophers!!
 

Here is a young man who has made a wise decision. He will be in a great school and with a lot of work hard can be in a position to earn a scholarship.
 

Sometimes guys just need a good strength and conditioning program and they can become good players. Hopefully he can be one of them.
 

Welcome aboard, Caleb! If he had decided to take a D-II scholarship, I couldn't have faulted him for that, college isn't cheap. But I admire the ambition to play for in the Big Ten and fight to earn a scholarship at a Big Ten school. I like the grades too, looks like an athlete who will take his education seriously.

There are some people who get upset when walk-ons get rewarded with scholarships for playing well. But if walk-ons don't have a chance to earn a scholarship, they will be a lot less likely to consider walking on at Minnesota.
 

There are some people who get upset when walk-ons get rewarded with scholarships for playing well. But if walk-ons don't have a chance to earn a scholarship, they will be a lot less likely to consider walking on at Minnesota.

Those are the same people that are more worried about recruiting rankings than Big Ten standings.

Plenty of these types turn into big time contributors after putting in hard work. And *gasp* they actually want to be there most of the time.
 


33 in Math. Nice! Welcome aboard!
 

Those are the same people that are more worried about recruiting rankings than Big Ten standings.

Plenty of these types turn into big time contributors after putting in hard work. And *gasp* they actually want to be there most of the time.

We actually have had very good contributions from walk-ons lately, Brewster has proven he will give scholarships to contributors. Nate and Nick Tow Arnett, Marcus Sherels, Hoese, Rallis, Klitzke all have played and earned scholarships, that's a pretty impactful bunch to be honest with you.
While nobody can blame local walkon recruits for following a full ride to a dakota or D2 team, it's really great to see a kid take the walkon, work hard, and earn himself a spot, in essence proving everyone wrong and in the end reaping his own rewards. Mr. Bak will hopefully follow this road as will the rest of the 2010 walkons, and if not they will have the opportunity to get a top rate education at the flagship university of Minnesota.
 

The kid sounds great and he made a good choice. Let's be honest, the $50K that he'll have to pay in tuition at the U will pay off if he ever sees the field because putting that he was a Gopher Football player will open a lot of doors for him for jobs in the Midwest...especially in the Twin Cities.

It's always good to have a smart, hard worker on the team setting the tone as well.
 

Nothing but positives with good walk-ons. Welcome Caleb!
 



He made a good choice, but he didn't make the only good choice available. He could have gotten a decent education at a D-II school and been on scholarship. It looks like he wants to study engineering, and admit that I don't know how good the engineering programs are at the D-II schools.

But it looks like he really wants to be here, even if he has to pay his own way. That really earns my respect.
 

Welcome Caleb.

I'm sure he could have gotten a good education at SDSU or SD or any D-II school, but the University has a very good engineering program and I doubt he could get the same level of education at the upper levels in his junior and senior years at a D-II school.
 




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