Recruiting Chess: The Battle for 2023 5* Keon Keeley
An interesting game is afoot in the aftermath of Mike Elston coming home.
Immediately upon hearing the news, recruitniks realized Mike had already secured a commitment from 2023 5* Keon Keeley
https://247sports.com/player/keon-keeley-46113382/
Wondering if he might be interested in following Coach Elston to UofM, I was looking for any sign that might be happening.
And then three days ago, UofM offered this guy:
Tre Reader
https://247sports.com/player/tre-reader-46129617/
He is an unranked! LB out of Florida.
Think about that; it's 12 days before Feb. signing day and he isn't even a one star (somewhere Mazien just fainted) and Michigan is willing to squeeze him in, WTF? The key here is both Keon and Tre go to they same school in FL, Berkley Prep.
Suffice to say, Elston must have known that it would help a lot with Keon's recruitment if they took the flier on Tre, something he probably knew for awhile but apparently good ole boy Brian Kelly wasn't willing to do.
Harbaugh, however, gave him permission on day one and on January 17th Tre went from a recruiting offer sheet of:
Stetson, Fordham and Colombia
to
Stetson, Fordham, Colombia and Michigan!
I guess Marcus Freeman ain't afraid to play that shit, so yesterday Tre's offer sheet went to:
Stetson, Fordham, Colombia, Michigan! and Notre Dame.
What a change of fortunes and what a team mate in Keon Keeley.
Love to see Tre here at UofM even if Keon doesn't come.
GoBlue! Tre
GoBlue! Keon
January 20th, 2022 at 3:55 PM ^
That’s like the greatest movie ending.
January 20th, 2022 at 3:34 PM ^
But hope can lead to happiness...
January 20th, 2022 at 3:40 PM ^
RJ, if you’ve come this far, maybe you can come just a little further…
January 20th, 2022 at 4:13 PM ^
I love this movie.
January 20th, 2022 at 4:44 PM ^
It is truly a timeless movie. My wife is a Hispanic immigrant who didn't see the movie when she moved to the US. I recommended that she watch it with me, but she wasn't interested in watching a "US movie set in a 1940s prison"
I told her if she watches Shawshank with me, I'll will go to all Maluma and/or Pitbull concerts she wants. Well, watching tears roll down her face while watching Shawshank is worth it IMO.
January 20th, 2022 at 5:49 PM ^
Needless to say, I’m a fan
January 20th, 2022 at 6:09 PM ^
that was my favorite movie when I was 20 years old, currently at 47 years old, and will never be surpassed.
January 21st, 2022 at 12:10 PM ^
“Didn’t do it, lawyer fucked me”
January 20th, 2022 at 3:23 PM ^
Let the recruiting fun commence!
January 20th, 2022 at 4:37 PM ^
The coaches know their ABCs:
Always
Be
Crootin!
January 20th, 2022 at 8:51 PM ^
Put that coffee down! Coffee is for Crooters!
January 20th, 2022 at 9:02 PM ^
So, speaking of coffee, Tre got an offer from "Colombia"?
Who's he gonna play for --- the Medellin or the Cali Cartel?
January 20th, 2022 at 9:24 PM ^
now that's what you can honestly call an 'arms race'. whew.
January 20th, 2022 at 3:27 PM ^
Alternately, Elston spends a lot of time down there recruiting Keeley, realizes Reader has a strong profile as a developmental prospect who isn't getting any attention. ND decides he's the kind of kid you offer a scholarship to right before signing day to help fill out a class, sort of like we did with Vilardi, Norfleet and others. Elston leaves, tells M about Reader and they go ahead and offer because the signing day special doesn't work nearly as well if two schools are in on it. Notre Dame now has no reason to wait to offer either.
January 20th, 2022 at 3:28 PM ^
I imagine the Michigan and Notre Dame offers are Preferred Walk On spots. 247 does not list either ND or UM having extended offers (247 only refers to scholarship offers as ‘offers’). So offering a PWO spot makes sense as it literally takes away nothing for UM or ND
https://247sports.com/player/tre-reader-46129617/
EDIT: Confirmed that the UM and ND offers are PWO offers https://irishsportsdaily.com/s/16927/2022-lb-tre-reader-high-on-notre-dame/1
January 20th, 2022 at 3:33 PM ^
Touche'
Really makes Notre Dame waiting on a walk on offer pretty stupid.
