Q&A: Cretin's James Onwualu Talks Gophers, Jerry Kill and His Upcoming Visit to the U

Steve Wiltfong ‏ @SWiltfong247

St. Paul (MN) Cretin Derham Hall WR James Onwualu adds a Vanderbilt offer. http://t.co/Deaz01Ky
 


last one for me.. then i'm done.

JO, to me, is a workout machine.. a camp guy.. who works his tail off to improve his 40 time by .1 or his vertical by two inches.. he knows the thresholds for these numbers and is obsessed with them. it is all he is focused on.. numbers... 'measureables'.. knowing that if you meet the threshold, you will get offers.. no matter your on-field production.. because 'measureables' cannot be disputed.. the are not subjective.. they are fact.. on-field is subjective.. "didn't have a good line", "was in a bad system for him", "they didn't run the spread", "played up a class", etc.. so its easy to dismiss a game or even a season due to these 'factors'.

my concern is upside.. i feel JO is at his potential.. he has worked so hard ( diet, exercise ) that there is no more he can squeeze out of his body.. this is a credit to his hard, hard work. however, it comes with questions about his god-given athletic abilities.. 4.75 40 at a major camp, not a basektball standout, doesn't run track, too many bread-basket catches, doesn't play D, doesnt have a 2nd gear.. these are all red-flags. if i could watch him play basketball, i could learn about his timing, hands, strength, explosiveness off the floor, etc.. track would tell me about his flat-out speed, even baseball would tell me about hand/eye.. these are all things that are god-given.. you cannot teach speed.. or hands, or timing, or explosiveness..

there is some amount of 'hype'.. reputation if you will... 'he goes to the same school that Micheal Floyd went to'.. there is no denying this.

so if we want a 'camp guy', from a school with a good reputation, who is 100% focused on 'measureables', fine.. i, however, would pass.
 

last one for me.. then i'm done.
Unlikely.

JO, to me, is a workout machine.. a camp guy.. who works his tail off to improve his 40 time by .1 or his vertical by two inches.. he knows the thresholds for these numbers and is obsessed with them. it is all he is focused on.. numbers... 'measureables'..
You're a mind reader in addition to an awesome logician and debater? Damn, the trifecta! Everyone, please stop disagreeing now. It may look like hairbrained vendetta nonsense, but dboy can read the minds of recruits and thus he knows that they know that they are hype only. He's simply doing us all a service!
 

I'm also going to add that not only did dboy play for a team that got whopped by cdh, but that JO then did his lady doggy styley at an after party. Only explanation I'm thinking?
 


Remember...the person debating this (dboy) quotes himself in his signature line with a completely idiotic statement.
 

No way d'boy really believes this, right? It has got to be a bit....right?
 

Dboy played for Forest Lake and hates himself for it. Poor guy.
 

I've never heard of a "camp guy" ? Who has been one? More often then not, you see just the opposite - big stats - and N0 athletic ability! Idiotic theory if you ask me.
 



I've never heard of a "camp guy" ? Who has been one? More often then not, you see just the opposite - big stats - and N0 athletic ability! Idiotic theory if you ask me.

this is a 'camp guy'.... and my apologies to Bob_L.. maybe it was his personal trainer whom he worked with 7 days a week that was the 'hype machine'.. also note that his trainer has JO vs Floyd: "James is ahead of the curve. He's bigger, faster and 10 times stronger"

this will be the biggest bust ever..:


http://espn.go.com/college-sports/r...ry/_/id/7792430/secret-james-onwualu-strength



ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- He stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 210 pounds, nearly all of it muscle. He is a game changer at both receiver and running back for Minnesota power St. Paul Cretin-Derham Hall. He was one of Notre Dame's first commitments in the 2013 class.

And yet James Onwualu says there is one secret to his strength that will surprise people.

"I've never lifted a weight in my life and I'm still 215," said Onwualu, perhaps giving himself a few extra pounds. .

The key to his success, Onwualu said, is "training hard as hell" with trainer Ted Johnson seven days a week. While many high schoolers spend the weekends relaxing or at a party, Onwualu said he has given up all of that to devote himself to working out and becoming one of the Midwest's top prospects.


[+] EnlargeJared Shanker/ESPN.com
James Onwualu, a Notre Dame commit, mighty not impress on the bench press, but there is no denying his strength. Onwualu said Johnson, who developed his program more than a decade ago, has taken him under his wing when it comes to working out and each session pushes him to his limits physically and mentally.

At first glance. Onwualu appears lankier than strong, but Johnson says Onwualu is a solid 210 pounds, hovers at 6 percent body fat and is far stronger than many of his more muscular-looking prospects.

"The crazy thing is if you go to YouTube, you can see guys jumping out of the pool all day long," Johnson said. "Just the other day, James jumped out. But they're all adults jumping out of maybe three feet of water. I can send a video of James at 16 years of age exploding out of water 60 times, and just the other day he did it 80 times.

"So now we've moved to four feet, and I've scoured the Internet and there's nobody exploding out of a pool out of four feet of water."

