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GopherHole Q&A: Gopher PWO Commit Alex Strazzanti on U: "I've always loved the school."
By Chris Monter

http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/765353?referrer_id=

Alex Strazzanti, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound athlete from Chaska (MN) High, announced recently that he will be a preferred walk-on at Minnesota.

Strazzanti helped lead the Hawks to an 6-4 mark as a senior, losing to Chanhassen 27-11 in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs. He completed 69 of 139 passes for 838 yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions.

Strazzanti also plays basketball for the Hawks. He has helped lead the Hawks to a 17-4 mark, winning their last eleven games. Strazzanti is averaging 8.2 points per game and has scored ten or more points four times, including 17 points against Edina.

Gopher Hole caught up with Strazzanti to learn more about his decision.

Gopher Hole: You recently committed to Minnesota as a preferred walk-on. When did you commit?

Alex Strazzanti: I was there for a visit last week just to make sure everything was all set in stone. I toured all the facilities. Talked to a couple of coaches and learned more about the campus and the school and the process behind it all. I loved it there and knew that there was no other place I wanted to go. .

Gopher Hole: What was the main reason you decided Minnesota was where you wanted to be?

Alex Strazzanti: I have grown up in Minnesota. I've always loved the school. It has a terrific business program in the Carlson School of Management and I also love the coaches that this team has brought in at Minnesota with Coach Fleck and a lot of energy coming in. I figured that it would be a great place to play at. I always knew that I wanted to pursue football in college and was just waiting for the right option and it came and I knew that there was no better place.

Gopher Hole: When did you first start talking to Minnesota about being a possible walk-on?

Alex Strazzanti: I first started talking to Minnesota with the old coaching staff, actually. I was pretty close with Coach O'Brien for awhile and everything happened with that. I had to be a little more patient. I wasn't really sure what was going to happen, but then I got in touch with Coach (John) Schaekel, (Assistant Coordinator of Recruiting Operations) and started figuring it out all over again.

Gopher Hole: What other schools were you hearing from besides Minnesota? I think that I read that you had a preferred walk-on opportunity as Iowa State. Is that right?

Alex Strazzanti: Yes. That was my other biggest one, a preferred walk-on at Iowa State. I was in contact with a couple of Patriot League schools. I had a lot of Division II offers, but I realized that wasn't a route that I really wanted to pursue and I thought I could do, not necessarily better, because that is great football, but it just wasn't my ideal situation, so I knew that it was either going to be Minnesota or Iowa State. I just waited it out and Minnesota came along and fortunately for me, I decided to take it.

Gopher Hole: What Division 2 schools did you have offers from?

Alex Strazzanti: Mankato and Augustana were my top two. They were both very good. I talked to them for awhile and it was hard to turn those down. They were great to me and everything, but it was just not the route that I wanted to go.

Gopher Hole: How hard was it to say no to money from those two schools to just walk-on?

Alex Strazzanti: That is a great positive to go D2 and that is a very difficult situation, knowing that I would be going D2 and being the man at one of these two schools, but Minnesota is a great place for me. I love the size of the school. I love the Business school. I like what the new coaches are doing and when I weighed all the pros and cons, it was a tough decision, but I figured Minnesota would be the best place for me.

Gopher Hole: You have a former Chaska teammate Bronson Dovich, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound redshirt sophomore offensive lineman on the Gopher squad. Had you talked to him much before you made your decision about Minnesota?

Alex Strazzanti: I was in contact with him throughout the process and he told me just to stay patient and everything would come. He was great to me. I missed playing with him and I'm glad that I get to play with him again. He was always awesome to me and I just can't wait to see him again,

Gopher Hole: Your senior season, your team finished 6-4. How pleased were you with the success you had this past season?

Alex Strazzanti: It was an up and down year. Coming from my junior season to my senior season, I think that we graduated four of our offensive lineman and all three of our defensive lineman, so that was our biggest hole that we had to fill. Overall, I'm happy with how our team did. It was a great year. I loved all the guys on the team. Obviously, I would have loved to do better. Just being competitive in that way. I don't want to settle for anything. So obviously, we came up a little bit short of some of our goals, but overall, it was a great season. I loved all the guys and was very happy with how it came out.

