'20 GA ATH Arik Gilbert (LSU commit)

Don't forget RK.
Marietta this year is what Grayson was last year. Having someone on campus will from the School probably help. Wayna almost got his two other teammates but just fell short.

The only player from Marietta I haven't heard about is Wray. I wonder if we will start recruiting him harder to help get momentum with the rest of the team.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SweetasSoda
The got Nieds on him? Vol on NSD.

“I got to sit down with the coaches and really talk to them and, I guess, build on the relationship I have with them. It was a really fun time, too,” said Gilbert, who’s ranked the No. 8 overall prospect and No. 1 athlete in the 2020 class, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite. Gilbert said Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and Clemson “probably” are the teams he’s hearing from most right now.

Tight ends coach Brian Niedermeyer “probably” is “the one I talk to most” at Tennessee, and Gilbert said he “definitely” spent plenty of time with Niedermeyer during Saturday’s visit. “He was telling me how I could change the program and how he could help me improve my game and stuff like that,” said Gilbert, who has played on both offense and defense in high school but is hoping to play tight end in college. Gilbert said he hears from Niedermeyer “every week, if not every other day,” and Niedermeyer has told him plenty about “just the way that I can do all the tight-end stuff, but I can also play, like, receiver, how versatile I am with that and how there aren’t many people like that.”

Chaney knew Gilbert from his previous stint at Georgia, and Gilbert said Chaney’s hiring “definitely” helps the Vols in his mind. “Coach Chaney, we had already had a relationship from Georgia, so we talked a little (Saturday) about him switching and stuff like that. And then I talked to (head) coach (Jeremy) Pruitt, too,” Gilbert said. “When we used to talk at Georgia, he’d always talk about how the offense that he ran, he (coached) tight ends and how he was guaranteed to throw it to the tight end and stuff like that. So, with him switching to Tennessee, and then with Coach Niedermeyer, he’s just going to use the same offense, basically — probably feature the tight end even more.”

Gilbert, who also visited Tennessee twice last year, said he likes “just the environment of the place,” along with “the offense that they’re building up with Coach Chaney being there. And I like Coach Pruitt,” Gilbert added. “I’m not really looking for a type of offense, but if I was, it’d probably be, like, more pro-style, maybe,” he said. "But, basically, I want a school that’s going to play me how I play now, where I can play tight end but I can flex out at receiver, just for mismatches and stuff like that.”

-247

Gilbert also said that Bailey is recruiting him constantly and that won't be a main factor in his decision but that it would be cool to play together. Also said he's visiting Clemson next week, likely back in Knoxville this Spring, and that it's possible he could make a decision this summer before senior year.
 
UGA, Clemson and Alabama the favorites? Okay, so the kid wants to play for a winner. Understandable.

Get 9 wins in 2019 so we can show progress yet still have an appealing depth chart to simultaneously sell playing time. I think that's the magic formula.
 
I feel pretty good about this...

It's not just the Bailey/Keyton/possibly Ojulari/Stewart ties... not just the fact our Depth chart has one legit TE on it in '20, so there's PT to sell... AND he's not the same kind of TE the one legit one we have is... but beyond all that stuff, which all makes sense...

We've got Neids on it... he's an amazing recruiter... but he's not just his lead recruiter... he's recruiting him to the position he himself coaches...

....... I'd be legitimately surprised if we don't pull Gilbert
 
Get 9 wins in 2019 so we can show progress yet still have an appealing depth chart to simultaneously sell playing time. I think that's the magic formula.

LOL, do you think we play in the Big 10? Nine wins ain't happening in 2019 with an SEC schedule. I think it's realistic to expect 7 wins, with an outside shot at 8. 8-9 wins in 2020 may be realistic, depending on 2019 recruiting and development.
 
I see a bunch of those kids on the train everyday.
giphy.gif
 
  • Like
Reactions: volunteer81
Arik Gilbert is not normal.

The 6-foot-5, 248 pound athlete out of Marietta, Ga. can commit to just about any school he wants to, he can play tight end or defensive end at an elite level, almost all coaches out there want this young man on their campus every weekend and even with all that, he is still so humble and hungry.

Not many top 10 prospects in the country love to compete the way Gilbert does. At every opportunity, the five-star athlete is working to improve his craft.

After visiting Clemson Saturday, Gilbert was going from station to station running the pro shuttle, doing the star drill and catching tennis balls at the Hustle Inc. 7v7 tryout.

You would never know this 2020 prospect is the No. 9-ranked prospect in America by his attitude. Someone is going to get a special player and that commitment could come in the next few months.

IN HIS OWN WORDS
"I want to be committed before my senior year,", said Gilbert. "I am not sure exactly when yet, but I want to get it done this summer. I am looking to graduate early, so I want to be done with it before the season.
"The main schools right now are Clemson, Georgia and Tennessee with a couple of more that I am just looking at. I have visited those schools a lot and I know a lot about them. I definitely want to get out to Oklahoma too. They are definitely on my list."

CLEMSON: "I keep going back to Clemson because of their consistency. Coach Dabo Swinney is such a great coach and he has that program doing great things. They just won another National Championship, but I can really see the program only going up. They just have things going so well right now.

"The level of play only helps them. How they produce guys that catch the ball at wide receiver and tight end shows me a lot too. I feel if I go there, they can really help up my game. Those things at that family feel at Clemson help me like them."

GEORGIA: "The change at tight ends for Georgia really means nothing to me. I really didn't know coach [Todd] Hartley when he was at Miami, but we are talking now and getting to know each other. I just want to see more of him and see what he is about.
"With Georgia, I really like coach Kirby Smart and what he is doing there. Georgia is also my home state, so I like the location, I like where the school is at and how it is in my home state too."

OKLAHOMA: "I really want to get to Oklahoma. I do not have a date set yet, but they are a school I really want to visit. I am talking to coach [Shane] Beamer a lot and we have a good relationship. I knew him when he was at Georgia, so him and that offense they run really has my interest."

TENNESSEE: "Harrison Bailey is a great quarterback, so throwing with him and playing with him is something special. We have great chemistry and him going to Tennessee definitely plays a part in my interest in Tennessee.
"I also really like coach Jeremy Pruitt and what he is trying to do with the program there. I saw some improvement on the little things. He is really working hard to step up their recruitment, so that is what I am watching now. I think they could improve a lot with another great recruiting class."

DECISION: "I want to go where I feel like part of the family. I want to be comfortable and I just want to fit in."

RIVALS REACTION
It is not an official top list of schools, but Gilbert said Clemson, Georgia, Oklahoma and Tennessee are up there on his list right now. Other schools he mentioned as ones he could still look at were LSU, Penn State and Texas A&M. He is not ruling out some official visits this spring, but nothing is scheduled right now. He said his next unofficial visit is likely to Georgia one of the next couple of weekends. He has already taken visits to Clemson and Tennessee in 2019. He really wants to make a decision over the summer, so each visit is crucial right now as schools battle for one of the true elite players in the 2020 class.
-Simmons
 

VN Store



Back
Top