NU depth chart; Evan Hull, Pride of Maple Grove, at top for RBs

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swingman

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Fitz putting focus on Gophers experience, but a lot of graduates and seniors in their two-deep

 



Didn't he want to play for the Gophers?
 









swingman said:
that year, we offered Jason Williamson out of Owatonna, Trey Potts, and Wiley...
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Would've been a fine addition in hindsight if we took his commitment before offering Wiley late.
 

btowngopher said:
Yeah he’s put up a nice yards per carry. Didn’t seem that fast on high school film. Didn’t get much recruiting attention, NW took him late.
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He was 2nd in the state in the 100 his senior year, if there was any part of his game that should have been known, speed is it. He put up absurd numbers his senior year on a maple grove team that was not great, surprised he didn’t get more looks.
 

swingman said:
that year, we offered Jason Williamson out of Owatonna, Trey Potts, and Wiley...
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Evan Hull is one of the misses in hindsight.

Who would have predicted that Jason Williams will be out of football and that Cam Wiley will transfer?
 

skyman31 said:
He was 2nd in the state in the 100 his senior year, if there was any part of his game that should have been known, speed is it. He put up absurd numbers his senior year on a maple grove team that was not great, surprised he didn’t get more looks.
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Just didn’t jump out to me when watching his highlights compared to some rbs. Reminds me of Potts style wise.
 



hungan1 said:
Didn't he want to play for the Gophers?
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Here’s what I know my brother works with his step dad. He was recruited by Gophers to a degree. He was on a recruiting visit and PJ asked him “what if I were to offer you a full scholarship to the University of Minnesota right now. What would you do?” Supposedly Evan said “well, I’d be super excited and would have to weigh my options and decide what is best for me.” With that PJ said, “I only want players who WANT to be at the University of Minnesota” and left the room. Stepdad and Evan waited and waited and PJ never came back. Finally after quite a wait (like 20-30 minutes) a quality control guy came in and thanked them for coming and showed them the door and that was pretty much the end of the recruiting.

Obviously my brother or I has no clue if this really happened but it does follow PJ’s only want those who want to be Gophers. My brother is not a big college football fan and he asked me if that is the way PJ is and I said from what he says yes. My bro also says that Evan eats, sleeps, and drinks football all day every day. He wants to be the best and wants to be in the NFL. Kid is as hard of a worker as there is with his training, diet and discipline according to the step dad.

Take this story for what it is. I wish the young man the best though as he seems like a good kid that wants to be great. Kudos to him, hopefully he can realize his dream!
 

NotAFanOfBecky said:
Here’s what I know my brother works with his step dad. He was recruited by Gophers to a degree. He was on a recruiting visit and PJ asked him “what if I were to offer you a full scholarship to the University of Minnesota right now. What would you do?” Supposedly Evan said “well, I’d be super excited and would have to weigh my options and decide what is best for me.” With that PJ said, “I only want players who WANT to be at the University of Minnesota” and left the room. Stepdad and Evan waited and waited and PJ never came back. Finally after quite a wait (like 20-30 minutes) a quality control guy came in and thanked them for coming and showed them the door and that was pretty much the end of the recruiting.

Obviously my brother or I has no clue if this really happened but it does follow PJ’s only want those who want to be Gophers. My brother is not a big college football fan and he asked me if that is the way PJ is and I said from what he says yes. My bro also says that Evan eats, sleeps, and drinks football all day every day. He wants to be the best and wants to be in the NFL. Kid is as hard of a worker as there is with his training, diet and discipline according to the step dad.

Take this story for what it is. I wish the young man the best though as he seems like a good kid that wants to be great. Kudos to him, hopefully he can realize his dream!
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I can appreciate the fact that you are sharing this story third or fourth hand, but it’s a pretty self-serving anecdote from the step dad of a kid at a rival B1G school. PJ is not for everyone but he doesn’t seem to be as clueless in recruiting as this story would imply.
 

NotAFanOfBecky said:
Here’s what I know my brother works with his step dad. He was recruited by Gophers to a degree. He was on a recruiting visit and PJ asked him “what if I were to offer you a full scholarship to the University of Minnesota right now. What would you do?” Supposedly Evan said “well, I’d be super excited and would have to weigh my options and decide what is best for me.” With that PJ said, “I only want players who WANT to be at the University of Minnesota” and left the room. Stepdad and Evan waited and waited and PJ never came back. Finally after quite a wait (like 20-30 minutes) a quality control guy came in and thanked them for coming and showed them the door and that was pretty much the end of the recruiting.

