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Q&A: Two-Sport Athlete Daylen Sharper Talks Visiting Gophers During USC Win, Recruitment and More
Q&A: Two-Sport Athlete Daylen Sharper Talks Visiting Gophers During USC Win, Recruitment and More - GopherHole.com
Daylen Sharper, a 6-foot-4, 2-sport athlete from Brophy College Prepatory in Phoenix, AZ has received offers from both the Gophers football and basketball programs. Born and raised in Minnesota until 7th grade, Sharper ended his junior football season with an average of 65.1 receiving yards per...
Daylen Sharper, a 6-foot-4, 2-sport athlete from Brophy College Prepatory in Phoenix, AZ has received offers from both the Gophers football and basketball programs. Born and raised in Minnesota until 7th grade, Sharper ended his junior football season with an average of 65.1 receiving yards per game and 12 TDs leading Brophy to the 6A State Semifinals. Sharper will quickly transition to basketball as the Brophy season as Brophy’s first game is Tuesday night.
Sharper was recently named All-Region first team and currently has 3 basketball offers and 15 football offers from Power 4 schools such as Minnesota, Arizona, Arizona State, Wisconsin, Kansas, Oregon, and many more.
GopherHole caught up with Sharper earlier today to learn about his recruitment process and what he looks for in schools when on official visits.
GopherHole: Have you started to narrow down a list in both basketball and football?
Daylen Sharper: I haven’t yet since Junior year is a big year in recruiting, so I am expecting a lot of other schools to offer me, so I haven’t picked my top yet.
GopherHole: Since you started playing football later than basketball, what did you do to catch up to everyone to get yourself to be a D1 recruit in only three years?
Daylen Sharper: I used my skills from other sports that I have learned from playing all my life to help me play on the football field, I have also been working out a lot more to help me get better at mechanics, but honestly football has come pretty natural to me.
GopherHole: And with that are there any skills that transfer from basketball to football and vice versa?
Daylen Sharper: Yea for sure, with basketball I feel like I have good court vision and that carries to the field where I have good field vision. But I feel like basketball skills carries over more to football with my movement, so yeah basketball has really helped my football.
GopherHole: How has your experience been with managing two high level sports and a high-level academic school?
Daylen Sharper: It’s been great, I have a lot of help from my mom and friends who keep me on the right path and help me maintain my grades while performing at a high level. And I have a good support system that guides me on the right path.
GopherHole: How would you describe yourself as a football player?
Daylen Sharper: A big receiver who is good at 50/50 balls, and a guy who can get a lot of yards after the catch.
GopherHole: What makes you a great leader on and off the field?
Daylen Sharper: I feel like being able to make good connections with the guys. At Brophy I have made great connections with the teammates on and off the field both in basketball and football. I play with a lot of great players, and I feel like having that chemistry with them helps me lead them and so we can push each other to the best of our abilities.
GopherHole: As you have visited a lot of schools, what do you look for when visiting schools?
Daylen Sharper: I look for fan bases and how the coaches treat me on a visit, I want to go to a school with passionate fans and loud fans, and obviously coaches who care about me and my success. I also want to be apart of a winning program.
GopherHole: And with that how was your experience while the Gophers beat USC, and you were able to experience the crowd rushing the field?
Daylen Sharper: It was crazy, Minnesota played a great game. I mean the fans and the student section were going crazy the whole game and they were very passionate. And when they stormed the field after the pick by Koi Perich just was unreal.
GopherHole: Being born and raised in Minnesota what would it mean to play for the Gophers?
Daylen Sharper: It would feel like a dream come true, especially growing up in Minnesota they were my dream school but now I have some other offers. But growing up I looked up to a lot to the football and basketball guys. It would just feel unreal playing at home with a huge fanbase and all my family there.
GopherHole: I know the Gopher Basketball team offered you, are they still currently recruiting you and if so, what would it mean to be ablet to play for Coach Thorson who I know your mom has known for many years?
Daylen Sharper: They still hit me up from time to time. You know, I obviously have a great relationship with both coaches. And If I could play for him, it would be awesome, he’s a guy I really trust and he’s a good coach.
GopherHole: Lastly, is there anything else you would like me to know about your recruitment process?
Daylen Sharper: Overall, my recruitment process has been really good; I’m just looking for a school that really cares about me and my development as a player. And has a good program and academics.