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Q&A: Top TE Prospect Gaelin Elmore Talks Gophers, Recruiting and Working on His Game
Top TE Prospect Gaelin Elmore Talks Gophers, Recruiting and Working on His Game
By Chris Monter
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/249541?referrer_id=388419
Gaelin Elmore, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound tight end from Somerset, is one of the top football players in the Midwest. He has a Minnesota offer and attended a recent Gopher scrimmage. Gopher Hole caught up with Elmore in St. Cloud Saturday as he played with the Wisconsin Playmakers AAU program.
Gopher Hole: What is the latest on schools you are hearing from?
Gaelin Elmore: I’ve heard from Florida, Stanford, Oregon, Tennessee, Michigan State and Iowa State lately.
Gopher Hole: What offers do you have right now?
Gaelin Elmore: I have four (He has since picked up an offer from Iowa State). The Big Ten schools Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nebraska and North Dakota.
Gopher Hole: I know that you were at the Minnesota practice last week. Have you had a chance to go to many practices this spring?
Gaelin Elmore: That was my first practice. Before, I went ahead of time and toured the campus a little bit. We got to see the dorms and everything about the school.
Gopher Hole: What are you hearing from the Gophers?
Gaelin Elmore: Just that they want me to pretty much go there a lot. I am pretty much getting mail from them every day and talk to the coaches weekly. Right now, it just comes down to how comfortable I am with the players. I haven’t officially had a chance to meet the players and start building that relationship with them. That is it right now.
Gopher Hole: Do you any plans to go to any more practices or Spring games?
Gaelin Elmore: The Spring game, I am going to try to get over there a little bit, but our Prom is that day, so it might not be for the whole time. I am definitely going to go to some games this fall with me being so close. I’ll go to a bunch of those. I want to get back to another practice. That would be nice. Seeing them outside the scrimmage-mode. Just seeing how they practice day to day.
Gopher Hole: What is going to be the main factor when you decide on a school that will make you pick School A over School B and C?
Gaelin Elmore: Number one, I think, is going to be the coach. How comfortable the relationship I have with him. What type of guy he is and then it goes, winning, success. I want to be successful in college and third is the opportunity to play. I feel that I can contribute right away. I don’t want anything handed to me, but I want the equal opportunity to play just as someone else.
Gopher Hole: You won the state championship this past season. What are the expectations for the upcoming year?
Gaelin Elmore: We lost 16 seniors, ten on each side of the ball, so I was the only one who wasn’t a senior who started last year. We are going to be young early. Not a lot of experience because a lot of the seniors started for three years. We are going to be a lot better than people think. We have some good kids and we are working hard. We like being in the underdog roles. I think that it is going to be a fun season for us.
Gopher Hole: You are obviously going to be asked to be more of a leader this season with such a young team. Is that something you are looking forward to?
Gaelin Elmore: Yes. I considered myself one of the major leaders last year on that team. A lot of guys looked up to me last year whether they were seniors or not. I feel that the spotlight is definitely going to be on me more this year as far as me being a leader and how well we play, might fall on me sometimes.
Gopher Hole: What about your relationship with your head coach? I know that you have special relationship with him. What is that like?
Gaelin Elmore: He is a great guy. I am actually living with him right now. He is a second father figure to me. He has done some great things for me and is a great man. We have one last year and we are going to be a good ride.
Gopher Hole: How much do you think playing basketball helps you with football?
Gaelin Elmore: It helps a lot actually. It helps with my feet and getting foot speed. It helps with my balance and also my explosiveness and hands, anything that a tight end needs.
Gopher Hole: Is it a little bit tough to do the football things, like gain weight, with basketball going on?
Gaelin Elmore: Definitely. When I get a break from basketball, my weight shoots up and when I start playing, it drops. Right now, I am hovering around 230-235, but we had a week break off basketball and I went to Nebraska and weighed in at 241. I definitely hurts the weight, but it keeps me in shape, so it is not a bad thing.
