Minnesota Football Recruiting: Oyenmwen "Junior" Uzebu Commits to Gophers

(*Editor's note...What the heck does "Commitment to Eight" mean? It is our new recurring title for recruit commitments referencing a commitment to work towards the Gopher's Eighth National Championship.)

Over the weekend the Gophers received a verbal from the great state of Georgia where they have had quite a bit of recruiting success over the last few years. Junior Uzebu is teammates with running back commit Nolan Edwards and will continue their collegiate careers together up North.

Uzebu fills a position at offensive tackle and is one of the highest rated OL recruits that the Gophers have secured in recent years. He has great size, tremendous potential and is a bright kid who plans to major in pre-med or engineering. I have to say that I’m quite excited about this one!

Quotables

Ryan Burns of GopherIllustrated ($cout).

After speaking to Coach Mo and Coach Warinner, I had told them I wanted to make the commit to the University Of Minnesota. After I had we went to coach Fleck's office, when I told him, he asked once again saying just to reassure he really heard what I just said. I paused, looked at my dad and cousin, smiled and said "Yes sir! I am now committed to the University Of Minnesota!" Then he jumped so fast into my arms, I didn't see it coming. My family was extremely excited for me and very proud. We were in tears. I'd say the biggest reason I wanted to commit to Minnesota was not only how much potential Minnesota has, but also the coaching staff is going to help me 100% become not just a better athlete, but also man.

Scout’s Allen Trieu’s analysis

Uzebu is a massive kid at 6-foot-6, 290 pounds. He shows athleticism and comfort in space. He can still improve explosion and consistent pad level, but those are things that will come as he gets coached in college and gets into a strength and conditioning program at that level.

It should also be noted that Uzebu is a young kid, still just 16 finishing up his junior year of high school.

Measurables

Height: 6' 6"
Weight: 290 lbs.

Big 4 Ratings:

Power 5 Offers - Maryland, West Virginia, South Florida

• Scout - 0 stars
• Rivals - 3 stars (5.7 rating)
• 247 - 3 stars (87 rating)
• ESPN - n/a

Junior year highlights:

TDG Analysis

In Two Words - if you have to remember just two things about this player...

• Big
• Athletic

Absurd Comparisons

Due to Uzebu’s length, athleticism and size I think a natural comparison is to Jimmy Gjere out of high school.

Scheme Fit

I have a feeling that Uzebu is going to thrive as a Gopher. Great size and athleticism for a kid who is currently 16! Give his body time to develop and probably a year in the Gopher strength and conditioning program, this kid is going to be a 2 or 3 year starter at tackle.

Impact on Other Prospects?

We will take more along the line, he has no negative impact.

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