Class of 2013 - Recruting Update

[Gopherprof]

As we have found, college football "commitments" really mean nothing. You're comparing apples to oranges. "Having their class" has nothing to do with what I said. There's nearly a 100% chance that Michigan will not have all of these guys come signing day. They could have commitments from every one of those guys today, and have none of them come February. Not likely, but possible.

Anyway, latest U offer to Anthony Walker.

How is it apples and oranges? To quote you:

"I'd rather have any commitment in September than any commitment in April."


Quite frankly, taken at face value, that comment is totally illogical. I'd rather have a commitment from an elite prospect at any point in the year, than a commitment from a player that nobody else wants right before signing day.

I'm not really concerned about Kill's recruiting so far (in part because my expectations are pretty low for the time being), but I don't think there's much debate that if there is any recruiting competition between us and Ohio State/Michigan (there isn't) we would not be on the winning end of it.

Also, no, there is no case where 18 players decommit from the same class.

 

[gophergrad]

This argument is ridiculous. And it's not even the primary problem the Gophers football team has experienced the last few years. Before we even talk about recruiting top talent or when we'd prefer to get our players to commit, we need them to stay at the U for 4 or 5 years.

Idiots can hate all they want, but Brewster brought in some talent, most of it washed away pretty quickly. And a lot of our current depth, talent problems stem from that.

Attrition and balancing out the classes isn't as sexy as going up against Michigan in recruiting battles, or hoping we get everyone we want in April, but I'd argue it is what Kill should (and probably is) focusing on.

So my attitude going forward is less to get all jacked up about recruits, than the players we currently have and how they mature in years 3,4, and 5.

 

[vames]

It has been an interesting recruiting cycle so far. I don't have enough information on past recruiting cycles on commitments from out-state early in the "recruiting" season. I certainly understand the reason behind being cautious to offering players from the state as they mostly likely would like to play for the U! As the U has made a 112 offers, I guess they are only being cautious with offering players from the state versus other states. So far 25 offers have been made to players from Florida, 8 to Illinois, 8 from Indiana, 9 from North Carolina, 20 from Ohio, 10 from Texas, and 5 from Wisconsin. I can certainly understand Florida and Ohio. Not sure we are going to pull many players from North Carolina. Surprised we are not recruiting more from Texas. Didn't realize that Indiana was that talented this year. 33 of the players offered have already committed.

In doing some spot checking, it appears most players that we have offered have at least one other offer and many with FBS/BCS schools, which is a good sign that we are not trying to find diamonds in the rough in other states, when we have a few potential here in the state.

However at the end of the day, the current Class of 2013 only had 7 players with FBS offers. Of that only 4 have BCS offers. More surprising is that only 6 other players have FCS offers, which is a clear sign at this point there is less talent in this class versus last year, which had 50 players with D1 offers.

 

[dpodoll68]

As we have found, college football "commitments" really mean nothing.

Not even remotely true.

 

[Killjoy]

Vames

It has been an interesting recruiting cycle so far. I don't have enough information on past recruiting cycles on commitments from out-state early in the "recruiting" season. I certainly understand the reason behind being cautious to offering players from the state as they mostly likely would like to play for the U! As the U has made a 112 offers, I guess they are only being cautious with offering players from the state versus other states. So far 25 offers have been made to players from Florida, 8 to Illinois, 8 from Indiana, 9 from North Carolina, 20 from Ohio, 10 from Texas, and 5 from Wisconsin. I can certainly understand Florida and Ohio. Not sure we are going to pull many players from North Carolina. Surprised we are not recruiting more from Texas. Didn't realize that Indiana was that talented this year. 33 of the players offered have already committed.

In doing some spot checking, it appears most players that we have offered have at least one other offer and many with FBS/BCS schools, which is a good sign that we are not trying to find diamonds in the rough in other states, when we have a few potential here in the state.

