Official 2018 Recruiting Updates Thread: Links, Tweets, Videos, Stories, Rumors, etc.

Donate To GopherHole
fraternity2017 said:
We’ll let Wisconsin take the 2 star, on the bubble D1 guys that go to NDSU. We’ll take the IMG Academy kids.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

before we pound our chest too much, NDSU has a put OL into NFL more recently then us
 

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 





Just a small blurb, but some national media love coming from ESPN:

Storylines and classes to watch in the early signing period
http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...storylines-classes-watch-early-signing-period

Fleck has Minnesota on verge of a record class

Minnesota has never signed a top-25 class since ESPN began ranking prospects and classes. In fact, the Golden Gophers haven't even come close. In the past four years, their average class rank was 58. That makes the work of coach P.J. Fleck and staff otherworldly, with Minnesota sitting at No. 23 entering Wednesday. Even if the Golden Gophers finish just outside the top 25, a tip of the hat is well-deserved. Minnesota is now much more of a factor on the recruiting trail than in years past.
 

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 

fraternity2017 said:
We’ll let Wisconsin take the 2 star, on the bubble D1 guys that go to NDSU. We’ll take the IMG Academy kids.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I'm just going to say this...based on highlight tape alone, I would rather have Ronald Audette over Nathan Boe. In fact, I'm a little surprised Boe has a commitable offer instead of a higher rated prospect.
 

MinnesotaNice said:
I'm just going to say this...based on highlight tape alone, I would rather have Ronald Audette over Nathan Boe. In fact, I'm a little surprised Boe has a commitable offer instead of a higher rated prospect.
Click to expand...

Evaluating a recruit purely on highlight film is risky. Coaches saw Boe in person at camp. Have a good idea what he can do and what he's about.
 



MinnesotaNice said:
I'm just going to say this...based on highlight tape alone, I would rather have Ronald Audette over Nathan Boe. In fact, I'm a little surprised Boe has a commitable offer instead of a higher rated prospect.
Click to expand...

He's not a higher rated prospect.
 

MinnesotaNice said:
I'm just going to say this...based on highlight tape alone, I would rather have Ronald Audette over Nathan Boe. In fact, I'm a little surprised Boe has a commitable offer instead of a higher rated prospect.
Click to expand...

Boe is the only current commit who will be able to play center. Audette can't play center, so they're not choosing Boe over him, they're choosing Boe over whatever other center prospect they can get. Even if Audette is better (the ratings say he's not), they intend to recruit a player at every position every year if they can.
 


dpodoll68 said:
Boe is the only current commit who will be able to play center. Audette can't play center, so they're not choosing Boe over him, they're choosing Boe over whatever other center prospect they can get. Even if Audette is better (the ratings say he's not), they intend to recruit a player at every position every year if they can.
Click to expand...

That's a fair argument to Boe over Audette. Even given that, I guess I'm just surprised we didn't find a higher rated prospect that projects as a center. Happy for a local kid and hope he pans out.

Again, my comment should not have read that I believed Audette was higher rated than Boe.
 



MinnesotaNice said:
Sorry, my comment was misleading. I wasn't comparing ratings of Boe and Audette. I was comparing Boe to "the field" and also saying if I had to choose between the two, I'd pick Audette.
Click to expand...

Audette was also injured during the spring/summer so he couldn't participate in camps. Now earned his offer at a camp, while Audette couldn't participate.
 

WinLoseOrTy said:
Evaluating a recruit purely on highlight film is risky. Coaches saw Boe in person at camp. Have a good idea what he can do and what he's about.
Click to expand...

Why do you say that? Off the top of my head, Melvin Holland and Seth Green looked amazing in their highlight videos and they turned out to be just as good as they looked.
 

