New WR Signee for 2014: Desmond Gant gains support in all the right places w/ Gophers

BleedGopher

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per the Beacon-News:

An honorable mention Class 8A All-State defensive back (41 tackles) who also played wide receiver (3 TDs) and returned kicks (3 TDs) for the Tomcats, Gant caught the attention of Kill and his staff at a one-day camp last summer.

“He’s a hard-nosed coach,” Gant said of Kill, who sees the athletic 6-foot-3, 200-pounder as a wideout and possible return man. “It seems like he’ll keep me on task. He’s a no-BS type person and I like that.

“Going up there I was nervous. I was trying to be really cool on the outside but I was really nervous. There were 400 kids there and I had to go with that mindset that nobody could stop me and I had to earn it.”

http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/sports/28040037-419/college-football-desmond-gant-gains-support-in-all-the-right-places-in-signing-with-minnesota.html#.U5ptaCj-ZpV

Go Gophers!!
 


I was under the impression we were at the scholly limit. Either that wasn't the case or the staff is expecting another scholarship opening up by a current player leaving or a 2014 recruit not qualifying.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
 


could gant be taking bak's scholarship?
 


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Jerry Kill stacked with big WRs in 2014 with 6-4 Gentry, 6-3 Holland, 6-2 Krizancic and now 6-3 Gant. Plus 6-3 Jones & Wolitarsky are sophs.</p>— Marcus R. Fuller (@GophersNow) <a href="https://twitter.com/GophersNow/statuses/477289599987765248">June 13, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Go Gophers!!
 

I was under the impression we were at the scholly limit. Either that wasn't the case or the staff is expecting another scholarship opening up by a current player leaving or a 2014 recruit not qualifying.

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could gant be taking bak's scholarship?

The coaches know more than we do.

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"I could just scream..."
 


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Jerry Kill stacked with big WRs in 2014 with 6-4 Gentry, 6-3 Holland, 6-2 Krizancic and now 6-3 Gant. Plus 6-3 Jones & Wolitarsky are sophs.</p>— Marcus R. Fuller (@GophersNow) <a href="https://twitter.com/GophersNow/statuses/477289599987765248">June 13, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Go Gophers!!
And 6-10 Wozniak and 6-6 Elmore.
 



Welcome aboard!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>At 6'4" 190 lbs, Gant ran a 10.98 (100) and 21.70 (200) last month. So I'd say he may be fast. <a href="http://t.co/Aqs7ulnbV6">http://t.co/Aqs7ulnbV6</a></p>— Ryan Burns (@RyanBurnsGI) <a href="https://twitter.com/RyanBurnsGI/statuses/477300923237007362">June 13, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Can't have too many athletes stockpiled. Needs a redshirt year plus to work on route running and getting stronger. Hopefully not the next Vic Kiese.
 

We'd finally have real team depth in the coming years!
 

Welcome aboard!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>At 6'4" 190 lbs, Gant ran a 10.98 (100) and 21.70 (200) last month. So I'd say he may be fast. <a href="http://t.co/Aqs7ulnbV6">http://t.co/Aqs7ulnbV6</a></p>— Ryan Burns (@RyanBurnsGI) <a href="https://twitter.com/RyanBurnsGI/statuses/477300923237007362">June 13, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Except he is listed by many sources as 225, that is quite a difference.
 




I wonder who will r-shirt and who will play this year... or even switch to D. The competition for these new guys at least appears stiff. Like hungan1 said not only depth, but quality it would seem too.
Welcome Desmond!
 



Can't have too many athletes stockpiled. Needs a redshirt year plus to work on route running and getting stronger. Hopefully not the next Vic Kiese.
These guys did not recruit Victor Keise. Good kid, but he was in danger every time he took the field.
 

Looks like on the roster Gant is just listed as an Athlete right now so the staff is probably still deciding where to put him at the beginning of camp DB or WR.
 

He recently signed for a football scholarship at the University of Minnesota and will begin taking classes later this month in summer session.

Gant had to wait until after graduation to make sure he made it through the NCAA clearinghouse to be eligible before signing with the Gophers and coach Jerry Kill.

Hope we get more good news on Jones soon...

http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/spor...s-in-signing-with-minnesota.html#.U5sX_XlOVi6
 


We'd finally have real team depth in the coming years!

Based on what? We still have the same number of scholarship players that we've always had meaning our 'depth' could, theoretically, be the exact same as it was under Brewster (I know it's not in general). What about this kid leads you to believe he's any more legitimate than previous players at the WR position?
 

Love how kill and co have addressed the biggest need we had.. Bringing some big bodies to stretch the field and who have height.. Tall fast receivers who can go get the ball will make up for some *not all* of our qbs inaccuracies

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Based on what? We still have the same number of scholarship players that we've always had meaning our 'depth' could, theoretically, be the exact same as it was under Brewster (I know it's not in general). What about this kid leads you to believe he's any more legitimate than previous players at the WR position?

Well WR was maybe our weakest and thinnest position last year so any recruit at WR no matter the skill level is probably going to add some degree of depth compared to other positions at least. Plus its not just him, its the 4 WRs that we recruited and they may be our deepest top to bottom and just the best WR group that we have signed in quite some time.
 

Well WR was maybe our weakest and thinnest position last year so any recruit at WR no matter the skill level is probably going to add some degree of depth compared to other positions at least. Plus its not just him, its the 4 WRs that we recruited and they may be our deepest top to bottom and just the best WR group that we have signed in quite some time.

That's fair. I guess I just took exception to that with this individual player. If he's a 4/5* then I think it would be fair to project/hypothesize that he automatically upgrades whatever depth we have, I'm just not sold that this kid is dramatically different than what we have already.
 

That's fair. I guess I just took exception to that with this individual player. If he's a 4/5* then I think it would be fair to project/hypothesize that he automatically upgrades whatever depth we have, I'm just not sold that this kid is dramatically different than what we have already.

Marooned, I don't think you are sold on the dollar.
 

Well WR was maybe our weakest and thinnest position last year so any recruit at WR no matter the skill level is probably going to add some degree of depth compared to other positions at least. Plus its not just him, its the 4 WRs that we recruited and they may be our deepest top to bottom and just the best WR group that we have signed in quite some time.

What we know at this point is that we have signed a number of players for the WR position. We don't have any clue if any of them are going to be able to compete in the Big Ten and be difference makers. Having the bodies is great but numbers don't become depth until you actually determine if the players can help your team.

WR has been a black hole for a while up here, hopefully some of these young guys pan out and become weapons for us in the coming years. Good to see the staff trying to address the issue, now we just have to see if they are finding guys that can get it done.
 



What we know at this point is that we have signed a number of players for the WR position. We don't have any clue if any of them are going to be able to compete in the Big Ten and be difference makers. Having the bodies is great but numbers don't become depth until you actually determine if the players can help your team.

WR has been a black hole for a while up here, hopefully some of these young guys pan out and become weapons for us in the coming years. Good to see the staff trying to address the issue, now we just have to see if they are finding guys that can get it done.

Not its not just the amount of WRs we signed. Holland will be or at least is projected to be an absolute stud and i would be surprised if he doesn't end up starting at least one game. Gentry is at least projected to be a very good one as well. Those top 2 guys are just as good or are at least projected to be as good any WR duo we have signed in the quite some time. I might take that pair over Jeff Jones actually.
 




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