Hello: Kiante Enis
[Photo via The Star Press]
It didn't take long for Michigan's satellite camp tour to pay dividends. This afternoon, three-star Winchester (IN) Community ATH Kiante Enis committed to the Wolverines after participating in the Indianapolis camp, as first reported by 247's Steve Wiltfong. Enis becomes the eighth commit in the 2016 class and Michigan's third at running back, joining Kingston Davis and Matt Falcon.
We'll see if Enis actually ends up there; 247's Steve Lorenz tells me Michigan is taking Enis as a pure athlete, and he could end up at running back, slot receiver, or even safety at Michigan; for now, they're taking the athlete they want and seeing how it'll play out.
GURU RATINGS
Scout | Rivals | ESPN | 247 | 247 Comp |
3*, #26 ATH | 3*, #54 ATH | NR ATH |
3*, 87, #36 RB, #553 Ovr |
3*, #53 RB, #712 Ovr |
Despite posting some eye-popping statistics last year (more on that later), Enis currently is stuck in the middling three-star range. Much of that may be due to his high school and the quality of competition; he's the first Division I prospect to come out of Winchester Community in the Rivals era. As Enis hits the camp circuit, not to mention adds the exposure of being a Michigan commit, we'll see if his rankings begin to rise.
The four sites are in general agreement about his size, pegging him at 6'1" or 6'2" and 190-200 pounds; a solid frame for a player with his elite speed.
SCOUTING
There's very little scouting out there on Enis. What we have are tantalizing track numbers and absurd high school statistics. On the latter: Enis rushed for 3,189 yards and 49 touchdowns on 299 carries (10.7 YPC) as a junior; his yardage and touchdowns were both among the top figures nationally. On the former: he is faaaaaaaaaast:
Enis is also a mid-major basketball recruit. That athleticism on the hardwood still didn’t do a whole to attract more recruiters on the gridiron.
But now, college coaches can’t ignore the electronically timed 10.53 second 100-meter dash Enis posted at the recent Randolph County track meet, which according to his football coach Mike Jones, is currently the top time in the state of Indiana.
Verified athleticism.
Legitimate size.
Enis added his Michigan offer shortly after that blazing run. Later in that article, Enis claims a 4.35 40-yard dash time; that figure would get a lot of FAKEs in normal situations, but not after seeing his elite sprinting times.
Enis is the nephew of former Penn State and NFL running back Curtis Enis. His high school coach sees him as much more than just a speedster, per 247's Steve Wiltfong:
“He’s tough,” Jones said. “All the stuff we do, everybody talks about the speed, and obviously speed is the unteachable factor, but he’s so good in between the tackles right now. We had a drive last week, it was a third-quarter drive that put the nail in the coffin. We ran trap, ice, read, just over and over and over, all inside stuff. He carried it 28 times and wanted it more.”
Enis is “by far, by far,” the best player to ever suit up in Winchester. He owns the school’s career rushing record, career touchdown record and he’s one interception away from that record as well.
“He’s explosive, dominant, the speed helps so much,” Jones said. “The thing I like about him, he’s so tough with the ball. He never gets tackled by one guy. The film shows it over and over. He doesn’t go down.”
That's about it as far as scouting reports go; ESPN hasn't ranked him or posted an evaluation, Rivals has just two articles about him (both focused on recruiting), and Scout doesn't have much more than that.
What's clear from the film and the numbers is that Enis is an explosive, versatile athlete; it's not a surprise that Michigan is willing to take an athlete of his caliber now and figure out the positional details later.
OFFERS
Enis holds offers from Ball State, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Indiana, Iowa, Miami (NTM), Michigan State, Ohio, and Western Michigan. His bigger offers have come this spring, including MSU extending one within a week of Michigan doing so last month. Enis backing up the speed apparent on his film with top-notch times on the track has clearly helped his recruitment.
HIGH SCHOOL
Winchester Community is a small school (enrollment: 459, per IHSAA) that participates in Indiana's second-smallest classification (2A) for football. Enis is the first major prospect to come from the school; in fact, he's the only recruit from WC to hold a Division I offer in the Rivals database, which extends back to 2002.
If you're wondering why major offers have been slow to come in, that helps clear up the picture.
STATS
In addition to the rushing stats mentioned above, Enis recorded four interceptions during his junior season, and he also had four receptions for 104 yards and a score, per MaxPreps. More complete stats, as well as sophomore stats, are available at that link.
FAKE 40 TIME
Enis' self-reported 4.35 gets one FAKE out of five because of his track exploits. Speed is not an issue, to say the least.
VIDEO
Junior highlights:
Sophomore highlights and single-game reels can be found on his Hudl page.
PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE
I... have no idea. Enis has the size and athleticism to play running back, receiver, or defensive back; safety seems to be a legitimate possibility given the number of guys already committed as running backs, though Enis also mentioned a desire to have the ball in his hands during his recruitment, and after watching the film it's hard to blame him. Wherever he ends up, he's a good bet to compete for a spot as a return man, and his speed will make him a player to watch on either side of the ball.
UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS
Michigan is up to eight commits in the class, and they look poised to hit nine when fellow Indiana athlete Chris Evans announces his decision on Saturday. Unless something changed in the last week, Michigan will happily take both Enis and Evans, who has similar positional flexibility.
It's still far too early to take a stab at the final numbers for this class; it's clear the coaches are eyeing a class in the neighborhood of 20-25 prospects, which would require a decent but not unreasonable amount of attrition before Signing Day. Wide receiver, tight end, offensive line, defensive tackle, defensive end, outside linebacker, and—depending on where Enis and maybe Evans end up—defensive back remain areas of need.
I remember it as around 10.5 as well. If so then Enis is very very fast.
EDIT: never mind, post below indicated Denard was faster in HS
I remember Denard getting chased down from behind on a few occasions, and while his Combine 40 time was elite, it wasn't otherworldly. Denard was fast but that wasn't what impressed me about his game. He made ankle-breaking cuts and had great burst of acceleration. Basically the "greased lightning" cliche come to life. That's more game than someone who's faster but takes a few steps to get a head of steam.
Enis is fast, but since all we got here is a track info, I do wonder if it's just speed, or if he's got the quickness/explosion as well.
When was Denard ever chased down? I certainly never saw that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmsT5z7OtTA
#9 (safety Isaiah Lewis) gets a head start running around the traffic, OK, but has to take an angle and go around teammate #5 before chasing Denard OOB. Overall he looks at least as fast and I don't think he was even drafted. I also found a clip of Denard getting chased down by an OSU DB but you get the idea. It happened.
Oh, it didn't happen often, but point is, it wasn't just his raw speed they were scared of; it was his combination of speed and 360-degree agility. It wasn't enough to be as fast. That only meant it was possible to catch him in a race, but if you're a safety or a defensive coordinator, what kind of day is that? "He burned us for 30 yards there but we were able to chase him down so at least he didn't get a free TD. . . Yay?"
I wouldn't qualify that as catching him from behind.
Much of this is irrelevant, anyway. There are track guys who don't run fast in football pads or carrying a football, and there are non-track guys who have very good football speed. Denard was a pretty good track runner (nothing truly special in the Big Ten) but obviously ran away from lots of guys in college. He had football speed. Tyrone Wheatley was a guy who did both - he had track speed AND football speed.
Enis might have both. He's obviously a pretty good track athlete, and we know he can run away from small-town Indiana boys. We probably won't be able to see whether he can pull away from Florida/Texas/Georgia/etc. speed until he gets in college, unless he pulls off a late invitation to The Opening or one of the All-American games.
So we got way ahead of ourselves in terms of Enis's speed. At the Indiana state track meet yesterday he finished 24th with a time of 11.44. That's not slow, he's still a state qualifier as a junior, but that's not anywhere near what is reported above.
I just think this whole track thing is overblown. Maybe he got a bad start or stumbled at the start. Does that affect what we think of him as a football player? And as I've been saying, there's a difference between football speed and track speed. Denard Robinson was basically the fastest guy on the field whenever he was playing in a game, but he was just a so-so sprinter in track. I appreciate the info, but I don't think we should attach much meaning to these 100 meter times.
To me, that forty time is at least 3 FAKES out of 5. Just based on how the acceleration looks.
But I have an untrained eye. It's possible he is such a fluid, natural runner, that he is faster than it appears.
We're all terribly impressed by the fact that you played football with guys who are faster than Kiante Enis.
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That's really weird that Jason Avant took Greg Jennings' slot at Michigan.
You see, Greg Jennings graduated in the 2001 class and redshirted at WMU that first year (LINK). Meanwhile, Jason Avant was a part of the 2002 class and didn't commit to Michigan until sometime between December 2001 and February 2002 (LINK). I don't see how Avant could have stolen the scholarship of a guy who was a year older than him, but if that's your story...
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I just like facts to be straight. And saying Avant took Jennings' spot at Michigan - which clearly isn't true - means that you might like to stretch the truth a little bit.
for doing some fact checking on my posts, it makes me feel special. It was an honest mistake, maybe I was thinking of another receiver. Anyways you already know the rest of my "story" checks out.
Here are some more fun facts from that season. We were Big 8 champs, we played against Grand Rapids Union who had Kelly Butler on their team and he was MASSIVE (obviously), we lost to Northville in the first round of the playoffs (dont get me started), we played Portage Northern who had a 5 star and two 3 stars (Sorantos brothers), as well as like 4 other D1 players (WMU mostly) and we beat them 42-27, best game I ever played in! there were 6,000 people there at the game.
Greg and JC were even more impressive on the basketball court, they took us to the state finals that year and we lost to Pontiac Northern who were repeat champs, I think they had a guy who went to ISU. Greg dropped 50 on Benton Harbor that year, i think theyhad Robert Waley...maybe, fact check that for me, wuold you? It wasn't when they had Wilson Chandler, it was earlier than that. They knocked off great teams that year with players on them like Ben Reed (WMU), Matt Trannon, Kelvin Torbert, beat some great teams in that state runner up run!
