Tag: tristan bounds

Post-signing day Michigan football 2021 recruiting superlatives

Who’s the MVP of the 2021 class? Most likely to succeed? Most likely to outperform their ranking? We break down Michigan football’s signees.

With all of their commits in the fold, the early signing day period is over for the Wolverines, having started and ended on Wednesday.

For all the rumors, uncertainty, and on-field issues at Michigan, the 2020 recruiting class rounded out quite nicely in Ann Arbor. Though it wasn’t perfect, the Wolverines lost two four-star commitments on the defensive side, the class as a whole turned out much better than what it could have.

The maize and blue ended up with two top-50 players on the offensive side, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings — the Wolverines have the 14th-ranked class in the nation.

One major flaw to the 2020 class? No incoming help for the interior of the defensive line. Michigan was able to sign three defensive ends — with some who could bulk up and move inside — but as of right now there is nothing coming in.

We are going to break down this recruiting class with eight different superlatives like: MVP, most likely to succeed, and highest expectations.

Note: I will be using a different signee for each superlative — except one I did double up on.

Roundup: Meet Michigan football’s 2021 recruiting class

A full roundup of recruiting evaluations, facts, stats, film and everything else covering Michigan football’s signed 2021 class.

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It wasn’t a perfect signing day for Michigan football, as there were a few unhappy surprises, and a big great one — as well as a couple of smaller ones — so it was mostly good for the Wolverines. It took a minute for the letters of intent to start rolling in, but once they did, they came in with regularity.

We scoured the main sites for breakdowns and intel on all of Michigan football’s newest members, including the new bios from the program itself. Here’s everything you need to know about Michigan football’s 2021 recruiting class, in order of their signing.

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Dominick Giudice

From MGoBlue.com:

Prep
• Attended Mater Dei High School (2021) coached by Dino Mangiero
• Helped Mater Dei finish as the state runner-up after reaching the championship game as a junior
• Played all along the defensive line and offensive tackle in high school
• Selected to the Mater Dei Prep All-Decade Team (2010-19) on defense

Key Statistics
• Credited with 46 tackles, seven tackles for loss, six sacks and 42 quarterback pressures as a senior
• Totaled 43 tackles for loss and 24 sacks as a junior – total was No. 1 in New Jersey and ranked 11th nationally

Honors and Rankings
• Earned a 247Sports Composite ranking of three stars; the No. 1,958 overall player nationally, the No. 100 weakside defensive end and the No. 42 player in the state of New Jersey
• Three-star prospect according to 247Sports; the No. 111 defensive end nationally and the No. 43 player in the state of New Jersey
• Rated as a three-star prospect by ESPN, the No. 179 defensive end and the No. 35 player in the state of New Jersey
• Rivals.com two-star prospect
• First team All-New Jersey Defensive pick by USA Today as a senior
• Named the division’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year as a senior; first team defense All-Division selection
• Earned Jersey Sports Zone All-Zone Team as a junior and senior

Personal
• Dominick Giudice was born Sept. 12, 2002
• Son of Anthony and Maryann Giudice

The Wolverine’s EJ Holland:

He plays with a relentless motor and has shown improvement with the way he uses his hands. Giudice doesn’t bend all that well, and a clear lack of athleticism prevents him from going higher in my ranking. He also needs to work on his get off. Giudice fits the cliché billing as a lunch pail recruit with a chip on his shoulder. Overall, you’re getting a big, strong, mean kid that lacks athleticism but will be the hardest worker in the room.

Maize N Brew:

Giudice has said that the coaches plan to play him at the anchor position, which I agree matches his skillset the best right now. He doesn’t have the athleticism to be a pure pass rusher on the weakside, but can definitely take on tight ends and clog up running lanes. However, I think that eventually he’ll pack on 20 or 30 more pounds and slide inside to be a three-tech, where his pass rush skills will be more valuable.

Wolverine Digest:

2021 Outlook: Giudice is an underrated recruit, but does have some upside. At 6-4, 250 pounds, he has the type of frame and athletic ability that will serve him well at the defensive end position. He’s also been described as a kid who is moving fast at all times, making it difficult for offensive lineman to keep him in check. It’s unlikely that Guidice will become an impact player in year one, but the upside is definitely there for him to become one at some point.

Next: Michigan’s tight end of the future

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National Signing Day: Michigan Wolverines sign Tristan Bounds

The Wolverines got an absolute behemoth for its future offensive line.

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Ratings

Stars Overall Position State
247Sports 3 – 44 2
Rivals 4 – 26 2
ESPN 3 – 59 3
247Sports Composite 3 417 35 2

Vitals

Hometown Wallingford (CT) Choate Rosemary Hall
Projected Position Offensive Tackle
Height 6-foot-8
Weight 285-pounds

Recruitment

With 25 reported offers, including from the likes of Texas, Notre Dame, and Nebraska, Bounds made a trip to Ann Arbor for a self-guided tour, and decided shortly after, on June 1, 2020, that he would be a Wolverine.

