Greg Newsome "considering" Move to IMG
- Thread starter epicbret
- Start date
To get better coaching and play against better competition.
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Most kids who transfer to IMG do so before their senior year. It's certainly not unusual for that school. We have a family friend who went to school there last year as a senior, after he had already committed to LSU and had received tons of offers from other top programs. He went there for the facilities and the opportunity to play against top competition. He graduated in December (thus spending less than half a year there) enrolled early at LSU, participated in spring practices, and may now start this fall as a true freshman.
IMG is an unconventional and unique place, and players go there for reasons beyond just being noticed by the power programs. Jango is another example of that.
Didn't Rapolas Ivanauskas do something similar in basketball? I thought he had committed to NU after his junior year at Barrington, then transferred to play his senior year at Brewster Academy.
Sorry, I deleted my post. I didn't pay good enough attention to where I first read about it.
Everyone goes for different reasons. Jango had to transfer because Lebanon had killed his recruiting. He had received 9 offers his Sophomore year at camps, and never got an offer again until he left Lebanon. IMG called me and asked if we would be interested in coming to IMG. I knew nothing about them. IMG was the best thing to happen to Jango. The academics were brutal if u wanted a high GPA. Jango finished High School with a 4.2 I think he is around a 3.8 after his first year at NU. The academics are very good. The football part I and academics are as close to college as you can get. Jango is basically doing the same schedule here as he did at IMG. The coaches actually coach and know what they are doing. And there is zero daddy ball. The best players play. Jango was fortunate enough to be asked to attend and given a scholarship. High School football is fun, college and IMG are not fun. You work hard in and out of the classroom. There is no better place on the planet for a student athlete than IMG Academy. You will never play on a team with so many gifted athletes. And the only time u will play better competition is in college. Anyone who can afford the 74k a year or get a scholarship should seriously consider IMG Academy. Very proud my son is an alumni, and decided to grind his Senior year.
I'm sure Jango was happy with his choice to transfer to IMG in the long run. I saw a lot of kids struggle to make the transition to college during their freshman year. I saw a handful drop out of school completely. I imagine if you can handle the workload at IMG, you can make it at NU.
It is a very comparable work load. The only difference is you get an extra year of the grind. IMG Academy is not fun, nor is Northwestern football. So you get an extra year of embracing the suck. But the road to success isn't usually the easy road. And that which doesn't kill us only makes us stronger. I have nothing but admiration and respect for any young man who takes on these challenges.
I really hope that playing football for NU is fun. I am very distressed to think otherwise. One's college years are generally regarded as some of the best times in one's life. Playing intercollegiate athletics should only enhance the experience - the friendships, camaraderie, and even popularity and prestige that come with playing football at a Big Ten school should produce positive feelings. I totally understand that there is work involved and do not diminish the difficulty of balancing classwork, practice, weight-lifting, and other campus activities. Yet, overall the experience, I hope, is fun. If not, as a university, perhaps we need to reconsider our participation in sports at this level. I was in a frat with guys who played football, hockey, or baseball. They truly enjoyed the opportunities to play their sports and be on the teams representing NU.
I never have been to the Rock, I didn't poach this from there. Football discussion happens all over the Net. Pretty big place if you are unaware
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I don't think the average fan realizes the commitment and amount of work required to excel in collegiate sports especially at the Division 1 level. Overall the experience and comraderie is positive but it is a tough grind, year round. I have nothing but respect for these student-athletes.
Bret reports a lot of first-hand tidbits based on involvement / fandom of high school sports. He's no poacher.
Greg is from my local HS. Heard it though the grapevine from four diff places before I posted this thread. I'm out of town so was a bit late to it all. It's a done deal, the quotes around considering was to keep people from jumping down my throat... didn't work.
Well, I altered my offending post. You couldn't have know because it was only up for about 20 hours.
All the chatter is coming from his HS, some coaches whose players have heard things, and 7on7 folks. I've heard nothing about NU, and that's why I was hoping Mr. G could help shed light on reasons why kids move there.
From all stories I've heard of IMG transfers, it's mostly to improve recruiting stock. Since he's committed that scares me. If he just wants the better coaching, I get it.
I want what's best for Newsome though, it's his life. That said, I hope he stays a Cat.
There are not a ton of programs that are developing guys at his position better than NU and even fewer that will give him the education he will get at NU. We have had good success in the secondary for number of years now. With his natural talent he should excel at NU, probably play early, and if he is really excellent leave early for the NFL. He may see this possibility and want a jump start on his development at IMG.
A year at IMG would undoubtedly bring better competition, both at practice and on the game field. Nothing wrong with that, just hoping Fitz was appraised of the plan and is on board.
I think the improved the recruiting stock may be a historical perspective. IMG has got so big now they are loaded with top prospects. In fact they have 13 4 or 5 star prospects already in 2018 class. 9 have verballed and it is littered with the big boys, like Clemson, OSU, Alabama, Miami, Oklahoma etc. how much can they really improve there stock? It might be true that the lower ranked 3 stars that are absent the marquee offers are trying to improve. Newsome already has our most impressive offer list. I believe he could get the real big boys without attended IMG.
Never accused him of poaching...my point was that sensitive, personal information regarding one of our recruits would be better served on The Rock.
You can go to IMG and hurt your recruiting. Jango started above a four star recruit. It definitely hurt the four stars recruiting. If the recruit is wanting to get better and adjust to what life will be like playing college ball, then IMG is the best place for that. Going to boost your recruiting is not such a good idea, especially if you have committed already. The grind there is real and we had msny recruits get there and leave. It may look like a vacation resort, but I can assure you it isn't.
I think if the recruit has been offered free tuition and has a desire to compete and get better, he should accept the scholarship and go. I have said this over and over. There is no better place for a high school student athlete than IMG Academy. We should not worry about a recruit dropping us for another school. We should embrace the fact that we have a recruit who wants to compete and be the best he can be coming out of High School. Plus some National exposure doesn't hurt Northwestern recruiting. Be nice to have a pipeline front IMG. It would be a tricky situation since Texas has a problem with IMG and we recruit Texas heavily.
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If the recruit or his family have any questions or concerns, they can private message me and I will give them my number to call if they like.
I just want to know about the chilaquiles.
Next time you are in Chicago, I can take you and Jango for the best chilaquiles on the planet. I'm not joking.
I am Jango roommate till the end of July. I am living in Evanston
Texas has banned any Texas school from playing IMG. They want IMG gone. Some college coaches have pressure put on them by Texas high school coaches to at the very least to not speak well of IMG
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