the late morning addition, this way our outstate readers can get the same content as our metro readers (or I forgot that I told PJS I'd do it today :))
I will not speak of the Michigan State scrimmage last night. So let's start with some national signing day recaping...
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ESPN Insider gave us a B- and had our class ranked 7th in the Big Ten.
- Rivals considered the Carter signing to be rather significant and moved us up to 6th in the Big Ten.
Here is a complete list of the signed class with video links to some of their highlights. I'm going to highlight a few of them that I am particularly excited about.
CB-Michael Carter - the pleasant surprise of the day. Carter instantly became our highest rated player on the board (according to Rivals). Getting a four-star kid to change his mind on the day before (or morning) of national signing day was massively huge.
ESPN Insider - Overall, if Carter's rangy body continues to physically develop; he could be molded into a good cover corner at the next level; covers a lot of ground as a zone defender as well. Does appear quicker than fast but his good acceleration to the football and savvy coverage skills should start attracting more college attention.
QB-Moses Alipate - local QB who has received mixed results from the various recruiting sites. ESPN has him as one of the top 150 players in the country and the #11 QB overall. Rivals however ranks him as a three-star, not in their top 250 and the #16 pocket passer in the class. Part of this has to do with his team being pretty weak, which didn't give him much of an opportunity to put up big numbers. He'll get to compete with MarQueis Gray for the next four years.
ESPN Insider - Alipate has impressive measurables--size, arm strength, athleticism--and his competitiveness is evident. He could develop into an excellent college quarterback, whether in a spread attack or a traditional dropback passing offense.
DB/WR/KR-Bryant Allen - looks as though Allen is the athlete of the bunch. Small but incredibly quick. As I mentioned yesterday you may very well see him playing basketball as this kid is a candidate for Mr. Basketball in Missouri. Note to PJS: I too hope Allen is not this year's Harold Howell!
ESPN Insider - Fast twitched athlete who reaches top-speed very quickly but can cut on a dime and freeze defenders in their tracks. His body control, balance and vision are outstanding. Not just a jitterbug, this kid runs decisively when needed losing very little in transition cutting laterally.
There are so many guys I'd like to comment on but I just don't have the time this morning. Hageman could be a real athletic TE who dominates in the Big Ten, I'm excited about LB-Brent Singleton, WR-Hayo Carpenter has the tools to be really good this coming year and RB-Hasan Lipscomb is a highly ranked kid out of Texas.
Check them out and get to know 'em
- Star Trib recruiting article.
- Pioneer Press recruiting article
- Question of the Day: What is worse? Getting throttled by Michigan State or being the only B10 win for Indiana this year? Way to go Iowa!
- Natalie Darwitz is an assistant women's hockey coach at the U and is writing a little blog during the season. She listed her top 5 favorite local hockey rinks. I've never been to any of them so I have no comment but what do you hockey guys think?
- This is a few days old but I think it is worth linking to. This guy thinks that the scheduling of games with USC is laughable. Here is the full text.
Does Timmy know something about the Gophers that we don’t? I love how they win a few meaningless games this year, get the Gopher faithful fired up about winning the Big Ten and all this non-sense, their recruiting classes which NEVER pan out, etc. 2010… Moses Alipate will lead the Gophers to victory! What a joke, this team continues to embarrass itself year in and year out, and this is only another example of how inflated fans and coaches think of this team. Do they remember how the Iowa game went? Now they want to play USC? Good luck!
Am I reading this wrong or does he want it both ways? If you rip the Gophers for having cupcake schedules then you can't also rip them for scheduling a game with one of the best programs in the country. Clearly best case scenario is you schedule good teams but you beat them. But that is much easier said than done. - As poorly as the Gopher men's hockey team has played, they are still in the running for the WCHA title. Big Wisconsin series this weekend.