Devon Wright leads talented group of prospects heading to Minnesota!
One thing is for certain more and more programs from around the country are starting to recruit Florida heavily. One of those programs that have made a name for themselves this year is the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Right now they sit at 5 commitments from the Sun-Shine State. James Green was an impressive get as the Gophers pulled in an elite wide receiver. Their next get was Tyrone Buie. He is a talented defensive back from the State Champions from the 2008 season. Along with Buie and Green the Gophers have pulled in three other prospects from Florida, Donnell Kirkwood (RB-Delray Atlantic), Jon Ragoo (OL-Miami Pace) and Devon Wright (RB-Taravella). All five of these prospects have a chance to make an impact for the Gophers. ESS will breakdown each prospect and gives you insight into their future.
James Green is the first of the prospects we will look at. Green started his high school career for Dr. Krop in North Miami. The talented wide receiver was a top 100 prospect in the state of Florida. After leaving South Florida and moving up to Tallahassee, Green had a very good senior season. He played well enough to earn himself a scholarship to University of Tennessee. A year later the Tallahassee Native is now at the University of Minnesota. The Gophers got themselves a very talented receiver with both size and speed. Green just needs to work on his consistency. We expect him to be a very good receiver in the Big 10.
Along with Green, you have Tyrone Buie. With bigger and more physical receivers in the Big 10, Minnesota had to go out and get a big cornerback. That is exactly what they did when Buie committed to them. While Seminole high had some more well known prospects it was players like Buie who where the glue of the football team. Buie brings a nice blend of size and quickness to the cornerback position for the Gophers. It would not shock us to see him also play safety in college.
Over the years Minnesota has put out some very good running backs. Recently they had Lawrence Maroney and Marion Barber. Coach Thomas Hammock went out and got himself two very talented backs from Florida. Devon Wright from Taravella was the three-time rushing champion in Broward County. The 6′0, 190 pound back rushed for over 2,000 yards this past season. He is one of the more complete backs as Wright can also catch the football out of the backfield. He was a work horse for his football team. Wright was a big time get for the Gophers.
Along with Wright, Donnell Kirkwood committed to playing for Minnesota. Kirkwood brings more power to the Gophers backfield. He could line up at fullback on some downs. He is a more between the tackles runner who they will rely on to pick up first downs. He has decent hands but not anywhere near as well as Wright.
Leading the way for these two backs will be Jon Ragoo. At 6′7, 340 pounds Ragoo is a mammoth of a man. He will fit right in the Big 10 where it seems like the entire lineman is big. Now Ragoo has the physical talent, he just needs to put it all together. If Ragoo can get his weight down into the 310-315 pound range he may end up a pretty good player in a couple of years.
Final Thoughts: Coach Hammock has done a good job of landing some of the top players in both Dade and Broward County. Landing James Green could end up a coup for Minnesota. We expect them to continue having success in Florida. As these players have success for the Gophers other players will see it and decide that this is a place they would like to be at.