However at the end of the day, the current Class of 2013 only had 7 players with FBS offers. Of that only 4 have BCS offers. More surprising is that only 6 other players have FCS offers, which is a clear sign at this point there is less talent in this class versus last year, which had 50 players with D1 offers.

Thanks for the excellent information and analysis. Just to make sure that we are all on the same page, when you refer to the 2013 class you are referring to Minnesota's 2013 high school class, not the University of Minnesota’s football class?

 

[vames]

Thanks for the excellent information and analysis. Just to make sure that we are all on the same page, when you refer to the 2013 class you are referring to Minnesota's 2013 high school class, not the University of Minnesota’s football class?

Correct....Minnesota high school preps Class of 2013.

 

[60's Guy]

Good timing?

It has been an interesting recruiting cycle so far. I don't have enough information on past recruiting cycles on commitments from out-state early in the "recruiting" season. I certainly understand the reason behind being cautious to offering players from the state as they mostly likely would like to play for the U! As the U has made a 112 offers, I guess they are only being cautious with offering players from the state versus other states. So far 25 offers have been made to players from Florida, 8 to Illinois, 8 from Indiana, 9 from North Carolina, 20 from Ohio, 10 from Texas, and 5 from Wisconsin. I can certainly understand Florida and Ohio. Not sure we are going to pull many players from North Carolina. Surprised we are not recruiting more from Texas. Didn't realize that Indiana was that talented this year. 33 of the players offered have already committed.

In doing some spot checking, it appears most players that we have offered have at least one other offer and many with FBS/BCS schools, which is a good sign that we are not trying to find diamonds in the rough in other states, when we have a few potential here in the state.

However at the end of the day, the current Class of 2013 only had 7 players with FBS offers. Of that only 4 have BCS offers. More surprising is that only 6 other players have FCS offers, which is a clear sign at this point there is less talent in this class versus last year, which had 50 players with D1 offers.

Last year 50 Minnesota HS players had D1 offers. We had 25+ recruits. We did an excellent job retaining the best.

This year, if I read your info correctly, only 7 MN HS players have D1 offers and I'll argue none are as accomplished as any of the top 10 last year?

So, this is why we have so many out of state offers and with a short number of scholarships available it is a good cycle for us. (obviously it would be better if we had 50 D1 MN HS players every year but we don't) This will also force this staff to build more out of state recruiting relationships making us stronger out of state when we do have more in state talent. It'll allow us to be more selective going forward as this staff establishes itself around the country.

 

[highwayman]

Not even remotely true.

Really? Explain. A college football player can back out at any time. A school can pull its offer at any time. How are those a commitment? What does it really mean if that is so?

Commitment from Websters:

a : an agreement or pledge to do something in the future; especially : an engagement to assume a financial obligation at a future date
b : something pledged
c : the state or an instance of being obligated or emotionally impelled

If you can easily back out of a, b, or c, a college football commitment ain't any of these. I may be just talking semantics, but my argument is more valid than "not even remotely true".

My original statement meant that a late commitment will stick almost all the time. An early commitment has far, far less certainty.

 

[vames]

Last year 50 Minnesota HS players had D1 offers. We had 25+ recruits. We did an excellent job retaining the best.

This year, if I read your info correctly, only 7 MN HS players have D1 offers and I'll argue none are as accomplished as any of the top 10 last year?

So, this is why we have so many out of state offers and with a short number of scholarships available it is a good cycle for us. (obviously it would be better if we had 50 D1 MN HS players every year but we don't) This will also force this staff to build more out of state recruiting relationships making us stronger out of state when we do have more in state talent. It'll allow us to be more selective going forward as this staff establishes itself around the country.

60's Guy, Total of 13 D1 offers at this point. 4 with BCS offers or commits. 3 with FBS offers or commits. 6 with FCS offers. Either way we are still behind at this point compated to last year's class.

BCS/FBS Commitment (4)

(Updated 2/26) Keelon Brookins, 5’10 175, WR, Tartan – Committed to Minnesota.