He’s so ingrained into the maize and blue, that he’s already made some inflammatory comments about rival Ohio State.

In an unpublished quote to WolverinesWire, Bounds shared his recruiting process.

“They offered me in January or late December, during basketball season,” Bounds told WolverinesWire. “From there I was in pretty constant contact with Coach Warinner and Coach Newsome, as well – the GA. Just stayed in contact with them throughout the recruiting process. Was hoping to get on campus and set an official visit, but obviously, COVID had different plans for me. Was doing a lot of Zoom stuff, virtual visits. Then I actually drove to Ann Arbor and walked around campus and Matt Dudek had put me through a self-guided tour. Walked around campus and saw a bunch of different spots, things like that. A week or two weeks after that, I just decided Michigan was the place I wanted to be and committed.”

On his Ohio State comments, Bounds says he was somewhat surprised by the backlash, but not really.

“I definitely did not think it would blow up like that – probably not in my best judgment to use profanity in a live podcast!” he said. “But you live and you learn. I don’t know if it’s a hatred as much as it’s a very competitive drive. Obviously, Ohio State has gotten the better of Michigan in the recent past. And being the competitive person that I am, can’t wait to put an end to that.”

As far as playing against the Buckeyes, it’s something he’s greatly looking forward to.

“I look forward to it a lot,” “In high school, I’ve been lucky enough to play in some great rivalry games. But nothing like Ohio State – Michigan, whether it’s in The Big House or The Horseshoe. It’s debatably the biggest game in college football every single year, so it’s definitely meaningful to get to play in that game and be a part of that rivalry and I’m excited for it.”

Readiness Level

Likely one-to-three years away from seeing the field with regularity.

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Film

Stories

Tristan Bounds commitment story

Fab Four: Selecting Michigan football’s Mount Rushmore of all-time recruits

 

Michigan football commit Tristan Bounds is ready to kick the (expletive) out of Ohio State

We’ve got more noise coming from Michigan commits that have yet to prove anything. Three-star OL commit Tristan Bounds is feeling confident.

Here we go again.

It’s one thing to walk the walk and talk a big game if you have the goods to do it. But time and time again, we get these horrible takes from kids committing to Michigan, or current players with the maize and blue that always seem to fall flat when the rubber meets the road on that last Saturday in November.

Now we’ve got another one, and it’s coming from a commit to the Wolverines’ 2021 class that hasn’t even proven himself yet. According to Eleven Warriors, three-star offensive tackle Tristan Bounds out of Connecticut appeared on a podcast with E.J. Holland of The Wolverine and mustered up some extreme confidence. He discussed what he wants his career to look like in Ann Arbor, and it was dreams of grandeur compared to what we’ve seen from TTUN in the past.

“After I take a couple days to take it in and realize what I really just did, and that’s commit to one of the best universities in the country as well as a football powerhouse, I’m definitely going to get on the recruiting trail hard,” said Bounds on The Wolverine Podcast. “I’ve been pretty adamant about this. I don’t want to lose any games. I want to win national championships. I want to kick the (expletive) out of Ohio State. Those are my goals. The best class that we can get is going to help us do that.”

Okay? That’s big words for a kid that’s rated as the No. 56 offensive tackle and 663 rated prospect in the 2021 class according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

We’ve heard big talk coming down from Ann Arbor for a long time now, and you’d think at some point, Michigan players and coaches would just try to figure out how to get it all done on the football field first.

But, I suppose if pigs can technically fly (on an airplane), then maybe there’s a shot for all of this happening.

 

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Notre Dame’s Most Recent Visitor Chooses Rival

The most recent recruit to visit Notre Dame chose elsewhere on Monday. Find out where Tristan Bounds is headed!

Notre Dame offered a scholarship to offensive tackle Tristan Bounds on May 1 and Bounds took it upon himself to make a few college visits by finding a loophole in the instituted NCAA dead period.

Now Bounds has made up his mind and he won’t be attending college at Notre Dame but instead to a nearby rival who isn’t on the schedule for over another decade.

Bounds is rated as a three-star offensive tackle and chose Michigan over offers from Notre Dame, Louisville, North Carolina State, Nebraska and Texas who were just a handful of the 25 offers he receieved.

Michigan now has 17 commitments to their 2021 recruiting class that is rated the sixth best in the nation according to 247Sports.

Notre Dame remains sitting with 10 commitments in their ’21 class, two of which play on the offensive line.

Michigan adds another sought-after OL in newest commit

The Wolverines win a recruiting battle over Virginia Tech and Notre Dame.

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On a day when Michigan made a few final group lists of some big time recruits, it wasn’t done making noise on the recruiting trail.

One of the Wolverines’ top targets in 2021 has been Wallington (CT) Rosemary Choate three-star offensive tackle Tristan Bounds, the 6-foot-7.5, 285-pound behemoth with offers from Notre Dame, Texas, Virginia Tech and many others.

