Official 2014 Recruiting Updates Thread: Links, Tweets, Videos, Stories, Rumors, etc.

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Tweet from Nate Brown, WR recruit from Georgia who we just offered:

@BringTheNoise_6: Gettin alotta love from #minnesota fans #Gophers

Go Gophers!!
 

@chrissmithvp: 2014 RB George Moreira - John Curtis HS (La) tells me #Indiana & #Minnesota visited him at school today. #Hoosiers #Gophers #Big10 #VP

Go Gophers!!
 


Gophers could add a 2nd RB commitment

Minnesota has signed 13 recruits from the state of Florida during the three classes head coach Jerry Kill orchestrated. The Gophers have three verbal commitments to the current class. None of them are from the Sunshine State. But, a running back from the area is now considering the Gophers.

Minnesota reportedly offered D'Earnest Johnson (Immokalee, Fla./Immokalee) last week, and the Gophers are now a strong possibility for the running back.

"Yeah I'm interested, I really like the type of offense they run," Johnson told Ryan Burns of GopherIllustrated.com. "The only other thing I know about Minnesota is that my fellow running back last year Jacky Marcellus took an official visit up there and really enjoyed it. I don't know that much about them, but I'm looking forward to knowing a lot about the school and their football program."

Minnesota already has a running back pledge to the program in Jeff Jones, but the Gophers are prepared to take a couple in this class.

Johnson has offers from Florida, Georgia, Louisville and Ole Miss. He already plans on taking four official visits.

"Every school that has offered me is standing out right now," Johnson said. "I plan on taking official visits to Minnesota, Louisville, North Carolina and Tennessee because they're out of state schools and they've been recruiting me pretty hard."

4 star recruit according to Rivals.
 

hillie33 said:
"The only other thing I know about Minnesota is that my fellow running back last year Jacky Marcellus took an official visit up there and really enjoyed it."
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Shows the importance of getting guys on campus even if they don't always commit. The opportunity to make a favorable impression can still go a long way.
 


@knarfwongar: Just received an offer from the University of Illinois #FightingIllini #blessed

Go Gophers!!
 






vames said:
Great to see CDH CB Tim Gordon pick up a solid review from Scout from the past weekend.

http://recruiting.scout.com/2/1290175.html#.UYwmBexqlJU.facebook
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I'm really hoping Tim Gordon gets an offer. He is a good tackler, a really solid cover guy (always in position), he plays the ball well and he just rarely makes mistakes. I think he is a Division 1 CB (possibly even a safety after bulking up a bit).

The offers probably aren't coming yet because they want to see him in camp and he isn't physically dominating. He isn't as fast as Brookins and he isn't very big (5'10-11" -160ish now, I'd guess). He isnt a small framed guy and he works hard, so he could easily be 5'11" 175 next season's signing period (which is adequate Big 10 size).
 

BleedGopher said:
per Doogie:

• A Stanford football assistant coach was at DeLaSalle High School on Thursday. The Cardinal remain interested in quarterback Reid Travis.

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/...ck_to_college_pitchers_prep_outfielders050913

Go Gophers!!
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I'm a Kill fan, but it's starting to annoy me that we aren't pushing hard for this kid. We all realize that he is likely to play basketball so it could all be for nothing, but some of the better programs in the country (Stanford) have been willing to give up some time to show this kid interest.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I'm a Kill fan, but it's starting to annoy me that we aren't pushing hard for this kid. We all realize that he is likely to play basketball so it could all be for nothing, but some of the better programs in the country (Stanford) have been willing to give up some time to show this kid interest.
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Kill must view it as a waste of time. I don't disagree.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I'm a Kill fan, but it's starting to annoy me that we aren't pushing hard for this kid. We all realize that he is likely to play basketball so it could all be for nothing, but some of the better programs in the country (Stanford) have been willing to give up some time to show this kid interest.
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Isn't there a system fit issue? I haven't seen him play football but I'd guess he's not terribly mobile at his size.
 



Gopherprof said:
Isn't there a system fit issue? I haven't seen him play football but I'd guess he's not terribly mobile at his size.
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If he's mobile for basketball he'd be mobile for FB. Now if he's married to playing QB that may be an issue. He has the perfect build to play TE though
 

hillie33 said:
Gophers could add a 2nd RB commitment

Minnesota has signed 13 recruits from the state of Florida during the three classes head coach Jerry Kill orchestrated. The Gophers have three verbal commitments to the current class. None of them are from the Sunshine State. But, a running back from the area is now considering the Gophers.

Minnesota reportedly offered D'Earnest Johnson (Immokalee, Fla./Immokalee) last week, and the Gophers are now a strong possibility for the running back.

