TomVH: Allen Gant Offered
Ohio DB Allen Gant received an offer from Michigan today. He was expecting to have to wait until camp to get an offer, but it came early for him.
I talked to Coach Borges over the phone and we were able to talk about what they thought of me. They thought they they liked me enough and they were able to give me an offer. They see me as a safety. I'm very excited and thankful that they offered. As of now I'm going to enjoy the process. I'll try to make it up there hopefully in the next couple weeks.
With Gant being a Michigan legacy this is obviously a big offer for him. We'll see what happens when he makes his visit.
My brother is friends with Allen and said coach Funk was at Southview today..interesting
who do you think is the most talented CB out of the offers?
Probably Deon Bush, with Yuri Wright as a close second.
do both of them have u of m offers?
Yes.
Wonder if they got some bad new from Terry Richardson?
I will speculate with you my friend. I feel like this was the offer he has been waiting for and hoke probably knew that which makes me think A) saw something in him they didn't before (o please o please) or B) one the offers is being declined and the coaches already have an idea about it. Really pulling for A and I have seen him play and I wouldn't be shocked either.
Gant was offered as a safety, he shouldn't have much too much say about what Richardson, Standifer or Morgan do, as all are offered as corners, and according to Standifer the coaches said they want 3 corners.
You realize Gant is about 5 inches taller and 50 pounds heavier than Richardson? Gant isn't a cornerback at the next level and Richardson isn't a safety, promise.
Because some of the guys we're recruiting, such as Morgan and Stadifer, could play either safety or corner, safety commits affect corners and vice versa. If Gant commits, and then Standifer or Morgan commit, Hoke and Co might decide that's enough and not take anymore.
Or, if Hoke thinks he won'[t get Richardson, he might offer another safety instead of another corner, and when Morgan or Standifer commit, they'll play CB and not safety. Since many DBs can play either, their commitments affect even those who don't.
Hypothetically they could have an impact on each other, but right now Richardson couldn't have said anything that would induce the coaches to offer Gant.
no they needed someone to commit WITH terry
I'm not sure how you can keep saying its putting pressure on T-Rich when he's announcing Thursday?
Richardson is announcing today at 11:45, not Thursday.
edit: just saw the updated post on moving to Thursday. My apologies.
Surely it was an honest mistake.
It probably was...and don't call me Surely.
This is interesting. It sounded like we were going to be pretty picky with our DB offers. He'll probably have to jump on that offer soon, it won't be around for very long.
EDIT: The more I think about this, the weirder it is. He doesn't have offers from anyone close to elite yet, and it sounds like OSU doesn't want him, so you'd think he'd be around in 6 months if we missed on our big names. I guess the staff really likes him, kinda strange no one else's staff does.
I was surprised by this offer as well, especially since the coaches said that they wanted to see him in person. There must have been something that prompted the early offer. I guess this is where we have to trust the coaches.
is leaning/going elsewhere, it seems smart to immediately up the ante like this in a way that is fair to both recruits and that will make them think hard about their offer. Playing hard to get works...
Really like this move and recruits are responding to the way the staff are doing things. The 2x2 pickup pattern maybe a fluke but this makes me wonder. Could we see 3 DBs line up and blow the collective mind of Mgoblog in the coming days?
leaning towards going elsewhere.
I know its so early that this really means nothing but I still thought it was worth checking out
Period.
caught a hail mary for a td as time expired in the first half of the ohio d-2 state title game a few years ago, was a freshman at the time. congratulations on the offer - nickbob, sv class of '97
... had a word with Hoke this past week about his little cousin while he was in town for Mott? Gave him a couple bottles of wine and there you go.
I was thinking the same thing. except without the wine. Woodson talked him up and told Hoke it was extremely important.
Alternatively, maybe Hoke read Brian's post about the APR and Gant is a really good student....
We will see what TR decides on Thursday. The next 48 hours are going to be rampant on this board. TR, Morgan, Standifer, now Gant. The saga continues!
was going to wait until the All American game to announce. Then his friends all committed to Michigan. Then he took a visit to Michigan last weekend. Then all the sites started saying "there might be some good news for Michigan this week!" Then Richardson announced he was going to commit this week, like 8 months ahead of schedule.
You do the math.
I think that last sentence is a little trick called "rhetoric." I hear internet posters occasionally employ it as a flourish.
Too dated?
AAB, thanks for having common sense. Take a look at his top 5, he hasn't visited at least two of those schools for sure. If he were picking anyone but Michigan, he would stick to his prior date and taken all of his official visits. Relax, enjoy the Hoke train.
he knows!
Better still ask Chris Barnett. He knows everything!!
I thought it was classy when Tressel offered Griffin's nephew (?) last year last minute. I think Gant has more going for him than that case.
Adam Griffin is Archie's kid, not his nephew. He was friends with my nephew in junior high.
Archie is a cool cat as far as Buckeyes go. FWIW, back then he was not a big Tressel fan, but would not say why. I think now we know. I give him credit for biting his tongue unlike our former players.
Not that that is something that needs to be outwardly said, but as even Gant said he's going to let the process play out a bit, it seems that it may be a non-committable offer at this point, more of a "we are really interested in you and please keep us in mind as you go forward."
I know it seems shady, but it is sometimes better and seems more respectful to a recruit to offer them, and then if you get other DB committs tell him "well the offer is still there, but you may be better off persuing other schools". This is my feeling more than anything. It is nice for the legacy effect, it helps Gant probably get attention from other schools, and if other recruits fall through it looks good that Michigan has at least been paying attention to him throughout the process. This offer at least comfirms that they have always had interest. But if other prospects commit to Michigan that the coaches feel are better, it wouldn't be soul crushing to tell him that it may be in his best interest to look elsewhere.
PS. This is all purely speculation based on the talent of other DB recruits and how I view Gant and his offer list. I'm not saying this is the way it is, just throwing it out there as how I view it to mean. I could be completely off base.
Agreed. As long as the terms are clear to the prospect there's nothing wrong with it.
Wilson appears to be a better prospect at FS so having Gant as a back up plan while smoothing over the legacy factor seems a likely strategy . Otherwise the offer is hard to understand except for the usual rubric that "the coaches know more than we do... yadda yadda...". Of course they do - doesn't mean we can't speculate.
I don't know, when Tom interviewed his coach two weeks ago, the coach said: "I think he'll have schools like Michigan, Stanford, and Notre Dame which shows you his intelligence."
It's a big leap from schools of that caliber to Illinois and MSU.
Yeah I found where I saw it, only a few hours ago on RCMB. Which makes me automatically take back my last statement. MSU fans think EVERY recruit they offer not from Cass Tech or Glennville, has them in their top 3. My bad........
That was his teammate Corey Smith's list before he picked Tenn.
But Illinois is a solid academic institution (Top 50 overall, including private schools, according to U.S. News; Michigan is #29). Their College of Engineering is every bit as well respected as ours (Illinois #6 Engineering; Michigan #7).
can't put MSU anywhere near the word intelligence, ever
Came across this about Gant from a few years back:
http://mgoblog.com/content/allen-gant-charles-woodsons-cousin
Gant attends my alumni and his head coach (a decorated, accomplished coach who won a state championship a couple years back) is known for being horrible at marketing his players.
As a matter of fact the coach is absolutely horrible about marketing and getting his kids into college. The work for Gant was done solely by his father.
Why is he a michigan legacy?