(Updated 3/7) James Onwualu, 6’1 205, WR, Cretin-Derham Hall – Committed to Notre Dame. Had received offers from Minnesota, Stanford, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Arizona, Iowa State, Kansas, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana, California, Arizona, and Purdue

(Updated 4/9) Jack Cottrell, 6’4 215, LB, Eden Prairie – Committed to Boston College. Received other offer from North Dakota. Attended Minnesota, Wisconsin, Boston College, Iowa State, Western Michigan, Penn, Valporaiso, and SDSU junior day/spring practice events. Received invite Western Michigan, Penn, Valparaiso, and SDSU junior day/spring practice events. 2011 All Conference HM. Started 13 games on 5A State Champion team. Recorded 89 tackles (26 solo), 6 tackles for a loss, 1 INT, 1 blocked punt, and 1 forced fumble. One of five sophomores that dressed varsity in 2010. Recorded a 4.72 40-yard dash. Carries a 3.9 GPA and 28 ACT score.

(Updated 5/4) Tyson Reinke, 6’3 265, Eden Prairie – Committed to Kent State. Received offers from Air Force and North Dakota. Attended Minnesota and Iowa State junior day event. 2011 All-State Second Team. All Conference. Starting DT for 12-1 5A State Champs and recorded 38 tackles (8 solo), 6 TFL, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovered. Started 5 games as sophomore and received playing time in all 11 games. Recorded 15 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 pass deflection, and 1 fumble recovery.

BCS/FBS Offers (3)

(Updated 3/7) Malik Rucker, 6’0 170, Robbinsdale Cooper – Received offers from Iowa, Iowa State, Arizona State, Boston College, Illinois, North Carolina State, Duke Wyoming, SMU, SDSU, and North Dakota. Has attended Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa State junior days. Has received invites to Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, SMU, and Purdue junior day/spring practice events. In 9 games, had 52 (25 solo) tackles, 1 INTs, and 1 fumble recovery.

(Updated 5/4) Chris Wipson, 6’2 210, TE/LB, Wayzata – Received offers from Air Force, South Dakota, and North Dakota. 2011 All-State HM. All Conference. In 13 games, had 82 tackles (52 solo), 4 sacks, 18 tackles for a loss, 8 QB hurries, 2 INTs, 4 forced fumbles, 4 passes broken up, 4 pass deflected. In 9 games as a sophomore, had 35 tackles (22 solo), 4 TFL, 1 forced fumble, 2 QB hurries. Carries a 4.0 GPA and scored a 30 on the ACT.

(Updated 4/25) Jackson Wilson,6’3 275, OL, Rochester John Marshall – Received an offer from Air Force. Attended Minnesota and SDSU junior day events.


FCS Offers (6)
(Updated 4/25) Chad Fahning, 6'7 280, OL, DeLaSalle – Received offer from SDSU and North Dakota. Attended Minnesota, Iowa State, and Wisconsin junior day events. Has received invites to Michigan State, Boston College, NDSU, SDSU, and North Dakota spring events. 2011 All-Conference and All Section. Has started 23 games in sophomore and junior year.

(Updated 2/11) Mikias Alipate, 6’1 215, LB, Holy Angels – Received offer from North Dakota. Received invite to Minnesota junior day event. In 6 games, has 62 tackles (42 solo), 2 TFL, 4 hurries, and 2 forced fumbles. Did not play as a sophomore due to transfer rules.

(Updated 2/21) Bridgeport Tusler, 5’11 195, RB/DB, Osseo (5A) – Received an offer from North Dakota. Has received invites to Minnesota and North Dakota junior day events. In 10 games, had 123 carries for 954 yards for 7.8 ypc and 11 touchdowns. Had 32 receptions for 428 yards and 6 touchdowns. In six games as a sophomore, had 34 carries for 176 yards and 1 TD. Had 13 receptions for 257 yards and 2 TDs.

