Great get: Allen. Do you think he is the consolation prize?

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GopherMac

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Not trying to be a bring-downer...but do you think that Brew made sure we got Allen so it will lessen the blow of not getting McNeal? I think like many others on here that getting McNeal is more important in the sense that we are truly closing the borders. We get the #1 ranked player in the state no matter what. You know football. We can't predict how these guys will pan out. In three years Xavian Brandon could prove to be the best WR of our talented bunch. Fritz Rock could turn out to be the most productive player from this class. I personally feel the pride factor. I want to close the borders...know that Minnesota kids want to stay here...and also add the best players we can possibly add from any location on earth. If a kid can catch and run with the ball well and he's from Uzbekistan, sign him. So I guess I'm trying to ask; is Allen a consolation prize or is he a just a great get and McNeal will still be the crown jewel of the '09 class?
 

I dont think they have much to do with each other, I think they would be serving different roles on the team.
 

The more and more I observe what's going on with McNeal the more and more obvious it becomes that he wants out of Minnesota. He's been expanding his list what seems like everyday, looking for the best opportunity to get away from Minnesota, which is fine.

I'm just not holding my breath on him and apparently, neither are the coaches. Allen looks like a keeper of a prospect anyway, at least based on the film I've seen. He needs to get bigger and stronger, but he has some real wheels and is very elusive with the ball in his hands.

In other words, I won't be too bummed if McNeal doesn't pick us (which to me seems inevitable at this point):(
 

Allen/McNeal

Personally, I think you want 2-3 WR's in every class (3/22 starters approximate 11/85 scholarships). Yes, we already have 3 in this class by Carpenter will be a Jr. rather than a freshman so he is just replacing Spry in the class of 2011. We already have Keise and we should want 1-2 additional WR's which is Allen and possibly McNeal.

The Gophers are badly in need of playmakers and Allen and McNeal fit that description. Keise looks a lot like Green which means that as he matures he is a multi-purpose WR with good size/speed ratio and good hands but I don't see either of them taking a bubble screen and juking a guy out of his jock strap on the way to the end zone. Decker doesn't have that ability either. The spread thrives on having players with different skills that can do what Decker & Green can do and also having guys like Allen (I consider him a poor man's Percy Harvin) that threaten the defense with YAC every time the ball is in his hands.

This definitely makes it hurt a lot less if McNeal goes elsewhere but I don't think it is an outright signal that he is going elsewhere. McNeal's recruitment has been crazy and to some extent he is just a HS kid that wants to see everything else that is out there before he commits. I don't think anybody really knows what he is thinking.
 

Allen was lined up as WR, RB and QB in the film I looked at. He is a very good runner (if rather skinny).
 



McNeal

This move STRONGLY suggests IMO that McNeal is headed elsewhere.
 

No I don't think he is a consolation prize! When we start talking about 2nd or 3rd level recruits, then we may start thinking in that direction.
 

I really like the way this class is going to round out. Allen will be Percy Harvin in Maroon and Gold. McNeil and Richardson are silent. We have a lot of excitement comng as we watch hats being donned in January. We are OK without Stephens (watch out for a RS Fr named Whaley) even though you never turn down that kind of talent. I am wondering how word got out about the DT silent from Uzbekistan.
 



nice posts, fellas. I like what you are saying grunkiejr, and I think you are right on about the roster allocations. I just worry about the "playing time" that these recruits crave and what a coach says to these guys. Diehard, nice play on the Uzbekistan. They are some big, strong lads over there and they probably will line up at DT rather than WR.
 

josh087 said:
This move STRONGLY suggests IMO that McNeal is headed elsewhere.
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Why? Allen wasn't a back up plan, he is a guy they have been after all year. Brewster wants Allen and he wants McNeal. If McNeal had come on board earlier I still think Brew would be hot on the heels of Allen.
 

calminnfan said:
No I don't think he is a consolation prize! When we start talking about 2nd or 3rd level recruits, then we may start thinking in that direction.
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Calm...I mean consolation only in regard to McNeal. I think Allen is going to be a player I just thought that this could mean we won't land McNeal.
 

GopherMac said:
Calm...I mean consolation only in regard to McNeal. I think Allen is going to be a player I just thought that this could mean we won't land McNeal.
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Gotcha. I just think Brew is going for as many quality WRs as he can get.
 



Brewster is just getting the best players/playmakers he can. It's no idication that he has given up on McNeal or that McNeal has ruled out the gophs. It's a smart play: Get as many good players as you can get. I'm sure he'd rather deal with the issue of having too many talented players than not enough.

Besides, I would bet that McNeal doesn't see him as a threat to any of his potential playing time. Hopefully, he sees that Allen is the #2 prospect in MO and his addtion to this class would only help improve the WR corps and make the gophs better overall.
 