Gopher Hole: How pleased were you with some of the individual success you had this year?

Alex Strazzanti: I was happy. I worked hard. I worked very hard over the summer and I knew over the summer, football was probably the sport that I wanted to pursue more than basketball, so I worked hard at it and set goals to achieve over the season and I achieved most of them, so I am very pleased with how I did over the season. I had a lot of great teammates around me, which helps as well. It was a great season. I loved it.

Gopher Hole: How would you describe yourself as a football player?

Alex Strazzanti: Very tough. Physical. Competitive guy with an edge. I don't think that there is any person on the field who will be able to outhit me. I will be one of the hardest hitters always when I walk on the field, so that is always what I try to take pride in. Just being the most physical guy out there and just giving it my all.

Gopher Hole: You played quarterback and defensive back in high school. What have the coaches said about a position you would play in college?

Alex Strazzanti: They recruited me as a safety with hopes that I might be developing into a nickel outside linebacker since I have a bigger frame. They think that they could put more weight on me.

Gopher Hole: You are playing basketball and the Hawks are 17-4 and have won eleven straight. How pleased are you with the way that your team is playing right now?

Alex Strazzanti: It's awesome. We were all having a blast. Just like football, I have a lot of great teammates in basketball. One is going to Columbia (Myles Hanson), one is going to Northern State for basketball, so we have a lot of great guys and it has just been a blast. We are taking every day like it is our last because we know that we won't have too much longer to play together, so it has been a blast playing with these guys since fourth grade.

Gopher Hole: You scored 14 points last night against Chanhassen in a win. They are your big rival, who beat you twice in football, including in the playoffs. It is nice to get a little revenge against them on the basketball?

Alex Strazzanti: Of course. It is always terrific to beat those guys. Unfortunately, they did get the best of us in football, but we were able to get the best of them in basketball, so I am very pleased with it. It is hard to complain.

Gopher Hole: Do you play any spring sports anymore?

Alex Strazzanti: No, I played AAU over the past couple of years, but I won't be playing this year.

Gopher Hole: How much do you think that basketball helps you with football in terms of foot work? Do you think that as a football player?

Alex Strazzanti: I think it helps a lot. I have been called one of the best defensive players in the state and I think that translates over to football, due to keeping my guy in front of me and being physical and being able to match whatever I have to defend against, so I think it helps a lot being able to just stay in front of somebody and not give up easy points. Obviously, it is something that can translate pretty easily and I think that it is a great asset to playing basketball as well.

Gopher Hole: What things are you going to be to get ready to report to camp in June?

Alex Strazzanti: First and foremost, I'll be lifting and training for speed. As basketball comes around, it is really tough to lift during the season, so I lost quite a bit of weight over the season. I know that I'll be able to put that back on pretty easily, so my main goal is to just get in the weight room, lift as much as I can, but still be able to keep my speed and flexibility. I'll be working with a couple of trainers as well for that. Once basketball ends, I'll be strictly football. Just getting stronger and more athletic.

Gopher Hole: You just recently committed to Minnesota as a preferred walk-on, but what has your relationship been like with the new coaching staff so far?

Alex Strazzanti: It has been pretty good. I've been in touch a lot with Coach Schaekel. He has been great to me. He has been very nice throughout the entire process, helping it to be easy and efficient for me. I meet with a couple other coaches on my visit. I liked them all a lot. They were very open to me. They all said that they watched my film and loved it and they are very excited for me to come. I love all the coaches. They were all very open and said that if I ever need anything to please feel free and reach out. They were very open to me coming.

Gopher Hole: Coach Fleck seems have a lot of kids excited about Minnesota. Does that make you even a little more excited, too since other kids want to play for Minnesota now?

Alex Strazzanti: Yes. It is awesome when you see the top recruits talking about Minnesota. I think that Coach Fleck has a great passion and energy, which translates great for football. I believe that you need a coach with a certain passion in the game to really succeed, so with him having that, it is great to see other kids buying into it and so have I. It's awesome.
 








