Doral Willis and The Pahokee Ten
by Buck Bravo on Aug 14, 2009 3:00 AM CDT
in Gopher Football
11 comments
Instead of the scheduled Golden Nuggz, this morning's report is of another recruit who has committed to the 2010 Gopher class and the unfathomable talent of his high school team. Doral Willis, a defensive tackle from Pahokee Florida, has committed to play for Minnesota. Willis is listed at 6'0 332 pounds. Here's a video of Willis in action:
Willis attends Pahokee High School, which is home to several highly rated recruits for the 2010 class:
While some of these recruits have already given their verbal commitments, talented players such as defensive tackle Richard Ash are also considering Minnesota.
Doral Willis has impressive highlight video, and should be a strong addition to the 2010 class.
In 2009, the "Skyline 4" from Dallas Skyline High School including Keanon Cooper, Troy Stoudermire, Da'Jon McKnight, and Spencer Reeves should all contribute for the Gophers. How many commits will the Gophers land from Pahokee High School by signing day in 2010?:
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Pahokee is an amazing team....
…their town is home to a sugar refinery which plans on closing in a couple years, and that is the only industry in town. It’ll be interesting to see whether the football team remains a power.
Of this year’s recruits, Chris Dunkley is supposed to be a Florida lean, DeJoshua Johnson is going to Florida State, and Zachary Allen and Merrill Noel are going to Wake Forest.
Pahokee also produced Martavious Odoms in 2008, who was Michigan’s starting slot receiver last year. Michigan signed Brandin Hawthorne and Mike Jones from Pahokee this year – both were early enrollees.
Also last year, Tennessee grabbed WR Nu’Keese Richardson on signing day from Florida. This was noteworthy because their butthead coach Lane Kiffin made fun of Pahokee administrators, stating that they didn’t know how to use a fax machine to send in Richardson’s letter of intent. The Pahokee coach said at the time that Tennessee was no longer welcome at Pahokee as long as Kiffin was coach. That’s been fixed, though.
However, I don’t like this signing. Florida has more talent than anywhere and it’s better scouted talent than anywhere in the country. Seeing that Willis is only a two star doesn’t give me much hope, especially when you consider he has such talented teammates that he probably is performing highly as a result of his teammates’ success. Despite that, still only one or two stars.
The biggest indicator of his mediocrity are his other offers – the directional Michigan schools and Wake Forest. Since Wake got two of his higher rated teammates, WIllis was probably a pot-sweetener. Minnesota didn’t have to accept this commitment except if they’re hoping to get other guys. But, they’re not going to get Dunkley or Ash, so I’m not sure this is the best use of a scholarship.
this might be a bigger picture signing
maybe we aren’t going to get in on some of the studs this year but this helps to build a relationship with the Pahokee coaching staff and we’ll be in a better position to land a bigger fish down the road. Or maybe there is an underclassman we are already working on.
I mostly agree with you that this isn’t a scintillating verbal with this 2-stars and weak offers, but maybe some good will come of this in the long run.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you
by GopherNation on Aug 14, 2009 9:35 AM CDT up reply actions
I just wonder
if this is the best school to try and build a pipeline. As of today, Minnesota is behind:
(1) Florida
(2) Florida State
(3) Miami
(4) Wake Forest
(5) Tennessee
(6) Michigan
for Pahokee talent. If the kid at a Florida school is good enough, Minnesota is not going to outduel the in-state schools for him.
And it’s more than a little concerting that Brewster would be giving scholarships to guys being offered by no one other than Central and Western Michigan. Even if Indiana and Purdue had offered this kid I’d feel better about it. The fact is that he’s rated as a MAC – level talent, which does not help Minnesota’s talent base. Giving away $250,000 scholarships (from taxpayer dollars) to build relationships for the possibility to get a kid in the future seems to be a defeatist proposition to me, especially when that possibility is 2,500 miles away.
that list is misleading
sure if the #1 kid in Florida wants to go go Florida / FSU then they’ll get him. But it is all about establishing relationships. If we don’t even bother to establish a relationship at a school that usually has top end talent, then you will never get a kid from there. If you get a marginal kid or two and they pan out then you have an established rapport with the coaching staff and you have a track record of turning out successful kids and hopefully a recent history of successful teams. Not to mention the kid goes home over the summer and talks up Minnesota in his high school weight room. Your list is accurate but 1-it doesn’t mean we are going to be the 7th most considered school for every kid because kids look for different things. 2- we’ll always be off the list if we don’t make an effort. 3-I’m sure the coaching staff isn’t offering a kid that they think will never be able to contribute, they must see “something” in him.
