Duke Anyanwu is Golden

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gophergrad

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Per twitter:

@LucasTrickleGI Duke Anyanwu becomes the eight Minnesotan in the 2012 recruiting class for the Minnesota Gophers.

@DAnyanwu_3 I am, officially, a Golden Gopher!!!! thank you everyone that's helped me make it this far, but it's only the beginning to a new chapter.

Rivals



 




Shielder said:
What position will he play? DE?
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He is listed at 6'4" - 200. Will probably depend on what the coaches determine his frame can handle but based on that size WR would seem like the spot he would fit initially. Based on the highlight video seems to run fairly well for a guy that tall. Seems a little more like a guy that would typically be a preferred walk-on so the fact that he is getting a scholarship tells me the coaches have things pretty much wrapped up and are filling the last few open spots.
 


I believe that Duke said the coaches were looking at him as an H-Back in a previous interview.

I'm glad for Duke and hope he'll be a strong contributor, but I hope this doesn't foretell bad recruiting news (i.e. they were looking at him as a backup). Anyway, welcome aboard Duke, you already have a great name.
 

Another good athlete, welcome aboard Duke! I also suspect that he'll be playing H-back.
 

Congrats Duke! I wanted to see you get an offer! Glad your golden!
 

Whatever this means for the coach or the fans, it's great for the young man. We salute you, Duke!
 



I'm glad this kid got an offer. There just aren't that many HS kids in the country.

He's big, he's athletic, he's tough, they'll find a spot for him.

Welcome aboard Duke!
 

He will probably never be an all-american, but if he contributes it's' a huge win for us. If AF was recruiting him he has to be a good student with great character. In the past we've taken so many risks on kids who were considered better football players only to have them flunk out or end up on the police blotter.
 

I like this pickup. Then again, I like every Minnesotan we get.

Welcome to the U of M!
 

Glad to see my prediction came true. Congrats Duke and welcome to the Gophs...
 





Is this the most scholies ever given out to MN HS class? I don't recall eight scholies ever.
 


I think it is better to get a kid like this that might not be the most gifted athlete but wants to be here and qualifies. How many times did Brewster go after kids that were good athletes that just didn't have the academics and either never enrolled or left early in there college career.

Over time these types of kids provide more benefit than those that really have no business being in college.
 


jovs said:
I think it is better to get a kid like this that might not be the most gifted athlete but wants to be here and qualifies. How many times did Brewster go after kids that were good athletes that just didn't have the academics and either never enrolled or left early in there college career.

Over time these types of kids provide more benefit than those that really have no business being in college.
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What makes you think he's not a gifted athlete? He played 3 positions in high school, including QB, watch the video above and get back to me on that.
 

mkAz said:
What makes you think he's not a gifted athlete? He played 3 positions in high school, including QB, watch the video above and get back to me on that.
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Yeah I think Anyanwu is plenty athletic, the likely reason why he hasn't received much attention is that he's a man without a position. There aren't that many programs that utilize a full-time H-Back. Anyanwu is on the slow end for wide receiver, and too light to play tight end.

It's interesting that we'll be taking 3 scholarship athletes for the TE/H-Back position (Maxx, Duke, Lincoln Plsek).
 

ruppertflywheel said:
I equate it to the Ryan Grant offer. Special teams/ 2nd team LB.
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Not necessarily agreeing with your assessment of his talent but do you think our special teams players and backups shouldn't be on scholarship?
 

Gopherprof said:
Yeah I think Anyanwu is plenty athletic, the likely reason why he hasn't received much attention is that he's a man without a position. There aren't that many programs that utilize a full-time H-Back. Anyanwu is on the slow end for wide receiver, and too light to play tight end.

It's interesting that we'll be taking 3 scholarship athletes for the TE/H-Back position (Maxx, Duke, Lincoln Plsek).
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That's exactly it GopherProf....

He's currently light for a DE/TE and he probably isn't fast enough for WR.

Assuming they all stay at H-Back (I expect Maxx to be more of an end of the line TE, and Duke being more of a traditional H-Back), but I think it's important to note that Maxx will probably not be RS and Duke probably will. So they won't be in the same class (most likely). I am not sure about Plsek.

I do expect us to constantly recruit the TE/H-Back position pretty intensely. It's a position where we regularly will be playing 2-3 of these types of players on each play.
 

gophergrad said:
Not necessarily agreeing with your assessment of his talent but do you think our special teams players and backups shouldn't be on scholarship?
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Ryan Grant has played in every single game (except 1) from his FR season and on, he will have a chance to play quite a bit next season, and has already started 5 games as a Gopher. The idea that he hasn't earned a scholarship and been "worth it" is insane.

I agree with you Gophergrad, i'm not saying that I think Duke will be mostly a backup / special teamer, but if his career emulated Ryan Grant's, he'd be well worth the scholarship.
 

I really like this offer. Duke was 16 yrs old when he was playing football as a Sr, he just recently turned 17. Watch the highlights I attached, which are his new Sr yr highlights, and tell me if he reminds you of Ryan Grant (seriously ruppert?). He is basically a class ahead of the one he should be in and we will likely bring him in as a Greyshirt. Another year of S&C for Duke could make him into a beast of a HBack/TE for an incoming Frosh.


http://www.hudl.com/athlete/330059/duke-anyanwu
 

I know he's pretty tall but I think there's a small chance he'd end up a strong safety.

Wr or tight end is my guess though.



Whoever said Ryan grant....this kid is much more athletic.
 

sonnygarcia said:
I really like this offer. Duke was 16 yrs old when he was playing football as a Sr, he just recently turned 17. Watch the highlights I attached, which are his new Sr yr highlights, and tell me if he reminds you of Ryan Grant (seriously ruppert?). He is basically a class ahead of the one he should be in and we will likely bring him in as a Greyshirt. Another year of S&C for Duke could make him into a beast of a HBack/TE for an incoming Frosh.


http://www.hudl.com/athlete/330059/duke-anyanwu
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Sonny, is that something you're speculating on or have you heard some indication that this was the plan? It would be fantastic if he does greyshirt...
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Sonny, is that something you're speculating on or have you heard some indication that this was the plan? It would be fantastic if he does greyshirt...
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Won't we have even fewer scholarships next year though?
 


ruppertflywheel said:
I equate it to the Ryan Grant offer. Special teams/ 2nd team LB.
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Anyanwu>Grant I have nothing against Grant. I'm glad he's in the program. Grant was listed at 6'1" 215 lbs coming out of high school. Anyanwu is listed at 6'4" 225. Also, Anyanwu is MUCH more athletic and can potentially add more weight than Grant could coming out of high school due to his age and frame.

Bob_Loblaw said:
That's exactly it GopherProf....

He's currently light for a DE/TE and he probably isn't fast enough for WR.

Assuming they all stay at H-Back (I expect Maxx to be more of an end of the line TE, and Duke being more of a traditional H-Back), but I think it's important to note that Maxx will probably not be RS and Duke probably will. So they won't be in the same class (most likely). I am not sure about Plsek.

I do expect us to constantly recruit the TE/H-Back position pretty intensely. It's a position where we regularly will be playing 2-3 of these types of players on each play.
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He might be light, but he has a big enough frame to add weight. He's 6'4", so he's a big man regardless. Keep in mind, Cockran was only 221 lbs coming out of high school.

Bob_Loblaw said:
Sonny, is that something you're speculating on or have you heard some indication that this was the plan? It would be fantastic if he does greyshirt...
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Agreed. If he just turned 17, if you're just thinking football, it would probably be best if he reclassified, redshirted, then played. But greyshirting would be the next best thing.
 

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