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FOOTBALL RECRUITING: Grand Valley State goes on recruiting rush, picks up slew of commitments
Grand Valley State’s football program took its recruiting game into overdrive this week, securing 10 verbal commitments from players across the state.
It started on Sunday, when the Division II national gridiron power Lakers program collected its first five recruits of the 2013 recruiting season in the same evening.
The Southfield trio of wide receivers Brandon Bean and Tre Walton and linebacker Jeff Madison kicked off the GVSU stampede and were quickly followed by Fowlerville tight end Brian Moran and Portland offensive lineman Dylan Carroll.
Bean and Walton were both three-year starters for the Bluejays, while Madison transferred into Southfield as a junior from East Detroit and became a central cog in the team’s stifling defense. With the fearsome threesome of future GVSU Lakers helping lead the Bluejays on-field assault, Southfield qualified for the playoffs in each of the past two seasons and captured a Division 2 district championship in 2011.
Walton started two years at receiver before switching to quarterback this year, where he threw for 20 touchdowns. Vince Bean, Brandon’s father, starred on the gridiron at Southfield in his prep days and then in college in the Big Ten at Michigan under legendary Wolverines coach Bo Schembechler.
Moran is 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, equally dangerous in carrying out his blocking assignments and catching the ball down field. Carroll is a versatile talent and played on both sides of the line and lined up at tight end this year for Portland’s Division 5 state title squad. He will be an offensive tackle in college, but made his last game on defense a special one, gobbling up 14 tackles in the state championship game.
Once a rival of the three Southfield standouts in the race for bragging rights in the OAA White, Farmington Hills Harrison defensive lineman Jake Slobin will now be their teammate, as the relentless Hawks run-stuffer committed to GVSU on Tuesday.
Possessing an unmerciful motor, Slobin was a three-year starter on both sides of the ball. When he was a sophomore, he collected a state title ring. Last year, the Hawks were nationally-ranked. This fall, he was one of the most dominant defensive players in the state, recording 98 tackles, an impressive 30 of which went for lost yardage, eight quarterback sacks and 12 hurries.
Wednesday brought Rockford quarterback Kyle Short and Grand Rapids Forrest Hills Central linebacker Collin Schlosser into the fold. Smart and steady under center, Short guided Rockford into two straight Division 1 final fours. Schlosser was a four-year starter at Forrest Hills Central and earned all-state honors the past two seasons, going over the 100-tackle plateau both seasons.
Later in the week, another trifecta of Metro Detroit prep stars committed, when Devin McKissic (Detroit Renaissance), Khalil Hill (Detroit East English Village) and Bart Williams (Grand Blanc) came on board.
McKissic and Hill are athletic cornerbacks with big upsides at the college level. Hill is the twin brother of Michigan-commit Khalid Hill (tight end).
A recent all-state selection by the Associated Press, Williams (6-5 210) is a classic drop-back passer of a field general and in his two years as Grand Blanc’s starting quarterback put up monster numbers. Between 2011 and 2012, Williams threw for over 6,000 yards and 77 touchdowns. In 2011, he took the Bobcats to a district crown.
Williams has stated that his commitment is ‘soft’ and if a Division I offer comes his way in the next few months he would consider taking it.
GVSU went 8-3 this year.
