Portal Movement in the NSIC

[CollegeFBGuy]

He has Tenn State and NAU offers already.

I bet Chmura helped get him noticed at Tennessee State, after seeing him in the NSIC last year

[Peacockfan]

After I Googled it, I remembered they co-op with Cloquet for hockey.

That being said, he hasn't exactly played top level talent. Rooting for him though.

Cooper DeJean came from a small school in Iowa and had a fantastic career for the Hawkeyes. Koi is a fairly similar type of player. I see him doing well for the Gophers.

[Purple Mav Man]

Cooper DeJean came from a small school in Iowa and had a fantastic career for the Hawkeyes. Koi is a fairly similar type of player. I see him doing well for the Gophers.

Well yeah…they’re both white DBs from small towns.

[SW_Mustang]

Cooper DeJean came from a small school in Iowa and had a fantastic career for the Hawkeyes. Koi is a fairly similar type of player. I see him doing well for the Gophers.

Certainly hope he makes it - the odds for those types of guys are astronomical though. I've got no reason to root against him.

We all know a plethora of small town studs that never translated at the next level. It's honestly why I'm not entirely against bigger city schools and recruiting, so we can give these small town kids a shot to prove themselves and utilize resources before they get to college, but that's an entirely different discussion.

[zimmy21]

Certainly hope he makes it - the odds for those types of guys are astronomical though. I've got no reason to root against him.

We all know a plethora of small town studs that never translated at the next level. It's honestly why I'm not entirely against bigger city schools and recruiting, so we can give these small town kids a shot to prove themselves and utilize resources before they get to college, but that's an entirely different discussion.

I'll bite. I'm fine with recruiting if they are forced into the top class of competition. Simple as that

[SW_Mustang]

I'll bite. I'm fine with recruiting if they are forced into the top class of competition. Simple as that

That's a fair trade-off.

I know it's an unpopular opinion. It bums me out to see guys like Koi get stuck in Esko when they should be allowed to develop at a higher level and utilize increased resources. That's all.

[zimmy21]

That's a fair trade-off.

I know it's an unpopular opinion. It bums me out to see guys like Koi get stuck in Esko when they should be allowed to develop at a higher level and utilize increased resources. That's all.

I actually prefer them to stay home and compete for their cities/schools but that's just me from a high school with 200 kids in it. If the talent is there they find you, and they clearly did with Koi.

[SW_Mustang]

I actually prefer them to stay home and compete for their cities/schools but that's just me from a high school with 200 kids in it. If the talent is there they find you, and they clearly did with Koi.

I've always been more interested in talent development and the quality of the product on-field over the superficial things, and I totally understand that puts me in a tiny minority of sports fans. I've learned to accept it. It's why I enjoy the European model of development so much.

The talent would absolutely be found - but imagine if he could have leveraged the resources and connections at a Wayzata or Eden Prairie? Maybe he would have gotten the opportunity to play in the SEC instead of Minnesota. I do know he was talking to Ohio State though so maybe staying home was important to him, I have no idea.

Anyway - we're way off track. This would be a fun thing to discuss in another thread.

[WSUWarriorFan]

I'll bite. I'm fine with recruiting if they are forced into the top class of competition. Simple as that

Schools can opt up if they want to in MN, if they do its a 2 year min commitment. Minneapolis North and Minnehaha Academy did it basketball. North was A then moved to AA, their coach wanted to go AAA. Since this thread is already off optic lol. My favorite activity during the state hockey tournament is to go on twitter to watch the private vs public school people wage war on each other. Highly entertaining.

[zimmy21]

I've always been more interested in talent development and the quality of the product on-field over the superficial things, and I totally understand that puts me in a tiny minority of sports fans. I've learned to accept it. It's why I enjoy the European model of development so much.

The talent would absolutely be found - but imagine if he could have leveraged the resources and connections at a Wayzata or Eden Prairie? Maybe he would have gotten the opportunity to play in the SEC instead of Minnesota. I do know he was talking to Ohio State though so maybe staying home was important to him, I have no idea.

Anyway - we're way off track. This would be a fun thing to discuss in another thread.

He had an offer from Vanderbilt in the SEC, Florida State in the ACC, Kansas in the Big 12, and pretty much every Big Ten team that matters nationally including USC, Ohio State, and the National Champion Wolverines and the runner ups in Washington Huskies. The kid made the Army All American Bowl for gosh sake. How much more visibility was he really going to get?

[zimmy21]

Schools can opt up if they want to in MN, if they do its a 2 year min commitment. Minneapolis North and Minnehaha Academy did it basketball. North was A then moved to AA, their coach wanted to go AAA. Since this thread is already off optic lol. My favorite activity during the state hockey tournament is to go on twitter to watch the private vs public school people wage war on each other. Highly entertaining.

