Dallas Gant is a Buckeye because Michigan started recruiting him too late. Dad is a Michigan fan

Submitted by Maizen on

TOLEDO, Ohio -- James Gant stood up on the stage at Toledo (Ohio) St. John's Jesuit's assembly room proudly wearing his new bright red Ohio State hat. 

His son, Dallas, had just announced his commitment to Ohio State and the two were posing for pictures and doing the Buckeyes "OH-IO" pose as the hot lights from above the stage beamed down. 

James was smiling bigger than he's ever smiled in his life. He was so proud to be a Buckeye. 

That's weird because James is a Michigan fan. 

"I was a Michigan fan," James said, letting out deep breath while hesitating to admit it. "I was a Michigan fan, no doubt about it. I'll tell you man, this is Toledo. This is a half and half city." 

"I'm excited to be a part of the Ann Arbor and Columbus battle," Gant said. "Michigan made their appearance pretty late, but it was cool. I went down to visit ad loved it. I loved Coach Harbaugh. It was a great time down there, but they just kind of game in late. Overall, I just felt more comfortable at Ohio State." 

Had Michigan started recruiting Gant a year earlier, maybe this battle would have been different. James, who was admittedly excited (from a fan's perspective) when Michigan brought in Harbaugh, said it may have been a tight race. 

But this is just another example of Meyer and his staff identifying an elite Ohio prospect early, recruiting him hard and, like always, closing the deal. 

"All you're really concerned about is your kid, right?" James said. "When you get an organization like Ohio State interested in your kid and showing all the things they offer, you just want what's best for your kid. Of course I'm a Michigan fan, shoot, I may be a Michigan fan in four years. Who knows? Right now, I'm a Dallas Gant fan and the best program for him is this. ... I hope he kills Michigan."  

"Michigan got me to think a little bit," Gant said. "Coach (Don) Brown is great, we built a great relationship and coach Harbaugh is obviously a unique guy with a great coaching staff.

http://www.cleveland.com/osu/2017/05/dallas_gants_commitment_to_ohi.html

Maizen

May 16th, 2017 at 5:50 PM ^

That's not really the point. The point is if Michigan wants to recruit Ohio better than they have been they have to get on these guys earlier than they are. Michigan and OSU used to BATTLE for kids in Ohio, now we get Urban's left overs. Sam Webb even mentioned this on his radio show last week. He said Michigan has got to make Ohio a bigger priority going forward.

BursleyBaitsBus

May 16th, 2017 at 6:38 PM ^

I don't expect many Ohio kids to come to Michigan anymore these days unless they're from Toledo. 

 

All they've grown up with is OSU clobbering Michigan. 

Mgodiscgolfer

May 17th, 2017 at 10:47 AM ^

Guys are getting illegal benefits selling everything they could to the Tattoo shop while Tressel put his trust in a guy who got him Pryor illegally.Funny part is even though they had to vacate most of there wins like a drunk has to vacate his stomach by projectile vomiting they act like none of that shit went down and to this day treat the sweater vest like he is a real American Hero. I say if those players want to go to Ohilo State let them because Michigan is coming for them and no amount of referees in their back pocket are going to help.

corundum

May 16th, 2017 at 5:55 PM ^

Do you know exactly where he was on Harbaugh's recruiting board? If he was a top-tier recruit then I'm sure he would have been prioritized early as one. Michigan has made an effort to recruit elite talent that fits the programs's needs, you can see it when we get the grudgingly included '19 recruiting updates in the roundups. I am not going to doubt this staff's effort on the recruiting trail based on one kid from Ohio.

corundum

May 16th, 2017 at 6:00 PM ^

OSU offered him in June of 2016. Maybe our staff wasn't sold on his talent level until after they evaluated his Junior(!) season film. Maybe the Sophomore highlights just weren't worthy of an offer at that time or that was too small of a sample size.

ST3

May 16th, 2017 at 6:41 PM ^

Lane Kiffin offered a kid in my son's school, same grade. Did I mention my son is in 7th grade? It so happens he's Tee Martin's son. "ST3's son" just doesn't have the same sway with college coaches. We're hoping for a badminton scholarship anyway, as soon as they start giving those out.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/19389622/florida-atlant…

Mr Miggle

May 17th, 2017 at 10:13 AM ^

Maybe to a similar position they just call LB somewhere else. Michigan has been recruiting other LBs like Asamoah, but hasn't been willing to accept commitments from them, if Webb and Lorenz are to be believed.

Ahriman

May 16th, 2017 at 5:58 PM ^

as it used to be. When Coach Harbaugh is signing guys like Rashan Gary, Aubrey Solomon, Dylan McCaffrey and Donovan Peoples-Jones, focusing on Ohio isn't as important. Coach Harbaugh is having a lot more success nationally than previous coaches did.

Look at the players that have made a big impact for Ohio in the recent past, guys like Ezekiel Elliott, Eli Apple, Joey Bosa, Raekwon McMillan, Curtis Samuel, Malik Hooker & JT Barret are all from out of state, Ohio's top prospects haven't been amazing recently.

Based on what the staff is doing, they are targeting regions where they see a bunch of good prospects in the upcoming years (last year's focus was on Michigan, and a couple years ago it was New Jersey, now it's Georgia).

Maizen

May 16th, 2017 at 6:15 PM ^

I understand what you're saying and agree to a point but I don't see how anyone can argue that Michigan doesn't need to do better in Ohio than they have been. It's a bordering state with a ton of talent that has historically sent a ton of great players to Michigan. Zach Harrison and Nolan Rumler in 2019 are two guys I'd love to see them land next cycle. have to start winning some of these battles.

Ahriman

May 16th, 2017 at 6:25 PM ^

as 2 of Michigan's 3 Heisman winners are from Ohio. I think the staff understands that, which is why they set up a satellite camp in Ohio. But Michigan isn't as dependent on Ohio as it used to because with Coach Harbaugh, Michigan can recruit anywhere (and they haven't hit their apex yet, imagine what recruiting will be like then).

Maizen

May 16th, 2017 at 6:15 PM ^

I understand what you're saying and agree to a point but I don't see how anyone can argue that Michigan doesn't need to do better in Ohio than they have been. It's a bordering state with a ton of talent that has historically sent a ton of great players to Michigan. Zach Harrison and Nolan Rumler in 2019 are two guys I'd love to see them land next cycle. have to start winning some of these battles.

war-dawg69

May 16th, 2017 at 7:08 PM ^

Who has meyer got out of Michigan since Harbaugh arrived. How do we get leftovers if we don't even target ohio. We have reese on board and simon is basically ranked the same as gant. Do not understand the problem. Look at the last cycle of lb's and we usually only have two on the field anyways. I am much more concerned with Dobbs and Rumler. We have to win those guys for sure. OSU seems pretty confident, but we will see. If Michigan looses the #1 tackle in 2019 who lives ten minutes from campus then it will be time to be upset.

StraightDave

May 16th, 2017 at 9:39 PM ^

I've bitched about this same thing with UM recruiting Texas the last couple years.  OSU is already in on the top 2019 and 2020 kids from Texas and none of these youngsters mention UM.   OSU just offered one of the top 2019 DT QBs last week and offered the kid infront of his teammates after a scrimmage -the kids loved it.  Hell, OSU is getting the top rated DB in the state out of the Houston area this year as well.   

SF Wolverine

May 17th, 2017 at 9:53 AM ^

you can't be on top of every single quality candidate (or those who turn out that way in retrospect) every year, all the time.  Fact is, we will win some battles and lose some with OSU.  Same with ND, and even little brother.  We've had our share of high-end Ohioans over the years, and will continue to do so.   

Mr Miggle

May 17th, 2017 at 10:27 AM ^

You have to prioritize based on your evaluations. Harbaugh and staff seem to do a good job of getting on recruits early. We've been the first offer or first major offer for some highly recruited players from all over the country. They've also done pretty well picking up commits relatively late in the process. No approach is going to lead to getting everyone you want, even if they are interested.

I'm not sure why we should wring our hands about losing a recruiting battle. Keep your eyes on the bigger picture. 

Kevin13

May 17th, 2017 at 11:20 AM ^

better job on the national scene and pulling top targets out of SEC country. Yes they do need to also hit Ohio, but sometimes it's easier for a local school to identify and offer a local kid before UM can. Can't hit them all right and occcassionally you will miss on something like this. Don't think it's worth getting too worked up about as it will happen several times every year, you just don't hear about it like this.