New emphasis on local recruiting

[MaxyJR1]

It seems as if NDSU always has 2-3 OL starters from MN, ND or SD and at other positions. Same with the other Dakota schools. The latest was Cordell Volson from a tiny ND town drafted 4th round by the Bengals. Nash Jensen from Maple Grove has been a four year starter. Cody Mauch, again from a tiny ND town, has been another standout OL gaining AA honors last season. I'm sure there are others who have done well and likely not a sniff from MN. We all know about the two NDSU QB's that made it big. Going into 2022 NFL season, there were up to 15 NDSU players on rosters.

I know, I know. You can't get them all and some are difficult to find. But NDSU finds them. But if these guys are doing great at smaller schools why can't they be serviceable at MN?

Not sure NDSU finds them as much as NDSU is their best offer/fit many times. These kids go to camps and are rated based on performance. NDSU is a developmental program like others and knows they are not getting the same guys as MN, IA, NE, WI etc. MN offers kids from SD and ND every year. Ames, Lincoln, Fargo & Lawrence is much more like most SD/ND.

Cherry picking here, but Wentz and Lance really didn't have a ton of options. Lance wasn't going to play QB at any P5 school on scholarship. They did great at NDSU got their paycheck and will likely both be out of the NFL soon unless they can stay healthy and see the field.

 

[Gophers1992]

Some people know their role and are ok with it. That's what makes team sports unique.

Definitely, and I like Kramer in his role. I would think the main reason a guy like him would transfer is for playing time, which he would have to move way down to get.

 

[Gophers1992]

11 Gophers in NFL and 7 from NDSU.
The problem with trying to take all the NDSU players in hopes you would find those few that turn out, is there is a huge percentage that would be complete garbage as Big Ten players. It would just be a very risky recruiting strategy.

Nobody likes to talk about the small time guys NDSU takes on that don't pan out....

 

[PMWinSTP]

Once you get to D1 level football and hockey, they are totally different animals athletically and body type. There's no question youth hockey could take some youth football numbers, but I just don't see it at the high levels. Would there be a significant number of MN hockey players that could play high level Power 5 football? Doubtful. Plus, even with hockey, Minnesota gets more high school football participation than Wisconsin (very close) and Iowa (much more).

I think the point is that at an earlier age, the focus turns to hockey and so there are less athletes who develop as top football palyers because they focus on hockey.

 

[PMWinSTP]

I've seen many D1 hockey guys that were also D1 LB, WR, QB, S types. Football has just been treated differently in MN than many of the surrounding states. I also think with MN having many more D2 programs, cuts into walk-on programs at the D1 level. Additionally Iowa has a large connection between Football and Wrestling culture.

247 for 2023

WI lists 4 guys on Composite List and 1 P5 commitment
MN lists 13 and 11 with P5 commitments
IA lists 19 and 17 with P5 commitments (Having 2 P5 programs, you have more opportunities dream about playing D1 and being part of the 2 programs.)

Not all are scholarship commitments, some are PWO

P5 is special. You can just walk on a field and tell if there are any P5 players. They stick out in body type alone.

Yeah, and if you look at 2022, WI has a longer list.

 

[PMWinSTP]

It seems as if NDSU always has 2-3 OL starters from MN, ND or SD and at other positions. Same with the other Dakota schools. The latest was Cordell Volson from a tiny ND town drafted 4th round by the Bengals. Nash Jensen from Maple Grove has been a four year starter. Cody Mauch, again from a tiny ND town, has been another standout OL gaining AA honors last season. I'm sure there are others who have done well and likely not a sniff from MN. We all know about the two NDSU QB's that made it big. Going into 2022 NFL season, there were up to 15 NDSU players on rosters.

I know, I know. You can't get them all and some are difficult to find. But NDSU finds them. But if these guys are doing great at smaller schools why can't they be serviceable at MN?

NDSU is at the top of the heap for that level.

 

[Panthadad2]

I think the point is that at an earlier age, the focus turns to hockey and so there are less athletes who develop as top football palyers because they focus on hockey.

My point is it doesn't matter significantly if hockey peels off some high school players. Hockey and football are different athletically which is accentuated at the Power 5 level. There are only a handful of Power 5 football positions that would see some overlap between football and hockey. The number of hockey players that could be contributors on a good Power 5 team are so small that it just doesn't matter.

 

[Dupreefor3]

That depends upon the guy.

Axel Ruschmayer was buried on the depth chart and turned into a All Conference guard.
Terrell Smith was buried on the depth chart at times and turned into a big part of our defense.

There are guys who give depth and could definitely get PT in their JR/SR seasons, we don't want them transferring out. Then there are guys who will never play, yes, we want them to transfer out.

It depends on the guy.