Gopher Hole: You have a good season in basketball, losing to an undefeated Barron in the playoffs. How pleased were you with this past year?
Gaelin Elmore: We didn’t go as far as we did last year, but you can say it was successful season as far as wins because we had the most wins in school history, but we wanted to get the conference championship, which we ended up falling one game short of that. We fell one game short of playing in the sectional finals to get to state. It wasn’t successful in some ways, but in other ways it was still fun.
Gopher Hole: What do you see as your strengths as a player?
Gaelin Elmore: Just my blocking ability. A lot of tight ends are more finesse and more speed. I am the type of guy who likes to get in there and block the big D-ends and people like that. I feel that I am one of the best blocking tight ends in the nation. That is the first thing that stands out to me.
Gopher Hole: Have you thought about summer football camps much?
Gaelin Elmore: I am mostly likely going to try to get to a Minnesota one, so I can work with Coach Reeves and do some stuff with him, but as far as that, I really don’t know yet because most of the schools in the area I have an offer from. I don’t know which ones I am going to yet, but I’ll definitely try to get out to some.
Gopher Hole: How about AAU basketball? This weekend, you are playing at Hopkins and the following week, I think you are taking off due to Prom conflicts. Are you going to be traveling a lot with the team this summer?
Gaelin Elmore: Yes. As soon as April is done, we have all the spring games, so it is hard with AAU. I had to do an interview with Tom Lemming this morning, so I had to go to Woodbury and come back here. I wasn’t supposed to be here, actually. Next Saturday, I am going to the Wisconsin Spring game, so I am going to miss that day of the tournament. So right now it is kind of tough. The biggest part of football is going to be June and we have that month off, so after April is going to be fine.
Gopher Hole: Have you even thought about when you would try to decide on a school? Would you do it before the school year or would you take some official visits?
Gaelin Elmore: It would be nice to have one done before the start of football season, but if not, it is going to go to February. I don’t want it to get in the way of my senior season in any way. Probably just going to try to get it done by then and if not, just go to February and that will be fine with me.
Top TE Prospect Gaelin Elmore Talks Gophers, Recruiting and Working on His Game
By Chris Monter
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/249541?referrer_id=388419
Gaelin Elmore, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound tight end from Somerset, is one of the top football players in the Midwest. He has a Minnesota offer and attended a recent Gopher scrimmage. Gopher Hole caught up with Elmore in St. Cloud Saturday as he played with the Wisconsin Playmakers AAU program.
Gopher Hole: What is the latest on schools you are hearing from?
Gaelin Elmore: I’ve heard from Florida, Stanford, Oregon, Tennessee, Michigan State and Iowa State lately.
Gopher Hole: What offers do you have right now?
Gaelin Elmore: I have four (He has since picked up an offer from Iowa State). The Big Ten schools Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nebraska and North Dakota.
Gopher Hole: I know that you were at the Minnesota practice last week. Have you had a chance to go to many practices this spring?
Gaelin Elmore: That was my first practice. Before, I went ahead of time and toured the campus a little bit. We got to see the dorms and everything about the school.
Gopher Hole: What are you hearing from the Gophers?
Gaelin Elmore: Just that they want me to pretty much go there a lot. I am pretty much getting mail from them every day and talk to the coaches weekly. Right now, it just comes down to how comfortable I am with the players. I haven’t officially had a chance to meet the players and start building that relationship with them. That is it right now.
Gopher Hole: Do you any plans to go to any more practices or Spring games?
Gaelin Elmore: The Spring game, I am going to try to get over there a little bit, but our Prom is that day, so it might not be for the whole time. I am definitely going to go to some games this fall with me being so close. I’ll go to a bunch of those. I want to get back to another practice. That would be nice. Seeing them outside the scrimmage-mode. Just seeing how they practice day to day.
Gopher Hole: What is going to be the main factor when you decide on a school that will make you pick School A over School B and C?
