RB DeAndre Johnson commits to Iowa, but will still visit Minnesota

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BleedGopher

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per SuperPrep.com:

DeAndre Johnson has made his college commitment and he discussed it with Scout.com. Read on for the details.

DeAndre Johnson is a talented running back prospect from Monsignor Pace High in Miami. After landing over a dozen scholarships throughout this recruiting process, he has made a commitment.

"I've committed to Iowa," Johnson said. "They were always right at the top of my list. I've always had interest in them. I enjoyed going up there earlier this month for my official visit. I liked the coaches and how they said my knee injury is no big deal. That's one of the main reasons I went ahead and committed."

Despite the commitment, Johnson says he still plans on taking one more visit.

"I still plan on going to Minnesota sometime real soon," he said. "That's the only school I'm even considering but I'm definitely committed to Iowa."

Johnson, 5-foot-8 and 195 pounds, said he had a chance to watch Iowa last night against Penn State.

"They pulled it out," he said. "They blocked a punt late in the game. I enjoyed watching them. They played hard."

Johnson, who ran for 1,121 yards and 10 scores as a junior, will miss his entire senior season due to a torn ACL.

"I'm out for the season but will be back in time for the spring for college ball," he said. "Our team is 2-1 right now."

Inside the classroom Johnson claims a 3.5 GPA and a 920 SAT score.

http://minnesota.scout.com/a.z?s=176&p=2&c=903495

Go Gophers!!
 

I'm actually glad we didn't get the kid, I thought for sure he was going to commit to us. If Iowa wants to use one of their scholarships on him, great. He's a "gritter" but as a runningback I didn't see much, and at his size I don't see where else he plays.
 

He won't be visiting Minnesota anymore because of what the Iowa coaches said, per the rivals article.
 

I'd welcome him, but if I had to choose, I'd take one (ideally two!) of the other three - Huff, Grant, Williams.

We're not necessarily beggers right now, but we need a big-time back and additional quality depth.
 

College coaches are bullies these days. The kid can take five visits, regardless if he's committed anywhere verbally. Tired of hearing these ultimatums.
 


Wow, classless of Iowa to do this. They must really be terrified of the kid seeing the new stadium and environment of gopher football.
 

That is EXTREMELY ridiculous. I don't care whether we get him or not, you do NOT restrict a kid's choice. If your program can't get him after a visit to someone else, then its YOUR fault, not the kid's.

To try to restrict a kid's choice of colleges is downright awful.
 

Who knows, we may do the same things and not hear about them, but whatever, I'll pile on - Hey coach Kaczenski, get bent!
 

I don't see the problem with it, they are saying if you are committing to us, then you are committed to us. If you want to visit another school do it before you commit.
 



Doesn't matter, we'll get a different back either way. We're still in for some surprises, I'm thinking.

Also, to ease the blow, Ragoo committed per our rivals page.
 


Though I can't disagree with the Iowa coaches on being a bit annoyed that DeAndre was still planning on visiting one of their biggest rivals, I disagree with the ultimatum approach. DeAndre and all other recruits have 4-5 years to spend at college and they need to make the decision that is best for them. It's selfish and shows a lack of confidence on the part of the coaches to tell a recruit that they can't look around and decide what is best for their life. I would have told the coach to F off.

It just shows that despite their big win yesterday, the Iowa coaches know they're just a spot in a cornfield. The more they can keep recruits ignorant to what else is available to them the better off they will be. Best of luck to the DeAndre and other recruits on making the right decision.
 

I wouldn't be surprised if they told him "commit now or we'll pull the offer." Hell, they may have just wanted to take a player from us.

In any event, I'm glad they did. He's not worth the scholly.
 



Gopherprof said:
I wouldn't be surprised if they told him "commit now or we'll pull the offer." Hell, they may have just wanted to take a player from us.

In any event, I'm glad they did. He's not worth the scholly.
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I'm not sure it's fair to make that last statement...also, academically, looks like the kid is solid; and I believe that is helpful in terms of team GPA, graduation rate, etc.

Overall, he seems to be a good kid who got caught up in the Iowa hype surrounding their win in the rain last night. Congrats to the jerkoffs for getting this kid.
 

They are now saying on the Iowa boards Johnson won't visit Minnesota after talking it over with Iowa coaches.
 

Didn't Brew pull Brendan Kelly's scholarship offer a couple years ago when he found out Kelly was taking a visit to Madison?

You want kids to weigh all their options before making a decision, but I understand where the coaches are coming from. Do you want to play here or not?

