December 8 2017 - Official Visitors / Walk-Ons List

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Anyone know if Max Janes has been offered a PWO by Fleck? 247 rates him as a 3 star but does not show the Gophers on schools interested. Kid hits like a truck and is built like one too. The way he is built and plays makes me shocked that Wisconsin has not already tried to get this kid to be the next Jack Cichy, Connely walk on LB.
 

There will be some instate kids that we will regret not offering even a PWO later. There are only so many spots available. Unfortunately since Brevyn Spann-Ford has committed as TE, they don't have room for another.
 

If thirty four or so players bring their family and/or significant others on the official visit this weekend, that is going to be one huge gathering. I'd wish Vic Viramontes could have waited for his OV until this weekend.
 

If the following commit and and sign early in December, they plan on enrolling early:

Victor Viramontes
Zack Annexstad
Curtis Dunlop
Alex Riegelsperger
Jornell Manns
Nathan Boe
 

hungan1 said:
If thirty four or so players bring their family and/or significant others on the official visit this weekend, that is going to be one huge gathering. I'd wish Vic Viramontes could have waited for his OV until this weekend.
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Are we sure VV won't be hear, can't he pay for his own flight and still attend the event if he wants to?
 



Huh?

All kidding aside, it will be a pleasant surprise if he comes on a unofficial visit and his family pays for his flight & expenses. Is this allowable under NCAA rules after an OV?

The entire recruiting class being here this weekend would be great for team bonding.

The only one who won't be attending is Randon Haynes whose official is on December 15. It makes me wonder if he is a backup plan or has a schedule conflict. It could be a balancing act to see is someone like Craig Williams decides to flip.
 

Have you noticed that the ratings have been bumped up?

For instance:

Curtis Dunlop - 11/29 0.9185; 12/6 0.9240
Jason Dickson - 11/29 0.8463; 12/6 0.8528

Does anyone know what the threshold is to be bumped up to a four star?

I am surprised that Rashod Bateman is only rated at 0.8606 after the way he has been playing.
http://usatodayhss.com/2017/all-usa-watch-minnesota-commit-rashod-bateman-breaks-his-ga-schools-receiving-mark

He is the one that I am worry the most being poached. That is why it will be nice if Vic Viramontes could come up for an unofficial to meet with the WR and TE recruits for some serious bonding.

It sure would be nice if the Gophers can add Craig Williams to this recruiting class.

VV is built Leidner big, but has cannons for arms: https://247sports.com/Player/81179/ProfilePhotos/Image-Title-3661201?View=Full

[video]https://www.hudl.com/video/3/4042376/59cab8f066560b1c3095bca4[/video]

IMHO, going to JUCO was the right move for him and got him on a trajectory for the Gophers. I wonder how well our running game with Smith, Femi-Cole, and Ibrahim will develop with VV being a serious run-pass threat with better WRs will be the next three years. We'll see what happens with an OL that is solidified with good recruiting.

This coming season is crucial in implementing PJ Fleck's system. We don't know how many games the Gophers will win next season. How well VV will play at center? Would he beat out Tanner Morgan? The one thing that I have confidence in is the Gophers will keep improving given infusion of better talent in the next three recruiting cycles.

It is also a matter of how well our competition improves. That is why Coyle came after PJ Fleck. Recruiting at a higher level was the top priority.

I like what is happening with the offensive side of things. Now, I am worried about our defense. We've missed out on the recruiting wars for DTs and other position players in the Kill/Claeys era. But, Jay Sawvel & Tracy Claeys excelled in developing the players they had. We'll see if Robb Smith and Bryce Paup can strengthen our defense and build good team depth through scholarship & PWO players.

When was the last time that you saw a Gophers team that is good on both offense and defense?

"Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence." - Vince Lombardi
 

Georgia On My Mind

The Gophers have five players from Minnesota and from Georgia. Georgia is such an important pipeline, and we are getting most of the top recruits from Minnesota.

However, we've only been able to pluck players in both states within the 0.8 to 0.87 247Sports ratings.

I certainly would like to see the Gophers improve that caliber of of overall talent level to 0.86 to 0.90 for out of state recruits and get the top players that MN has to offer each year. Then, we would have arrived at a point where the Gopher can possibly vie for the B1G West title at least.

I think it is fair to say that with PJ Fleck recruiting, that talent level eventually will come. I hope he plans on staying in Minnesota for the long haul. We really do need program stability like in Iowa and NW. I also hope that the administration continue its full support to make the football program reach the level it has not seen in over 50 years. They must do whatever it takes to achieve PJ Fleck's vision.

The competition for the top players in the recruiting hot beds is so tough knowing that most of the top players gravitate towards the big name P5 schools, or decide to stay closer to home.

Georgia 2018 Top Football Recruits:
https://247sports.com/Season/2018-Football/RecruitRankings?InstitutionGroup=highschool&State=GA

Nolan Edmonds Rank #37 - RB
Rashod Bateman #49 - WR
Terell Smith #56 - CB
Braelen Oliver #57 - OLB
Abi Okonji #77 - SDE

Minnesota Top 2018 Football Recruits:
https://247sports.com/Season/2018-Football/RecruitRankings?InstitutionGroup=highschool&State=MN

Brevyn Spann-Ford Rank #1 - TE
Benjamin Sapp III #2 - CB
Josh Aune #4 - ATH
Logan Richter #5 - DT
Nathan Boe #9 - OC
 



Bateman already said he shut down his recruitment several weeks ago. He's not going anywhere.
 

hungan1 said:
All kidding aside, it will be a pleasant surprise if he comes on a unofficial visit and his family pays for his flight & expenses. Is this allowable under NCAA rules after an OV?
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Yes. A recruit can visit campus as many times as they want on their own dime. But they only get 1 official visit paid for by the school. They can take 5 official visits total, but each has to be a different school.
 

hungan1 said:
Have you noticed that the ratings have been bumped up?