(Updated 2/21) Malcom Moore, 6’1 175, WR, Minnetonka – Received offer from SDSU. Received invites to Minnesota and Iowa junior day events. All-State Honorable Mention. Star Tribune All Metro Second Team. Pioneer Press Honorable Mention. All-Conference. In 8 games, had 35 receptions for 812 yards and 6 touchdowns. 2010 All-Conferece. In 10 games as a sophomore, had 20 receptions for 294 yards for 14.7 ypc and 4 TDs.

(Updated 2/21) Jordan Hein, 6’2 195, QB/Athlete, Perham – Received offer from North Dakota. Received invite to Minnesota, North Dakota, and SDSU junior day events. All-State Honorable Mention. Conference MVP. Top duel threat quarterback. In 10 games, completed 74 of 156 passes for 1398 yards and 19 touchdowns. Had 199 carries for 1380 yards and 16 touchdowns.

(Updated 4/25) Akeem Roller, 6’4 280, Cretin-Derham Hall – Received offer from North Dakota. Played varsity as a junior behind FBS recruit Jonathan Harden. Younger brother of 3-year CDH starter Willie Roller.

 

[dpodoll68]

Really? Explain.

Let's say, in the last 5 years, that 125 prospects total have signed LOIs with the Gophers in football. Let's also say that there have been an average of ~10 prospects per year who at one point committed to the Gophers and didn't end up signing a LOI with the Gophers for whatever reason, whether they went elsewhere or had their offer pulled by the Gophers. That would mean, in this hypothetical but roughly analogous to real life scenario, that 125 out of 175 (71.4%) of prospects who committed to the Gophers ended up signing with them. Thus, in the last 5 years, a commitment to the Gophers meant that you were ~70% likely to end up a Gopher on signing day. Therefore, a college football commitment is not meaningless.

If your point was to say that the term "commitment" in college athletics doesn't jive with the real-world definition of "commitment", then yes, you have a point. But to say it doesn't live up to its definition is far different than saying it "means nothing".

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Since the last post, Wayzata LB Chris Wipson picked up an Air Force.

Wipson and Cottrell are the two guys that I really hope the U is still looking at closely. I really like Cottrell and I think he has the chance to be really good. I also think Wipson is a Big 10 caliber player. We need some LBers, I just think it's a good fit.

 

[oleboy41]

I love MN but our football sucks, lol. There are public schools in Dallas with more D1 prospects than our entire state

 

[captain.hindsight]

I love MN but our football sucks, lol. There are public schools in Dallas with more D1 prospects than our entire state

I sense the sarcasm, but I disagree with the basis that southern talent is in dire need here at the U. I think Mason said it best on KFAN months back - Southern talent is coached up so much more than up here. They take an an average player, train them, and than they become a d1 prospect. The problem with that process is that you have an overachieving 3 star player with little ceiling. Here in MN we have many talented players that don't have the upbringing of southern athletes. Mason spoke passionately about how not only are those kids extremely coachable, but their ceiling is far higher.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I love MN but our football sucks, lol. There are public schools in Dallas with more D1 prospects than our entire state

Well, that's a bit of hyperbole, but I agree with your overrall point.

However, there are always a handful of guys from MN that can contribute anywhere. I personally think Cottrell and Wipson are Big 10 caliber LBs. There are plenty of good Big 10 defenses with guys who aren't from Texas or other football powerhouses.

 

[oleboy41]

Well, that's a bit of hyperbole, but I agree with your overrall point.

However, there are always a handful of guys from MN that can contribute anywhere. I personally think Cottrell and Wipson are Big 10 caliber LBs. There are plenty of good Big 10 defenses with guys who aren't from Texas or other football powerhouses.

I definitely think that MN produces enough talent to support a good team, provided we are able to lock the state down similar to what WI does. Problem is that skill position guys are very rare. Seriously though we may have 10-12 FBS prospects in an average year and there are schools in Miami and Dallas that produce near that level.

