Preps.com Big Ten Country Tour Update

by Ayo Fapohunda

Posted February 9, 2015 9:12 pm

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52a397fc2f935.image

Photo Courtesy of press of Atlanticcity.com

 

Last time we checked in on the blog it was right before Central Valley standout Jordan Whitehead shocked the recruiting world with his decision to stay home and play in his backyard at the University of Pittsburgh.  Almost six months later, Whitehead is still a Panther despite a unforeseen coaching change, and late pushes from rival schools.  With that said, after my long hiatus, it’s time for me to let some things off my chest.

 

It’s only right to start where this all began in Western PA, with me reiterating what I said more than a year ago regarding Western Pennsylvania’s class of 2016 and 2017 being absolutely loaded.  With Woodlands Hills veteran and Penn State commit, Miles Sanders leading the pack, the WPIAL class of 2016 is bringing attention from colleges all across the nation.  Central Catholic’s Damar Hamlin has already picked up big time offers including one from recent national champions Ohio State. Additionally, Mckeesport’s Khaleke Hudson, who arguably is the baddest “dude” in the state, has started to garner major attention from some big time programs.  The list of players in the region for both classes is impressive, and reminds us of the days when we first started Preps.com, but what impresses me the most about the group is the quality of the big fellas.  Anybody that knows me, understands I take pride in my ability to evaluate the “hogs.”  The group coming out of Western PA the next few years may warrant the WPIAL changing its name to “Hog Land.”  With big boys like Brandon Ford, Amon Youngblood, Rashad Wheeler, Jacob Buccigrossi, and many more, college coaches may need to start throwing Western Pennsylvania in the same conversation as regions like South Florida and SoCal for reeling top tier offensive and defensive line talent.

 

If you follow us on twitter (@finestpreps), I’m sure you have seen me raving about Dublin Coffman quarterback Gunnar Hoak.  I first saw Hoak when I was at the National Guard 7-on-7 championship last summer and he immediately caught my eye without me knowing anything about him.  I followed him throughout the season and during Coffman’s run in the Ohio state playoffs, Hoak was eventually awarded player of the year in Central Ohio.  With a name like Gunnar, I thought it was inevitable that he would be picking up offers non-stop, but for some reason coaches haven’t been jumping on him like they should.  Despite his lack of offers, Hoak may be one of the most polished signal callers I have seen since evaluating High School football players.  With textbook mechanics, and rare anticipation, it looks like Hoak’s parents had a plan when they named their child.  Similar to the process for many Central Ohio players, don’t be surprised to see Hoak’s name start buzzing during spring evaluation period when coaches get the opportunity to see him slang the pill live.  Speaking of guys that we identified as blue chip prospects early, how about Davon Hamilton ending up at Ohio State late, after decommitting from Ohio, Pitt, and Kentucky.

 

I hate to do this, but I told you so.

davon-hamilton_pickerington

 

Keep an eye out for our next under the radar blue chipper Mark Gooden from Reynoldsburg.  He flashes some of the same qualities we saw out of Davon Hamilton, and just last week picked up an offer from Iowa.

 

A few weeks back we had the opportunity to attend the Beast of the East hosted by Next Level Greats and came away from the event thoroughly impressed.  Event coordinator Marcus Hammond did a great job gathering some of the top talent in the Mid-Atlantic region, I was so excited by the talent pool I didn’t even get the opportunity to see everyone.  A few names that stood out were Western PA’s Jo-el Shaw who looks like a million bucks and has to be considered one of PA’s top linebackers and power runners.  Class of 2017 Mark Webb, who recently picked up a Penn State offer may end up being one of the most highly recruited athletes the state has seen in a while with his 6’3 185 pound frame that coaches will surely fall in love with.  Calvert Hall big fella Alphonso Cornish who is about 6’4, 380 lbs showed some flat out nastiness and was man handling rising seniors as a freshman and certainly will be a DMV prospect to keep a look out for.

 

However, the person that stole the show was Jersey native Salaam Horne.  Despite Horne pulling up early with a hammy, within five minutes I had seen all I needed.  Along with my passion for evaluating defensive lineman, I like to consider myself a defensive back purist and Salaam Horne may be the best one on one cover corners I’ve seen at the high school level.  What’s even crazier is that Salaam has a twin brother Alaam who was not participating in the event due to injury, that he admitted may be better than him.  The last time I came away as excited from an event was when I attended the Chesapeake Bowl underclassmen event and found Notre Dame standout receiver Will Fuller and Boston College freshman Thadd Smith.

 

Time will tell if the prospects we saw this go round from the Mid Atlantic can live up to the standard set by guys like Fuller and many others, but for now we can just enjoy the hype.

 

It’s a new year and Preps.com will be taking it to the next level with a new app we’re releasing in the next few weeks.

 

In the first version the features are focused on coaches.  Over the next quarter, we’ll be adding tools for athletes and fans to allow college coaches to not only identify athletes earlier, but also give fans the opportunity to give their insight.

 

Until next time my dearest recuitniks.

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

 


Read more recruiting articles by Ayo Fapohunda


Follow Ayo Fapohunda on Twitter:  @finestpreps

Email Ayo Fapohunda:  ayo@preps.com

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Preps.com Big Ten Country Tour Update

by Ayo Fapohunda

Posted 9:12 pm

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

52a397fc2f935.image

Photo Courtesy of press of Atlanticcity.com

 

Last time we checked in on the blog it was right before Central Valley standout Jordan Whitehead shocked the recruiting world with his decision to stay home and play in his backyard at the University of Pittsburgh.  Almost six months later, Whitehead is still a Panther despite a unforeseen coaching change, and late pushes from rival schools.  With that said, after my long hiatus, it’s time for me to let some things off my chest.

 

It’s only right to start where this all began in Western PA, with me reiterating what I said more than a year ago regarding Western Pennsylvania’s class of 2016 and 2017 being absolutely loaded.  With Woodlands Hills veteran and Penn State commit, Miles Sanders leading the pack, the WPIAL class of 2016 is bringing attention from colleges all across the nation.  Central Catholic’s Damar Hamlin has already picked up big time offers including one from recent national champions Ohio State. Additionally, Mckeesport’s Khaleke Hudson, who arguably is the baddest “dude” in the state, has started to garner major attention from some big time programs.  The list of players in the region for both classes is impressive, and reminds us of the days when we first started Preps.com, but what impresses me the most about the group is the quality of the big fellas.  Anybody that knows me, understands I take pride in my ability to evaluate the “hogs.”  The group coming out of Western PA the next few years may warrant the WPIAL changing its name to “Hog Land.”  With big boys like Brandon Ford, Amon Youngblood, Rashad Wheeler, Jacob Buccigrossi, and many more, college coaches may need to start throwing Western Pennsylvania in the same conversation as regions like South Florida and SoCal for reeling top tier offensive and defensive line talent.

 

If you follow us on twitter (@finestpreps), I’m sure you have seen me raving about Dublin Coffman quarterback Gunnar Hoak.  I first saw Hoak when I was at the National Guard 7-on-7 championship last summer and he immediately caught my eye without me knowing anything about him.  I followed him throughout the season and during Coffman’s run in the Ohio state playoffs, Hoak was eventually awarded player of the year in Central Ohio.  With a name like Gunnar, I thought it was inevitable that he would be picking up offers non-stop, but for some reason coaches haven’t been jumping on him like they should.  Despite his lack of offers, Hoak may be one of the most polished signal callers I have seen since evaluating High School football players.  With textbook mechanics, and rare anticipation, it looks like Hoak’s parents had a plan when they named their child.  Similar to the process for many Central Ohio players, don’t be surprised to see Hoak’s name start buzzing during spring evaluation period when coaches get the opportunity to see him slang the pill live.  Speaking of guys that we identified as blue chip prospects early, how about Davon Hamilton ending up at Ohio State late, after decommitting from Ohio, Pitt, and Kentucky.

 

I hate to do this, but I told you so.

davon-hamilton_pickerington

 

Keep an eye out for our next under the radar blue chipper Mark Gooden from Reynoldsburg.  He flashes some of the same qualities we saw out of Davon Hamilton, and just last week picked up an offer from Iowa.

 

A few weeks back we had the opportunity to attend the Beast of the East hosted by Next Level Greats and came away from the event thoroughly impressed.  Event coordinator Marcus Hammond did a great job gathering some of the top talent in the Mid-Atlantic region, I was so excited by the talent pool I didn’t even get the opportunity to see everyone.  A few names that stood out were Western PA’s Jo-el Shaw who looks like a million bucks and has to be considered one of PA’s top linebackers and power runners.  Class of 2017 Mark Webb, who recently picked up a Penn State offer may end up being one of the most highly recruited athletes the state has seen in a while with his 6’3 185 pound frame that coaches will surely fall in love with.  Calvert Hall big fella Alphonso Cornish who is about 6’4, 380 lbs showed some flat out nastiness and was man handling rising seniors as a freshman and certainly will be a DMV prospect to keep a look out for.

 

However, the person that stole the show was Jersey native Salaam Horne.  Despite Horne pulling up early with a hammy, within five minutes I had seen all I needed.  Along with my passion for evaluating defensive lineman, I like to consider myself a defensive back purist and Salaam Horne may be the best one on one cover corners I’ve seen at the high school level.  What’s even crazier is that Salaam has a twin brother Alaam who was not participating in the event due to injury, that he admitted may be better than him.  The last time I came away as excited from an event was when I attended the Chesapeake Bowl underclassmen event and found Notre Dame standout receiver Will Fuller and Boston College freshman Thadd Smith.

 

Time will tell if the prospects we saw this go round from the Mid Atlantic can live up to the standard set by guys like Fuller and many others, but for now we can just enjoy the hype.

 

It’s a new year and Preps.com will be taking it to the next level with a new app we’re releasing in the next few weeks.

 

In the first version the features are focused on coaches.  Over the next quarter, we’ll be adding tools for athletes and fans to allow college coaches to not only identify athletes earlier, but also give fans the opportunity to give their insight.

 

Until next time my dearest recuitniks.

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

 


Read more recruiting articles by Ayo Fapohunda


Follow Ayo Fapohunda on Twitter:  @finestpreps

Email Ayo Fapohunda:  ayo@preps.com


TAGS:

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


GIVE YOUR ANALYSIS: