JD Pride follows family tradition, and commits to the Gophers

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Please follow this link to Nadine Babu's interview with JD Pride about his commitment this afternoon to the Gophers. He comments on what position he will play, why he committed, and what influence he will have on his best friend, Seantrel Henderson.

JD Pride Commits to the Gophers
 

Awesome to have him here. His family were neighbors of ours growing up and I have known him since he was a kid. Great family and great kid. Can't wait to have him here and maybe he can bring his friend Henderson with him!
 

I know I'm a terrible person for saying this about a local kid who seems like a nice enough guy, but the scholarship should have been used elsewhere. Pride isn't a BCS athlete, I'm not even sure he's a D1 athlete. I remember him saying a while back that he wants to play quarterback in college, he couldn't even get the starting spot at Cretin. He weighs 190 pounds, runs a 4.52, and his max bench is 275. You want to tell me where exactly we need that?

I know it's harsh, but this is nepotism at its worst. I could care less if his relatives were good players.

That said, if he gets Seantrel, by all means.;)
 

Gopherprof said:
I know I'm a terrible person for saying this about a local kid who seems like a nice enough guy, but the scholarship should have been used elsewhere. Pride isn't a BCS athlete, I'm not even sure he's a D1 athlete. I remember him saying a while back that he wants to play quarterback in college, he couldn't even get the starting spot at Cretin. He weighs 190 pounds, runs a 4.52, and his max bench is 275. You want to tell me where exactly we need that?

I know it's harsh, but this is nepotism at its worst. I could care less if his relatives were good players.

That said, if he gets Seantrel, by all means.;)
Click to expand...

Honestly, this isn't even about nepotism. Its about Seantrel. Period. I'm sure he knows it on some level himself.
 

Bingo! It is all about Henderson. He could turn out to be a good player, but right now, having him helps us with Henderson.
 


Welcome to the U JD! Now fulfill your scholarship and bring in Seantrel.
 

Then have him as a preferred walk-on. Nobody offered Pride. Nobody. Where was he going to go? Michigan had Pride in on an unofficial only because Seantrel came with him. When he tried to come back by himself a month later they wanted nothing to do with him.
 

I still cant get over all the negative fans we have. :mad::mad:

Congratulations and Welcome JD!!!! :clap::clap:
 

It's ironic that Marion Barber is Pride's cousin. Both of them got U offers despite being considered by most to be non-deserving of it.
 



Gopherprof said:
He weighs 190 pounds, runs a 4.52, and his max bench is 275.
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don't quite understand your comments. these are great numbers. he is the same size as eskeridge and can probably make cuts just as good--and on top of that he runs a 4.52. i certainly couldn't bench 275 in high school, and i bet you couldn't put it up either.

with his numbers he could play CB, safety, wide receiver, or running back. even if he only plays special teams, then i will take it. never turn down 4.5 speed.

get over yourself and get back to GI.
 

Guess who else didn't have any other offers from other schools? Eric Decker. By your reasoning Prof, the Gophers shouldn't have offered him either. Are you saying we should never take any chances on local kids?
 

I'm totally for giving JD a chance but the argument that Decker, Barber etc weren't sought after recruits so we should take him doesn't really hold water.
 




Well lots of kids don't have any many offers. Decker and Barber are exceptions to the rule. Now I think that Brew knows how to find talent so I'm not going to begrudge giving JD a scollie. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here by saying anyone without an impressive offers list is the second coming of Decker or Barber.
 

Brewster giving JD a scholly has little to do with his talent. This isn't just based on recruiting services, this has to do with comments from a lot of people that follow recruiting, including myself.

Giving Pride an offer is a cynical way to try and get Seantrel, and I think does have something to do with his family as well.

People have been complaining about recruits who don't have any other BCS offers, Pride didn't have any offers. If I was a fan of Ball State I would be unhappy about Pride committing. If he was anyone else he'd be at North Dakota State. Ask ANYONE who has followed this situation closely, Pride doesn't belong on a Big Ten team.
 

i'm batman said:
don't quite understand your comments. these are great numbers. he is the same size as eskeridge and can probably make cuts just as good--and on top of that he runs a 4.52. i certainly couldn't bench 275 in high school, and i bet you couldn't put it up either.
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Seriously?