 

[dpodoll68]

I definitely think that MN produces enough talent to support a good team, provided we are able to lock the state down similar to what WI does.

No way. If we were, for some reason, limited to only recruiting MN HS players, and even if we could somehow get the exact 25 we wanted every year, we would basically be a slightly-better version of NDSU. NDSU is a good I-AA school, but they are, at best, a .500 club in I-A.

 

[upnorthkid]

No way. If we were, for some reason, limited to only recruiting MN HS players, and even if we could somehow get the exact 25 we wanted every year, we would basically be a slightly-better version of NDSU. NDSU is a good I-AA school, but they are, at best, a .500 club in I-A.

Although this may be accurate of NDSU (which we do not know) MN does draw upon a larger and in my opinion, quite better talent pool than ND. If you think back to some of the high profile MN guys that if we could've landed would have been beasts for us (Floyd, Laurenitis, Henderson to name a few), I don't think ND can compare on that level and look how dominant they are at the FCS level. Now I understand fully that AA is not I A, but to say we would only be a slightly better version of NDSU is short selling the higher end talent MN has to offer. Yes we would have to play a more boring grinder style of offense and defense, but that has been shown to win a high number of games when your team has the experience factor.

 

[dpodoll68]

Although this may be accurate of NDSU (which we do not know) MN does draw upon a larger and in my opinion, quite better talent pool than ND. If you think back to some of the high profile MN guys that if we could've landed would have been beasts for us (Floyd, Laurenitis, Henderson to name a few), I don't think ND can compare on that level and look how dominant they are at the FCS level. Now I understand fully that AA is not I A, but to say we would only be a slightly better version of NDSU is short selling the higher end talent MN has to offer. Yes we would have to play a more boring grinder style of offense and defense, but that has been shown to win a high number of games when your team has the experience factor.

This is what I'm saying. NDSU recruits a ton of Minnesota kids and supplements them with kids from the speed states. Replace those speed state kids with the upper-tier MN kids, and you have an equivalent-to-slightly-better team.

 

[vames]

DeLaSalle DB Oscar Opera is the most recent junior to pick up an offer from North Dakota. Opera is an interesting player as he lead the state with interceptions last year with 10. Saw he was at the Minnesota spring game as an invited recruit as well.

Provide Academy DL Michael Warren (6'4 265) picked up two offers today. One from Illinois State and the other from SDSU.

 

[positively4thstreet]

Oscar Opera. Great name.

 

[Dilemina]

I sense the sarcasm, but I disagree with the basis that southern talent is in dire need here at the U. I think Mason said it best on KFAN months back - Southern talent is coached up so much more than up here. They take an an average player, train them, and than they become a d1 prospect. The problem with that process is that you have an overachieving 3 star player with little ceiling. Here in MN we have many talented players that don't have the upbringing of southern athletes. Mason spoke passionately about how not only are those kids extremely coachable, but their ceiling is far higher.

Decker
Barber III
Eslinger
Setterstrom
Were all not highly touted coming out of high school.

If I remember correctly, we recruited Barber III as a db, and promised him a try-out at RB.

I think he wasn't even the starting RB on his high school team.



Sent from my PLAYSTATION PHONE using tapatalk

 

[vames]

Another FCS offer went out from North Dakota. This time to DeLaSalle DE Jareid Combs (6'4 225). Definitely a player that has nice size for OLB or H-Back.

 

[50PoundHead]

Oscar Opera. Great name.

My exact thought. He could win the Oscar for opera. Or would that be the Tony? Or is it the Siegfried?

 

[ncgo4]

Mason is absolutely correct. There is nothing in the Fla & Texas drinking water that makes them so much better. What there is is spring high school football practice and an amazing following of HS football that borders on religious zealotry with an accompanying level of coaching. Fla & Texas have a huge numbers advantage of prospects but they have a dozen or more D1 colleges chasing that talent. The reason Kill was so succesful at NIU was because he identified those under coached kids and brought them up to their potential. He can and will do the same at Minnesota.

