Per Trieu: Illinois Lands Kenton Gibbs
Allen Trieu
@AllenTrieu Illinois lands Cass Tech DT Kenton Gibbs
It seemed like the coaches were somewhat interested in him, however they never extended him an offer, which leads me to believe that he was not one of their first choices at the position.
Bummer... he dominated the camps and seemed ready for a big senior season. Regardless, he was a backup plan for the coaches. Hopefully the land either Poggi, or Pagano.
He did not dominate the last camp he was at. He looked a little out of shape and did not have much in the form of technique.
...he'll never be nearly as big as Hankins, and doesn't have a remotely comparable offer sheet. Two completely different players on film, as well.
Honestly, in the film from the last camp, he looked pretty slow and was getting beat quite often. With that said, I wish the best of him and I hope he does well at Illinois.
Your definition of "dominate" is much different than mine.
Good luck to him if he ends up there, but I have a feeling this ship has sailed about as much as Norfleet's had before signing day if the coaches come calling.
Although I like to think that myself, I don't know how true it is. It's like Ohio fans and McCray, they were all convinced that the second Urban extended him an offer, he would be in Scarlet and Grey, but that seems very unlikely now.
Difference is that Gibbs is saying he will still take visits.
and we can probably flip him if we offer.
I always got the impression that he wasn't going to hang around to be a backup plan with the offers he had. Could still have a chance to flip him if we need him I suppose but I think he wants to go where he feels really wanted.
There is always the chance that if Michigan does offer he flips
There are still plenty of DTs out there that we are in good position with.
He is still going to take visits. Sounds rock solid to me.
Will the latest #Illinois Fighting #Illini commitment stick, though. He will keep taking visits http://es.pn/LgFOBC
Jared Shanker is the guy who reported that James Onwualu "has reached 29 mph when sprinting." Which, to be perfectly frank, confirmed my personal evaluation of Onwualu: Like Usain Bolt, only faster.
so... you really made a new account just to post that comment?
edit: oops i looked at the mgopoints count without looking at the join date. You really made a new account just to post comments that involve Fred Jackson jokes?
... I applaud the commitment to the joke. You don't see that type of effort every day. It's Herculean, only bigger.
Just like Thomas Rawls. You set him up for that one, so I stole it.
Onwualu looked a little slow during recent camp performances. And somehow I doubt he's hit 29 mph.
No biggie.
I'm guessing next to commit from Cass will be Dennis Finley who was favoring Illinois as well.
I'm guessing he was informed that we weren't going to offer, so decided to pull the trigger elsewhere. Smart move.
I don't see the evidence of this. It seems just as likely that he wanted to grab a spot in a good program before it filled up, figuring that if the Michigan opportunity opens up, he'll cross that bridge later.
With him already saying that he'll take official visits, the Illinois staff might even be okay with that.
I'm just saying, Cass Tech is the school we have the best recruiting ties with of any high school in the country. I'm sure Hoke speaks to Wilcher on a weekly basis, and players at Cass know very early in the process whether they're going to receive a Michigan offer. He may get a last minute offer if we strike out on everyone else at DT, but I'd be willing to guess that the coaches have already told him there's a very small change that he'll be offered.
Or maybe, because of our great relationship with CT, our coaches have said he's a guy they want to wait on, and to accept a spot at Illinois as long as he's willing to keep visiting. Our coaches keep Wilcher happy by being completely transparent, letting Gibbs know that it might be a good idea to have a back up plan in mind, but that they'll still be evaluating him.
Point is, we have no more information about your guess than about mine, so it could be anything.
I'm pretty sure the coaches would never tell him "We're not going to offer." That would be dumb.
Why "commit" if you are going to visit other schools? Sounds like Illinois better make more offers and tell him, "If you are going to keep looking so are we".
Sounds like Illinois will take what they can get on the recruiting front.
Sparty knows all about this.
See: Pittman, Sevon
It's what Pittman did, and that worked out for him...saved him a place while he waited to see how things turned out at OSU. I'm not saying Gibbs is doing the same things, but...
I think it's easy to understand the kid's motivation..save him a spot in a class while still looking around...just don't really understand Illinois taking his commitment.
Well when you're as bad as Illinois is, I guess you can't really just prevent the kids from visiting.
If you're Illinois, you secure yourself as his back-up. You get him on campus, introduce him to future teammates and other commits, hope he doesn't take visits, and if he does, hope he doesn't get offers.
You can either tell him to wait, and hope he picks you when Michigan doesn't offer, or take his commitment, and have him sewn up if Michigan doesn't offer.
It makes sense, I'm just glad we don't have to deal with that.
..It puts you in a tricky position when someone else wants to commit. Do you save that spot for Gibbs, knowing he could up and leave you in a sticky situation? Or do you accept the commitment, knowing that there's a chance you might oversign if you do. Of course, this is all assuming a tight window (like a week until NSD), which may or may not happen, but still, it's a legitimate concern. There's a reason Michigan doesn't take kids who visit elsewhere.
That's a fair concern, but I think it's easy, as Michigan fans, to overlook how tough it is for other schools out there. I follow Pitt (which is just about impossible), Boston College and Baylor (which used to be saddest of all), and a lot of schools need to take their opportunities where they find them. If there's some flight risk involved, you just have to accept it to get a player you want.
When you're a second tier program, you have to take commitments knowing that if a bigger program comes along, you might lose some guys. There are some guys who commit to Illinois and pledge their undying love for the school, but I bet lots of Illinois recruits would reconsider if the big schools (Alabama, USC, etc.) come calling.
This is why it was important to offer York when we did. Aside from Treadwell, none of the other receivers seems likely to come, and if we had waited on York, there's a good chance that he would have grabbed a spot elsewhere.
I was thinking this kid would end up being in this class and being Pipkins back-up.... I still do
Gibbs is undersized but athletic. I know a lot of fans have just been treated to four years of the exception to that rule, but most of the time, you put that type of kid at 3-tech, not NT.
6'2" and 290 lbs is undersized? Seems like a decent size for a NT who is still in HS, though I guess it depends on what his frame is like and how much of that is bad weight.
Gibbs measured closer to 270 at one of the more recent camps. 290's generous
Regardless of weight, 6'2" is undersized for a defensive tackle beyond college. Mike Martin's draft status was hampered because of his height, and he was a better football player than Gibbs.
gulp.
Like McCray, Gibbs wasn't gonna wait around. Ah well...
He will flip to Michigan if offered, I would bet a banhammer on it.
He sounded like a really good kid so I'm happy he's landed a full ride at a quality university.
Good for him and his family.
If the coaches strike out on Poggi, will bet that they rummage around for RR-era snake oil, or at least some of the vintage slipped to Dennis Norfleet last year.
Glad to see him get a D1 scholly, and a B1G school with a penchant to turn out NFL players to boot.