Former #Gophers DE commit transfers to MN from Clemson.

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The “mad stork” comes to mind. He’s anlmost exactly the same height and weight.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
It might be tough for him to not RS here.

We have Joyner, Logan-Redding, Striggow, and Anthony Smith who all got a lot of reps last year. We have Howard coming in. Logan-Redding and Smith play more of the DE/DT but Striggow will be a 5th year SR. This doesn't even factor in if any of our young DEs emerge as well.

My guess is that it's not a RS thing.
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Yeah it may just be their version of "we cooled on him".
 

Ryan Burns posted (what looks like) a recent picture of him…he looks really skinny. Gotta be a project that won’t see the field much this year. Hopefully he’s ready for action in 2025
 





KoolAid said:
Ryan Burns posted (what looks like) a recent picture of him…he looks really skinny. Gotta be a project that won’t see the field much this year. Hopefully he’s ready for action in 2025
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He is still young so hopefully he doesn't need to play right away. Get in the weight room, get bigger and stronger and be ready to see the field in a year or two.

Not the typical portal pickup who you expect to play right away.
 


MNVCGUY said:
He is still young so hopefully he doesn't need to play right away. Get in the weight room, get bigger and stronger and be ready to see the field in a year or two.

Not the typical portal pickup who you expect to play right away.
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I’m hoping it was more of a culture thing or didn’t feel like the right fit there, rather than being a thing of playing right away. He doesn’t look physically ready to play in the Big Ten right away. Was a 3* recruit?
 



MplsGopher said:
I’m hoping it was more of a culture thing or didn’t feel like the right fit there, rather than being a thing of playing right away. He doesn’t look physically ready to play in the Big Ten right away. Was a 3* recruit?
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He was committed here before flipping to Clemson so this feels like a grass isn't greener situation. He liked what he saw here enough to commit but something lured him away late in the process (money, promises.....).

He was a high 3* but that doesn't really matter as most guys are not ready to play out of high school and need multiple years to develop. Would be shocked if he is coming here with any kind of playing time guarantees.
 

MNVCGUY said:
He was committed here before flipping to Clemson so this feels like a grass isn't greener situation. He liked what he saw here enough to commit but something lured him away late in the process (money, promises.....).
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If I remember correctly, Clemson was his dream school but they hadn't offered yet and so he focused on us, but I thought it was kinda assumed that if Clemson offered, he'd jump, and eventually they did offer.

Maybe someone would care to dig up the old thread...?
 

I hope the guy works out and he becomes a productive player for the Gophers.

But - when you look at his recruiting/commitment/de-commitment/re-commitment path, it does raise questions. Yes, he's a kid. he has a right to change his mind. it still raises questions. what happened during a 3-month stop at Clemson that made him change his mind and decide that MN was the better option?

and if stuff like this is going on with a 3* player, what kind of stuff goes on behind the scenes with 4* and 5* players?

outside of the 7-figure salaries, you have to wonder why anyone wants to be a D1 head coach right now. college sports has never been more unsettled. or insane, if you want to be blunt about it.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I hope the guy works out and he becomes a productive player for the Gophers.

But - when you look at his recruiting/commitment/de-commitment/re-commitment path, it does raise questions. Yes, he's a kid. he has a right to change his mind. it still raises questions. what happened during a 3-month stop at Clemson that made him change his mind and decide that MN was the better option?

and if stuff like this is going on with a 3* player, what kind of stuff goes on behind the scenes with 4* and 5* players?

outside of the 7-figure salaries, you have to wonder why anyone wants to be a D1 head coach right now. college sports has never been more unsettled. or insane, if you want to be blunt about it.
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Big picture-wise it's probably better for all parties that he transfers now, but the whole world of transfers is crazy. It definitely takes some of the fun of being a fan out of the equation. You don't want to get too invested in following any player because they could be gone so fast. It will be curious if this eventually hurts interest in college sports.
 



Taji34 said:
247sports.com

Adam Kissayi, Minnesota Golden Gophers, Defensive Line

Grew up playing soccer. ---- 2023: Two-way player getting snaps at DE and OT for Palm Bay Heritage. Credited with 35 tackles (9 TFL) and 4 sacks. 2022: As a...
247sports.com 247sports.com

As a prospect he was a composite 3 star with a 0.8844 rating, #38 ranked EDGE in the nation, #73rd ranked player in FL.

Had offers from:
  • Clemson
  • Us
  • Rutgers
  • Connecticut
  • East Carolina
  • Florida A&M
  • Florida Atlantic
  • Iowa State
  • Liberty
  • Marshall
  • Massachusetts
  • Miami
  • Michigan
  • Mississippi State
  • Nebraska
  • Temple
  • USF
  • Utah
  • Western Kentucky
Should be a good player for us!
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Totally off topic, but how crazy is it the 73rd ranked player in Florida has this type of offer list and signs with Clemson. The talent in that state is unreal. No idea, but guessing the 73rd ranked player in Minnesota ends up in the MIAC.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I hope the guy works out and he becomes a productive player for the Gophers.