I am wondering how word got out about the DT silent from Uzbekistan...........this was quoted above

is this true......and who the hell is this guy

i've never heard of him.........what is his size and ranking if true?
 

His name is LeBradford Smith. Born and raised in a small village near the small town of Chaexziban. Big kid...and we could mold him. He has no Ipod or PSIII or cell to keep him bogged down. All he thinks about is football and each day he walks about 4 miles each way to get bread and water.
 

MRJ said:
The more and more I observe what's going on with McNeal the more and more obvious it becomes that he wants out of Minnesota. He's been expanding his list what seems like everyday, looking for the best opportunity to get away from Minnesota, which is fine.

I'm just not holding my breath on him and apparently, neither are the coaches. Allen looks like a keeper of a prospect anyway, at least based on the film I've seen. He needs to get bigger and stronger, but he has some real wheels and is very elusive with the ball in his hands.

In other words, I won't be too bummed if McNeal doesn't pick us (which to me seems inevitable at this point):(
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If McNeal wants out of the state then he should go. Nothing worse than having a player on your team that doesn't want to be there.

We don't need anyone that doesn't know that playing for the U is a privilage and an honor and if getting a full ride to one of the top public institutions in the country isn't good enough...then good riddance...just my opinion.

I loved my time at the U and wouldn't trade it for anything...
 

GopherinPhilly said:
If McNeal wants out of the state then he should go. Nothing worse than having a player on your team that doesn't want to be there.

We don't need anyone that doesn't know that playing for the U is a privilage and an honor and if getting a full ride to one of the top public institutions in the country isn't good enough...then good riddance...just my opinion.

I loved my time at the U and wouldn't trade it for anything...
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Give the kid a break. People are getting upset by other people's interpretations of what he is doing with his recruiting process.

He visited two Big 12 schools-one in the Mountains and one in the dust bowl, he visited one Pac 10 school on the west coast, he visited one ACC school in the deep south, and he used an official visit on Minnesota when he could have just as easily used an unofficial here and let someone else fly him elsewhere. He's in high school and he is trying to see everything that is out there. That doesn't mean anything other than he wants to make an educated decision and the schools will foot the bill to fly him around the country and treat him like a king to do it. I've done the same thing when I was looking at jobs in Chicago, NY, Boston, and San Fran but I'm still in Minneapolis.

He has plenty of choices so if he does choose to come to Minnesota then it clearly means that he does want to be here.
 

josh087 said:
This move STRONGLY suggests IMO that McNeal is headed elsewhere.
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If we just suddenly offered Allen and he accepted the scholarship I might agree with you. However, we've had scholarsip offers outstanding to both McNeal and Allen for a number of months now and neither is an exploding offer (like the way Fritz Rock's offer was rescinded when Victor Keise committed). The fact that Allen was ready to make his decision means nothing about McNeal and where he stands in his decision making process.

"This move" was a move directed from the player, and not directed from the coaches. It is possible that the coaches whispered in his ear, "McNeal is going elsewhere" but we certainly don't know that right now. For weeks it has sounded like Bryant Allen was going to be a Gopher.
 

grunkiejr said:
Give the kid a break. People are getting upset by other people's interpretations of what he is doing with his recruiting process.

He visited two Big 12 schools-one in the Mountains and one in the dust bowl, he visited one Pac 10 school on the west coast, he visited one ACC school in the deep south, and he used an official visit on Minnesota when he could have just as easily used an unofficial here and let someone else fly him elsewhere. He's in high school and he is trying to see everything that is out there. That doesn't mean anything other than he wants to make an educated decision and the schools will foot the bill to fly him around the country and treat him like a king to do it. I've done the same thing when I was looking at jobs in Chicago, NY, Boston, and San Fran but I'm still in Minneapolis.

He has plenty of choices so if he does choose to come to Minnesota then it clearly means that he does want to be here.
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Jees Grunkie...upset is a stretch...I am fine with opinionated and out spoken. Upset is what I will be when I am watching Floyd at Notre Dame and McNeal at Clemson and thinking to myself "what if" we had kept the two best MN players over the last two years in MN.

How good is this offense in two years with Webber or Grey, Floyd, McNeal, Brandon, Hageman and Lipscomb and our renewed interest in an offensive line that actually blocks?
 

I've been going back and forth about which school Bryce McNeal is leaning towards. A month ago I felt that he was leaning towards Minnesota. Now, not so much. I still get the impression that we've still got a 50/50 shot,however.

I really want McNeal because:

1. He's Minnesota's top ranked athlete. We need to keep those guys.

2. He's an outside, deep-threat receiver, which we sorely need. Bryant Allen is a slot receiver kind of in the mold of Brandon Green. Allen is quicker and more elusive but Green is faster and can play on the outside if needed, though not his strength, IMHO.

Victor Keise is a possession receiver which I would compare to Xavian Brandon.