After reading how impressed the coaches were with Boe at camp, I'm glad he's coming here. I'll trust the staff on knowing what to look for.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Boe is the only current commit who will be able to play center. Audette can't play center, so they're not choosing Boe over him, they're choosing Boe over whatever other center prospect they can get. Even if Audette is better (the ratings say he's not), they intend to recruit a player at every position every year if they can.
Click to expand...

How do we know that he "can't play center?" As in physically can't snap a football? Being as you're an elite fact/opinionchecker, you have to have some solid support for that, right?

Conor Olson was recruited at guard and played 6 games st center this year. Interior O-lineman move around all the time. In fact, the Vikings just recently did it at a much higher level with multiple guys (Joe Berger and Nick Easton).

Id buy that Boe is the better center. Not that Audette physically can't play it. Despite what 247 days, at 6,3", I don't think Wisconsin is wanting to bring him in at Left Tackle.
 

Keyser Söze said:
Why do you say that? Off the top of my head, Melvin Holland and Seth Green looked amazing in their highlight videos and they turned out to be just as good as they looked.
Click to expand...

Yea, but you didn't ask me what I thought of those videos. Maybe you just aren't cut out to be a scout for Gopherhole :)
 


per Greder:

Since his opening news conference in January 2017, P.J. Fleck has made it clear that recruiting will be his most important job as the University of Minnesota’s head coach.

Because of the timing, Fleck’s first recruiting class was corralled in less than a month, and he quickly turned the page to 2018. The collection of pledges scheduled to begin signing letters of intent on Wednesday will be the first true test of his ability to attract top-notch high school players from around the country.

The Gophers’ Class of 2018 ranks 28th in the nation, sixth in the Big Ten and first in the West division, according to 247sports.com’s composite rankings. That’s the best spot since Tim Brewster’s 2008 class was ranked 26th in the country and fifth in the Big Ten.

But while recruiting is big, it’s but one piece of the puzzle. As Fleck knows, the newcomers still must be developed, coached and be able to execute. Brewster’s bunch from 2008 didn’t pan out. They accumulated a 25-38 record in their five years at Minnesota, and those that stuck around outlasted Brewster and interim coach Jeff Horton to be inherited by Jerry Kill.

https://www.twincities.com/2017/12/19/gophers-2018-recruiting-class-ranked-us-highest-since-2008/

Go Gophers!!
 

per Randy:

From negative to positive

Sapp’s meniscus tear this past fall came after solid games against Eastview and Lakeville North to start the season. The family opted to have surgery to repair rather than remove the torn piece, which required a longer rehab but saved the meniscus.

“It was pretty tragic right before the Prior Lake game to have him walk over and say, ‘Ah, something’s screwed up in my knee.’ ” Grant said. “You could tell by the doctors that it wasn’t going to be good.”

“Why me?” was Sapp’s initial reaction, but he rebounded and focused on improving his college entrance test scores and took on an off-field leadership role with his team. “This wasn’t my first rodeo in being injured,” he said. “I was sad and depressed for a while, but I had to do something for this team.”

In turn, his teammates kept his spirits up, and Grant even had him symbolically suit up for Eden Prairie’s Class 6A state championship victory over Minnetonka. “He had the hardest season, the toughest season,” Grant said. “We always think the starters, the guys who are playing well, that’s hard to do. That’s easy to do. It’s the guys who aren’t playing, who have to come to practice. You feel like you’re left out.”

Sapp already has resumed running and is expected to be fully recovered in January, Grant said. Despite having played just two games in the past three seasons, Sapp takes a philosophical approach, believing there’s much more to come.

“I didn’t get to experience high school football and the Friday night lights,” he said, “but I feel like I’m meant for Saturday and Sunday nights.’’

http://www.startribune.com/in-benny...deal-talent-coming-p-j-fleck-s-way/465266633/

Go Gophers!!
 