In Kelly's case, I think Brewster wanted local kids (with certain exceptions) to know that the U wasn't going to be their "safety" school as they looked at other teams. Fritz Rock might have missed this lesson, but I think it's pretty clear now. Granted he didn't commit but just sat on an offer like it was a lock.
 

...the point here is if he wanted to visit us...don't commit until after he came here...i'm guessing there was something else pushing him from Iowa
 

Troy McClure said:
Didn't Brew pull Brendan Kelly's scholarship offer a couple years ago when he found out Kelly was taking a visit to Madison?

You want kids to weigh all their options before making a decision, but I understand where the coaches are coming from. Do you want to play here or not?

In Kelly's case, I think Brewster wanted local kids (with certain exceptions) to know that the U wasn't going to be their "safety" school as they looked at other teams. Fritz Rock might have missed this lesson, but I think it's pretty clear now. Granted he didn't commit but just sat on an offer like it was a lock.
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I'm pretty sure that is what happened with Kelly.

I think this is common with most coaches, and I don't disagree with the method. If you commit to a school, the coaching staff moves on and starts looking at other players for other positions. They also have to pull scholarship offers for other recruits that would possibly jump at the chance to play for their school.

I'm guessing most of the bashing of Ferentz is just an excuse to bash Iowa, which I am all for in most cases. But if this was the other way around I'd be pleased that Brew let the recruit know Minnesota won't be a saftey school for anybody. Either commit to a school and stay that way, or don't commit and get all the information you need to make a decision.
 

I have no problem with what Iowa is doing. In fact, I think anyone who disliked what Konrad Z did with the Gophers should applaud Iowa in this situation. Iowa is taking a chance on a kid with an injury, in that situation they deserve some loyalty (just like the Gophers did with Konrad in my opinion).

This may sound like sour grapes, but if this kid tore his ACL, I am glad he committed elsewhere. I know their are many players who come back from ACL surgery, but I'd rather not take the chance if their is another option out there. Most running backs take more than a full year to recover and many of them are never quite the same (Terry Allen, he of the ACL surgery on BOTH knees is a notable exceptoin, as is Frank Gore).
 

I'm with EG#9. I can't fault Iowa in this case. If the kid wanted to take another visit, then why even commit in the first place? Take your time and make the decision that best fits you when you're ready to make it. A lot of these kids seem like they want to hedge their bets and make sure they have an offer available even if they find something they like better.

I actually like what the Hawkeyes are doing. It lets the kid know that committing to their program isn't something you do lightly; either your are in or you are out.
 

I can't disagree with it either. If you're not ready to commit than don't commit. Some use a commitment as a fallback in case they can't get anything better. But if you're going to issue an ultimatum, you had better be prepared to back it up - if you issue an ultimatum, and the player still visits other schools, and you don't pull the offer, everyone would see that it was a bluff.
 

I just have a problem with "commits" looking around after they have committed. Looking around for something better is not a committment.

IMHO, it is somewhat like getting engaged, then continuing to date around in case you find something better. If that is what you are thinking, you probably shouldnt be getting married in the first place.

Abou the only exception to the rule is when the coach that recruited you gets canned. Then, i think all bets are off. The guys who committed to Mason and then inherited Brewster could have walked away and i would have understood.
 

It's like if you accept a job offer, but continue to go on job interviews before you actually start your new job. Your job offer just might get pulled if they hear about it.
 

I guess if I were the coach I would handle it this way: I would tell the kid that if he planned on taking other visits after committing to me, then I would have to treat that as a soft commitment. I would say, “I really want you here but you have to do what you have to do. I need to tell you though, if I find a better player in the mean time, I will offer your scholarship to him. Which ever one of you makes his decision first will get the scholarship. Again, I want you to be a Golden Gopher, but I can’t risk you backing out without a suitable replacement. If you’re still interested after your visit, and I still have a scholarship available, I would love for you to come to Minnesota. Good luck on your visit to Iowa.”
 

This is standard operating procedure for Iowa. It isn't a bad thing. I wish more coaches would do it.

The kid calls and says he wants to commit, the coach says that's fine, we'll accept your commitment, but you are committed then. You can't take other visits. If you want to take other visits, that's fine, too, but don't commit to us yet. If after the visits you still want to commit to us, then we may or may not still have your scholarship available. We have offers out to other RBs, so it could be gone, as there aren't unlimited scholarships.

The Iowa coach isn't saying that he can't take the visit to Minnesota. He is saying that he can't take the visit and be a current commit to Iowa. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion.
 

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