Obviously my brother or I has no clue if this really happened but it does follow PJ’s only want those who want to be Gophers. My brother is not a big college football fan and he asked me if that is the way PJ is and I said from what he says yes. My bro also says that Evan eats, sleeps, and drinks football all day every day. He wants to be the best and wants to be in the NFL. Kid is as hard of a worker as there is with his training, diet and discipline according to the step dad.

Take this story for what it is. I wish the young man the best though as he seems like a good kid that wants to be great. Kudos to him, hopefully he can realize his dream!
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I mean I don’t think the U should’ve offered Hull then or now even knowing how it turned out. So I guess I’m not upset.

you might take a borderline guy who is a guaranteed commit. You don’t want to be sitting there with a committable offer sitting in limbo waiting for a borderline guy. You might wait for a top guy on your list. Not on your backup plan.

a bird in the hand type deal to me
 

So all these weekly tweets I see from HS kids thanking the Gophers for offers are from recruits Fleck did not leave the room with an ultimatum?
 

I think that they were recruiting Hull more as a PWO, but on this visit if things happened as the step dad relayed to my brother I think it was the step dad being mad that they didn’t get an offer? Regardless my brother said the step dad was put off that he left. I believe at the time he had a NDSU offer and then when the coach left to K State he was offered there as his first big offer. Then Iowa was putting him as a PWO and a plan B guy when Northwestern offered. He was going to go to K State until Northwestern offered. I don’t think it’s the norm that PJ does anything like this but of course none of us are there. I think it had more to do with hey your more of a PWO guy and what if I offer you now what do you think. I think it was more of a test as to how bad do you want to be here. That’s the impression I got based upon the story told to me.
 

hungan1 said:
Evan Hull is one of the misses in hindsight.

Who would have predicted that Jason Williams will be out of football and that Cam Wiley will transfer?
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Williams, especially as a Minnesota kid, was a had to offer.

But Cam Wiley? With his height and body type ... man, I don't know how they saw "Big Ten running back" there.
 

MplsGopher said:
Williams, especially as a Minnesota kid, was a had to offer.

But Cam Wiley? With his height and body type ... man, I don't know how they saw "Big Ten running back" there.
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by many accounts Wiley is one of the best athletes on the team, and that was coaching staff saw.

I'm also guessing coaches thought if he didn't work at RB, they could move him, but Wiley wants to play RB, granted that is all speculation on my part
 


salzie said:
by many accounts Wiley is one of the best athletes on the team, and that was coaching staff saw.
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If by athlete, you mean straight line speed. I have no doubt that he was the fastest RB in the room ...... on a track. And sure, that's what recruiting services and the staff saw. That's fine.

He ran like he was 6'5", up and down. High center of gravity.

For a Big Ten RB, you want a shorter, thicker guy, who is shifty, has some bounce to him, and can take a pounding.
 

NotAFanOfBecky said:
I think that they were recruiting Hull more as a PWO, but on this visit if things happened as the step dad relayed to my brother I think it was the step dad being mad that they didn’t get an offer? Regardless my brother said the step dad was put off that he left. I believe at the time he had a NDSU offer and then when the coach left to K State he was offered there as his first big offer. Then Iowa was putting him as a PWO and a plan B guy when Northwestern offered. He was going to go to K State until Northwestern offered. I don’t think it’s the norm that PJ does anything like this but of course none of us are there. I think it had more to do with hey your more of a PWO guy and what if I offer you now what do you think. I think it was more of a test as to how bad do you want to be here. That’s the impression I got based upon the story told to me.
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If a kid is there visiting the school with a PWO and it is late in the recruiting cycle and Fleck has that conversation there really is only 1 answer he wants to hear. He wants to hear you are pumped and you would go. Fleck knew his offers and knew if he offered he would be taking a chance. No one wants to offer a kid just so he can use that offer to get other offers from other schools. If Fleck did do this I understand why he did it. I also understand Evans response as well.
 

MplsGopher said:
If by athlete, you mean straight line speed. I have no doubt that he was the fastest RB in the room ...... on a track. And sure, that's what recruiting services and the staff saw. That's fine.

He ran like he was 6'5", up and down. High center of gravity.