Axel was also a walk on

 

[PMWinSTP]

My point is it doesn't matter significantly if hockey peels off some high school players. Hockey and football are different athletically which is accentuated at the Power 5 level. There are only a handful of Power 5 football positions that would see some overlap between football and hockey. The number of hockey players that could be contributors on a good Power 5 team are so small that it just doesn't matter.

Yes, because they stopped focusing on football, may still play football but their efforts are on hockey, so those football players left with legit P5 talent is a smaller bunch because of that reason. I also don't totally agree with your assessment that players are that much athletically different...other than those at OL/DL positions.

 

[Panthadad2]

Yes, because they stopped focusing on football, may still play football but their efforts are on hockey, so those football palyers left with legit P5 talent is a smaller bunch because of that reason. I also don't totally agree with your assessment that players are that much athletically different...other than those at OL/DL positions.

OL/DL (and TE) make up almost half the team, so....

Over 23,000+ HS football players in MN.
5,700 HS hockey players, a fraction of football (some of those overlap with football).

There are only ~14 3-star plus players coming out of that 23,000+ pool of HS football players.

How many legit 3-star football players could possibly come from a pool of less than 5,700 hockey players considering that none would be linemen/TE? The number would be too small to count.

 

[Gophers_4life]

Axel was also a walk on

And was planning to retire after 2021? I think Fleck talked him into coming back for his sixth year?

Glad he did!

 

[Go Gophs]

Once you get to D1 level football and hockey, they are totally different animals athletically and body type. There's no question youth hockey could take some youth football numbers, but I just don't see it at the high levels. Would there be a significant number of MN hockey players that could play high level Power 5 football? Doubtful. Plus, even with hockey, Minnesota gets more high school football participation than Wisconsin (very close) and Iowa (much more).

This is correct.
Drawing the best athletes from millions of kids(football, basketball), vs drawing from 25,000 or whatever it is national hockey players. It is simple numbers, you will need to be a better athlete to get a D1 offer in football, basketball, baseball.

 

[btowngopher]

I get the state doesn’t produce many “sure thing” safe bet recruits. I’m just thinking we need a little more imagination to what a player could become if they are going to be asked to ride pine for several years. Those borderline “sure thing” guys from other states are the ones that continue to transfer out early when asked to develop.

 

[Word]

OL/DL (and TE) make up almost half the team, so....

Over 23,000+ HS football players in MN.
5,700 HS hockey players, a fraction of football (some of those overlap with football).

There are only ~14 3-star plus players coming out of that 23,000+ pool of HS football players.

How many legit 3-star football players could possibly come from a pool of less than 5,700 hockey players considering that none would be linemen/TE? The number would be too small to count.

There are a ton of hockey players probably not being counted in those numbers as there is typically only JV and varsity hockey. Lots of kids play in non mshsl hockey leagues like junior gold.

 

[PMWinSTP]

There are a ton of hockey players probably not being counted in those numbers as there is typically only JV and varsity hockey. Lots of kids play in non mshsl hockey leagues like junior gold.

Yes, and there is a lot of talent there as well.

 

[Panthadad2]

There are a ton of hockey players probably not being counted in those numbers as there is typically only JV and varsity hockey. Lots of kids play in non mshsl hockey leagues like junior gold.

482 native Minnesota hockey players in Juniors in the U.S. and Canada according to this. Hardly "a ton".

Again, hockey has very little to do with Power 5 football recruits in Minnesota. It just doesn't. No more than baseball in states south of us, soccer in some states like CA and FL, and lacrosse out east.

 

[Word]

482 native Minnesota hockey players in Juniors in the U.S. and Canada according to this. Hardly "a ton".

Again, hockey has very little to do with Power 5 football recruits in Minnesota. It just doesn't. No more than baseball in states south of us, soccer in some states like CA and FL, and lacrosse out east.

Juniors is not junior gold. You just don't get the hockey scene.

 

[btowngopher]

7 transfers now, none from local players. Closest one came from Illinois.

 

[Tommyboy]

Man, all I got was grief when I made this point in the past, now everyone is on the bandwagon. It appears I was correct once again.

 

[btowngopher]

Man, all I got was grief when I made this point in the past, now everyone is on the bandwagon. It appears I was correct once again.

You never made this point. You wanted all MN kids before the new transfer rules, which was a terrible idea. I think taking about a third of a class locally and at least half as transfers would be a very interesting strategy.

 

[Tommyboy]

Yes fill the team with every good HS player in the state and see what happens. A full stadium and all these college levels are closer then you think. The teams record would be about the same.

 

[MGGopher]

Yes fill the team with every good HS player in the state and see what happens. A full stadium and all these college levels are closer then you think. The teams record would be about the same.

Dude, sometimes I can't tell if you're trolling or not so I purposely don't respond...but you seriously think a team made up almost exclusively of players from MN would consistently win 8 games with a B1G schedule?! You have to be joking.