Tlsbhansen said:
Looks like he can play with a porous O-line. In case we are decimated again next year.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought as well! He moves really well and threw well on the run, and he was on the run quite a bit.
 




John Galt said:
Hopefully Creamer and Marsette call up Malik Rucker and Reggie Spearman and ask them about their experience at Iowa...
Click to expand...
Their experience at Iowa? You mean that they weren't good enough to play?

Iowa has as few problems with players being unhappy or claim to be treated unfairly as any program in the conference.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 

per Joe:

While the Gophers football team continues to rank in the Top 15 nationally with its 2018 recruiting class, coach P.J. Fleck went back and added bulk to his 2017 class this weekend.

Ben Davis, a 6-4, 275-pound offensive tackle form American River College in Sacramento, Calif., signed with the Gophers. He’ll enroll this summer and be eligible this fall, with four years to play three at Minnesota.

Fleck has said he prefers not to sign junior college players, but the Gophers are staring at a serious depth issue on the offensive line for this fall. Davis can help address that.

The Gophers have been down to five or four offensive linemen for every practice this spring. They have three returning starters recovering from surgery – Jared Weyler, Vincent Calhoun and Garrison Wright. Two others who started last season, Tyler Moore and Connor Mayes, have transferred to other schools.

Davis is in a similar position to Donnell Greene, who came to the Gophers last summer from Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College. Greene played in 13 games for the Gophers last year, starting eight and has been the only healthy returning starter on the line this spring.

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-add-o-lineman-ben-davis-to-2017-recruiting-class/418759474/

Go Gophers!!
 

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Go Gophers!!
 

per Greder:

At 6-foot-4, 275 pounds, Davis is from Elk Grove, Calif., and played for American River College in Sacramento, Calif.
The Gophers had one offensive lineman return from injury in order to give them a full unit able to scrimmage Saturday — Donnell Greene, Bronson Dovich, Conner Olson, Quinn Oseland and Nick Connelly.

Minnesota also has three possible starters out with injuries for spring practices — Vincent Calhoun, Jared Weyler and Garrison Wright. All three were key contributors in 2016.

http://www.twincities.com/2017/04/09...nsive-lineman/

Go Gophers!!
 





per Yahoo:

He added that he’ll come to Minnesota with “not a chip, a crack” on his shoulder, echoing a phrase PJ Fleck has repeated before.

Davis tells TGR that he “fell in love” with Minnesota on his visit.

“I arrived Friday afternoon. I was met by Coach Schaekel and he did a great job of showing me around. It was unbelievable; the weekend was unbelievable. We went to the Mall of America first. Came back, went to my hotel room and went to dinner with the coaching staff. I met Coach Fleck as well on Friday. On Saturday, I went to the scrimmage and got to tour the whole TCF Bank Stadium which was elite. I got to try on all the jerseys. The whole weekend was an elite experience.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/davis-explains-apos-elite-experience-024121573.html

Go Gophers!!
 


GopherHole Q&A: Future Gopher Malcolm Robinson: "Minnesota fans are the best fans in the country. Minnesota is the best school in the country."
By Chris Monter

http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/799317?referrer_id=331171

Malcolm Robinson, a 6-foot-2, 275-pound defensive tackle from Massillon (OH) Washington, signed with Minnesota in February. He chose Minnesota over offers from Purdue, Virginia, Boston College and many others.

Robinson helped lead the Tigers to an 8-3 record this past season, losing to Dublin Scioto 31-21 in the first round of the Division II playoffs.

GopherHole recently caught up with Robinson.

Gopher Hole: You signed with Minnesota in February and committed in late January. What was the main reason that you decided Minnesota was where you want to play college football?

Malcolm Robinson: I de-committed from Purdue and committed a week before the signing period. Coach (Ed) Warinner (Minnesota Offensive Line/ Run Game Coordinator) eventually came in and recruited me. I didn’t fully turn it down, but I told him that I wasn’t really that interested at the time and then Coach Fleck came in the next week and basically, it changed everything. He came in and gave me his pitch. Just told me all the things that the program was going to be doing over the next couple of years and I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to row the boat with Coach Fleck and the Minnesota staff.