Johnson's program is all movement and technique based. Instead a stack of 45-pound plates, the only weight working against Onwualu is his own frame. The emphasis is improving Onwualu's posterior chain, an area Johnson said is where most athletes suffer injuries at in the collision sports.

At the Under Armour junior combine, Onwualu was one of the worst testers at the bench press, but he ran circles around his competition at the remaining drills.

Surprisingly still, strength is what separates Onwualu from his peers, his quarterback at Cretin-Derham Hall says.

"His strength allows him to break tackles anywhere on the field," quarterback Conor Rhoda said. "He can turn a 10-yard hook into a 60-yard touchdown."

The gripe with normal weight lifting programs, Johnson said, is they are set up to accommodate the lowest common denominator and not the elite athletes. A close friend of former Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, Johnson said that was the case with the strength and conditioning program there, and it is the same issue with the programs throughout the country.

"You walk into a facility and see what the philosophy is: They got five million pounds of weights and that's all they do," Johnson said, "and it doesn't necessarily translate into performance. All we need is space."

Onwualu was just 13 when he began working out with Johnson regularly. Onwualu does not take any supplements and is on a strict diet. Johnson requires Onwualu to send him pictures of every meal so it can be analyzed for nutrition, portion size and the time of the day it was eaten.

Johnson does the same with former Cretin-Derhman standout Michael Floyd, who starred at Notre Dame. It has allowed Onwualu to build a strong friendship with Floyd, who often housed Onwualu when he was visiting the South Bend campus.

A running back and receiver at Cretin-Derham, Onwualu said he will most likely fill in at Floyd's old position, the "X" receiver, when he gets to Notre Dame in the fall of 2013. Although not one to be a fiery coaching type, Floyd has been able to pass his knowledge along to Onwualu.

"Mike's not really a guy to be in your face about coaching," Onwualu said. "I've kind of taken the role of sitting back and watching him as a player. He's a great kid and great guy to watch. It's easy to see the things he does and compare it to me. If I ask him he always answers a question."

Onwualu and Floyd's skills aren't especially similar, though. At 6-3 and 224 pounds, Floyd is more of a vertical big-play threat. Onwualu, who has reached 29 mph when sprinting, is more likely to make a big play out of a short-yardage catch.

The goal is for Onwualu to close in on 220 pounds by the time he makes it to Notre Dame. Johnson said Floyd never reached 200 pounds while he worked with him throughout high school. (Johnson is now helping Floyd prepare for the NFL draft, and Floyd invited Johnson to join him for the draft in New York.) Onwualu is much further along at this point than Floyd, who is one of the most prolific receivers to ever attend Notre Dame.

"We want him to impact college football [as a freshman] the same way Mike did," Johnson said. "At every stage of his development -- and I've known Mike since seventh grade -- James is ahead of the curve. He's bigger, faster and 10 times stronger."
 

Thanks for posting this, I actually found it interesting.

I get it, you don't think Onwualu will be good and you think he derived all of his offers from his strength coach and going to Cretin. You're entitled to your opinion, I disagree with it. We've gone over why I disagree with your position ad naseum, so no need to re-hash.

I'd be pretty surprised if barring an injury, Onwualu doesn't have an incredible, Mr. Football type of SR season. I could be wrong, i've been wrong before.

I do find it odd that people are talking about him playing Floyd's position. I don't see Onwualu in that position at all in the college game. He is going to do most of his damage in YAC situations and I still think the best bet might be to line him up like Florida did with Harvin (not comparing Onwualu to Harvin, just how they should be used).

Like I said before, I'm surprised he is being as heavily recruited as he has been, but I am not at all surprised that he has multiple BCS offers.

As far as the Michael Floyd stuff....they are completely different players. Their paths to Notre Dame are greatly different too.
 

fair enough.
i wish the kid well.. he certainly put in the time..
we'll see how this plays out over the next few year.
db
 




per Sid:

"Even though outstanding Cretin-Derham Hall football player James Onwualu has announced he will enroll at Notre Dame, look for the Gophers to continue to recruit him, and if they are having a winning season, it's possible Onwualu could change his mind."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/146615655.html

Go Gophers!!
 



He definitely completely pulled that out of his a$$. Or should I say his interns did.

I'm just glad we have our resident Notre Dame/Onwualu expert on the board to set us all straight.
 

Wow. That's awful.

@KeithArnoldNBC: ND commit James Onwualu broke his jaw during 7-on-7 tourney. Injury might keep him out until early-mid September
 

I'm sure nobody cares, but I though I'd look this guy up after the scandal news broke and he's now a listed as a LB at Notre Dame.
 

Maybe he will change schools now that he found out he has to do his own homework at ND. For shame!
 

Maybe he will change schools now that he found out he has to do his own homework at ND. For shame!

Yeah, that's why I was looking him up. I wanted to see if he could help our WR corps, but he doesn't play that position anymore. Can't imagine he'll be the impact player at LB that we thought he'd be at WR.
 

For being such a highly rated recruit when he was a junior/senior here, he was one guy that I heard zero information about. Even the Floyd, Henderson, Beau Allen, and lower ranked players that committed to other schools seemed to be in the news or at least talked about frequently on this sight. Was he vastly overhyped? Why were so many big schools pursuing him?
 

