Connor Kruse - Lowell OL

Submitted by Section 1 on

Consider Connor Kruse, who played a great game in the State D-2 Finals; Like many of you, I watched that game largely to see Devin Gardner on tv. Entirely separate from Gardner, Lowell was the much better football team. And, Connor Kruse was arguably the dominant player of the game. He goes about 320, and is playing for a quality high school team against good opponents.

Yet he's on very few lists of any sort. (Forget visits, letters, etc.; Kruse hardly has any OFFERS!) There's no good reason for him to escape the notice of the scouting services, if indeed he warranted attention; he's not from Alaska, or Quebec, or Tahiti. He's practically in the back yard of Michigan, Michigan State and Notre Dame.

I expect that there's a good reason for his very low recruiting profile; I just don't know what it is. (Could be something as exotic as, "He's not as fast or as strong or as good an athlete as 1000 other OL recruits across the country." But it would be hard to tell, from just my having watched my grand total of one (1) Lowell Red Arrows game this year.)

So, recruiting gurus, tell me why Connor Kruse is scarcely mentioned in your digital-world?

Section 1

December 1st, 2009 at 4:46 PM ^

I expected that's what the answer would be.

And that's the interesting part to me. A big kid; a dominant player, on a state-championship team, coming out of a h.s. program that has produced back-to-back state champs, and perennial playoff winners. And it looks as though he might be lucky if he gets an offer to Western.

I've never seen Lowell. I have no idea who Connor Kruse is, other than having watched him play a game on tv. That one viewing is all that I know, and the kid looked great, but wherever he goes to college is no business of mine. (btw, if I recall the stats, Lowell had O yards passing in the game, with their one and only successful pass play coming on a 2-point conversion. They ran the ball the whole game, most of the time right over Kruse's side of the line.)

MGoPHILLY

December 1st, 2009 at 11:24 AM ^

I can only speculate (since I have never seen him play), but its likely that he is not athletic enough to earn a Division 1 scholarship to a major school. If he is as good as you say, maybe he will get offered a preferred walkon spot.

QVIST

December 1st, 2009 at 11:33 AM ^

There are a lot of kids like this that I wonder about.

Hudsonville, MI RB Jordan Jonker last year was a force. He was so dominant in the OK-Red but really had no big offers or anything like that. I know he doesn't have blazing speed, but he reminded me quite a bit of Andrew Hawken who is now playing for MSU as far as field presence.
A friend of mine, Travis Kamstra, was a very impressive back for Grandville over the last few years. Grandville's program has been terrible the last few years which is probably why he got little publicity, but the kid can play. He's probably got 4.4-4.6 speed, he could catch out of the backfield, had excellent vision and frequently busted 50+ TD runs when he got the ball (which was not often--think Jerious Norwood's role). It's a shame that many kids just don't get noticed, but at the same time, success is very dependent on how one markets themselves (see: QBForce.com).

jg2112

December 1st, 2009 at 11:34 AM ^

This post is more proof that fathers of high school athletes frequently visit this board.

Let's all welcome the father of Connor Kruse to MGo.

Aequitas

December 1st, 2009 at 2:03 PM ^

why sometimes it's hard to spend more than a few minutes reading these boards.

Seriously, a guy watches a game and is impressed by an athlete and you go out of your way to act prickardly.

I've thought similar things. 4 years is a long time to grow as a football player and a lot of these kids would probably be pretty decent if they were given a chance at a major school.

Magnus

December 1st, 2009 at 11:51 AM ^

There are a lot of big guys out there. Big =/= good. I played with a guy in high school who was 6'4" and 306 lbs. He played college ball...at Adrian.

Kruse is pretty stiff. Yeah, he can dominate smaller guys. When you're that big, all you have to do is lean on them. But when your future is at guard, which means you'll have to bend at the knees, get underneath 6', 300 lb. former wrestling behemoths like Terrance Taylor, etc., it takes more than leaning on someone to get the job done.

MLAWyer

December 1st, 2009 at 11:56 AM ^

I watched part of the game and saw Conor Kruse. He was over 300 pounds, but very, very soft. He didn't move well at all, and wasn't nearly as good of a blocker as his size would indicate. Basically, you don't become a d-1 recruit just by being huge and on a good team. I dont mean that in a dickish way, I'm just responding with my observations on why he has no offers.

Koyote

December 1st, 2009 at 12:14 PM ^

Don't forget about our new o-line recruiting strategy, just because he is a big man doesn't mean he will get an offer or even an offer to walk on.

Coach Rod wants big offensive linemen that can MOVE. If he was that big and had decent speed but lacked good technique, the coaches would likely take a chance on him and try to get him to come and walk on. If he really wanted to come to Michigan, he could always apply to get into the school and than literally try to walk onto the team during the tryouts that they have.

flyerpride

December 1st, 2009 at 2:25 PM ^

"Now on to one of the top match-ups I observed at the camp. Willow Run Sr. OL/DL Garrett Davis vs. Detroit Southeastern DE/LB Will Gholston. On paper, this is a mismatch. Gholston is one of the most athletic prospects in the entire country. Surely he would too much for the 6-3, 280-pound Willow Run strong man, right? Not quite." ...

SM/SB: Gardner, Greg Robinson & More
By Andre Barthwell
GoBlueWolverine.com
Date: Jun 13, 2009

1 on 1s are great
but earning All State honors and a free education
priceless

Congrats to both Will and Connor
SR VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/user/khdavis65#p/f/0/_zYtj5yQpkc

upfootball

December 3rd, 2009 at 9:08 AM ^

Just an fyi. I happen to live in connor kruse's neighborhood. Michigan State called him after the state championship game. They are planning on coming to meet him this week in his neighborhood. ANd another Fyi connor has been in the big house recruiting section for a few games this year. So i believe Michigan is actively recruiting him but not aggressively maybe a walkon or or something. But michigan State has been lingering for most of the season. I seen a post up top somewhere about western. They have already offered him a full ride. That is there for the taken if he wants it.

clarkiefromcanada

January 31st, 2010 at 3:48 PM ^

Rivals confirms Western offer to the 2 star OG from Lowell. I can't much see him at M...bad enough with "former two star Ray Vinopal" coming in...RichRod would have to park in a secure location to avoid the pitchforks and burning effigies from the two star mafia.