Gopher Hole: Obviously, Coach Fleck is an exciting dynamic personality. He hasn’t coached a game at Minnesota, but people are excited about him. What makes him so different than the average football coach?

Malcolm Robinson: I’m not sure about the entire nation and different college coaching systems, but in my recruiting, Coach Fleck, came out and being the head coach, you are used to hearing that you are so much better than everybody, whether you are or you aren‘t. That is just the way that you say it, but Coach Fleck, I felt like was more feeling for me when he came in to recruit me. He didn’t even know me, but he told me that he loved me. That is different. It is a different thing and that makes a huge impact, because his goals were so similar to what my goals were and he is a young coach and he is trying to make a difference and he is trying to prove everybody wrong and I could say that I am trying to do the same thing.

Gopher Hole: You had been committed to Purdue and they had a coaching change, just like Minnesota. Did that makes it tough that all of a sudden you didn’t know where you were going to end up?

Malcolm Robinson: My recruiting coach, Coach (Marcus) Freeman, who is now at Cincinnati. That was the guy for me. He meant a lot to me. Recruited me for a long time. I really wanted to play for the guy, so when I finally popped that Purdue offer, I knew I wanted to play for him and the rest of the coaches. I met Coach Hazel. He is a great guy. I remember taking a visit with my mom and my mom cried in his office. It was a great day. I really got along with the coaching staff. They gave me a chance to play Big Ten football, which was something that I always wanted, so when it came to changing coaches, it was a bigger impact than I expected. The new coaching staff, great people, great coaching staff, great guys, but it didn’t seem like the best fit for me. When the Minnesota offer came in, it was a blessing.

Gopher Hole: What other schools were you really considering at the end?

Malcolm Robinson: If it wasn’t Minnesota, I still think that I would be playing at Purdue, which once again, I am blessed to be offered and to be committed to Purdue. They are going to be a great team. They have great things in their future. I would have been blessed and humbled to play for Coach (new Boilermaker head coach) Brohm for the Purdue Boilermakers. At the time, I know that I was being heavily recruited by OU (Ohio University). Actually, a couple guys from Purdue that didn’t get to keep their scholarships, due to the coaching change, committed to OU, so it kind of seemed like the right thing to do. It was something that I was taking note of, but when the Minnesota thing came up, it kind of just threw all that out the window and my focus was on something else. I still think that if Minnesota had never offered up, I would have committed to Purdue.

Gopher Hole: You visited Minnesota in January. Had you ever been to Minnesota before?

Malcolm Robinson: I had never even been on a plane before, so it was amazing. I don‘t know about other athletes and recruiting trips, but this was one of the best recruiting trips I ever took. It was a 13 hour trip. I had never been over here. Everything was different. Just the culture’s different. The way the fans are. They are insane. The football culture around there is just amazing. Everything about Minneapolis and St. Paul is amazing.

Gopher Hole: What all did you get a chance to see and do during your visit?

Malcolm Robinson: We visited the Mall of America. It was strange having a roller coaster inside a mall. I spent a lot of time with Steve Richardson, the top defensive tackle at Minnesota and probably, in my opinion, in the Big Ten, if not the nation. Great guy. Showed me around campus. Showed me the in and outs of the Minnesota life. We ate at some fantastic restaurants and etcetera. Sat down with Coach (Bryce) Paup. Listen to him tell a couple of stores, but he doesn’t talk about his stories as much I expected him, too. Went through a couple of defensive schemes and just had a good time .

Gopher Hole: You mentioned Steven Richardson, who is a little bit of an undersized guy, but has been very effective in college. Is he someone that you really hope that you can learn a lot from this year?

Malcolm Robinson: Yes. It was a blessing that I got to spend a couple of days with him on my official. I am excited to get with him as soon as I get on campus. He is a great guy. He talked about being an undersized player. He was talking to me about a lot of schools didn’t think that he was good enough, but Minnesota gave him the chance.

Gopher Hole: I don’t know if you saw on Twitter, but he had a really good game against Northwestern, which is near where he is from and that he used that as a motivating factor?

