New Commit - JUCO RB

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It looks like Coach Kill recruited him out of high school for NIU in 2010. He also has a reported 4.49 40, possibly timed at a 2009 camp, though it's hard to know for sure from ESPN's website.
 


One way or the other he certainly is another sleeper candidate. That said, this is hardly making me think better times are on the way.

Take that LA Tech!
 





ulfr said:
One way or the other he certainly is another sleeper candidate. That said, this is hardly making me think better times are on the way.

Take that LA Tech!
Click to expand...

Coach Kill tends to get sleepers at Running Back

Jasmin Hopkins
- 2* Scout 3* Rivals
- Offers from Northern Illinois, Southern Miss, and Arkansas State.
- 540 yards rushing, 8 TD, 5.6 yards per carry in 2011
- 366 yads rushing, 2 TD, 9.6 yards per carry in 2010.

Chad Spann
- Came to NIU as a walk-on
- 61 yards rushing, 5.5 yards per carry, 5 tackles, and 10 game appearances in 2007 as a true freshman walk-on
- 429 yards rushing, 8 TD, 4.9 yards per carry, 4 tackles in 2008
- 1038 yards rushing, 19 TD, 5.8 yards per carry, 5 tackles in 2009
- 1388 yards rushing, 22 TD, 5.4 yards per carry in 2010
 



Sounds like he is a lot better than his offers reveal. I am glad he is on board, but I won't be super excited until he actually enrolls. I hope it all works out, but who knows.
 

Have Faith

ulfr said:
One way or the other he certainly is another sleeper candidate. That said, this is hardly making me think better times are on the way.

Take that LA Tech!
Click to expand...

I believe Coach Kill was hired with the understanding that he would recruit his own players? I'm trying to figure out how people on this board seem to know more about the student athletes he is getting to commit...than he and his staff do?
 

Tendencies?

The only thing that makes this kid special is his affiliation now with the U and Jerry. I'll hope for the best.
 

Sounds like an academic risk, as far as being able to get in here by December. But if he does, then good, cause obviously our RB depth isn't as great as we thought it was, mostly since guys seem to be struggling just to stay on the field.
 



Oneoldgopher said:
The only thing that makes this kid special is his affiliation now with the U and Jerry. I'll hope for the best.
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6000 yards of offense in HS in Louisiana. Yep nothing possibly special there.
Your cheerios must taste awful.
 

"But it didn't break me. It made me."

Sounds like a Kill type of player.
 

The article says he wants to play somewhere he can start right away, so that limits his options. According to Scout Mississippi State offered.

My guess is the kid looked at who was in front of him here and figured he could win the starting job.
 

We are four recruiting classes away from really turning things around so why go after a JUCO in the first place? Would it not make more sense to add another high school kid that with a red shirt can be developed down the road when the team is more ready to play? I know I am not a big JUCO believer other than if you need one or two spots to be filled but with all the running backs on the roster for next year I can't imagine he would be needed unless they are expecting some guys to not be here.
 

WolfontheProwl said:
We are four recruiting classes away from really turning things around so why go after a JUCO in the first place? Would it not make more sense to add another high school kid that with a red shirt can be developed down the road when the team is more ready to play? I know I am not a big JUCO believer other than if you need one or two spots to be filled but with all the running backs on the roster for next year I can't imagine he would be needed unless they are expecting some guys to not be here.
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Kill said on his radio show that he's going the JUCO route to space out the classes. There are no running backs on the 2008 or 2009 classes, so he's back filling with JUCOs. There will probably be one or two JUCO interior offensive linemen in this class and maybe a d-back or two.
 

WolfontheProwl said:
We are four recruiting classes away from really turning things around so why go after a JUCO in the first place? Would it not make more sense to add another high school kid that with a red shirt can be developed down the road when the team is more ready to play? I know I am not a big JUCO believer other than if you need one or two spots to be filled but with all the running backs on the roster for next year I can't imagine he would be needed unless they are expecting some guys to not be here.
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We will lose Bennett after this year, and then you're left with Kirkland, Cobb, and Wright, with Williams coming in as a freshman. None of those guys have exactly been setting the world on fire, so if Gillum can come in and be the bellcow next year, great. If not, and one of the other guys beats him out, even better. At any rate, our upper classes are pretty thin in numbers, so there's nothing wrong with bringing in a handful of JuCos to balance out the classes.
 

dpodoll68 said:
We will lose Bennett after this year, and then you're left with Kirkland, Cobb, and Wright, with Williams coming in as a freshman. None of those guys have exactly been setting the world on fire, so if Gillum can come in and be the bellcow next year, great. If not, and one of the other guys beats him out, even better. At any rate, our upper classes are pretty thin in numbers, so there's nothing wrong with bringing in a handful of JuCos to balance out the classes.
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ummmmmm........i think you mean kirkWOOD. and don't forget about lamonte edwards. i don't think his move to playing some defense this season is a permanent one.
 

supadupafly said:
ummmmmm........i think you mean kirkWOOD. and don't forget about lamonte edwards. i don't think his move to playing some defense this season is a permanent one.
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I wouldn't be surprised if it is permanent. Kill loves speed on defense and Edwards didn't do anything overly impressive when he got the ball on offense (I believe he was the one stopped on 4th and goal from the 1)
And an announcer always calls Kirkwood Kirland, its a joke.
 