The offer sheet is suspect, the stars are disappointing, but we also are not a school that has our pick of 4-star kids. We have to get a few of the top end talent and then grab others who we do our homework on. In my opinion this is a no-lose situation.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you
by GopherNation on Aug 14, 2009 12:57 PM CDT up reply actions
I thought
Tim Brewster was the mighty recruiter of Vince Young? If Brewster is as good a recruiter as we were sold on, we shouldn’t have to take the 3rd best defensive tackle off Pahokee. Richard Ash’s final four right now are USC, West Virginia, LSU and Florida. Why isn’t Minnesota being considered there?
Antonio Ford (who is currently a Pahokee D-lineman but projects to the O-line) has a final two of Wake Forest and Vanderbilt. We’ve offered this kid. We should be in his top 5 if Brewster is the recruiter we’ve been told he is.
We offered Pickett, as did West Virginia and Florida State. Pickett committed to West Virginia.
This situation seems to me like we wanted in on the top level Pahokee talent and offered a bunch of the lower-rated kids in order to sway the top players’ minds (Noel, Pickett, and Ford), Minnesota lost out, and is now left with the lowest prospect of the bunch. I wouldn’t call this homework – I’d call this spaghetti recruiting – throw scholarships on the wall and see what sticks.
Brewster was hired for his recruiting. Last year he finished #45 in recruiting. Taking flyers on 1-2 star talent is what we all criticized Mason for. A one star (on Scout) Pahokee kid will not help Minnesota close the gap in 2011 or 2012 against Penn State, Ohio State, and the Michigan schools, each of whom are assembling top 20 classes, every year.
It should be Brewster’s focus to get the best talent now, wherever it is, because I stand by my assertion that if the team has a .500 year this year and then gets run by USC at home in 2011, Jedd Fisch, Brian Kelly, Charlie Strong or Tony Dungy will be coaching this team in 2011. Brewster’s connections to Pahokee for a great 2014 recruit won’t do him any good if he doesn’t win NOW.
Fat kids who play football don’t grow on trees.
by WhiteSpeedReceiver on Aug 14, 2009 9:53 AM CDT up reply actions
You only need to recruit 2 a year.
There’s no need to give one to a mediocre kid at a Florida school. There are plenty of kids in Minnesota who can do the job this Pahokee kid would, and he’d have the passion of playing for a team he grew up supporting. Call it the Sam Maresh recruiting philosophy of which Brewster has repeatedly espoused.
Decent Pick Up
He is the 8th highest rated DT on Rivals that we have a chance at. In a huge position of need for us, I think this is a decent pick up. His stats will be diminished by the fact that he plays with so much talent around him and with his size he should be able to jump in and contribute quickly for us. I don’t think we are anywhere near a lock to get Beau Allen, so there isn’t anything wrong with this commit and he could help even if we got Beau.
What If the Ploy Works?
Are you prepared for the scenario that Ford and Ash put Minnesota back in their final three or four? I would not be surprised if Ford and Ash tag along on that trip up for the California game. Michael Carter switched late when the package deal with Jacques came together. It could happen again. Brewster has proven that he is capable of pulling off late inning recruiting coups.
Brewster has had a good run late
The last couple of years with getting the top of package deals. He got Carter last year after he committed to WV and Cooper the year before after he committed to Texas Tech. The only problem I have with this class so far is the amount of scholarships hes seemed to through at a garbage level 1 and 2 star players that have no other BCS team offers and this is one of them. I mean you pull a kid out of florida that has scouts at every game because of the talent around him and is still rated a 1 there are probably a few kids in minnesota that havent even been noticed that given the right coaching could be as good if not better. I watched his highlight film and the olineman almost always pushed this 300 pound kid backwards while the DT next to him was getting great penetration. This was a bad offer.
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