Blaise Andries, a 6-foot-6, 295-pound junior offensive tackle from Marshall (MN) High and arguably the state’s top player in the 2017 class, committed to Minnesota Saturday.
Andries helped lead the Tigers to a 9-2 mark this past season, losing to Stewartville 35-7 in the first round of the Class AAAA state tournament. They finished 8-1 in 2014, being upset by Waseca in the first round of the playoffs after being them 35-6 three weeks before
Gopher Hole caught up with Andries to learn more on his commitment.
Gopher Hole: You committed to Minnesota Saturday. What made you realize that Minnesota was where you wanted to play college football?
Blaise Andries: About two weeks ago, I went on a visit to Minnesota and I was able to get to know the players and the coaches better. I was able to really see the daily routine of the program and through all those things, I liked what I saw. Overall, it felt like home. I felt that I could see myself going to practice on a daily basis, going to film with Coach Miller. He is a great guy, let’s go throw that out there. I could see myself doing those things on a daily basis and really being on that team with the players that I go to know.
Gopher Hole: Had you always planned on making your college choice so early?
Blaise Andries: No. Originally, I was thinking about midsummer, was when I was going to make it, but I decided that it felt right and I told my parents that I want to think about for a few weeks and if it still feels right, then I am going to go ahead with it. I went on another visit the weekend afterward and I thought that it was kind of like I knew where I wanted to go and didn’t really want to be there the most, but they were good coaches and everything, but I already had my mind set on where I wanted to be. I had more evidence and I decided to save my family some money on plane tickets and all that stuff. It really came with the visit.
Gopher Hole: What was the reaction of the Gopher coaches when you committed?
Blaise Andries: I had told Coach Claeys because originally, I wasn’t going to go to the spring game. I had told Coach Claeys the week before, so he might have been expecting it, but they were still really happy when I did and so was I. I was ecstatic and they were very happy and they said that the work doesn’t stop here. We have got to keep working and get this class together now and get another good one.
Gopher Hole: What has been the reaction of your family and friends?
Blaise Andries: They were happy for me. My family was happy for me. They supported me all the way through the process. They were willing to go wherever and travel wherever I went. To see my parents on a plane or see me on plane, really, sometimes just doesn’t (happen). My friends, I hadn’t told them. I hadn’t even told Drew (Hmielewski), who has committed there. I hadn’t told any of them that I was going there that day because I kind of wanted to keep it on low. I wanted to keep it a secret. They were really surprised by the tweet. I got a call from my closest friends, my quarterback and he said “Blaise, where did that come from.” “Are you up there right now?” and I told him “Yes, I’ve been up here all morning and he said that “we are coming up and we’ll be there in an hour.” They come up here and they were really surprised and he put Drew on the phone and he said congrats and he said that he knew it from the beginning. It was just an overall positive vibe from my family and friends. They were all happy for me. It was a great day.
Gopher Hole: That was my next question. What was Drew’s reaction? Had he been talking to you about Minnesota for quite a while?
Blaise Andries: Yes. I heard it from him constantly over the past year. Minnesota. I had honestly no clue where I wanted to go up until that weekend when I was able to spend time with the 2016 commits and some of the freshman at the college now and really got to see who I would be working with and a great overall feeling. Drew, like I said, was happy that I decided to go to Minnesota and he was surprised, too, because he didn’t even know that I was going up to the cities. I think they suspected something because my brother put something out there about “Finally, in the Cities,” and they saw it and they were like “wait a second, I didn’t he was going anywhere this weekend.” They might have figured it out. I’m not sure.
Gopher Hole: What does it mean to have the opportunity to play for the home state school?
Blaise Andries: It is great. The opportunity to defend your home state. You can’t get much better than that. It is not like defending another state or anything like that. Coach Miller really tried to tell us that when we were on that visit the one weekend. He has a quote about defending your home, something about warriors fighting their best when they are defending their home. That kind of stuck with me. He is a big history guy, so he has got a lot of good quotes that he can pull out.
Gopher Hole: Did you grow up as a Gopher fan?
Blaise Andries: Yes. As a kid, I have gone to Gopher games for the past five years. I have gone to games for the past five years, but I’ve watched them on TV and everything as a kid. Growing up, my dad is a big Gopher fan and it really kind of went down the bloodlines with me, so I think that it is in the family.
Gopher Hole: I know that you just committed, but do you feel like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders having made the decision to commit to Minnesota?
Blaise Andries: Yes. Totally, now I can focus on Marshall and high school football, basketball and baseball and I can focus on my school work more instead of having to answer text messages at night. The process was fun and everything, but it is good to finally have made a decision.
