Catching Up With Vic Enwere
This past weekend almost every member of the 2014 recruiting class was in Ann Arbor to bond, catch a basketball game, and recruit a little bit themselves. Jabrill Peppers headlined the group as well as 2015 committed defensive back Shaun Crawford, mostly because there had been some rumors that they may both be interested in visiting elsewhere. Ace, with the help of others, all but squashed those rumors. Perhaps the most intriguing prospect among the commits was running back Vic Enwere, the Texas native who is currently committed to California.
Enwere is a 6’1”, 215 lb. bruiser of a running back with good speed, strong leg-drive, and phenomenal balance. He grades out as a 3-star prospect according to the 247 Composite and his offer list matches with some of the more notable schools being Kansas State, Michigan State, Missouri and obviously California and Michigan. I caught up with Vic to see how his visit went and where exactly the Wolverines stand for him after his first trip to Ann Arbor.
After talking to Vic a few times prior to his visit I’ve already determined that he isn’t the most excitable kid, keeps his responses short and sweet, and also doesn’t sugar coat anything. He said his visit to Michigan was “pretty good” and that he really enjoyed hanging out with the other recruits. As we know by now the future members of Team 135 are a very close knit bunch and Enwere said that he didn’t feel like he was an uncommitted guy while he was hanging out with everyone. “I felt no different than anyone else. They treated me the same. They are a good group of guys.” He then admitted that he definitely felt like he could be part of that group.
The coaches did their homework and paired Enwere up with Amara Darboh as his player-host due in part to both young men being of African descent. He said that Darboh was really cool and made the stay extremely comfortable for him.
Now that he is back home and waiting to take his official visit to Cal in January he says that his commitment is still the same, a soft verbal to the Golden Bears. I asked him if either team had an edge right now and he said, “I wouldn’t say it’s 50/50 yet. It all depends on how my visit to Cal goes. Cal still has the edge right now.” Once that visit is complete he will evaluate all of his options and make his final decision near National Signing Day.
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My Crystal Ball pick right now is for Enwere to flip to Michigan but honestly after talking to him tonight I’m not so sure. He says Cal still has the edge, remains committed (albeit softly) even though he hasn’t taken a visit to Berkeley yet. He will take that visit in January and then sign his letter of intent while it’s still fresh in his mind. It will be very interesting to see how aggressively the Michigan coaches pursue him and what effect that has on his commitment. At this point it would be an impressive job if they can get him to flip.
December 17th, 2013 at 8:15 AM ^
I'm not convinced that Enwere will flip to Michigan. I just haven't seen him say anything that indicates they've made a jump, whether it's excitement about playing time, playing for a potential winner, being like some of the other running backs that have played for Michigan, etc. The one thing Michigan has going for it is a better record/chance of winning than Cal, who just had a terrible season. And while that's significant, it just seems like he's not super interested in coming to Ann Arbor.
December 17th, 2013 at 9:07 AM ^
Since the initial excitement he displayed after getting an offer - seems things have cooled. Shocked a visit with all those commits plus the Men's BB game resulted in a response that the visit was "pretty good".
Wherever he goes, wish him luck...but wish he would Go Blue!
December 17th, 2013 at 8:25 AM ^
Does Enwere have a connection to Cal that isn't readily apparent? Perhaps relatives that attended or live in the Berkley area? Maybe an undergrad program that interests him? He's a three star that hasn't been offered by many traditional power teams, yet over them he picks Cal. Of course the young man may not be confident that he could make an impact at Michigan or MSU given their respective stables of running backs.
One other thing that may well be working against Michigan is that he knows Fred Jackson won't be coaching next year while Cal has the young hard charging Pierre Ingram coaching running backs.
December 17th, 2013 at 8:34 AM ^
One other thing that may well be working against Michigan is that he knows Fred Jackson won't be coaching next year while Cal has the young hard charging Pierre Ingram coaching running backs.
December 17th, 2013 at 8:48 AM ^
edit my post I would say that the perceived wisdom, the speculation, is that Jackson will retire following the bowl game and his son's last game as a Wolverine.
December 17th, 2013 at 8:53 AM ^
Someone may want to tell that to him. I believe Hoke when he said the staff would be back next year, including Jackson.
December 17th, 2013 at 9:02 AM ^
December 17th, 2013 at 9:50 AM ^
The younger son is in the class of 2016, so that would take Fred Jackson up through 2019 or 2020. I don't think Jackson will or should go anywhere this offseason, but I don't see him lasting that long.
December 17th, 2013 at 8:34 AM ^
I actually asked him how he came to a final two of Michigan and Cal being from Texas and he said, "It just sort of worked out that way."
December 17th, 2013 at 11:13 AM ^
Kind of like Sam McGuffie... down to Mich vs. Cal and from Texas.
December 17th, 2013 at 8:27 AM ^
I mean what is he down to? Just Michigan and Cal? Leaving M and still being committed to Cal doesn't bode well, but if he isn't making his final decision yet, than why say you are uncommitted?
I still think there is a good chance to land him. If the visit at Cal doesn't live up to Ann Arbor, than I can see that 60/40 Cal lean switch into a 60/40 Michigan one easily.
December 17th, 2013 at 8:35 AM ^
sounds like he will end up at Cal...
you never know, but it seems like it..
jdon
December 17th, 2013 at 9:22 AM ^
Which I think is somewhat impossible if you have visited the campus.
December 17th, 2013 at 12:13 PM ^
is A2 in December rather than A2 in September (or my favorite, all summer long) and Berkley.
