Super Prep Profiles

By Star Tribune, 02/01/12, 9:30AM CST

Profiles of 11 Minnesota high schoolers who will play Division I football.

JONAH PIRSIG, MINNESOTA

Blue Earth, offensive tackle

As the scholarship offers began to roll in, so did the big-time head coaches. On a seemingly constant basis, Escalades joined the pickup trucks in the main parking lot of Blue Earth Area High School. The drivers were all there to see one student: Jonah Pirsig. By the time last summer came along, the 6-9, 290-pound Pirsig had offers from teams across the nation.

Though he took each call, letter and visit seriously, Pirsig woke up July 1 and made his final choice. Despite another down year in Stadium Village and coach Jerry Kill’s highly-publicized medical issues, Pirsig never wavered as the months leading up to National Signing Day passed on. “It doesn’t bother me,” he said. Pirsig declined an opportunity to enroll at the U early, instead choosing to finish out high school with his friends. He knows he might not step into the lineup right away, but that hardly quells the excitement.

“I’m looking forward to being able to beat Wisconsin and Iowa, Nebraska. All the rival schools,” he said. “I’ve seen some of those stadiums, and hopefully by the time I’m back at them we have a lot more Gophers fans traveling to games.”

ISSAC HAYES, MINNESOTA

St. Thomas Academy, offensive tackle

Hayes left an impression on St. Thomas Academy coaches with his omnipresent smile. Opponents got a much different look. Hayes, an athletic 6-3, 280-pound guard, plowed the road for the Cadets’ through the echo of the whistle.

“I like to get after it,” said Hayes, who expects to move to center for the Gophers. Hayes last snapped the ball in seventh grade. Chad Abbott, offensive line coach at St. Thomas Academy, said his nimble feet and fast hands will translate.

DUKE ANYANWU, MINNESOTA

Blaine, QB-WR

In the nearly two years of his recruitment by Minnesota, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Anyanwu has been pegged as a receiver, then a quarterback, then a receiver again, and finally just what he is: an athlete. Not that it matters to him. Anyanwu, who moved to Minnesota from California when he was in the fourth grade to be closer to his mother’s family, is just happy to be a Gopher.

“It’s where I always wanted to be,” he said. “When Coach Brewster left, it cemented it in my mind. I want to be a part of a program that was turning things around. And I wanted to go to a place where I could leave the program better than I found it.”

Anyanwu (pronounced ahn-YAH-wu – “the second ‘N’ is silent,” he said) didn’t receive a scholarship offer from Minnesota until Jan. 16, but he was confident, he said. He knew Minnesota would come through.

NICK DAVIDSON, STANFORD

Nick Davidson

Eden Prairie, offensive line

It’s no surprise that Davidson never seriously considered the University of Minnesota as a football destination. The 6-foot-7, 275-pound tackle played just one year of football in Minnesota, moving from North Carolina when his father, Jeff Davidson, took over as the offensive line coach for the Minnesota Vikings. By the time Davidson arrived at Eden Prairie, he had heard from nearly every top program in the nation and had narrowed his choices. Stanford had been his No. 1-choice since his sophomore year and when Stanford comes calling, it’s tough to turn down.

But Davidson did have good things to say about his year in Minnesota, despite injuring his ankle in the Class 5A quarterfinals and missing the Eagles’ run to the state championship.

“I had a great time,” Davidson said. “You can’t ask for any more out of a season than playing for a state championship. It was hard to watch from the sidelines – I don’t like sitting out – but it was a pretty good feeling this year. Things couldn’t have gone much better.

WILL JOHNSON, WEST VIRGINIA

Will Johnson

Osseo, tight end

Contrary to what some may think, Johnson said he has heard very little negative feedback regarding his decision to leave Minnesota to play at West Virginia. “The response I’ve gotten is that most people are happy for me to get the chance to do what I feel is right for me,” said the 6-foot-7, 245-pound Johnson. “There is a small group of people who wish I would in Minnesota, but even they are excited for me to get this opportunity.”

Johnson’s three finalists read like a Who’s Who of College Football: Miami (Fla.), Oklahoma and West Virginia. One of the biggest factors in his decision was the assurance he received from the West Virginia coaches that he will get the opportunity to play tight end. “They said I’m going to be playing Inside Receiver, which is kind of like tight end. I go in motion and things like that.”

But most of all, it was the way he felt when he stepped on the West Virginia campus that swayed his decision. “It was the atmosphere. The team is really together and had great camaraderie. It just felt right. I made my decision right when I got back from my visit there.”

BEN LAUER, MINNESOTA

Ben Leuer

Wayzata, offensive tackle

Ben Lauer is set to do what he always believed he would do. It just took a little longer than he originally planned. The 6-foot-6, 280-pound tackle stopped hearing from colleges when he missed much of his junior season with a knee injury. As a result, Lauer wasn’t able to make a commitment to Minnesota until early January.

“There wasn’t much film of me from my junior year,” Lauer said. “I had to wait until this year for them to see what they wanted to see. I started to get mail again during the middle of this season.”