Gopher Hole: You are the first player from the Class of 2017 to commit to Minnesota. Does that make it even more special?
Blaise Andries: That is cool. That is good, I guess. It makes it special. Help Coach out and really find and help recruit people in this class, kind of like what Carter (Coughlin) did for his class. Just trying to find the best people, the best people and the best players that fit in the Minnesota program for the 2017 Class as he did for the 2016 Class.
Gopher Hole: The Class of 2016 includes many Minnesota players who got to become good friends during their senior seasons. Have you talked to any other in-state players that Minnesota is recruiting?
Blaise Andries: I’ve been in contact with Eric Abojei (an offensive tackle from Robbinsdale Cooper) and Erik Wilson (offensive guard from Benilde St. Margaret’s). I have talked to Nico Bolden (a defensive back from Woodbury) and Ricky Floyd (a running back from Benilde St. Margaret’s). All those really good players around the state. I have been in contact with them over Twitter. Nico went down to the San Antonio combine. I was down there also. I talked to him a little bit in the airport. I have gotten to know those guys pretty well.
Gopher Hole: Have you heard from any of them since you committed?
Blaise Andries: Yes. Eric Abojei and Erik Wilson were actually there. He congratulated me. Eric Abojei was at Iowa State that weekend, but he also congratulated me and they are great people and great players. I think that they will be successful wherever they go. Hopefully it is Minnesota, though.
Gopher Hole: The Gophers made some coaching changes in the past year with Tracy Claeys taking over as head coach and Coach Jay Johnson as the offensive coordinator and Bart Miller as the new offensive line coach. What has your relationship been with them since they came on board?
Blaise Andries: They are all really good people, Really good coaches. Coach Claeys, I love his philosophy and the way he handles people and the way that he gets up in the morning, motivates his players to get better every day. He does a great job. I stood in on one of his team meetings in the morning and I wanted to be out there and lift stuff after that. It was great. Coach Miller, I like the way that he coaches the line. Once again, he is a great person. His attitude is get the work done now and it will show in the game and after the game, you can all go out to dinner. That basic mindset, get the work done now and it will pay off later. That is the way that I really look at things, too. Coach Johnson, I have met up with him, also and he is a good guy, too. I like the offense that he is putting in with the downhill run and the power. I think that is a good way to go about it.
Gopher Hole: I think you were up to 22 offers when you committed. How hard was it to say no to the other schools?
Blaise Andries: That was a hard week, last week. I made my first text messages and calls on Sunday and the rest of the five days, I did a little a day. I finally ended up calling the ones that I visited or the ones that I had to cancel a visit to and those were the hardest, but they appreciated it when you make those calls, They know it is hard for you. They do appreciate it when you call them better than sending them a text or blindsiding them out of nowhere with a commitment. It is always good to call just to make sure that you don’t get on anyone’s bad side or anything.
Gopher Hole: You also play basketball. Many fans have seen the highlights of your incredible four-overtime game (103-100) versus Waseca. I know it was tough to not to make it to state after such a heartbreaking loss, but your team had a fantastic season. What were some of the highlights of the season for you?
Blaise Andries: For me, just being a team. The year before, it was a great team, but I didn’t really get that “team feeling.” Now, this year, I knew everyone so much better and we got along a lot better. It was real team feeling. We were willing to put on the line for the guy next to us and we really rallied to that. Just traveling with the basketball team and seeing your friends like it is your last game that you are traveling to, getting to know them. It’s all about the team.
Gopher Hole: I know that it was tough, especially losing in that way, but in a way is that going to be a game that you will never forget because it was so back-and-forth and exciting plays.
Blaise Andries: I will never, I’ll promise you, I will never forget that game. That’s the craziest game that I have been a part of as a player in any sport. Coming from our football season, we had a really close game with Hutchinson and I’m like “Geez, nothing get crazier than that and then come basketball season, the section finals. Oh, man. That game, I think it was the end of regulation and we were down by three and their best player, Nick Dufault, was shooting free throw and I thought it was over and Nick is a great guy, but he ended up missing the second free throw. There were five seconds left and we threw it up court to our sophomore point guard and he is also our quarterback. I think that he is going to some camps this summer. He is a really good player, Trey Lance, and he ended up hitting the three at the buzzer. I saw that thing hit off the front of the rim and bounced to the back of the rim and we were all like “He missed it long,” but it ended up rolling backwards into the basket and the crowd went wild and that was a great moment. The first and second overtime, it was just back and forth. They were matching everything that we did and we were matching everything that we did. That was the first and second overtime and in the third overtime, we came down and we were up by three and our power forward, Reese Winkelman had just made an and-one layup. He went to the line, made the shot and there was one second left and they got it into Nick Dufault and he pulled off some magic and hit that three to force a fourth overtime. At first when I saw it, I thought it was fine, that it was going to go way too long or way too short, depending on how he threw it, but the thing went right in the basket. I was pretty shocked, but I knew that they were not going to give up so easily and if anyone took the shot, he of anyone could’ve had made it because he was on fire that night. That was probably the best shot I’ve seen made in a basketball game. Coming into the fourth overtime, I think that we had just tied it up with five seconds left and they broke our press and #5 (Cole Streich) ended up hitting another buzzer beater and it was just crazy the amount of back and forth and the amount of buzzer beaters and everything that can go into one basketball game.