Yes they can, but what I am saying if recruiting is going to be allowed that the schools MUST compete in the top class. Not opting up based on school size.

[Purple Mav Man]

He had an offer from Vanderbilt in the SEC, Florida State in the ACC, Kansas in the Big 12, and pretty much every Big Ten team that matters nationally including USC, Ohio State, and the National Champion Wolverines and the runner ups in Washington Huskies. The kid made the Army All American Bowl for gosh sake. How much more visibility was he really going to get?

I think there’s a big fish in a little Koi pond joke in there somewhere

[SW_Mustang]

He had an offer from Vanderbilt in the SEC, Florida State in the ACC, Kansas in the Big 12, and pretty much every Big Ten team that matters nationally including USC, Ohio State, and the National Champion Wolverines and the runner ups in Washington Huskies. The kid made the Army All American Bowl for gosh sake. How much more visibility was he really going to get?

Probably a lot of if he played for Mater Dei or IMG, hypothetically.

If he chose Minnesota over Ohio State or Michigan - I have to wonder how good those offers are. It's not an easy decision to sit every New Year's Day for five years. But I don't know the ins and outs of his recruiting path.

I went to school in a town twice the size of Esko. We didn't have the resources for player development. We had a tiny weight room. It's why our team was always undersized, and nobody got offers. I knew one guy that played a down of MCAC football. Can't imagine what resources a town like Esko is going to have.

It's why I don't hate Edina in hockey - I want to see a well-funded team full of NHL draft picks. Not a team full of hometown heroes. It's great when some kid from an outpost like Fairmont gets a shot, but there's a reason it doesn't happen every year - even every decade. I'm not rooting against the guy - but to say this is an improbable achievement is 100% accurate, based on his geographic location and resources available too him. That's all I was saying.

[zimmy21]

Probably a lot of if he played for Mater Dei or IMG, hypothetically.

If he chose Minnesota over Ohio State or Michigan - I have to wonder how good those offers are. It's not an easy decision to sit every New Year's Day for five years. But I don't know the ins and outs of his recruiting path.

I went to school in a town twice the size of Esko. We didn't have the resources for player development. We had a tiny weight room. It's why our team was always undersized, and nobody got offers. I knew one guy that played a down of MCAC football. Can't imagine what resources a town like Esko is going to have.

It's why I don't hate Edina in hockey - I want to see a well-funded team full of NHL draft picks. Not a team full of hometown heroes. It's great when some kid from an outpost like Fairmont gets a shot, but there's a reason it doesn't happen every year - even every decade. I'm not rooting against the guy - but to say this is an improbable achievement is 100% accurate, based on his geographic location and resources available too him. That's all I was saying.

That's just some twisted thinking that I can never get behind. There's just as likely a chance that he goes to IMG or Mater Dei and becomes a nobody.
He stayed home and showed out. He got invited to camps and proved he was worth being talked to by P5 teams. Got invited to the All-America bowl and named player of the game! The kid was seen, the schools knew his name and decided to pursue or didn't.

We will never know exactly what was said to him by the coaches, and may never know exactly why he chose the U. Maybe it was immediate playing time, maybe it was big NIL, maybe he just didn't want to leave home.

The point is he was found, was offered and ultimately signed with a P5 school of his choosing while staying at his actual school. I don't fault kids for leaving for bigger opportunities, but I do root against them. Especially in today's social media recruiting where you have eyes on you at all times and much more access to college coaches than ever before.

[SW_Mustang]

That's just some twisted thinking that I can never get behind. There's just as likely a chance that he goes to IMG or Mater Dei and becomes a nobody.
He stayed home and showed out. He got invited to camps and proved he was worth being talked to by P5 teams. Got invited to the All-America bowl and named player of the game! The kid was seen, the schools knew his name and decided to pursue or didn't.

We will never know exactly what was said to him by the coaches, and may never know exactly why he chose the U. Maybe it was immediate playing time, maybe it was big NIL, maybe he just didn't want to leave home.

The point is he was found, was offered and ultimately signed with a P5 school of his choosing while staying at his actual school. I don't fault kids for leaving for bigger opportunities, but I do root against them. Especially in today's social media recruiting where you have eyes on you at all times and much more access to college coaches than ever before.

My original point is that typically, guys from smaller programs don't tend to get picked up as much - which is a statistically true statement. Koi is an exception to that trend.

My point now is that I want to see guys feed into bigger programs with better competition. Overall, it will produce a better product and maybe filter out a few folks who don't belong. We have an anecdotal example that does not fit that narrative.

I am not rooting against the kid, I hope he makes it in FBS and beyond. It's weird to me that he stuck around, but it was his decision and not mine.