For instance:

Curtis Dunlop - 11/29 0.9185; 12/6 0.9240
Jason Dickson - 11/29 0.8463; 12/6 0.8528

Does anyone know what the threshold is to be bumped up to a four star?
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247 Composite Ratings changed for all recruits in past week. Appears to be due to 247/Scout merger where they took the Scout rating out of the calculation.

4 star threshold for 247 Composite is 0.8901
 

He might have, you know, class and life to deal with back at the college in California. Tying up loose ends before making the move.
 






Taji34 said:
Here is the tweet embedded:
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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He jumped up a lot. He was ranked 492, and now he's top 247 - at least a 245-spot jump. He will be our highest-rated HS recruit by far - unless Dunlap commits (currently ranked 198) :)

EDIT: Nevermind. His 247 rating is four stars, not his composite rating.
 


Gopher07 said:
He jumped up a lot. He was ranked 492, and now he's top 247 - at least a 245-spot jump. He will be our highest-rated HS recruit by far - unless Dunlap commits (currently ranked 198) :)

EDIT: Nevermind. His 247 rating is four stars, not his composite rating.
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Thanks to the Rivals bump, he’s now a composite 4* and the highest rated player in the class
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Thanks to the Rivals bump, he’s now a composite 4* and the highest rated player in the class
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Wahoo! If we somehow add Dunlap and don't lose anyone our composite score jumps to about 200, which should place us high 30s in the national rankings when all is said and done (if the last few years are any indication). It'd be our best class since 2009, by the ratings.
 

I'm hopeful the high ranking class sticks. (top 40)

I'd like to see what that could do for our on the field performance.
We've seen what ranking 50-70 can do.
 

By the way, good job to the staff for finding Bateman early before his rating ascended.
 

Gopher07 said:
He jumped up a lot. He was ranked 492, and now he's top 247 - at least a 245-spot jump. He will be our highest-rated HS recruit by far - unless Dunlap commits (currently ranked 198) :)

EDIT: Nevermind. His 247 rating is four stars, not his composite rating.
Click to expand...

Zack Annexstad went from 0.8125 (11/21) to 0.8355 (12/6)! Not too shabby for a PWO.

I would venture to think that his highly rated fellow IMG Academy QB team mate dropped a little, but still is at 0.9189. At 6'5", 215 lbs, 4.96 40, he has the physical size advantage. Zack is 6' 2.5", 202 lbs, 4.91 40. They both have 4.91 40 times.
 

Taji34 said:
Here is the tweet embedded:
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Click to expand...

Six recruiting analysts on 247Sports are now predicting Curtis Dunlop to MN.
 

hungan1 said:
Zack Annexstad went from 0.8125 (11/21) to 0.8355 (12/6)! Not too shabby for a PWO.

I would venture to think that his highly rated fellow IMG Academy QB team mate dropped a little, but still is at 0.9189. At 6'5", 215 lbs, 4.96 40, he has the physical size advantage. Zack is 6' 2.5", 202 lbs, 4.91 40. They both have 4.91 40 times.
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Just speculation, but I'm guessing he ends up on scholarship as our true freshman take at qb.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 

I think that it depends on the other targets like Jason Dickson, Daniel Faalele (if speculations are true), other mystery high targets. It looks like the Gophers are trying hard to achieve a turning point in recruiting seeing that they have to replace a lot of parts of the team.

Potentially, if we get two or three high level recruits this weekend we will be looking at a recruiting class that we have not seen since the first Brewster recruiting classes:

2008 214.00 pts, 26th Nat'l rank, 5th Big Ten
2009 209.20 pts, 35th Nat'l rank, 8th Big Ten
 

I kind of wonder why everyone wants to give Annexstad the scholarship. He's already coming here as a PWO! We have him and have another scholarship open then. Why offer if he's perfectly fine with it? He very well may end up on scholarship in a few years anyway.
 

Kyle Goblirsch is now making the first Crystal Prediction for OT Daniel Faalele, 6'8" 400 lbs, 0.8858 to the Gophers. He is also on the December 8 OV list. Understand that this is just an official visit and that we do not have a commitment from either of them.

It most certainly great news if we can get commitments from Faalele and Curtis Dunlop. These are jumbo size linemen that Coach Warinner can build the Gophers' protection package.

Dunlop and Faalele both have the early NSD tag (See red arrows):

EARLY NSD.jpg

Like I mentioned before, ALL OF THE 2018 COMMITMENTS HAVE THE EARLY NSD TAG! For the record, Craig Williams has also not committed and is not certain if he is one of the mystery visitors.

https://247sports.com/college/minnesota/Season/2018-Football/TargetPredictions

https://247sports.com/Player/Daniel-Faalele-46037283
 


It looks like Fleck quickly learned the lesson about B1G OLs vs MAC OLs. That is a very good sign for us.
 

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