MinnesotaNice said:
I'm just going to say this...based on highlight tape alone, I would rather have Ronald Audette over Nathan Boe. In fact, I'm a little surprised Boe has a commitable offer instead of a higher rated prospect.
Click to expand...
We will have to trust Ed Warriner and his decision over your opinion Mr. Minnesota Nice. Unless you are the Badger o-line coach.....
 

MinnesotaNice said:
I'm just going to say this...based on highlight tape alone, I would rather have Ronald Audette over Nathan Boe. In fact, I'm a little surprised Boe has a commitable offer instead of a higher rated prospect.
Click to expand...

Are you evaluating them as guards or centers? Audette is pretty clearly going to strictly be a guard in college while Boe is pretty clearly going to strictly be a center.
 


per Greder:

The Instagram live videos from Gophers football players started popping up around midnight on Dec. 9.

The majority of Minnesota’s incoming recruiting class — many of whom will sign national letters of intent beginning Wednesday — were enthralled by the work of a hypnotist during their official visits to campus. The audience was laughing and documenting the action with cameraphones as their teammates and future teammates became sleepy … very, very sleepy.

Since the social media videos can be quickly expunged, the official record of the events are hazy, especially for those hypnotized. St. Cloud Tech’s Brevyn Spann-Ford was put in a trance, and said he found out later he was asked to act as if he was the fastest typist. St. Paul Highland Park’s Josh Aune also was put under and role-played as if he was the world’s greatest jack-hammer user as well as a backup dancer in a Beyonce music video.

For years, members of Gophers recruiting classes, players spread across the country, have bonded over text message threads and group Snapchat stories. This new group is in the same mold, sharing videos of them dunking basketballs and talking about their goals at Minnesota.

“Every time I talk to those guys I’m just more excited to play with them because I think we’re really going to do something really special here,” said Lakeville North center Nathan Boe. “We’re going to win some games and win some championships. It’s going to be a lot of fun with those guys; we all get along well.”

Other times, its a bit of a circus, with the ringleader often being Eden Prairie’s Benny Sapp III, the son of the former Vikings cornerback by the same name.

“It’s always Benny clowning around in there,” Spann-Ford said. “It’s funny. He’s always sending some videos of him singing and messing around dancing, things like that.”

https://www.twincities.com/2017/12/19/gophers-football-recruits-bond-through-instagram-and-hypnosis/

Go Gophers!!
 

Looks like Jason Dickson got a bump on 247. Went for 85 to 87. Composite went from .8623 to .8690
 

per Randy:

Gophers coach P.J. Fleck wasted no time Wednesday signing his recruiting Class of 2018, getting 25 future Minnesota players signed to national letters of intent by 9:30 a.m. He then held a news conference about a half-hour later. “A very special day for our program,’’ Fleck said.

Some highlights of the news conference:

** The Gophers ranked 26th nationally in the 247Sports.com’s composite ratings after signing the class, although that ranking will fluctuate during the signing period as other schools sign players. Minnesota ranked sixth among Big Ten teams but first among their competition in the conference’s West Division.

** The Gophers have their highest-ranked offensive line, defensive line and wide receiver classes during the Internet era.

** Seven players will enroll at Minnesota in January: preferred walk-on QB Zack Annexstad, QB Vic Viramontes, offensive guard Curtis Dunlap Jr., offensive tackle Daniel Faalele, defensive end Alex Reigelsperger, receiver Jornell Manns and linebacker Thomas Rush.

** Fleck on QB Vic Viramontes: “This guy commands the huddle. … His film makes you say, ‘wow.’’

http://m.startribune.com/gophers-co...our-program/465469813/?section=sports/gophers

Go Gophers!!
 


I don't understand how a kid is Mr. Minnesota Football from a powerhouse program and doesn't get an instate offer. I don't really know anything about him but if he is Eden Prairie's best player I'm surprised we didn't offer. From the article I read it sounds like he would take a PWO from Wisconsin over Minnesota. I guess we will have to wait and see. Will be interesting to see how all these stars and numbers translate to football in the next couple years.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom