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University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Football Signing Day Central
2/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Golden Gopher Football Signing Day Central
Gophersports.com is the place to be for all things Gopher Football recruiting on Wednesday
***Breaking news, Blog, Bios, Video and more****
| Golden Gopher Football Class of 2009 | ||||
| Name | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Hometown/Previous School |
| Moses Alipate | QB | 6-5 | 230 | Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson HS |
| Bryant Allen | ATH | 6-0 | 160 | Maplewood, Mo. / Maplewood-Richmond Heights HS |
| Josh Campion | OL | 6-5 | 265 | Fergus Falls, Minn.. / Fergus Falls HS |
| Hayo Carpenter | WR | 5-11 | 185 | Lawndale, Calif. / College of the Canyons |
| Michael Carter | CB | 5-11 | 154 | Pompano Beach, Fla. / Ely HS |
| Matt Garin | DE | 6-4 | 220 | Apple Valley, Minn. / Eastview |
| Kendall Gregory-McGhee | DE | 6-5 | 235 | Aurora, Colo. / Cherokee Trail HS |
| Ra'Shede Hageman | TE | 6-6 | 235 | Minneapolis, Minn. / Washburn HS |
| Eric Jacques | DL | 6-2 | 285 | Pompano Beach, Fla. / Ely HS |
| Victor Keise III | WR | 6-0 | 160 | Coral Springs, Fla. / North Broward Prep |
| Kerry Lewis | S | 5-9 | 178 | Lancaster, Texas/ Lancaster HS |
| Hasan Lipscomb | RB | 5-11 | 201 | Houston, Texas / Cypress Ridge HS |
| Brooks Michel | OT | 6-7 | 280 | Carmel, Ind. / Carmel HS |
| Ed Olson | OL | 6-7 | 285 | Mahtomedi, Minn. / Mahtomedi HS |
| Dan Orseske | P | 6-3 | 195 | Chicago, Ill. / Brother Rice HS |
| Nick Rengel | ATH | 6-3 | 225 | Sartell, Minn. / Sartell HS |
| Joey Searcy | DT | 6-0 | 285 | Grand Prairie, Texas / S. Grand Prairie HS |
| Brent Singleton | LB | 6-1 | 205 | Plantation, Fla. / American Heritage HS |
| Kenny Watkins II | DB | 6-0 | 185 | Detroit, Mich. /Brother Rice HS |
| Jeff Wills | OT | 6-7 | 375 | Laurelton, N.Y. / Lackawanna College |
Golden Gopher Signing Day Blog
10:30 a.m.
Coach Brewster mentioned the Big Ten Network in his comments in our last post. Speaking of the Big Ten Network, don't forget that the Big Ten Network will aira Signing Dayspecial at 3:30 p.m. CT today.Coach Brewster and all the BigTen coaches will be interviewed and the BTN football analysts will break down all the classes.
Also, if you miss tonight's 'Sota Social, we'll have highlights of the event later tonight. If you still want to go to the 'Sota Social, here is the information. Bound to be a lot of excitement and interestingstories from the recruiting trailfrom Coach Brewster, just like last year.
You can chat about Big Ten recruiting right now at ESPN.com.
10:20 a.m.
Here's a quick bit of general reaction toMinnesota's 2009class from Head Coach TimBrewster:
"I couldn’t be more pleased with the newest group of Golden Gophers. I think it’s an outstanding group of players who are going to help us as we move forward in our quest to win a championship here at Minnesota."
"Signing the number of Minnesota kids that we did is a huge thing for us. I truly believe and I stated this from day one the core and the fiber of our football team must be representative of the State of Minnesota. This year is very exciting, with the number of kids in Minnesota deciding to stay home and play in TCF Bank Stadium. They are buying into our vision and our dream of bringing a championship to the people of Minnesota. I think that’s probably the most exciting thing for me about this recruiting class."
"Nationally, there is a great vibe about the University of Minnesota football program. I give a great deal of credit to our staff. Our staff is absolutely tireless, relentless in the way we work recruiting. It has paid off in huge dividends. Also, the Big Ten Network helps us immensely with reaching out to kids in California, Florida, Texas and across the nation."
10:00 a.m.
Whew ... that three hours just flew by. As of now, it looks as though the 2009 Minnesota Football Recruiting Class is complete. Barring any last-minute surprises, anyway.
But stay with us here on the GopherSports.com Signing Day Central page. We'll have some more information for you throughout the day. In the next few hours, we'll have PDF versions of each signee's bio available when you click on the individual names above. As mentioned below, we'll have video of the signees available later in the day as well.
We'll also post some reaction from Coach Brewster on the class as a whole within the next half hour. Don't forget you can watch Coach Brewster's Signing Day press conference live at 3 p.m. in the Gold Zone. Click the link at the top of the page.
9:55 a.m.
Just a reminder, later today, we will be adding video to each of the signees bio pages. In the meantime, check out the highlight video from the 2008 season!
9:40 a.m.
Here are some comments from Coach Brewster about Allen,Carpenter and Lipscomb:
Bryant Allen - "Bryant Allen is an exciting football player. With the ball in his hands, he’s very dynamic. He can take a short pass and go score, go the distance. To me, that’s what we’ve got to have. He is truly a playmaker. Obviously, I think he can help us with the return game. He’s going to bring so much to this university. He’s going to play basketball here at the University of Minnesota. Bryant is a guy that I think our fans are really going to be excited about."
Hayo Carpenter - "Carpenter is a kid that was the number-one ranked junior college wide receiver in America last year. He had 94 catches last year. He brings tremendous speed and route-running ability to the position. He’s a guy who I think will come in and make an immediate impact on our offense. He also has the ability to return the ball. I just think Hayo is going to be a great addition to our program."
Hasan Lipscomb - "Hasan is the bigger back we needed. He’s a 210-pound kid who I think is really going to give our running game a sense of physicality that we need to have. We’re going to more of a pro style type of attack in the running game. Hasan has tremendous vision and speed. He was one of the top players in the state of Texas. Hasan will be a great addition."
9:20a.m.
Three more letters of intent have come in since our last update. Four-star running back Hasan Lipscomb, five-star junior college wide receiver Hayo Carpenter and two-sport athlete Bryant Allen have all officially joined the Gopher program.
Carpenter is listed as the No. 1 junior college player in the country, according to Scout.com. He holds virtually every receiving record on the books at College of the Canyons in California. Lipscomb is a highly-sought-after running back out of Cypress Ridge High School in the Houston area. He had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons the past two years. Allen is a speedster, who is also a very highly-regarded point guard in basketball. He plans to walk on with Coach Tubby Smith's basketball team here at the U., in addition to playing wide receiver for Tim Brewster and the Gopher football program.
8:53 a.m.
The2009 Gopher FootballRecruiting Class is quickly filling up.Two more athletes have just faxed in their NLIs.Nick Rengel and Kendall Gregory-McGhee are both nowmembers of theMinnesota football program.
Gregory-McGheehas an interesting story. His father Kanavis McGhee was an All-American at Colorado, while his grandfather Ben Gregory and his uncle Morgan Gregory both played at Nebraska. In fact, his grandfather Ben was a member of the Huskers' All-Century Team. Keeping the family football tiesgoing, Gregory-McGhee has a couple half-brothers Davyon and Jacory McGhee who play at Kansas State and Tyler Junior College, respectively.
8:40 a.m.
Here's what Coach Brewster had to say about localproduct Ra'Shede Hageman joining the Gopher program: "Ra’Shede has such great physical presence. He’s 6-foot-6. He’s close to 250 pounds. He runs extremely well. Some people had him rated as the number-one ranked tight end in the country. The fact that he’s a born and bred Minnesota kid is so special. Ra’Shede could have went anywhere in America to go to school. He decided to stay at home. I think he’s a young guy who can help us as a true freshman. He’s a guy who has the ability to come in and help us. I certainly think he will."
8:27 a.m.
Two morejust came across. Tight end Ra'Shede Hageman fromWashburn High here in Minneapolis was one of the more highly-recruited tight end prospects in the nation and he's officially now a Gopher.Hageman was rated as the top tight end in the nation by recruiting expert Tom Lemming. Also joining the class is Eric Jacques, who played both offensive and defensive line for Ely High School in Pompano Beach, Fla., where he was a teammate of earlier signee Michael Carter.
8:15 a.m.
One more to add to the list. Defensive lineman Joey Searcy of Grand Prairie, Texas is now a Golden Gopher. Here's what Coach Brewster had to day about him: "Joey Searcy is a very gifted defensive tackle. He gives us great size in the middle of the defense. He’s a very competitive player and he gets off blocks well. He’s an extremely strong, physical presence."
7:55 a.m.
Here's what Coach Brewster had to say about the latest signees ...
Moses Alipate - "Moses is a big, strong, physical quarterback with tremendous arm strength and above average athletic ability. Moses has all the characteristics you look for in a big-time quarterback. He’s got the size, the intelligence and competitiveness. I think that’s the thing that impressed me. I watched him play basketball in person and his competitive nature is just outstanding. I really think his upside is big."
Josh Campion - "We wanted to bring in four outstanding offensive linemen and I think we've done that. As I said with Olson, Michel and Wills, I think Josh Campion is another great prospect who brings us goodathleticism, size and competitiveness. I think we've really added some talent to our offensive line position."
Kerry Lewis - "Kerry Lewis is a very smart, intelligent guy. He played in one of the most competitive places in America, down in Dallas. He is a guy who we really think has a great future as a cornerback."
Brent Singleton - "Brent Singleton is a very athletic linebacker. He’s what I call a space player. He’s an outstanding space player. He played in a highly-competitive league down in south Florida. He’s a great tackler. His defensive disposition is excellent. He’s a guy, athletically, who is going to really help our defense."
7:50 a.m.
Another batch of NLIs was just verified by the compliance office. Kerry Lewis, Moses Alipate, Brent Singleton and Josh Campion have all officially joined the Gopher football program. Bios and Coach Brewster's comments on these four latest Gophers will be available here soon ...
7:45 a.m.
Here's what Head Coach Tim Brewster has to say about the student-athletes who have signed NLIs so far this morning:
Michael Carter - "Michael’s a very talented kid. He’s as fine a corner as there is in America today. Michael Carter is a kid who will have an opportunity to come in and make an impact on our defense from day one. He’s got outstanding skills, tremendous man-to-man coverage ability. He’s a tackler. His closing speed is outstanding. His overall speed is just very exciting."
Matt Garin - "I’m really thrilled to death about Matt Garin deciding to stay at home. He had numerous opportunities to leave, but made a decision to stay in Minnesota. I just think his upside is absolutely huge. He’s got tremendous speed off the edge. He’s a very competitive kid. I just think Matt’s got a chance to be a great football player here at the University of Minnesota."
Victor Keise III - "Victor is a young kid who has a chance to develop into somebody very special. He’s got a very good competitive nature, catching the football and competing on the field. He’s got great speed. I think his upside is excellent."
Ed Olson, Brooks Michel, Jeff Wills (whosigned in December)- "These linemen Olson and Michel are all outstanding prospects. They’ve all got size, great competitiveness and athleticism. I think it’s just an outstanding group of freshman offensive lineman, along with junior college transfer Jeff Wills who is already here. Obviously Jeff has great size. But I was really struck by his athleticism. He’s an athlete for a guy that big."
Dan Orseske - "Dan Orseske is a kid who we identified as one of the top punters in America. It was a position of need for us with Justin Kucek graduating. So, Dan Orseske is going to be given an opportunity to come in and compete for the starting punting job from the day he gets here. He’s got an unbelievable leg, an extremely explosive leg. I am very excited about him."
Kenny Watkins II - "Kenny Watkins is a very athletic safety type. He could also play corner. He’s got great length, excellent speed and is an excellent tackler. I’m really excited about him."
7:25 a.m.
Brooks Michelwas the first new Gopher to sendin his NLI. Michel must have been chomping at the bit to do it, because it came across the fax machine right at 7 a.m. ET. Coming in next were Kenny Watkins and Victor Keise. Central time zone NLIs have started coming in as well.
In addition, a big get for the Gopher coaching staff came in just in the last few minutes. Michael Carter, one of the more highly-sought-after defensive backs in the nation officially signed with Minnesota around 7:15 a.m. CT. There is a great deal of excitement and energy in the football offices this morning and it was even more palpable when Carter called to speak with the coaching staff.
Also coming in within the last 20 minutes or so ... Matt Garin, Ed Olson and Dan Orseske. We'll post some comments from Coach Brewster about each of these guys in a few minutes. You'll also be able to read full bios on them in the very near future.
7:00 a.m.
One of the biggest days of the year for college football officially got under way about an hour ago, when prospective student-athletes on the east coast were allowed to send their National Letters of Intent (NLI) to the schools of their choice. Faxes were flowing from out east to the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex and a number of letters have already arrived. They have not yet been verified by the compliance office making them official. As soon as they are verified, we will let you know who were among the first to officially join the 2009 Gopher Recruiting Class.
Student-athletes are allowed to send their NLIs in at 7 a.m. in their local time zone. With the Gophers expected to sign a number of prospects from the central time zone, things will start hopping soon.
This afternoon, Gold Zone members can watch Tim Brewster's press conference live at 3 p.m. Highlights of tonight's Signing Day 'Sota Social will also be available.
Stay tuned ...