He announced the offers on twitter, which is on the same page you linked.
And no one responding is acting like it's a walk on situation, plus I'm sure he could walk on at a major Florida program and save $100,000.
Either way interesting play to upgrade the talent on the team.
January 20th, 2022 at 4:16 PM ^
On walk-ons, NIL and scholarship limits. Shouldn't $1M+ NIL arrangements now allow teams to stockpile talent in a way not seen since the days of unlimited scholarships?
January 20th, 2022 at 5:10 PM ^
I can't believe I hadn't thought of that. Who needs a scholarship if you're getting paid $100,000 a year? You could stockpile a lot of potential guys.
January 20th, 2022 at 5:40 PM ^
Good thinking! Never occurred to me.
January 20th, 2022 at 6:33 PM ^
This is what BYU is doing. However you aren't really allowed to recruit walk-ons, so you'd have to be pretty creative to get them to come to your school
January 20th, 2022 at 4:59 PM ^
He is probably really smart, given all those schools are pretty good schools. So he likely just wants to go to a good school either way.
January 20th, 2022 at 3:34 PM ^
Fordham and Columbia? Man I guess Florida really is the sixth borough.
January 20th, 2022 at 3:46 PM ^
Holy shit, NIL is getting out of control when nation-states like Colombia enter the fray.
January 20th, 2022 at 4:04 PM ^
You’d have to think Colombia’s NIL game is strong.
January 20th, 2022 at 5:29 PM ^
Those stimulants they're pushing is.. caffeine!
January 20th, 2022 at 5:58 PM ^
I'll get worried when Bolivia offers this kid.
January 20th, 2022 at 6:27 PM ^
I've heard that many MGoExPats live in Bolivia.
January 20th, 2022 at 3:46 PM ^
That'd be a nice pick-up. How solid is he to ND and what do the recruitniks think?
Also, if I'm the other young man, I take the free Ivy league education in one of the best cities in the world, but that's just me.
January 20th, 2022 at 3:59 PM ^
Ivy League doesn’t have athletic scholarships but I have heard they have money in their endowment for athletes. I’m not sure how it works or if it legitimately covers all of the costs. Tommy Amaker is building a functional program somehow.
January 20th, 2022 at 4:00 PM ^
Ivy League isn't free.. they get financial aid packages. I'm not sure of how it completely works in detail but it ain't free for sure.
January 20th, 2022 at 4:07 PM ^
Leadership scholarships for those who have demonstrated that quality in extracurricular activity.
January 20th, 2022 at 3:47 PM ^
This is so much better than Harbaugh threads about pizza, reading, a 3rd thread about who takes over if Harbaugh leaves, insider sources and double posts.
January 20th, 2022 at 4:13 PM ^
Keeley was a low 4* when he committed to ND and more recently blew up into a 5*. He's also attracted considerable Bama attention and they will be a big factor moving forward. I would not be surprised if Keeley decommits and goes through the recruiting process fully.
January 20th, 2022 at 5:10 PM ^
Never knew Colombia played college football. Do they drug test?
January 20th, 2022 at 5:30 PM ^
They offered b/c they thought he played futbol, not football.
January 20th, 2022 at 6:18 PM ^
The Columbia Lions play here, at historic Baker Field, located at the tip of northern Manhattan. Great setting...
January 20th, 2022 at 7:54 PM ^
They were after son #2, but he didn’t want to be that far away, and we didn’t want that either.
January 20th, 2022 at 8:38 PM ^
That's ColUmbia. Mr. Reader was apparently offered by ColOmbia. Way different.
January 20th, 2022 at 7:27 PM ^
I only had medium expectations for this post. But then it was one of the best I've seen in a while. Kudos. I have but only one upvote to give.
January 20th, 2022 at 8:18 PM ^
We should go after Keon Wylie then, along with Keon Sabb, have the all Keon defense.
January 20th, 2022 at 8:54 PM ^
Already moved on from the whole Green’s defense huh? Well, one can hope we can get a bunch of Keons now
January 21st, 2022 at 9:31 AM ^
I live in Naples fl. The local paper reports that five star running back from Lehigh FL. received visits from Dabo the new Florida coach and Kirby smart who showed up in a helicopter which landed on the front yard of his school. mighty impressive. P.S. The young man was mighty impressed with his two visits to Ohio
January 21st, 2022 at 10:48 AM ^
Go to his games in UofM gear and help us out!