Spann came to NIU under Joe Novak.


RoyalGopher said:
Coach Kill tends to get sleepers at Running Back

Jasmin Hopkins
- 2* Scout 3* Rivals
- Offers from Northern Illinois, Southern Miss, and Arkansas State.
- 540 yards rushing, 8 TD, 5.6 yards per carry in 2011
- 366 yads rushing, 2 TD, 9.6 yards per carry in 2010.

Chad Spann
- Came to NIU as a walk-on
- 61 yards rushing, 5.5 yards per carry, 5 tackles, and 10 game appearances in 2007 as a true freshman walk-on
- 429 yards rushing, 8 TD, 4.9 yards per carry, 4 tackles in 2008
- 1038 yards rushing, 19 TD, 5.8 yards per carry, 5 tackles in 2009
- 1388 yards rushing, 22 TD, 5.4 yards per carry in 2010
Click to expand...
 

supadupafly said:
ummmmmm........i think you mean kirkWOOD. and don't forget about lamonte edwards. i don't think his move to playing some defense this season is a permanent one.
Click to expand...

At least he didn't say Brandon Beal instead of Brendan, because that would be rude and disrespectful.
 

I would be incredibly surprised if Lamonte Edwards is ever a full time RB again. Incredibly surprised. They see something in Edwards at LB and he is going to get more playing time each week there. Especially if we have enough bodies at RB.
 

I love my Cherios! Kashi too... Oatmeal is fantastic! Grits, love em. SOS, yum.

Ole said:
6000 yards of offense in HS in Louisiana. Yep nothing possibly special there.
Your cheerios must taste awful.
Click to expand...

His 1400 yards playing Juco ball is impressive. Get into the B!G and the chances are he won't get 1400 yards per year. At the rate things have gone around Gopher football, I would be happy if he ran for 700 here. I would be more impressed if we could land the offensive linemen that opened the holes for this guy than the back himself. Barber and Maroney were great backs, but they were better backs with Setterstrom, Eslinger, and the rest of the cast of great linemen that surrounded them. I refuse to acknowledge college greatness until it is performed on the field. He was a GIANT in high school. I won't stop being a curmudgeon and just accept he will have precocious yards at TCF and beyond because he was a best buy in high school. Yards tell me that there was a good team that surrounded him as well as individual talent. Until our line shows that it can open up even modest holes and the QBs given time to throw more than a 6 yard pass, it is doubtful the newbie will a great back for Minnie. I would loved to have said the opposite, but it would be all smack.
 


No one is asking you to assume he is going to set the Big Ten on fire. But assuming there's nothing special about him, on what do you base that assessment?
 


Edwards move to LB is permanent. He will be a much better LB than a RB.

The signing makes sense. A team as depleted as the Gophers needs to sign JuCo guys. Brews signing of JuCo guys was not what did him in. Signing JuCo players will allow us to (possibly) RS Williams.

I think people around here who don't like JuCo guys (and I get it, i'm not ripping on their pov) are going to have to accustomed to it with Coach Kill. I think we will sign a few of them every year.
 

Oneoldgopher said:
His 1400 yards playing Juco ball is impressive. Get into the B!G and the chances are he won't get 1400 yards per year. At the rate things have gone around Gopher football, I would be happy if he ran for 700 here. I would be more impressed if we could land the offensive linemen that opened the holes for this guy than the back himself. Barber and Maroney were great backs, but they were better backs with Setterstrom, Eslinger, and the rest of the cast of great linemen that surrounded them. I refuse to acknowledge college greatness until it is performed on the field. He was a GIANT in high school. I won't stop being a curmudgeon and just accept he will have precocious yards at TCF and beyond because he was a best buy in high school. Yards tell me that there was a good team that surrounded him as well as individual talent. Until our line shows that it can open up even modest holes and the QBs given time to throw more than a 6 yard pass, it is doubtful the newbie will a great back for Minnie. I would loved to have said the opposite, but it would be all smack.
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If he gets 700 yards next season, he would be an absolute coup of a recruit.

I look at JuCo guys different. For the most part, I just hope they can come in and give us some depth. Sometimes they surprise (Moulton) and sometimes they are so bad they don't even give depth (Hayo), but all in all, I look at it like a depth move that we only have to live with for 2 years, rather than 5.

A couple JuCo guys will also help spread out our classes evenly. So for a JuCo guy, he looks about right. I hope he can come in and give us some meaningful depth.
 

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