December 17th, 2013 at 3:04 PM ^
I've visited Cal and hated it. While the campus is nice, it's in a ghetto, the second you step foot off of campus, like say to go to off campus housing, you're in a slum.
December 17th, 2013 at 8:11 PM ^
Hate it if you want, but it's completely false that the campus is surrounded by slums, unless you are referring to the so-called "gourmet ghetto" on the northwest side of campus.
December 17th, 2013 at 8:14 PM ^
I think that is hilariously off-base. When did you visit? Where did you go?
I wouldn't say Berkeley is skank-free, but it's a pretty civilized place.
December 18th, 2013 at 6:35 PM ^
When my older brother was looking at colleges, so 1992! So, yeah, I was 12 and things may have changed since then, heh. Man time flies.
December 17th, 2013 at 8:42 AM ^
Whose final two are the two best public universities in the country, in terms of academics.
Good luck to him, no matter what.
December 17th, 2013 at 2:33 PM ^
December 17th, 2013 at 7:26 PM ^
sunshine and beaches only hours away..........
December 17th, 2013 at 8:47 AM ^
December 17th, 2013 at 9:12 AM ^
and if he commits to M, I will now refer to him as Eazy-E for the entirety of his career.
December 17th, 2013 at 8:47 AM ^
December 17th, 2013 at 12:58 PM ^
Cal has a number of returning RBs but none of them stood out in 2013, and Enwere would have a better shot at early playing time there than at M. M's best chance to get him to flip would be if Joe Mixon ends up at Cal, but that seems unlikely.
December 17th, 2013 at 2:17 PM ^
I wouldn't exactly say any of Michigan's running backs stood out in 2013 either.
December 18th, 2013 at 8:09 PM ^
December 17th, 2013 at 9:11 AM ^
I thought Darboh was Freetown's Finest?
December 17th, 2013 at 10:22 AM ^
YES! I just made the same point. I don't know where Brandon is getting this stuff from... Journalists need to fact check.
December 17th, 2013 at 9:14 AM ^
December 17th, 2013 at 11:31 AM ^
Jahvid Best has been playing a lot of football, Bob.
December 17th, 2013 at 12:00 PM ^
December 17th, 2013 at 7:51 PM ^
Justin Forsett is also making a pretty respectable career for himself for a 7th round draft pick.
December 17th, 2013 at 9:19 AM ^
and never have visited Cal and to have Cal as a slight lead does not bode well for Michigan. How does one even commit to a school to spend 4 years without ever stepping a foot on campus? This is truly a strange one.
December 17th, 2013 at 9:58 AM ^
Seriously tho, it's no wonder a lot of these kids from down south stay down south. Good thing Jabrill is from Jersey!!
December 17th, 2013 at 2:25 PM ^
and after walking through blowing snow here on Saturday noticed it was in the 60's in Berkeley. Just a possibility. But to answer your main question - he may just be looking to go to the school with the best combination of academics and a strong football program, and Cal was the best one that offered up to now. It's hard to say without knowing more about him. But since he seems pretty reserved, anything is possible.
December 17th, 2013 at 9:20 AM ^
Maybe his word really is stronger than oak. He committed to Cal and maybe he believes he should keep his word.
December 17th, 2013 at 9:50 AM ^
I wonder what the Cal coaches think of him visiting M
December 17th, 2013 at 9:52 AM ^
It's tough to be picky when you go 1-11.
December 17th, 2013 at 10:57 AM ^
December 17th, 2013 at 10:18 AM ^
While hoping that Malik McDowell doesn't take Da'Shawn Hand's route, so that We Won't Get Fooled Again, if McDowell goes elsewhere and Enwere sticks with Cal, (a) will the coaching staff be Getting In Tune for Going Mobile after National Signing Day, looking for a Bargain among some uncommitted prospects for the Recruiting Class of 2014, or (b) will they just say that The Song Is Over for adding anyone else to the Recruiting Class of 2014 . . . unless they can find a talented player named Baba O'Riley?
December 17th, 2013 at 4:41 PM ^
December 17th, 2013 at 6:45 PM ^
And probably one of the few MGoBloggers who was around in August 1971 when Who's Next was released. Still have my vinyl copy. Always nice to take those old records off the shelf, and sit and listen to 'em by myself.
December 18th, 2013 at 8:35 AM ^
Its true, today's music ain't got the same soul.
December 17th, 2013 at 10:21 AM ^
Since when did Amara Darboh become Nigerian??? Isn't he from Sierra Leone? Isn't his nickname "Freetown's Finest" (i.e., Sierra Leone's capital)??
What's next? All Asians are from China? /s
December 17th, 2013 at 10:26 AM ^
I'm just going by what Vic told me.
EDIT: I generalized the sentence a little bit. Vic may have been a bit misinformed and I'm just going to go by what Amara claims.
December 17th, 2013 at 11:20 AM ^
Where did BB state that Darboh is from Nigeria?
December 17th, 2013 at 12:08 PM ^
Originally Vic told me that he and Amara both descended from Nigeria, but after looking into it a little more I think he was just misinformed. Honest mistake and I made it a more general statement instead.
December 17th, 2013 at 1:32 PM ^
Perhaps Amara's familial ancestry is rooted in Nigeria, but he immigrated from Sierra Leone.
December 17th, 2013 at 2:04 PM ^
The countries are quite close to one another but I shouldn't have written it without knowing for sure. Vic just said it and I took that to be 100% accurate, which it may or may not be, but until I find out for sure I'll just say of "African descent".
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