Recruiting Articles
Prestwood Commitment Feels Different
Posted by whiskey on April 6th, 2010 under Recruiting
As a general rule I don’t let myself get too fired up about commitments. After watching several big name recruits defect at the 11th hour over the years I just don’t get excited until they actually sign their LOI. For some reason Plant City Florida offensive tackle prospect Jordan Prestwood’s commitment to Notre Dame yesterday feels different.
Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that his pledge came less than 72 hours after the Matt James tragedy. While that might have something to do with it I really found myself strangely captivated by a few things that he said at his presser.
For starters this wasn’t one of those hat dance productions. I always appreciate a kid just getting up there and saying where he is going minus the theatrics. After starting off by thanking his high school coach, administrators and teammates Prestwood went on to thank a few of the schools that recruited him by name. I thought that was a classy gesture.
All of the usual suspects were in that procession to include Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Auburn, South Carolina and USC. Then Prestwood acknowledged a couple of others that surprised me a little bit. He gave a nod to UCF that I immediately discounted as local PR. Right thing to do sure. Anything really there? Not likely. But the next one was surprising.
“Lastly, I would like to thank Shawn Clark at Purdue. I was seriously considering Purdue because of the relationship I built with coach Clark. He did a terrific job recruiting me. Purdue is an outstanding academic institution. I thank Coach Clark for allowing me the opportunity to have Purdue as one of my choices.”
Here is why that really caught my attention. When Danny Hope showed up the Boilers went on a full blown raid down to the state of Florida. I didn’t think much of it at the time because despite the fact that 14 of the 20 kids they signed in February of 2009 were from Florida they were mainly of the 2-3 star variety. This last recruiting cycle was more of the same with 7 of 24 coming out of Florida. Could the Boilers being in the mix for a high end player like Prestwood be an indicator that the Boilers might be poised to kick this Florida raid up to the next level? It is hard to say but the overall strategy is highly interesting and worth keeping an eye on.
After throwing me for a loop with the Purdue bit Prestwood finished up with a solid endorsement for Notre Dame.
“The recruiting process is over for me. This is more than a verbal commitment. My decision is final. I will not be recruited anymore.”
“I am very happy to announce, along with my mom and dad, that I have decided to play OFFENSIVE TACKLE at the UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME.”
“Coach Kelly is outstanding. Coach Alford did a great job recruiting me. Dave Peloquin gave me an unbelievable tour of Notre Dame. The entire staff is top notch and Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick is incredible. Notre Dame is the whole package.”
Prestwood finished his prepared remarks with a nice gesture to the family of Matt James.
So why does this one feel different? It might be the coincidence of the timing. It might be the fact that I thought Prestwood came off as being exceptionally mature with his remarks. Or maybe it is the realization that Purdue might be executing a full scale raid into the Florida talent pool. At the end of the day I’m not 100% sure why it just felt different this time. As opposed to my usual cynicism I fully expect to see this kid in a Notre Dame uniform come 2011.
ISD has the full article
Subway Domer also has some interesting thoughts
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magnusbleuveigner said:
April 6th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
Whiskey, sounds like a good get for you guys. Real classy of the kid to mention the James family.
A few questions though, he’s an offensive tackle? Was that picture taken his freshman year? Are you sure you have the right guy? He certainly looks athletic, but he also looks like a hard gainer.
Either way, sounds like a Mack Brown type of kid. Now stay away from Hegarty.
whiskey said:
April 6th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Magnus he plays as a “Big Tight End” in HS but is a tackle prospect for college. I’m not sure how old the picture is. As a Soph he was 6’4″ 180. He is currently 6’6″ 273 and growing. I probably should have mentioned that….
Sailor Ripley said:
April 6th, 2010 at 7:43 pm
Good stuff, whiskey. Having a hard time with the tragedy, thinking about the family. Man.
Ted said:
April 7th, 2010 at 4:23 am
Whiskey, when I read Prestwood’s statement, I was taken by the maturity of what he said. I was also thankful for the lack of theatrics. Someone might say it was just a statement someone drafted for Jordan, but I don’t think so. We may be proven wrong, but I believe he is the real deal. I just hope he enrolls early at ND.
Regarding your analysis of the Purdue mention by Jordan. I was also surprised by the acknowledgement he paid the Boilermakers. You may be right in what you say about Purdue moving into Florida. What better way than to start with the recruits others tend to ignore?
whiskey said:
April 7th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Ted glad to see you are still with us here at the new place. Prestwood definitely appears to be a great kid. I too would love to see him on campus early. He will be fun to watch for the next several years. Purdue is definitely on my radar at this point. Hope might be on to something.
Longhorn mike said:
April 7th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
With the recent commitment of Westerman to the Horns, Hegarty is probably out of play for Texas. I beleive they only have 3 schollies left.. My guess is he jumps on ND.
whiskey said:
April 7th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Longhorn MIke I hope you are right on that one. A couple of solid OT’s in this class would be very nice.
Longhorn Mike said:
April 7th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
Whiskey, they Horns have 5 OL commits already and there are some other positions they want to shore up. They probably stay after the two RB’s and maybe a corner or an impact pass rusher. Texas will honor the offer but not for long.
whiskey said:
April 7th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Mike thanks for the heads up on that. It will be interesting to see if he jumps on ND or one of his other offers here in short order as a result.
Longhorn Mike said:
April 7th, 2010 at 7:09 pm
Paw Paw is a big ND fan. It seemed to be a UT ND thing all along. I think Texas was going to take which ever committed first.
Texas real target now is the Brown kid out of SA.
Dimes said:
April 8th, 2010 at 11:27 am
Will you still love Prestwood when he signs with the gators? Omar Hunter has been an absolute beast this spring, and Justin Tratou is a Defensive Captain.
whiskey said:
April 8th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
Dimes that actually made me laugh out loud. Good stuff. I don’t think Prestwood will go the way of Omar & Justin. That only seems to happen with Defensive Linemen. Besides we haven’t seen Urban poach from Kelly yet. Maybe Kelly will turn the tables and start poaching from Urban!
One Foot Down — Blog — The week in news- Great Gilbert, QB Who? and Jimmy Clausen Day said:
April 9th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
[...] Prestwood Committed to Notre Dame this week. Chances are if you stop by here pseudo regularly you already know what we think about [...]