Gaelin Elmore: Number one, I think, is going to be the coach. How comfortable the relationship I have with him. What type of guy he is and then it goes, winning, success. I want to be successful in college and third is the opportunity to play. I feel that I can contribute right away. I don’t want anything handed to me, but I want the equal opportunity to play just as someone else.
Gopher Hole: You won the state championship this past season. What are the expectations for the upcoming year?
Gaelin Elmore: We lost 16 seniors, ten on each side of the ball, so I was the only one who wasn’t a senior who started last year. We are going to be young early. Not a lot of experience because a lot of the seniors started for three years. We are going to be a lot better than people think. We have some good kids and we are working hard. We like being in the underdog roles. I think that it is going to be a fun season for us.
Gopher Hole: You are obviously going to be asked to be more of a leader this season with such a young team. Is that something you are looking forward to?
Gaelin Elmore: Yes. I considered myself one of the major leaders last year on that team. A lot of guys looked up to me last year whether they were seniors or not. I feel that the spotlight is definitely going to be on me more this year as far as me being a leader and how well we play, might fall on me sometimes.
Gopher Hole: What about your relationship with your head coach? I know that you have special relationship with him. What is that like?
Gaelin Elmore: He is a great guy. I am actually living with him right now. He is a second father figure to me. He has done some great things for me and is a great man. We have one last year and we are going to be a good ride.
Gopher Hole: How much do you think playing basketball helps you with football?
Gaelin Elmore: It helps a lot actually. It helps with my feet and getting foot speed. It helps with my balance and also my explosiveness and hands, anything that a tight end needs.
Gopher Hole: Is it a little bit tough to do the football things, like gain weight, with basketball going on?
Gaelin Elmore: Definitely. When I get a break from basketball, my weight shoots up and when I start playing, it drops. Right now, I am hovering around 230-235, but we had a week break off basketball and I went to Nebraska and weighed in at 241. I definitely hurts the weight, but it keeps me in shape, so it is not a bad thing.
Gopher Hole: You have a good season in basketball, losing to an undefeated Barron in the playoffs. How pleased were you with this past year?
Gaelin Elmore: We didn’t go as far as we did last year, but you can say it was successful season as far as wins because we had the most wins in school history, but we wanted to get the conference championship, which we ended up falling one game short of that. We fell one game short of playing in the sectional finals to get to state. It wasn’t successful in some ways, but in other ways it was still fun.
Gopher Hole: What do you see as your strengths as a player?
Gaelin Elmore: Just my blocking ability. A lot of tight ends are more finesse and more speed. I am the type of guy who likes to get in there and block the big D-ends and people like that. I feel that I am one of the best blocking tight ends in the nation. That is the first thing that stands out to me.
Gopher Hole: Have you thought about summer football camps much?
Gaelin Elmore: I am mostly likely going to try to get to a Minnesota one, so I can work with Coach Reeves and do some stuff with him, but as far as that, I really don’t know yet because most of the schools in the area I have an offer from. I don’t know which ones I am going to yet, but I’ll definitely try to get out to some.
Gopher Hole: How about AAU basketball? This weekend, you are playing at Hopkins and the following week, I think you are taking off due to Prom conflicts. Are you going to be traveling a lot with the team this summer?
Gaelin Elmore: Yes. As soon as April is done, we have all the spring games, so it is hard with AAU. I had to do an interview with Tom Lemming this morning, so I had to go to Woodbury and come back here. I wasn’t supposed to be here, actually. Next Saturday, I am going to the Wisconsin Spring game, so I am going to miss that day of the tournament. So right now it is kind of tough. The biggest part of football is going to be June and we have that month off, so after April is going to be fine.
Gopher Hole: Have you even thought about when you would try to decide on a school? Would you do it before the school year or would you take some official visits?
Gaelin Elmore: It would be nice to have one done before the start of football season, but if not, it is going to go to February. I don’t want it to get in the way of my senior season in any way. Probably just going to try to get it done by then and if not, just go to February and that will be fine with me.