But - when you look at his recruiting/commitment/de-commitment/re-commitment path, it does raise questions. Yes, he's a kid. he has a right to change his mind. it still raises questions. what happened during a 3-month stop at Clemson that made him change his mind and decide that MN was the better option?

and if stuff like this is going on with a 3* player, what kind of stuff goes on behind the scenes with 4* and 5* players?

outside of the 7-figure salaries, you have to wonder why anyone wants to be a D1 head coach right now. college sports has never been more unsettled. or insane, if you want to be blunt about it.
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I wonder what is the percentage of early enrollees who transfer before the end of the first semester? We could see a trend of early enrollment becoming a trial period wherein recruits have the opportunity to gauge whether their experience matches their recruitment. If you did the work to be able to enroll early academically, it seems like a savvy option.
 

MNfootballfan said:
Totally off topic, but how crazy is it the 73rd ranked player in Florida has this type of offer list and signs with Clemson. The talent in that state is unreal. No idea, but guessing the 73rd ranked player in Minnesota ends up in the MIAC.
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The 73rd ranked football player in Minnesota probably ends up playing college hockey.
 

MNfootballfan said:
Totally off topic, but how crazy is it the 73rd ranked player in Florida has this type of offer list and signs with Clemson. The talent in that state is unreal. No idea, but guessing the 73rd ranked player in Minnesota ends up in the MIAC.
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Florida is about 22.2M population compared to MN is about 5.7M or around 3.9x larger.

So 73rd in Florida roughly equates to 19th best in MN.

Would be interesting to compare football participation rates in FL though, might be higher. And they have specialized sports academies. IMG
 
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MplsGopher said:
Florida is about 22.2M population compared to MN is about 5.7M or around 3.9x larger.

So 73rd in Florida roughly equates to 24th best in MN.

Would be interesting to compare football participation rates in FL though, might be higher. And they have specialized sports academies. IMG
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Actually it’s equates to about 18th best player in Minnesota compared to Florida.
 

MplsGopher said:
Florida is about 22.2M population compared to MN is about 5.7M or around 3.9x larger.

So 73rd in Florida roughly equates to 24th best in MN.

Would be interesting to compare football participation rates in FL though, might be higher. And they have specialized sports academies. IMG
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Football participation in Florida has to be quite significantly higher, not to mention the season being longer.
 


Word said:
Football participation in Florida has to be quite significantly higher, not to mention the season being longer.
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Plus IMG and others like that down there pull top 100 kids from all over USA and Canada, so probably an “extra top 10” beyond just Florida kids to boot
 

Lots of recruiting excitement on the DL lately. I hope this all works out well and I can finally witness a good Gopher pass rush in my lifetime.
 

Dang. D-line is going to be pretty formidable for the next few years.
 


MplsGopher said:
Florida is about 22.2M population compared to MN is about 5.7M or around 3.9x larger.

So 73rd in Florida roughly equates to 19th best in MN.

Would be interesting to compare football participation rates in FL though, might be higher. And they have specialized sports academies. IMG
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All this means nothing, but I totally just geeked out on a deep dive of Minnesota football recruits.

According to 24/7, - the 19th best player in Minnesota this last year was Zach Vanderpool, a defensive lineman from Byron, MN, who is going to NDSU.

Interesting, the #14 player was Koi's teammate and going to Mankato. #34, 39, 40 are also going to DII schools - Bemidji and 2 at Duluth
#15 is not committed
#16 - UNLV
#17 - Northwestern
#18, 21, 23, 27 are going to Wyoming
#13, 19, 20, 22, 28, 35, 37, 38, 43, 44 are going to a Dakota school (UND, NDSU, SDSU - none at USD)
 

KoolAid said:
Ryan Burns posted (what looks like) a recent picture of him…he looks really skinny. Gotta be a project that won’t see the field much this year. Hopefully he’s ready for action in 2025
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He’s a true freshman, so not seeing the field a ton would be the norm.
 



MNfootballfan said:
Totally off topic, but how crazy is it the 73rd ranked player in Florida has this type of offer list and signs with Clemson. The talent in that state is unreal. No idea, but guessing the 73rd ranked player in Minnesota ends up in the MIAC.
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I had a friend play football in HS that decided to go to Macalester. He must've mentioned he played football on his application, because when he got accepted the coach called him and asked him about playing in college. My friend said, "No thanks coach, I'm really not very good". The coach told him, "That's no problem, we'd love to have you anyway!". I think Macalester was in the middle of a multi year losing streak at that point in time (mid to late 90s)
 


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