2018 Muskegon (MI) OT recruit Antwan Reed transferring to IMG Academy
2018 OL recruit Antwan Reed is transferring from Muskegon High (MI) to IMG Academy this year, per Allen Trieu.
The 6'7, 285-pound junior is a rising recruit, with offers from Michigan, MSU, Florida, Penn State, Tennessee and Virginia Tech at this juncture.
247 profile: http://247sports.com/Player/Antwan-Reed-86297
Hope he becomes even more of beast there and then comes back home to Michigan.
When Annese was the head man, you could bet on the players having a UM lean. Even when RoJo decided on USC it wasn't due to Tony's lack of trying.
I don't think Fairfield will like this too much. He always seems to have plenty of speed but there are some years where size is difficult to find. As much as I detest the school, I can't blame the young man. He obviously places great importance on acadmecis because I believe that's one of the main criteria for scholarship athletes at IMG.
Wonder what kind of salaries their coaches bring down? I would think they possess some damn impressive resumes.
The curse of RoJo!!!!
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that talent is normally found on the east side of the state. Now and then there will be a kid coming out of the G.R. area like Braden. I can't think of an OLman that has come out of the Muskegon area that has played in the BIG other than the TE position, and they, Kerr from OV, Prins from Reethis-Puffer and Bob Organ from Ludington all from the same league played at MSU.
On defense there was Renes from Holland, Teeter and Rheinhold from Fruitport(Rheinhold played his last yr at Catholic because the Trojans dropped FB for a year) and Taylor from Muskegon. All NTs btw. Even Vanderleest, career backkup, Catholic and Bohach, long snapper, came in as DLmen.
It's only natural the east side produces more high profile ballers due to the population difference. However, it seems like the GR area could produce as many as the Saginaw Valley. I am sure the populations for both areas have to be pretty close. Grand Rapids is a different type of town though. I worked at the Ford Federal Building on Michigan and was really quite surprised to learn that most of inner city schools shared the same football field, Houseman. Don't know where they practiced, but a school without its own stadium doesn't seem to be conducive to producing a lot of athletes taking special pride in their football teams.
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I played at Houseman a few times and that harkens back to when the City schools actually comrpised their own league which was pretty good.
In all, I feel like the talent disparity compared to the east side of the state is simply population related. Combine that with the increase in competition that creates and it develops a better talent pool. The west side has had a few spurts over the years where several schools competed against and beat east side teams at state, but the talent depth has always been skewed to the east side.
As for the city schools, it's been a shame to watch them struggle over the years, and school of choice isn't really an option for many of them that would prefere to play at a better school.
My wife graduated from Ottawa Hills in '87 and we lived in not far from there (in Alger Heights) for almost ten years. The good players in the old City League will get snatched by the public schools - EGR, Rockford and sometimes Lowell. Grand Rapids Christian was recruting as was Grand Rapids South Christian. I don't think the area lacks talent, but the super programs/coaching tend to be spread throughout West Michigan.
Ryan Van Bergen - Whitehall
The mask of amateurism is slowly being pulled off what is really going on now.ESPN and others have made high school sports the latest cash cow. IMG is the first, but it won't be long before it's Nike West Academy Vs Adidas South for the state championship football game.
Jim Harbaugh has seen it with his big-time push to build a relationship with the IMG folk. More and more, top recruits will go to IMG and other schools of their like.
But the community aspect of high school football will likely diminish a bit in future years. And that would be a bummer.
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The idea isn't entirely that the players won't get offers. It's that they'll get better coaching, nutrition, competition, etc., putting them in a better spot for high-level offers, but also preparing them to be more advanced when they hit college. Maybe going to IMG means he plays as a redshirt freshman rather than a redshirt sophomore or junior. Maybe it's the difference between winning a starting job and getting passed up for playing time.
but if he were my kid and those options were available, I can't imagine not sending him to a place where the coaching is superior and he would be able to thrive against top talent and get top exposure. Given his size, he is certainly a top recruit as long as he has oit together between the ears. That size also puts him squarely on track to the League. The path to playing Sunday's is a bit cleaner going through IMG versus 'Skeetown.
There are scholarships available at IMG.
Well, it is a negative becaue i am assuming it is $65,000 a year (approximate) to go to IMG. Dude is already a straight up player, has the talent, and has the offers. What is the return on him going to IMG? Now if the kid wants the experience and wants to compete against the best of the best every day in practice, I am not hating on him. That is his decision and if he has the opportunity than all the more to him. Seriously. My whole point is an IMG experience isn't going to make a player a D1 prospect one that isn't, or send a kid to the NFL that doesn't have the ability to go. Chris Paul (different sport I know) played his high school ball just down the road from me. He went to the local high school and played against the local talent around here. No one looked at him and said "Man, if only he would go to one of the powerhouse prep acadamies, then he would be a great player and make it to the NBA". My belief is, either you have what it takes or you don't, and IMG isn't going to make a big enough impact to overide genetics.