Last thing I'll say, and this is unbelievable. Greg and JC were our kick returners and they would routinely "fumble" the ball on purpose inside our own 10 or 5 yard line so they cuold pad their stats. I remember multiple times where they did that, got in the huddle, then said to us all, "watch this guys, I'm taking it 95 yards", or 90 yards, or whatever. But sure enough they were that freaking good and made it happen, thats some video game stuff righ there. They used to play with people out there, made it look waaaay too easy. I wish people followed recruiting and had film accessible like they do now because there is no doubt in my mind JC would have played in the BigTen!
"The Ghost," the pride of Kalamazoo, Mich., topped the 200-yard mark four times this season on his way to racking up 16 touchdowns and setting the all-time single season rushing record at Washington State. He ran for at least 100 yards in a Pac-10 record 14 consecutive games.
In a ridiculous eight of 11 games this season, Harrison topped the century mark by halftime behind a stellar Cougar offensive line.
tl;dr
if I responded to this one too, GOTCHA MAGNUS!!! Its ok to discuss things, or do you just give up when you realize you might have been mistaken or someone else might be right?
Open yourself up Magnus, open yourself up to the MGoBlog world, its just the internet, we promise we won't hurt you!
tl;dr
I had responded, speaks to your insecurities Magnus. OK Magnus, OK...HAHAHAHA
4% of the African-American population of Winchester, Indiana just committed to Michigan.
But I love any town with the name Winchester. Too soon to call him the Winchester Bullet?
knows the 3* gems! Welcome Kiante
I think its great he is so good at finding 3* gems but why not grab the 4* gems instead? Is that too much to ask?
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I like the idea of adding a guy with elite speed. He could end up lining up at a lot of different positions which appears to be something Harbaugh is looking for. In my opinion Michigan has been lacking in the elite speed/athlete department for a long time.
Never underestimate the power of SPEEEEEEEEEEED
Enis' self-reported 4.35 gets one FAKE out of five because of his track exploits.
No doubt he is fast - but I don't buy either time. Denard was a 10.44 100m guy (for real with multiple times close to it) and he was a mid 4.4 40 yard dash guy.
This kid isn't an honest 10.5 guy.
He'd never run faster than 10.95 before that county meet, and he hasn't run faster than 10.95 since that meet.
The 2nd place dude at that meet ran his best time of the year by 0.3 seconds.
The 3rd place dude at that meet ran his best time of the year by 0.4 seconds.
The 4th place dude at that meet ran his best time of the year by 0.3 seconds.
The 5th place dude at that meet ran his best time of the year by 0.3 seconds.
The 6th place dude at that meet ran his best time of the year by 0.3 seconds.
The 7th place dude at that meet ran his best time of the year by 0.2 seconds.
The 8th place dude at that meet ran his best time of the year by 0.4 seconds.
EVERY single person in that 100m final ran their career best time, in that race... and none of them have come close (much less run faster) since that meet.
It's them Kenyan running genes!
(Kiante is a Kenyan name, not being racist)
Thanks
Not surprising that one guy pushes all the others to run that fast. Weather,wind, and track surface all play a big part as well.
Edit: This...
May 4.2015
The Golden Falcons' Kiante Enis set a school record with a 10.61-second 100-meter dash and added wins in the discus and high jump.
That's fair.
Next question - how does his speed measure up to the DBs, WRs, and RBs on our team? Top 1/3rd?
Then I'll accept him...
Of the folks who ran track in HS nad info is available:
Faster:
Jabrill Peppers (honest 10.5)
Jehu Chesson (10.7)
Slower:
Channing Stribling (11.6)
AJ Pearson (12.2)
Jeremy Clark (11.56)
Mo Ways (11.74)
About the same:
Antonio Whitfield (11.06)
Drake Johnson (11.2)
Dennis Norfleet (10.84)
Delano Hill (10.97)
Brian Cole (11.02)
and a 10.61 so you need to adjust that.
Cool info. Surprised about Jehu's speed - I never really see that in YAC for him. Now if there was a blocking drill in track....
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I guess the coaches see somehting else they like. But it changes Ace's hello post, which is based on elite speed doesn't it?
Either way, he's still plenty fast. By Pescadero's list he'd be either the #2 fastest DB, #2 fastest WR or #1 fastest RB on the current team.
Yep.
Just because he isn't a real 10.5/4.35 guy doesn't mean he is slow.
10.9/4.5 is still really fast - especially compared to what a lot of our current team ran in high school.
Kiante?
A cut above the Ripple I used to drink back in the day.
Welcome aboard.
he blew past those kids like they were crawling. Wow.
We need fast athletes. This is a fast athlete. The fact he is a tall fast athlete only adds to it. I'll be in the minority but would love if he ends up as a ball hawking super fast safety at 6'1....
Too early to get new "Enis Envy" t-shirts ready? There were always a few PSU fans in the crowd wearing them during the Curtis Enis days.
Someone made the same joke in the original thread.
Here is a bear on a unicycle:
Love to see him at WR and get our tradition of producing top WRs back on track
Obviously there is much more to playing WR than just being tall and fast, but that still seems like the position that offers the clearest path to early playing time right now.
I just heard Fred Jackson say, "He's like Mike Hart, only faster."
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