Q&A: Eden Prairie RB Anthony Anderson Heading to Iowa JUCO, Still Talking W/ Gophers

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Q&A: Eden Prairie RB Anthony Anderson Heading to Iowa JUCO, Still Talking W/ Gophers

Q&A: Eden Prairie RB Anthony Anderson Heading to Iowa JUCO, Still Talking With Gophers
By Chris Monter

http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/369395?referrer_id=388419

Anthony Anderson, a senior running back from Eden Prairie (MN) High, helped lead the Eagles to three straight state titles and a number one ranking this year. Anderson, who had received recruiting interest from Minnesota, will attend junior college power Iowa Western, the same school that has produced Gophers Mike Henry and Cody Poock.

Anderson recently talked to Gopher Hole about the latest on his recruitment.

Gopher Hole: You are going to attend Iowa Western next fall. How did you decide on that school?

Anthony Anderson: There was a lot of things that happened with school. I had to go the Juco route. They approached me pretty hard. There were a lot of Division I schools that suggested that school to me, so I looked into and decided that it was a good fit.

Gopher Hole: You will have to be there two years, right?

Anthony Anderson: Two years, but they said that if I go in July, I could be there for a year and a half, so I am planning on just going there, focus on my studies and get out early.

Gopher Hole: So that would be the goal to maybe graduate in December of 2015 and go to spring practice?

Anthony Anderson: Yes, sir.

Gopher Hole: What schools have you been hearing from since the season ended?

Anthony Anderson: I have been talking to New Mexico, Wyoming, Minnesota, Michigan State and Wisconsin.

Gopher Hole: Have you talked to the coaching staff about position? Are you going to stay with running back or have you talked to them much about that?

Anthony Anderson: Yes, sir. Every school that I have talked to wants me to stick with running back, so that is what I am going to do.

Gopher Hole: I know that you would love to go directly to Division I. How hard is going to be to have to wait?

Anthony Anderson: Everybody doesn't go the same path, so it is going to be kind of rough, but I just have to make the best of it and grow and develop as a player.

Gopher Hole: It seems like Iowa Western has done a good job of developing players. Does that make you figure that if you do what you are supposed to do school-wise and football-wise, that all is going to be good?

Anthony Anderson: Yes, sir. They told me that as long as I work hard, good things will happen for me, so I am just going to approach it like that every time.

Gopher Hole: What have you been hearing from the Gophers?

Anthony Anderson: I have been talking to the coaches and a whole bunch of the guys. We plan on having a meeting soon with my head coach at Iowa Western and the coaching staff from Minnesota. They have been talking to me and telling me that they want me to come in, while they are rolling. They want me to be an asset to the team, stuff like that.

Gopher Hole: Have you been down to Iowa Western yet?

Anthony Anderson: No, I haven't visited yet, but I plan on going up in a few weeks.

Gopher Hole: When do you plan on enrolling at Iowa Western?

Anthony Anderson: I will enroll in the summer.

Gopher Hole: I know that you played a few games of basketball this year after starting as a junior. How tough was it not to play this season?

Anthony Anderson: It was a really hard decision because I wanted to be out there with those guys. They were like my brothers, but there are just a lot of priorities that you have to put first and that is what matters most.
 

He would have been a heck of a walkon, 9.6 yards a carry, probably would be better suited as an inside linebacker at 6-2 235, there aren't many 6-2 RBs. Worst case he would have been a great special teams player but I can't see him being the starting RB for us.
 

I like that Kill is guiding this kid to the Iowa juco that we already have a modest pipeline. Also glad that we haven't curtailed our communication with the kid.
 

Is it troubling to anyone here but me that our supposedly strong academic suburban schools can't get a kid like Anderson college-eligible out of high school? Same goes with Hopkins with Marcus Williams. No excuse that school districts that boast of their academic prowess can't get these kids adequately prepared for the next step. I obviously don't know the whole story, but I just think there's a troubling pattern because it's not just these two kids or school districts.
 

Is it troubling to anyone here but me that our supposedly strong academic suburban schools can't get a kid like Anderson college-eligible out of high school? Same goes with Hopkins with Marcus Williams. No excuse that school districts that boast of their academic prowess can't get these kids adequately prepared for the next step. I obviously don't know the whole story, but I just think there's a troubling pattern because it's not just these two kids or school districts.
I don't think it's a problem with the schools, I think it's more of a problem with the kids and their parents, not making education a priority.
 


The national HS drop out rate is 30%. Those have a much lower chance in life than the JUCO students. That is a terrible problem that has more than one cause and is a total failure on the nation's part. (This is OT board stuff)

Back to Anderson. With his size he might come out of Western Iowa as one heck of a B1G fullback. Does he have good hands?
 


I certainly have no knowledge about this kid's situation- but is there any evidence that he received any D1 offers and couldn't qualify academically for them? How do we know that he doesn't want to go the JUCO route in hopes that he raises his profile enough to procure a scholarship for his final 2 years?
 




Is it troubling to anyone here but me that our supposedly strong academic suburban schools can't get a kid like Anderson college-eligible out of high school? Same goes with Hopkins with Marcus Williams. No excuse that school districts that boast of their academic prowess can't get these kids adequately prepared for the next step. I obviously don't know the whole story, but I just think there's a troubling pattern because it's not just these two kids or school districts.

a strong academic school would make it harder for him to become eligible, not easier, might help his ACT scores but not GPA.
 

I certainly have no knowledge about this kid's situation- but is there any evidence that he received any D1 offers and couldn't qualify academically for them? How do we know that he doesn't want to go the JUCO route in hopes that he raises his profile enough to procure a scholarship for his final 2 years?

Gopher Hole: You will have to be there two years, right?

Anthony Anderson: Two years, but they said that if I go in July, I could be there for a year and a half, so I am planning on just going there, focus on my studies and get out early.
 





If he's going to stay at RB, he's going to have to work on his quickness, and really keep his weight under control. The kid definitely has talent, but I could easily see him getting too big for RB. Again, FB would be a possibility. He seems to have fairly quick feet, but I'm not sure he has the top-end speed to be a tailback for a D1 program.
 

Imagine if Jeff Jones would have transferred to EP how stacked that backfield would have been.
 




He would have been a heck of a walkon, 9.6 yards a carry, probably would be better suited as an inside linebacker at 6-2 235, there aren't many 6-2 RBs. Worst case he would have been a great special teams player but I can't see him being the starting RB for us.

Open your eyes. Brandon Jacobs was a 6'4" 260lb RB who played for Kill at Southern Illinois. He also started out in Juco

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Jacobs
 




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