1st Group - Junior College: Which Recruit are you most excited about?

JUNIOR COLLEGE GROUP-Which Recruit are you most excited about?

  • Jeremy Baltazar – Brenham, TX 6’0” 195 CB

    Votes: 3 2.2%

  • Briean Boddy-Coffeyville, KS 5’11” 175 CB

    Votes: 15 10.9%

  • Isaac Fruechte-Caledonia, MN 6’2” 210 WR

    Votes: 23 16.8%

  • James Gillum-Pearl River, LA 5’11” 195 RB

    Votes: 54 39.4%

  • Roland Johnson-Duncan, SC 6’1” 285 DT

    Votes: 9 6.6%

  • Martez Shabazz-Athens, TX 5’11” 170 CB

    Votes: 33 24.1%
  • Total voters
    137
  • Poll closed .
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Board Members - Welcome these newest Gophers

Recruits - Get your family and friends involved.
 

After watching film on Martez, I'm excited about him the most. Adds speed that Coach Kill was looking for.
 

Love to see Mr. Fruechte on board. MN boy playing for the hometown school, I hope he can contribute from the get-go.
 

I voted for Shabazz, but I would put Gillum a close 2nd. A lot of our success next year will depend on how much our running game has improved. It would be nice to return to the days of consistently having a 1000 yd back.
 

John Galt said:
I voted for Shabazz, but I would put Gillum a close 2nd. A lot of our success next year will depend on how much our running game has improved. It would be nice to return to the days of consistently having a 1000 yd back.
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I flipped ya to even things out.
 


I think all of the JuCos have a chance to really contribute, but the two guys i've been the most pumped up for have been Fruechte and Gillum. I chose Fruechte in the poll, but it's really a toss up between these guys.

Gillum put up gaudy stats in HS. I'm talking like you have to read it a couple times to make sure you have it right. I was looking up info on Gillum when he first signed and I ran into a thread about him from like LSU fans (he's from Louisiana), and they were talking about how they think he will get offered (this was coming out of HS). Then I saw the video and he looked legitimately fast. To cap it off, Limegrover was talking about the recruitment of Gillum. He said Coach Poore was desperately recruiting him out of HS, thought he could be a "program changer", when he went to JuCo, Coach Poore made sure to keep in contact. That amount of work for 1 kid, signals to me that they really like him, especially considering I don't think this staff would throw around comments like "program changer" liberally.

Fruechte....it's partially because he's a MN kid with 3 years remaining. But it's largely because he is considered an athletic freak. He's 6'2" 205 and he'll be one of the faster players on our team. The story that Limegrover said was impressive too. He talked about how they didn't really know much about him until Coach Klein (Strength and Conditioning) saw him working out and running at some camp, and was blown away. He called the coaches, the coaches dug around, and offered. Limegrover said something like "if Coach Klein is impressed, he must really be something", almost insinuating that he's a difficult guy to impress.
 

I put Boddy because of his performance last year. From what I saw, he was a difference maker a the JUCO level. We need more difference makers.
 

Hate to put that much pressure on such unknown commodities but I really think the Gophers need TWO of the four JUCO defensive players to start (or at least be regular significant contributors). If they manage to hit a home run (triple?) with a couple of these guys, it would change the defense notably.

I'm pulling for Baltazar myself, if for no other reason than he's got 20-25 pounds on the other two DB JUCO's. It will take a while, and likely even some counseling, to get the images of C. Lewis roaming the Gophers' defensive backfield out of my mind permanently.
 

I picked Boddy in large part because it was said he would be considered an SEC recruit if he had stayed for his second-year of JuCo.
 




Roland Johnson

Don't have a personal opinion about this kid, but Dinardo on Big 10 Channel said he was very underrated and he expects him to start for MN in the fall.
 

It's signing day and I'm a fan. It's a given that I have no common sense about Minnesota football. Given all of that, I really believe that our JC newcomers will present a MAJOR upgrading to our football team immediately. The fact that many are already here for spring practice just makes it even more important. Next year will be a major statement about U of M football. I vote for all of 'em as a group!
 

I like all of them....Gillum sounds like a playmaker, perhaps even our new #1 RB? Fruchete, I loved when he said "Coach Kill wants me at 225lb by season opener". A 6'3" 225lb WR? Guess who's way Gillum might be running? Johnson could be an immediate starter at DT. All 3 of the DB's sound like players & some combination will be in line to earn a starting spot at Safety (maybe both Safety spots?), nickel-back & depth.
 



@1500ESPN_ReussePatrick Reusse


Gophers still trying to get Shabazz in school, apparently, even though he had too many Ds in JUCO to get into Baylor.

Once again, Reusse is the bearer of great news.
 


boddy- everyone is saying this kid will be a stud.... we need stud cb's...
 

While quite a few of the prospects are intriguing, I am looking forward to the seasons where we bring in 0 or 1 Juco player.
 

Nate said:
While quite a few of the prospects are intriguing, I am looking forward to the seasons where we bring in 0 or 1 Juco player.
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There is nothing wrong with bringing in JuCo players. There will always be attrition from teams and it's always nice if you can even out the classes.
 

zambam said:
There is nothing wrong with bringing in JuCo players. There will always be attrition from teams and it's always nice if you can even out the classes.
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I would rather not bring in as many in one year as the rest of the Big 10 has combined.
 

I tend to agree that we are bringing in what would normally be to many JUCO players for one recruiting cycle for a BIG team. In past interviews Kill has implied that in years to come there will be fewer. I also believe that it may have been necessary for this year due to unballanced classes due to high levels of attrition the past few years. The one thing I am glad to see is that all but one of the JUCO players are early enrollees and several of them have three years of eligability.
 

Nate said:
I would rather not bring in as many in one year as the rest of the Big 10 has combined.
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I'd rather not be in a position where we have to bring in that many JuCo players.

It's partially about bringing in more talent for next season. However, the part that some people are missing is that we are forced to bring in JuCo's to balance our classes. You can't win and have a good football team when you have one absurdly small class (that class will essentially be in their 3rd or 4th year).

We needed to bring in over 30 kids, but if we didn't spread those kids amongst different classes, we would never get some parity in class size (essential to success).
 

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