Malcolm Robinson: Yes and that is huge. When you think about it, I’m not the biggest guy in the world either. He is a great person, too. I remember him showing his hands. It felt like a brick. I can’t understand how someone swings so hard, like he was hitting walls all day. He is probably 5-11 and full of muscle. Just feels like a big rock.

Gopher Hole: Have you gotten to know any of the other incoming recruits very well?

Malcolm Robinson: Yes. We are actually in a group chat. We talk pretty much every day. All the new recruits. There are amazing guys. I can’t wait to play with them. Talent is very high, but the character is even higher. That changes the whole game. Guys that you can play with that are not only talented, but they are very coachable. Put everything on the line for their brother, so it is like getting another blessing for me to play with guys like these.

Gopher Hole: Do you know who you are going to be rooming with yet?

Malcolm Robinson: I have no clue yet. It doesn’t really matter. Awesome teammates.

Gopher Hole: When are you coming up here then?



Malcolm Robinson: I think that I am reporting June 6th.

Gopher Hole: It sounds like academics have always been important to you. Have you thought much about what you are going to major in?

Malcolm Robinson: I am thinking about majoring in Marketing. Something in the Marketing field. I know that being a coach is big to me, so becoming a GA (graduate assistant) right after is big also.

Gopher Hole: Have the coaches talked to you much about their expectations for you for the upcoming season as a freshman. Have they talked to you about possibly playing as a freshman or redshirting and getting bigger and stronger?

Malcolm Robinson: The coaches aren’t expecting me to redshirt at all. That is an honor for a coach to tell you wouldn’t be redshirted. I am not going to train to get redshirted or anything like that. Minnesota is limited at the defensive tackle position, knowing that they only have a couple of seniors and a junior and that’s it, so I am coming in and working on my strength. Hopefully, get a little bigger, get a little faster and hopefully, I am ready to go on Saturdays.

Gopher Hole: I know that you played in the big Ohio North-South All-Star game and scored a touchdown. What was that experience like?

Malcolm Robinson: Oh man, you played football since kindergarten and never scored a touchdown, that was probably one of the greatest moments in my football playing career. Man, I did not quit smiling. .

Gopher Hole: Did you know that you were maybe going to get a chance to play running back? Had you been working on that in the practices?

Malcolm Robinson: I was repping in at the wing spot in practice. Coach said that he had a play for me to score, but I didn’t believe him and he actually called it.

Gopher Hole: Are you going to be working on the Gopher running back coach and let them know that you know how to get into the end zone?

Malcolm Robinson: You know, I told Coach Fleck that I have a lot of versatility in me now. “If anything happens and you need a little Wing T running back,” he can just throw me in there real quick.

Gopher Hole: You had a great career at Massillon Washington. You finished 8-3 and you beat your big rival Canton McKinley. I’m originally from Ohio, but I don’t think people from Minnesota know how big of a rivalry that is. How would you describe how important it was to beat them as a senior?

Malcolm Robinson: You know, the Massillon-McKinley game, you don’t understand it until you live it. It is way bigger. When you look at it, it is about 100 times bigger than that. You are a five-year kid and it is Christmas time. It is amazing. One of the biggest games in high school history. Red (McKinley’s colors) is nowhere to be seen in the whole city of Massillon, so it is a huge game and just winning that game means a whole lot. You put a lot preparation in it. The city is really involved in. You make a lot of people proud. I actually approached the game a little different this year and not making it bigger than what it was. It’s another game. I played calmly and we ended up pulling out a win. A close win. Two points (21-19), I think it was, so it was a great time.

Gopher Hole: Were you born in Massillon?

Malcolm Robinson: I was not born in Massillon. I was born in Dayton, Ohio. Grew up in Xenia, Ohio for a couple of years, but my whole entire family is from Massillon. My grandfather was a Tiger. Great grandfather was a Tiger and so on and so on.

Gopher Hole: Being from that area, you always hear about if you are born in Massillon, you get a miniature football in your crib.

Malcolm Robinson: I missed out on that.

Gopher Hole: Right, but how do you explain to others about how big football is in that part of the country?

Malcolm Robinson: You know, there is no way to explain it. Words can’t explain how big it is. I tell people, that you have to come down here. Just come to Massillon for a week and you’ll see how big football is in Massillon. You come to Massillon and it is football, football, football and when football season is over, it is nothing until football is back again.

Gopher Hole: Have you played any other sports besides football in high school?

Malcolm Robinson: I wrestled for a year. In high school, I think I lettered as a freshman in wrestling and I gave it up. I wanted to be strictly a football player. I want to work on my talents. That’s what a lot of guys do in Massillon. We play a lot of sports, but we know once football season comes around, we are football players. We have an indoor facility and we are training 365 days a year.

Gopher Hole: What do you see as your strengths as a football player?

Malcolm Robinson: I think that my speed was a big strength for me this season. I can move under 5 flat and I weigh 275 pounds, so you know I didn’t have to wear and tear my body down against big offensive linemen. My hands are pretty good. I like the way I use my hands. I can work on everything. All my talents aren’t superior. I can better myself every day, but my biggest attribute is my knowledge of football. I stay up really late watching film. I’m watching film all the time. When you know what two plus two equals four on the football field is. If you’ve got a guard on his heels and another guard nose forward ready to take your head off, you need to know what is coming and that really puts you ahead of the game.

Gopher Hole: What things are you working on to continue to improve yourself as a player?

Malcolm Robinson: Everything. All-around. Weight from wise. Speed wise Taking care of my body. No injuries. That is the goal. No injuries. Working on bettering yourself and becoming a better you every single day. That is the way that Coach Fleck coaches it and that is the way that I am going to achieve it.

Gopher Hole: The Gophers open their schedule on a Thursday night against Buffalo August 31st. What is it going to mean to you to walk onto the field in front of 50,000 fans?

Malcolm Robinson: You know, it is going to mean everything to me. Minnesota fans are the best fans in the country. Minnesota is the best school in the country. To wear a jersey that has an “M” on it means a lot to me. All the players at Minnesota put their blood, sweat and tears on this football field and on this jersey and things like that. It is a true blessing. I am so excited.



Gopher Hole: You tweeted something recently about wearing the number 75 and that number means a lot to you because of Mean Joe Greene. What do you know about him and why does that number mean so much to you?

Malcolm Robinson: I started playing contact football while I was in kindergarten and the first clip that I was shown of a football player, my dad showed me, was Mean Joe Greene. I remember him having a mean club in his pass rush. I remember in little league, always wanting a club like Mean Joe Greene. Growing up, I just loved him. He was one of my favorite football players. Didn’t get to experience what my dad did or have the experience of watching him, but watching highlights of him was amazing and to be able to wear 75 is an honor and hopefully, I can make a name out of it.
 






per Greder:

Casey has met with Fleck a few times, including a 15-minute meeting in his office during spring practices.

“A wave of energy hit me,” Casey said. “He was bouncing off the walls. … He was like, ‘We are getting something special going here. We’ve heard your story, and we want you to be a part of it.’

“I said I want to be a part of it, too.”

Casey is “everything that our culture is about,” Fleck said. “Gophers football is incredibly important to him. I wanted to make sure that he can have that type of dream. He is going to be a holder. He is going to be a part of that spiritual (element), that motivation, that inspiration every day.”

Dan, who declined a job offer from Fleck to remain within the program, praised Fleck’s willingness to bring Casey in. “I think it speaks more to P.J. Fleck,” he said. “It’s about the kind of guy that I think P.J. is to give him that opportunity.”

http://www.twincities.com/2017/06/0...obrien-overcame-cancer-twice-to-walk-on-at-u/

Go Gophers!!
 




Ok....I'll bite...how can you be enrolled and yet not be taking any classes for almost a year?
 

peachpages said:
Ok....I'll bite...how can you be enrolled and yet not be taking any classes for almost a year?
Click to expand...

CDN9Cc.png

https://www.sbnation.com/college-fo...a-football-grayshirt-blueshirt-redshirt-rules

Essentially, his five-year clock is punted a semester.
 

But why? Aren't gray shirts typically for oversigned classes? We have scholarships available.
 

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