1) I'm guessing nobody offered you a D1 scholarship. Nobody offered me one either. My Mom couldn't either, and nobody offered her one either. Any other completely irrelevant points?

2) And..as luck should have it...I benched 300 pounds in high school, but admittedly could not run a 4.5. 275 pounds isn't *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# for a D1 athlete. It isn't *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# for a D3 athlete. There are 60 year old men at Gold's Gym who can bench 300 pounds. If that impresses you....I dunno.
 

For whatever it is worth, i saw him play last night. He had some nice zip on the ball and was pretty athletic. I hear you, but perhaps the staff sees something in him down the road. It also sounds like he has a pretty good attitude.
 

Sounds like he'll play on the defensive side of the ball, and if Michigan is recruiting him for the same -- certainly is a good commit.
 

magpie said:
Sounds like he'll play on the defensive side of the ball, and if Michigan is recruiting him for the same -- certainly is a good commit.
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Michigan was not recruiting him. They had him come along with Seantrel when he visited. They never offered him, they never were going to.

Look, I hate to beat the dead horse here, but there was no interest in Pride. The only visits he took were with Seantrel. He visited numerous schools and didn't pick up an offer from anyone. Think about it.
 

Gopherprof said:
I know I'm a terrible person for saying this about a local kid who seems like a nice enough guy, but the scholarship should have been used elsewhere. Pride isn't a BCS athlete, I'm not even sure he's a D1 athlete. I remember him saying a while back that he wants to play quarterback in college, he couldn't even get the starting spot at Cretin. He weighs 190 pounds, runs a 4.52, and his max bench is 275. You want to tell me where exactly we need that?

I know it's harsh, but this is nepotism at its worst. I could care less if his relatives were good players.

That said, if he gets Seantrel, by all means.;)
Click to expand...

Gopherprof...we have a lot of scholarships this year...and taking a flier on a good local kid with strong community and family ties that the coachinig staff see's upside in when JD is in his 3rd, 4th and 5th years is OK by me.

I hope we get Seantral because Seantral wants to play for the U...I love that we have JD because he is going to kill himself to perform...just like several senior walk ons that are performing well this year...Triplett, Sherels, etc.
 

The kid is #10 ranked MN player. How many of our top 10 ended in places like Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Notre Dame, etc? I'm actually watching football today and I hate hearing about Wisky players from MN and will also hear the same tonight when Iowa goes against Michigan. Brewster is doing a good job with instate talent.

You guys complain when a MN kids leaves the state then complain when one stays home.

Go figure.
 

I think that he comes from a family of football players has more to do with his offer than the fact he is a pal of Seantrel Henderson. Sometimes when the measurables are marginal you go with the intangibles. JD is a play maker, it's not something you can teach, I'll trust the coaches instincts on him. Until we are consistently in the upper tier of football programs nationally we'll have to find diamonds in the rough.
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
The kid is #10 ranked MN player. How many of our top 10 ended in places like Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Notre Dame, etc? I'm actually watching football today and I hate hearing about Wisky players from MN and will also hear the same tonight when Iowa goes against Michigan. Brewster is doing a good job with instate talent.

You guys complain when a MN kids leaves the state then complain when one stays home.

Go figure.
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Difference here, is the kids you are hearing about on TV etc etc were highly recruited athletes we failed to keep instate. Binns (Iowa), Anderson(WI), Gilreath(WI), Eubanks(IOWA), and even Klug(IOWA) were all considered very, very nice players while they were being recruited. Pride reminds me a lot of Nance who has transferred to St. Thomas. Was a great athlete in high school but he won't translate to Division one very well. However, it is always nice to have good student athletes joining the mix as he seems like a very nice young man.

Thankfully, Brewster has been keeping a lot of our talent in state in recent years.
 

Gopherprof

You may not be wanting to beat a dead horse but you are, so let it go.

Welcome to the Gophers JD
 

triplett

GopherinPhilly said:
Gopherprof...we have a lot of scholarships this year...and taking a flier on a good local kid with strong community and family ties that the coachinig staff see's upside in when JD is in his 3rd, 4th and 5th years is OK by me.