For being such a highly rated recruit when he was a junior/senior here, he was one guy that I heard zero information about. Even the Floyd, Henderson, Beau Allen, and lower ranked players that committed to other schools seemed to be in the news or at least talked about frequently on this sight. Was he vastly overhyped? Why were so many big schools pursuing him?

He committed before his senior year leaving many of us to end speculation about him which is much different than Ragnow and Henderson’s commitments.
 

The promise and the allure of Notre Dame calling is not a guarantee that you'll be the next Michael Floyd. You reap what you sow. I felt he was a little over rated by the national recruiting service because he is a Cretin Derham Hall kid.

Jashon Cornell on the other hand is a stud. I wish he committed to the Gophers.
 

The promise and the allure of Notre Dame calling is not a guarantee that you'll be the next Michael Floyd. You reap what you sow. I felt he was a little over rated by the national recruiting service because he is a Cretin Derham Hall kid.

Jashon Cornell on the other hand is a stud. I wish he committed to the Gophers.

I said it multiple times in this thread, I was a bit surprised he was as heavily recruited as he was, but I'm not entirely sure it was a Cretin thing. You have to keep in mind that his stock skyrocketed at these elite camps. Tons of players at those camps are from the "Cretins" of the world. Those kinds of schools are much more prevalent in other states. I can't imagine HS coaches, who are in contact with schools that produce as much, and often times, more talent than Cretin would be dazzled by CDH.

His stock probably exceeded his production at Cretin because he is a fantastic athlete (better physical specimen than Floyd), he is a straight A student (you don't have to worry about him qualifying), and he his frame allows him to be really versatile. He could switch from LBer to WR or other positions. He's more recruitable as a pure athlete than someone who HAS to play a specific position.

He is doing really well at Notre Dame. He started games a true freshman last year. I think he'll eventually make a better LBer than a WR. The injury will make it tough for him, but he is certainly on his way to having a nice career at Notre Dame.
 

I said it multiple times in this thread, I was a bit surprised he was as heavily recruited as he was, but I'm not entirely sure it was a Cretin thing. You have to keep in mind that his stock skyrocketed at these elite camps. Tons of players at those camps are from the "Cretins" of the world. Those kinds of schools are much more prevalent in other states. I can't imagine HS coaches, who are in contact with schools that produce as much, and often times, more talent than Cretin would be dazzled by CDH.

His stock probably exceeded his production at Cretin because he is a fantastic athlete (better physical specimen than Floyd), he is a straight A student (you don't have to worry about him qualifying), and he his frame allows him to be really versatile. He could switch from LBer to WR or other positions. He's more recruitable as a pure athlete than someone who HAS to play a specific position.

He is doing really well at Notre Dame. He started games a true freshman last year. I think he'll eventually make a better LBer than a WR. The injury will make it tough for him, but he is certainly on his way to having a nice career at Notre Dame.

Good to know from someone in the know. I stand corrected.
 

I said it multiple times in this thread, I was a bit surprised he was as heavily recruited as he was, but I'm not entirely sure it was a Cretin thing. You have to keep in mind that his stock skyrocketed at these elite camps. Tons of players at those camps are from the "Cretins" of the world. Those kinds of schools are much more prevalent in other states. I can't imagine HS coaches, who are in contact with schools that produce as much, and often times, more talent than Cretin would be dazzled by CDH.

His stock probably exceeded his production at Cretin because he is a fantastic athlete (better physical specimen than Floyd), he is a straight A student (you don't have to worry about him qualifying), and he his frame allows him to be really versatile. He could switch from LBer to WR or other positions. He's more recruitable as a pure athlete than someone who HAS to play a specific position.

He is doing really well at Notre Dame. He started games a true freshman last year. I think he'll eventually make a better LBer than a WR. The injury will make it tough for him, but he is certainly on his way to having a nice career at Notre Dame.


Bob, give it a rest...
I called this almost three years ago.. look back thru this post.. i was spot on..
i stood alone...
bombarded with 'dboy do you think you know more than the recruiting staff at ND, OSU, etc'..

apologies accepted.

anyway, the key for me was the camp hype and the lack of on-field 'wow' factor..
also, he didn't excel in track and hoops... two sports ( esp hoops ) that a d1 WR should find easy... especially a 'fantastic athlete'... to quote BobL

he does not have the 'punch' of an LB.. he's too thin-framed...

b-u-s-t.
 

Bob, give it a rest...
I called this almost three years ago.. look back thru this post.. i was spot on..
i stood alone...
bombarded with 'dboy do you think you know more than the recruiting staff at ND, OSU, etc'..

apologies accepted.

anyway, the key for me was the camp hype and the lack of on-field 'wow' factor..
also, he didn't excel in track and hoops... two sports ( esp hoops ) that a d1 WR should find easy... especially a 'fantastic athlete'... to quote BobL

he does not have the 'punch' of an LB.. he's too thin-framed...

b-u-s-t.

Go suck a choad, you jack-hole.
 






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