"Yeah I'm interested, I really like the type of offense they run," Johnson told Ryan Burns of GopherIllustrated.com. "The only other thing I know about Minnesota is that my fellow running back last year Jacky Marcellus took an official visit up there and really enjoyed it. I don't know that much about them, but I'm looking forward to knowing a lot about the school and their football program."

Minnesota already has a running back pledge to the program in Jeff Jones, but the Gophers are prepared to take a couple in this class.

Johnson has offers from Florida, Georgia, Louisville and Ole Miss. He already plans on taking four official visits.

"Every school that has offered me is standing out right now," Johnson said. "I plan on taking official visits to Minnesota, Louisville, North Carolina and Tennessee because they're out of state schools and they've been recruiting me pretty hard."

4 star recruit according to Rivals.
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He'd be a nice addition. Nice offer list.

http://www.marconews.com/news/2013/mar/25/prep-football-immokalees-dernest-johnson-excited/

http://rivals.yahoo.com/minnesota/football/recruiting/player-D'Ernest-Johnson-133859
 

Gopherprof said:
Isn't there a system fit issue? I haven't seen him play football but I'd guess he's not terribly mobile at his size.
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He would probably be a tight end or defensive end. Will be very surprised if he plays football anyway.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I'm really hoping Tim Gordon gets an offer. He is a good tackler, a really solid cover guy (always in position), he plays the ball well and he just rarely makes mistakes. I think he is a Division 1 CB (possibly even a safety after bulking up a bit).

The offers probably aren't coming yet because they want to see him in camp and he isn't physically dominating. He isn't as fast as Brookins and he isn't very big (5'10-11" -160ish now, I'd guess). He isnt a small framed guy and he works hard, so he could easily be 5'11" 175 next season's signing period (which is adequate Big 10 size).
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Tyrone Carter wasn't that big, and I'd say he had adequate big ten size.

Sent from my PLAYSTATION PHONE using tapatalk
 

oleboy41 said:
If he's mobile for basketball he'd be mobile for FB. Now if he's married to playing QB that may be an issue. He has the perfect build to play TE though
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That's what I meant. My guess is that he'll either play basketball or play quarterback, given the glamour of the two options.
 

GophersOnTheRise said:
Kill must view it as a waste of time. I don't disagree.
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I think that's obviously the case. There are just quite a few other football programs who are not seeing it as a complete waste of time and he is right in our backyard.

De La Salle HS can't be more than 5 miles from the U. He'd be a pretty easy person to put some time in recruiting.

Like I said in my initial post, I get it, he'll probably choose basketball. But he is an elite athlete, he's less than 5 miles away and he has said he doesn't know what he'll choose (Football or basketball). If he goes somewhere else and plays football, Kill deserves some criticism.
 

Gopherprof said:
Isn't there a system fit issue? I haven't seen him play football but I'd guess he's not terribly mobile at his size.
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Reid Travis is faster than Phil Nelson or Leidner.

If he stayed at QB, I don't think there would be a system better than ours. He is big (can take the hits) and he is mobile. If there are any questions it would be with him throwing (which would be a fit issue at any school he attended).

Like other people have said, that's if he stays at QB. If he came to the U, it'd be like a Hageman thing. I'm sure he'd get a legit shot at playing QB (like HAgeman got a shot at TE), but eventually the writing would be on the wall. . .if you want to play in the NFL. . .you need to switch to defensive line. My guess is that he'd finish his career as a DE.
 



Tim Riggins said:
Anyone know their 40 times off hand? And by off hand, I mean hand timed of course.
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No, but I do recall Kill saying that Nelson was one of the 10 fastest players in spring camp last year. His Rivals (fake) 40 time is listed as 4.48, so if we add the .24 hand-time adjustment, that would be 4.72, which is reasonable. I very much doubt that Travis can run a legit 4.7 at 250-260 lbs., because if he could, he'd have football offers from every school in the country.
 

dpodoll68 said:
No, but I do recall Kill saying that Nelson was one of the 10 fastest players in spring camp last year. His Rivals (fake) 40 time is listed as 4.48, so if we add the .24 hand-time adjustment, that would be 4.72, which is reasonable. I very much doubt that Travis can run a legit 4.7 at 250-260 lbs., because if he could, he'd have football offers from every school in the country.
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You think Phil Nelson runs a 4.7 40? You think he is faster than Gray? I think Nelson's speed is underated, but I don't think Nelson is faster than Gray (think that run against UNH).