I hope that Hayo Carpenter can provide an outside/deep threat to compliment Eric Decker but I am really hoping that McNeal comes here. Now that we have 3 receivers in the fold I'm concerned that we're now done with recruiting that position for this year. In a spread offense you need 3 wideouts every year, on average. Like Grunkie mentioned earlier, with Ralph Spry transferring and Carpenter being a Juco then maybe they feel they can afford to use up 4 schollies on that position this year.
 

GopherinPhilly said:
Jees Grunkie...upset is a stretch...I am fine with opinionated and out spoken. Upset is what I will be when I am watching Floyd at Notre Dame and McNeal at Clemson and thinking to myself "what if" we had kept the two best MN players over the last two years in MN.

How good is this offense in two years with Webber or Grey, Floyd, McNeal, Brandon, Hageman and Lipscomb and our renewed interest in an offensive line that actually blocks?
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I agree. I just feel like we as a group--and I'm no different--are overanalyzing his every move and this is probably the biggest decision of his life up to this point. I would like to see everyone let it play out before we just to conclusions that he is not interested.

What you wrote reminds me of when I was graduating HS and Minnesota was churning out amazing basketball players. If the Gophers kept everyone at home we would have won a National Championship

PG: Khalid El-Amin (97) - UConn
SG: Troy Bell (99) - BC
SF: Darius Lane (98) - Seton Hall avg. 20 pts/gm.
PF: Dusty Rychart (97) - Minn
C: Joel Pryzbilla (98) - Minn

Back ups
PG: Mitch Ohnstad (97) - Minn
PG: Adam Boone (00) - NC/Minn
SG: Shane Schilling (99) - Minn
PF: Nick Horvath (00) - Duke

And there were a few more that I'm blanking on. One was a SG from De La Salle that played with Dominique Simms and there was a SG that from Tartan that went to ISU and averaged 20 pts/gm.
 

grunkiejr said:
I agree. I just feel like we as a group--and I'm no different--are overanalyzing his every move and this is probably the biggest decision of his life up to this point. I would like to see everyone let it play out before we just to conclusions that he is not interested.

What you wrote reminds me of when I was graduating HS and Minnesota was churning out amazing basketball players. If the Gophers kept everyone at home we would have won a National Championship

PG: Khalid El-Amin (97) - UConn
SG: Troy Bell (99) - BC
SF: Darius Lane (98) - Seton Hall avg. 20 pts/gm.
PF: Dusty Rychart (97) - Minn
C: Joel Pryzbilla (98) - Minn

Back ups
PG: Mitch Ohnstad (97) - Minn
PG: Adam Boone (00) - NC/Minn
SG: Shane Schilling (99) - Minn
PF: Nick Horvath (00) - Duke

And there were a few more that I'm blanking on. One was a SG from De La Salle that played with Dominique Simms and there was a SG that from Tartan that went to ISU and averaged 20 pts/gm.
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FYI.. Jake Sullivan was the Tartan kid that went to ISU. It is way to early for people to start freaking out and trying to predict and put percentages on this school over that school. There are way to many instances where players switch at the last minute so a verbal committment really doesn't mean much at this time.
 

GopherGod said:
FYI.. Jake Sullivan was the Tartan kid that went to ISU. It is way to early for people to start freaking out and trying to predict and put percentages on this school over that school. There are way to many instances where players switch at the last minute so a verbal committment really doesn't mean much at this time.
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Thanks. I was walking out the door as I posted it and I couldn't think of Sullivan. I'm pretty sure the guy from De La Salle was named Johnson but I can't remember his first name.
 

GopherMac said:
His name is LeBradford Smith. Born and raised in a small village near the small town of Chaexziban. Big kid...and we could mold him. He has no Ipod or PSIII or cell to keep him bogged down. All he thinks about is football and each day he walks about 4 miles each way to get bread and water.
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LeBradford Smith... That doesn't sound like a traditional Uzbeki name! hahaha

I think that people have also failed to mention that as of right now there are no standout WR's for next years (2010) class from Minnesota. Fritz Rock and Bryce McNeal were targeted as the two big receivers for the class their class and had received offers even while we were still recruiting Vince Hill, Brandon Green, and Michael Floyd.
 

Grunkiejr you are thinking of Ben Johnson, who is now coaching at UNI.

Since we're on a football board.....Johnson was also a standout WR in high school.

BTW another backup on your hypothetical team could include Jibrahn Ike, scorer (SG). I think they would have had to go out of MN to get a couple of bigs off the bench.
 

Ben Johnson was a better WR than basketball player hands down.
 

Allen looks incredible.

I have heard from sources that McNeal is extremely full of himself and got lazy last year. No thanks. I could care less if he commits here or not at this point. If he doesn't want to be a part of it, thats fine, we'll be just fine with out him.
 

Lebradford smith on any recruiting sites I havent found him on anything.
 


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