 

[Blackhammer]

There is a small shred of truth to what Mason said. But come on. There is so much more talent in Fla then in Minnesota it's not even funny. You recruit your area codes in Fla and win national titles. The population of those areas of course help make that possible. But that still doesn't change the fact Mn high school football sucks. The better athletes here maybe are the ones with little upside simply because they are dominating inferior talent and are overated. With that said I do think it's unrealistic for the Gophers to expect to get top Florida talent so it is important coach Kill identify under the radar talent especially until we start winning. There is no reason we can't eventually recruit like Iowa does for example.

 

[Gopherprof]

Mason is absolutely correct. There is nothing in the Fla & Texas drinking water that makes them so much better. What there is is spring high school football practice and an amazing following of HS football that borders on religious zealotry with an accompanying level of coaching. Fla & Texas have a huge numbers advantage of prospects but they have a dozen or more D1 colleges chasing that talent. The reason Kill was so succesful at NIU was because he identified those under coached kids and brought them up to their potential. He can and will do the same at Minnesota.

Do I have to be the one to point out that most college football players (esp at the speed positions) are black, and that black people primarily live in the south and in urban areas? I don't want to get into a bizarre argument about racial science or anything like that, but the fact of the matter is that Minnesota simply can't compete in the skill areas because the pool of African-Americans in Minnesota is too small. You can coach fundamentals and all that, but you can't coach speed.

We should follow the Wisconsin model of recruiting. Wrap up your state border as best as you possibly can, build a massive offensive line with all of the big strong guys in your state, and recruit the necessary speed from southern states. You can certainly build around some of the skill talent in the state, but there isn't enough to field a competitive team.

 

[dpodoll68]

Do I have to be the one to point out that most college football players (esp at the speed positions) are black, and that black people primarily live in the south and in urban areas? I don't want to get into a bizarre argument about racial science or anything like that, but the fact of the matter is that Minnesota simply can't compete in the skill areas because the pool of African-Americans in Minnesota is too small. You can coach fundamentals and all that, but you can't coach speed.

I've made this same argument on this board multiple times. Be prepared to be called a racist for stating basic physiological and empirical fact.

 

[Gopherprof]

I know. If I cared I might not have posted it.

 

[SJUgopher]

Do I have to be the one to point out that most college football players (esp at the speed positions) are black, and that black people primarily live in the south and in urban areas? I don't want to get into a bizarre argument about racial science or anything like that, but the fact of the matter is that Minnesota simply can't compete in the skill areas because the pool of African-Americans in Minnesota is too small. You can coach fundamentals and all that, but you can't coach speed.

This probably apples to oranges, but what's the difference between MPLS and Dallas public schools? MPLS rarely produces a FBS player where for instance Skyline produced 4 that went to MN alone along with a handful of others? Is it demographics - race, income, school size? The overall strength of the conferences/high school class? Minnesota weather?

MN seems to produce a lot of indoor athletic talent (hockey, volleyball, basketball), but not as much in the outdoor sports. I'm guessing it has something to do with being able to do it year-round. What if football started practice at the beginning of August, or maybe last week in July and add 2 or 3 extra games?

 

[Gopher07]

If you asked me off the top of my head what the difference is, between high schools in Minnesota and high schools in, say, Ohio, it's investment and community pressure, as well as weather (spring ball). Having lived grades 7 through 11 in Ohio and seeing the "big time" high school football, it molds a different breed of player. Schools invest in their facilities and the community puts a lot of pressure on the kids to perform. The high school football experience is huge, the high school football star revered, even in the larger cities. Front page stories. Everyone going to games on Friday nights. 10,000-seat stadiums. 200-piece marching bands. Field turf, video boards.

I don't get that same feeling in Minnesota (**although to be fair, I cannot claim to have been too connected to Minnesota high school sports**)