BleedGopher
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Per STrib:
This summer, Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck offered a scholarship to Eden Prairie incoming freshman and 14-year-old Jayden Bates, making him the state’s first football player to receive an offer from the Gophers out of middle school since Cretin-Derham Hall’s Seantrel Henderson in 2007.
“It was amazing,” said Bates, a 6-5, 215-pound defensive end who had yet to play in a varsity game when he was offered the scholarship. “It’s something I did not expect.”
Coaches like Fleck identify that type of talent at their elite camps, where this past summer Bates bulldozed his way through a 6-6, 295-pound high school junior offensive linemen in a pass-rushing drill — in front of Fleck.
“Coaches were looking, so I knew I needed to step it up and really show out,” Bates said.
The camps are a way to put prospects in front of coaches before contact is allowed.
“It’s even critical getting in on them earlier by getting them at your camp in their freshman and sophomore years,” Fleck said, speaking generally. “There are a lot of rules in terms of the contact piece, but if you get them on campus and you get them in a camp, you can get an early evaluation.”
Fleck said early recruiting is risky because some top prospects aren’t “always going to pan out.”
“I think you have to have a really good balance of what you’re going to take [as a commitment] early and then obviously having some [scholarship] spots at the end, too,” he said.
varsity.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
This summer, Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck offered a scholarship to Eden Prairie incoming freshman and 14-year-old Jayden Bates, making him the state’s first football player to receive an offer from the Gophers out of middle school since Cretin-Derham Hall’s Seantrel Henderson in 2007.
“It was amazing,” said Bates, a 6-5, 215-pound defensive end who had yet to play in a varsity game when he was offered the scholarship. “It’s something I did not expect.”
Betting on potential
Fleck’s Gophers are expected to sign three of Minnesota’s top seniors in Jackson County Central’s Roman Voss, Rocori’s Andrew Trout and Forest Lake’s Howie Johnson in December. The Gophers also have a commitment from Wayzata’s Eli Diane, the state’s No. 1-rated junior. Trout and Diane committed as sophomores to the U.Coaches like Fleck identify that type of talent at their elite camps, where this past summer Bates bulldozed his way through a 6-6, 295-pound high school junior offensive linemen in a pass-rushing drill — in front of Fleck.
“Coaches were looking, so I knew I needed to step it up and really show out,” Bates said.
The camps are a way to put prospects in front of coaches before contact is allowed.
“It’s even critical getting in on them earlier by getting them at your camp in their freshman and sophomore years,” Fleck said, speaking generally. “There are a lot of rules in terms of the contact piece, but if you get them on campus and you get them in a camp, you can get an early evaluation.”
Fleck said early recruiting is risky because some top prospects aren’t “always going to pan out.”
“I think you have to have a really good balance of what you’re going to take [as a commitment] early and then obviously having some [scholarship] spots at the end, too,” he said.
Inside the overwhelming world of recruiting for Minnesota's youngest sports stars | Strib Varsity
Hill-Murray eighth-grade basketball star Ashlee Wilson and Eden Prairie freshman football standout Jayden Bates are among Minnesota’s athletes experiencing early recruiting.
Go Gophers!!