Gopher Hole: They had the highlights on You Tube and ESPN Sports Center. Have you watched the highlights of that game since then?
Blaise Andries: Yes. After the game, we were all sad that we lost, but we were all like “That was the craziest game that we are ever going to be a part of.” You might as well enjoy all the publicity as a team. We were really disappointed, don’t get me wrong, but we gave it all we can and there was nothing really we could do about it to win that game when they are making shots like that. We enjoyed the publicity as a team. The Timberwolves invited us to a game. We were on ESPN and all that. A bunch of different shows on ESPN. I ended up the next day going home after school watching those shows and I still have the videos on my phone. People talk about it. It’s just crazy to be a part of something that big, something the whole nation was able to see. When I was talking to coaches about it, they were like “Is your basketball season still going on?” I’m like “Have you watched SportsCenter and that four overtime game that there was three buzzer beaters,” and they said “Yea,” and I said “That was our game. We lost,” and they were like “Oh man, I’m sorry to hear that.” It was a crazy game. It’s fine.
Gopher Hole: You play basketball, baseball and football. Do you think that playing all three sports helps you as a football player?
Blaise Andries: Oh, yes, for sure. It keeps busy. It keeps you out of trouble. It really helps you with time management with school and everything, It makes it so you can not procrastinate. You are always doing something and it is good to stay out of trouble. Playing three sports also helps you with your athleticism. Really staying in shape over the year. Overall, it just helps you in every way. With baseball, we are working on sprints and quickness and that is good for football and helps you get to the second level and it is good for basketball, helping you sprint down the court and they are all tied together. You can still get time, because people have the argument that you can’t lift because you are in baseball, but you can still get time to lift at night after practice. That is what half our baseball team does that are in football. They all get in there after baseball practice. Get our lifting in, go home, do our homework and go to bed and repeat, so it is good to be in three sports.
Gopher Hole: Are you planning on all three sports as a senior?
Blaise Andries: Yes, for sure. It is kind of a pride thing. I’m not one to quit, so I’m just going to stick with it and have the best time I can as a high schooler.
Gopher Hole: You wouldn’t be attending football camps this summer since you have committed. What are your summer plans to get ready for a big senior season in football?
Blaise Andries: Summer plans, we all lift four days out of the week and Wednesday is basically the football day, where we have our mini football camps and the lineman get together and go through foot work and fundamentals. We are going to be doing all of that. Some people are even going to some camps. I might go to help them out or watch them at those camps. I was thinking as a captain, maybe set up mandatory lineman day, where we bring the younger lineman in. It’s not a practice day, so it wouldn’t count under the MSHSL handbook. More of a captain practice kind of thing, where we get together and just critique the fundamentals and help the people who are maybe falling behind. Make sure we all know our plays and give us an extra day to get things in. I might set something like that up because we are going to need to work the O line like we do every year and it is good to know the plays, so we can focus more on getting more in depth early on the season. I think it will be a good season.
Gopher Hole: I was at your playoff game versus Stewartville in Farmington. I know that Drew had the concussion and didn’t play. Getting so close to state in football, is that a motivating factor for you guys to hopefully get even farther as a senior?
Blaise Andries: Yes, for sure. Coming into last year, I didn’t know what to expect. We had lost a lot of skilled players, a lot of lineman. Going into the summer camps, the summer prior to last season, we had gone to USD and I don’t think our school had won a, they have a drill called “King of the Hill,” where it is all the teams in the camp and it is a big competition whoever can get more five yard (gains) or first downs in a row. I don’t think that we had ever won that for like 15 years or something like that and we won that and we stepped back and said we could be good this season and we’ve got to keep working and something might happen with that and then it came to the Section championship and we won that for like the first time in 25 years. We beat Hutchinson ever, I think. That was probably the second craziest game of the year. It came down to a goal line stand with 30 seconds left and they had three yards to go and we ended up stopping them. That was a crazy finish, too. Losing in the first game of the state like that, motivates us to get even farther. I don’t think that we are going to take it as lightly.