I hope we get Seantral because Seantral wants to play for the U...I love that we have JD because he is going to kill himself to perform...just like several senior walk ons that are performing well this year...Triplett, Sherels, etc.
Click to expand...

Don't mean to nitpick but I don't think Triplett was a walk on
 

Gopherprof said:
Seriously?

1) I'm guessing nobody offered you a D1 scholarship. Nobody offered me one either. My Mom couldn't either, and nobody offered her one either. Any other completely irrelevant points?

2) And..as luck should have it...I benched 300 pounds in high school, but admittedly could not run a 4.5. 275 pounds isn't *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# for a D1 athlete. It isn't *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# for a D3 athlete. There are 60 year old men at Gold's Gym who can bench 300 pounds. If that impresses you....I dunno.
Click to expand...

Actually, D3 kids can bench more than D1 kids in most cases, they are the non athletic kids who just get by with brute strength and a little roid rage, a lot of kids cant bench that much coming in, you are just a beast i guess, you were probably the strongest cheerleader in your class
 

Gopherprof said:
I know I'm a terrible person for saying this about a local kid who seems like a nice enough guy, but the scholarship should have been used elsewhere. Pride isn't a BCS athlete, I'm not even sure he's a D1 athlete. I remember him saying a while back that he wants to play quarterback in college, he couldn't even get the starting spot at Cretin. He weighs 190 pounds, runs a 4.52, and his max bench is 275. You want to tell me where exactly we need that?

I know it's harsh, but this is nepotism at its worst. I could care less if his relatives were good players.

That said, if he gets Seantrel, by all means.;)
Click to expand...

Give the kid a break. According to his biography, he is only a junior and at 6' 1", weighing 187 lbs and running a 4.52 forty is pretty good. Most college coaches will let a kid play his position that he wants to play in the first two years of school. He will try to play QB, maybe he makes it, maybe he does not, and more than likely he will be redshirted in freshman year. If you are a good athlete, you can play more than one position. In addition, he has one more year of high school and he may get a few lbs heavier and also get a little bit quicker. If he improves his speed from 4.52 to 4.45 in the forty and then redshirts his freshman year in college, he will get bigger and faster with a good weighliftng program and diet. He could end playing free safety and strong safety or be a wide receivor and he has his senior year in high school and his freshman year in college and still have four year left to play in college. Marian Barber was the last kid in that class that got a scholarship from Mason. Lineage does help at times. I would rather take a chance on a Minnesota kid from a good family than taking a chance on kids from outside the state of Minnesota where it is difficult to acertain what they are all about. We need not only good athletes, but good kids in the community and school because the more kids that leave for whatever reason, hurts the image and scholarship numbers. One thing I can say about size and speed at his age, two years from now, he will be bigger, stronger, faster and quicker with a good weighlifting program and diet. Note: He is only a junior!
 


Lets be honest here. Pride ran an eloctronically timed 4.7(which would equate to about a 4.55 hand timed) at the AA combine. He tripped all over the country with SH and couldn't get a single scholarship offer from anyone else. The word is he transferred from CDH because he got beat out at QB and wanted to play there (in fairness it seems the CDH QB is a legit D1 prospect). Pride may very well be underrated and turn out to be a good player and I give Brew the benefit of the doubt as Johnny Johnson has been a solid ST contributer for two years and DaJon McKnight is in the 2 deeps at WR and both were seen as throw ins to get higher rated friends. Still I think its very likely that if this kid didn't know SH and wasn't related to the Barbers he wouldn't be getting an offer.
 

Gopherprof said:
Seriously?

1) I'm guessing nobody offered you a D1 scholarship. Nobody offered me one either. My Mom couldn't either, and nobody offered her one either. Any other completely irrelevant points?

2) And..as luck should have it...I benched 300 pounds in high school, but admittedly could not run a 4.5. 275 pounds isn't *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# for a D1 athlete. It isn't *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# for a D3 athlete. There are 60 year old men at Gold's Gym who can bench 300 pounds. If that impresses you....I dunno.
Click to expand...

I agree that 275 isn't anything great but it really doesn't matter. The bench press is pretty meaningless to me. Squats and Cleans are what really matter for most athletes. Bench press is overrated.
 

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