Aside from the obvious physical requirements, what recruiters saw – and liked – was how nimble Lauer was, the result of spending each and every practice battling Wayzata’s defensive line, where speed is a requirement. “Going up against guys like Kit Snyder, who was All-State, helped,” Lauer said. “He can really get off the ball. It was a challenge, but it taught me how to play against speed.”

MITCH LEIDNER, MINNESOTA

Lakeville South, quarterback

The 2011 football season didn’t go quite the way Leidner, a big (6-foot-4, 220 pounds) , cannon-armed quarterback, expected. The Cougars were tabbed by pundits as one of the top teams in Class 5A and Leidner as the leader who would lift them to elite levels.

“We had really high expectations,” Leidner said. “Things went downhill when we lost to Lakeville North. And then [in the playoffs], we lost to them again. I think there was a lot of pressure on us to do well.”

But Leidner has not spent time dwelling on what could have been. He graduated from Lakeville South early and has spent most of January as a student at the University of Minnesota, acclimating to his future school. He admitted that it’s been a challenge going from being a big fish in a high school pond to just another guppy in a vast Maroon-and-Gold ocean, but he insists he has no regrets.

“It was a wild ride and it wasn’t the best senior season, but I’m really looking forward to the future,” he said. “Everything is a lot tougher here, with classes and working out and everything, but I know it will all be worth it in the end.

ANDRE McDONALD, MINNESOTA

Hopkins, wide receiver

There is little dispute that Hopkins’ Andre McDonald is the most talented wide receiver prospect to come out of Minnesota since Michael Floyd plied his wares at Cretin-Derham Hall five years ago. Blessed with a physique scouts would drool over – 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, with long arms, soft hands and game-breaking ability – McDonald has also shown a flair for the dramatic.

He made a commitment to Minnesota following his junior season, then changed his mind last summer and committed to Vanderbilt in September. He re-opened the recruiting process in December when the coach who recruited him to Vanderbilt, Chris Beatty, left to take a job at the University of Illinois.

McDonald has since taken official visits to Minnesota and UCLA, but has decided not to announce his choice until the last possible moment. He plans to make his selection on Feb. 1 from Austin, Texas, where will play in the High School International Bowl. His final three choices? Minnesota, UCLA and Vanderbilt. Gophers’ fans are keeping their fingers crossed.

PHILIP NELSON, MINNESOTA

Mankato West, quarterback

It was a season of awards and records, of high expectations and lofty achievements, for Nelson. He led a Scarlets’ offense the averaged nearly 50 points per game during the regular season to the Class 4A semifinals. He passed for 2,784 yards and 35 touchdowns and used his 6-foot-3, 216-pound frame and 4.48 40-yard-dash speed to rush for another 20 touchdowns. He finished his career with the second-most passing yards in state history (7,561 yards) and third in career touchdown passes (94).He picked nearly every post-season award possible, including the AP Player of the Year, the Mr. Football award and the Gatorade Minnesota Player of the Year.

With such a sterling resume, it’s no surprise that Nelson is the prize recruit in Jerry Kill’s 2012 recruiting class. And Nelson is clearly anxious to get started on a career that Minnesota fans hope will be just as accomplished: he graduated from Mankato West early and is enrolled at Minnesota so he can participate in Spring Practice.

NICK RALLIS, MINNESOTA

Edina, safety

The injury – the separated left shoulder and torn labrum that ended Rallis’ senior season – was kind of a fluke. “It was a freak accident,” said Rallis. “It wasn’t anything special. I just hit the ground and my shoulder popped out.”

Such an injury might have sent a lesser player into a tailspin, but Rallis is not one to whine. “It was disappointing, but this is football,” he said. “Bad things happen. You can’t dwell on them. It just made me hungrier. It motivated me to work even harder to prove myself.”

Rallis’ injury is almost completely healed. Currently taking classes at Normandale Community College, Rallis can’t wait to join his older brother, Mike, as a Gopher. Mike is a linebacker who will be a senior in 2012. “I’ve never played on a football team with him before,” Rallis said. “It will be something special to go out and play with him. I’m a football player because of him. It’s a dream come true.”

MAXX WILLIAMS, MINNESOTA

Maxx Williams

Waconia, tight end

It was never a question if Williams, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound athlete with a unique combination of hand-eye coordination and rugged aggressiveness, would play college football. It was more a matter of where. The son of former University of Minnesota athletes Brian Williams (football) and Rochelle Goetz (volleyball), playing college football was always a goal.

“It has always been my dream and now it’s about to come true,” he said.While both parents are Minnesota alumni, Williams said he never felt pressure to follow in their footsteps.

“They made me a promise,” he said. “They said they wouldn’t pressure me. That it was my choice.”

They were delighted, however, when Williams decided to become a Gopher.“I think they were a lot more proud of me than if I had went to Wisconsin or Iowa,” he laughed. “My dad said ‘Thank God I don’t have to wear Wisconsin Red or Iowa colors.”

MN Football Hub