As far as Reid Travis. . .250/260? Unless he put on a lot of weight (which is certainly possible), he isn't that large yet. He is listed at 235 on rivals and 215 on scout/espn. From seeing him in person, I'd say he is probably around 230. That said, I think that if Reid Travis didn't play basketball, he'd have an incredibly impressive offer sheet simply because he is big and fast.
 


Bob_Loblaw said:
You think Phil Nelson runs a 4.7 40?
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Not sure - it's reasonable based on watching him play.

Bob_Loblaw said:
You think he is faster than Gray?
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Not faster than Gray at 100%. I don't think Gray was anywhere close to 100% at the combine. I think he'd have run a 4.5 or high 4.4s if he were 100%.

Bob_Loblaw said:
As far as Reid Travis. . .250/260? Unless he put on a lot of weight (which is certainly possible), he isn't that large yet. He is listed at 235 on rivals and 215 on scout/espn. From seeing him in person, I'd say he is probably around 230. That said, I think that if Reid Travis didn't play basketball, he'd have an incredibly impressive offer sheet simply because he is big and fast.
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Who knows, but based on watching a lot of video I'd say 235 is on the very low end of what he weighs. I don't think there's any way he weighs 230. At any rate, I simply do not believe that he is faster than Nelson. Aside from freaks like Bolt, shorter guys are generally faster, and he has 5" and anywhere from 20-30 lbs. of size on Nelson.
 

Recruiting Minnesota this year. I think there will be a lot of top programs in the state recruiting this year. Apparently some of them have already been here. If you look at the top end kids and there might be 5 at this point this year and one that has emerged for next year. It would be great id Kill could get a sweep of the 4-5 kids this year. There is the soft verbal from Jones. Ragnow, Stelter and Hasenauer have all indicated that they would enjoy staying home and playing close to home. These 4 should all just make their commit to Kill and stick with it. The 5th one is Reid Travis. He may end up playing football for someone, but it think out of high school he will be signing a basketball scholarship. We will have to wait on this one. There are a few other players that will emerge during the year and Kill will end up offering. Some of these guys like Behr and Greely and I am sure there are more. Other posters have put a lot of time in effort into the Minnesota kids and know a lot more about them that I do. I don't blame kids for wanting to take free trips around the country and get out and explore other campuses, but recruiting drives me nuts waiting for these 17 year old kids to make a decision that will greatly impact the program that I love. Sign on guys. You can make it happen. With home grown talent leading the way, we can get back to Pasadena and have a great time playing in the Rose Bowl.
 

FWIW, I think that the Gophers will get Jones, Stelter, and Hassenauer. Ragnow will end up in the SEC or at Florida St. Travis will end up playing basketball at Stanford, or perhaps Duke if he gets that offer.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Not sure - it's reasonable based on watching him play.



Not faster than Gray at 100%. I don't think Gray was anywhere close to 100% at the combine. I think he'd have run a 4.5 or high 4.4s if he were 100%.



Who knows, but based on watching a lot of video I'd say 235 is on the very low end of what he weighs. I don't think there's any way he weighs 230. At any rate, I simply do not believe that he is faster than Nelson. Aside from freaks like Bolt, shorter guys are generally faster, and he has 5" and anywhere from 20-30 lbs. of size on Nelson.
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- I think 4.7 seems quick for Nelson to me. A lot of the running backs at the combine (after specifically training for this drill for months) were right around 4.7 (Ball-4.66,Burkhead - 4.73, Bell - 4.6, S. Taylor - 4.78). I get it that those guys aren't lightening fast, but they sure seem faster than Nelson to me.

-He's much closer to 230 than you're discussion of him at 260. He could grow to be 260, but he's certainly not in that ballpark right now.

-We aren't talking about world class sprinters with either of these kids. We aren't talking about a freak athlete with Phil Nelson. He is a good athlete and I really think he's underappreciated as an athlete by a lot of people. However, if he couldn't throw the football well, he would NOT be a division 1 caliber football player. Reid Travis is an elite athlete. If he couldn't throw a football, he'd still be getting just as many offers. So, while I understand that shorter players are usually faster, that's more true when we are comparing the same caliber of athlete.

We can agree to disagree on this point, however, the main issue in that response was that Reid Travis is a good enough athlete and fast enough to play QB in our system. He would fit our system.
 

dpodoll68 said:
FWIW, I think that the Gophers will get Jones, Stelter, and Hassenauer. Ragnow will end up in the SEC or at Florida St. Travis will end up playing basketball at Stanford, or perhaps Duke if he gets that offer.
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Yeah, for no reason whatsoever, I am not confident on us landing Ragnow. He's really good, I think almost all of the schools will come calling.
 

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