For a Big Ten RB, you want a shorter, thicker guy, who is shifty, has some bounce to him, and can take a pounding.
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i'm talking overall athlete

speed, strength, jumping, coordination, etc

I'm only passing info I've heard from those who've been to camps (Burns, Chip, etc) who have put Wiley as one of teams top overall athletes
 

salzie said:
i'm talking overall athlete

speed, strength, jumping, coordination, etc

I'm only passing info I've heard from those who've been to camps (Burns, Chip, etc) who have put Wiley as one of teams top overall athletes
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Jumping? So you think vertical leap and broad jump numbers from combines, are important for running backs?

(Leg) Strength, obvious very important. I would personally rate agility speed higher than straight line speed, but that's just me.
 

gophernut1 said:
If a kid is there visiting the school with a PWO and it is late in the recruiting cycle and Fleck has that conversation there really is only 1 answer he wants to hear. He wants to hear you are pumped and you would go. Fleck knew his offers and knew if he offered he would be taking a chance. No one wants to offer a kid just so he can use that offer to get other offers from other schools. If Fleck did do this I understand why he did it. I also understand Evans response as well.
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With the RB already committed in that class they may have liked Hull as a prospect but in the end he was probably the odd man out and PWO would have been the only option.

Hindsight being 20/20 he would have been a nice get addition to the class, but I can see why he wouldn't have been a top priority that year given who else was committed.

As to the story about how Fleck treated him. Probably an element of truth to it at the very least. I have no doubt they want the PWO players to be fired up about joining the team since they are going to have to come in and work hard to earn that potential scholarship. If they can tell a non-scholarship guy is on the fence it would seem unlikely that Fleck would devote much effort to trying to get him on board. He is going to put his energy into guys that want to be there.
 

NotAFanOfBecky said:
Here’s what I know my brother works with his step dad. He was recruited by Gophers to a degree. He was on a recruiting visit and PJ asked him “what if I were to offer you a full scholarship to the University of Minnesota right now. What would you do?” Supposedly Evan said “well, I’d be super excited and would have to weigh my options and decide what is best for me.” With that PJ said, “I only want players who WANT to be at the University of Minnesota” and left the room. Stepdad and Evan waited and waited and PJ never came back. Finally after quite a wait (like 20-30 minutes) a quality control guy came in and thanked them for coming and showed them the door and that was pretty much the end of the recruiting.

Obviously my brother or I has no clue if this really happened but it does follow PJ’s only want those who want to be Gophers. My brother is not a big college football fan and he asked me if that is the way PJ is and I said from what he says yes. My bro also says that Evan eats, sleeps, and drinks football all day every day. He wants to be the best and wants to be in the NFL. Kid is as hard of a worker as there is with his training, diet and discipline according to the step dad.

Take this story for what it is. I wish the young man the best though as he seems like a good kid that wants to be great. Kudos to him, hopefully he can realize his dream!
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Guess to sum it up, sounds like PJ viewed Evan as the type of kid where he'd take him if he knew in his heart this was his dream school, but not good enough to where he wanted to waste his time playing the recruiting game. In a year where he had three backs signed I get it. Glad it worked out for him at NW, that degree will go a long way, nationally
 

NotAFanOfBecky said:
Here’s what I know my brother works with his step dad. He was recruited by Gophers to a degree. He was on a recruiting visit and PJ asked him “what if I were to offer you a full scholarship to the University of Minnesota right now. What would you do?” Supposedly Evan said “well, I’d be super excited and would have to weigh my options and decide what is best for me.” With that PJ said, “I only want players who WANT to be at the University of Minnesota” and left the room. Stepdad and Evan waited and waited and PJ never came back. Finally after quite a wait (like 20-30 minutes) a quality control guy came in and thanked them for coming and showed them the door and that was pretty much the end of the recruiting.

Obviously my brother or I has no clue if this really happened but it does follow PJ’s only want those who want to be Gophers. My brother is not a big college football fan and he asked me if that is the way PJ is and I said from what he says yes. My bro also says that Evan eats, sleeps, and drinks football all day every day. He wants to be the best and wants to be in the NFL. Kid is as hard of a worker as there is with his training, diet and discipline according to the step dad.

Take this story for what it is. I wish the young man the best though as he seems like a good kid that wants to be great. Kudos to him, hopefully he can realize his dream!
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Can confirm. Helped coach maple grove sophomores when he was on the team, super good kid, hard worker, very smart. Gonna be successful.
 

MplsGopher said:
Jumping? So you think vertical leap and broad jump numbers from combines, are important for running backs?

(Leg) Strength, obvious very important. I would personally rate agility speed higher than straight line speed, but that's just me.
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Not a big Berkeley Edwards guy huh?
 

Always exceptions. Cam was not one of them. In the Big Ten, at least.
 

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