But with Ed Warinner’s track record and an already solid offensive line class in the making, Bounds apparently saw all he needed to see. He took to Twitter on Monday afternoon to announce that his future is in Ann Arbor and that he’ll continue his football career wearing maize and blue.

Bounds’ becomes Michigan’s 17th commit in the 2021 class, one that’s rated No. 5 by the 247Sports team rankings. He’s rated as the No. 662 recruit in the country per the 247Sports Composite and is the No. 3 player in the state of Connecticut.

Watch his junior highlights below:

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Notre Dame Recruit Tristan Bounds Uses Loophole to Visit Campus

Much has been made about how much Notre Dame has been hurt by its inability to recruit players during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Much has been made about how much Notre Dame has been hurt by its inability to recruit players during the COVID-19 outbreak. The university’s location puts it at a disadvantage. Still, that didn’t stop one recruit from stopping by campus anyway.

Tristan Bounds, a three-star offensive tackle who’s part of the 2021 recruiting class, has eight schools at the top of the list. The pandemic had prevented him from visiting four of them, including Notre Dame. But Bounds, the 39th-ranked offensive tackle in his class according to 247Sports, made the trek to campus Tuesday, one day after he visited Michigan. Though the dead period has been extended to June 30, a loophole allows recruits to visit colleges as long as they aren’t accompanied by or in contact with anyone affiliated with the football program during their trip.

Bounds, who measures at 6-foot-8 and 280 pounds, plays for Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut, still has to make visits to Boston College and Texas. So far, he also has set foot on Virginia Tech, Virginia, Maryland and Vanderbilt. It’s a lot of traveling, but nothing the student at a boarding school over 300 miles from his home in Bethesda, Maryland, can’t handle.

Jeff Quinn, the Irish’s offensive line coach, offered Bounds a scholarship May 1, the day Notre Dame was revealed to be on Bounds’ list. The Irish emerged as a late contender for his services. However, his visit to campus means they’re still in the hunt.

 

Who Do The Irish Turn to Now at Offensive Tackle in ’21 Class?

Although Notre Dame missed out on Florida’s offensive tackle Caleb Johnson, there are still plenty of big fish out there.

The Irish missed out on one of their top offensive line targets today when Florida offensive tackle Caleb Johnson committed to Auburn. Johnson would have been a nice addition to the already committed tackle Blake Fisher and guard Pat Coogan and now Brian Kelly and offensive line coach Jeff Quinn will turn their attention to other prospects.

Of the current offensive tackles that have Irish offers it seems as if Pennsylvania’s Nolan Rucci is the biggest fish out there. A massive 6’8” frame is the prototype for a tackle and at 290-pounds Rucci looks skinny. Rucci should be first off the bus when his high school travels, he’s just a massive human. He moves extremely well for his size and will be able to add on good weight and end up around 320-pounds. Kelly and Quinn should turn the heat up on Rucci’s recruitment after the Irish were included in his Top 9 released last month.

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Staying with tackles the Irish realistically have a chance at securing a commit from, Texas’ Matthew Wykoff should be next on the list. The 6’6” and 300-pound Texan released a Top 7 without the Irish on it, but don’t worry, that was prior to getting an offer and making an impression on the young man. It will be hard to get him out of Texas, but if Brian Polian, who is his lead recruiter, can get in his ear often, the Irish will have a shot with Wykoff.

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Out east in Connecticut is another massive tackle in Tristan Bounds. Another first off the bus guy for his high school, Bounds stands also at 6’8” and weights 285-pounds. The Irish have made his Top 8 list and have a great shot at the bookend tackle. Bounds might not be as highly ranked as the other two tackles the Irish are persuing, but that shouldn’t matter much. He is talented and have a very high ceiling, even if he needs a few years to get acclimated to this level.

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As for guards, the Notre Dame staff has extended only three offers, Texas’ Donovan Jackson committed to Ohio State while Coogan verballed to the Irish last month. Michigan’s Rocco Spindler is the lone man standing at guard and the main competition looks to be from Michigan. Spindler will trim his list down from 10 schools to 5 a week from today, and expect the Irish to make the cut for the 6’4” and 290-pound prospect.

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The Irish have a great shot with all four of these prospects and there is bound to be a few new prospects that pop up between now and signing day. I am a huge fan of the way Kelly is attacking the offensive line, go after as many tackles as possible and if they need to move to guard, it’s a much easier transition. If I had to make a guess as to who the Irish end up with to finish the 2021 offensive line class it would be Spindler and Bounds. Time will tell if I am right, but the Irish are in good position with each of these prospects.

Three star offensive tackle from Connecticut puts Texas in top eight

2021 three-star OT Tristan Bounds has announced his top eight, with the Longhorns making the cut. Bounds was offered on April 22.

2021 three-star offensive tackle Tristan Bounds has announced his top eight, with the Longhorns making the cut. A top-ranked player from the state of Connecticut, Bounds could be looking at leaving the northeast.

Continue reading “Three star offensive tackle from Connecticut puts Texas in top eight”

Notre Dame Offers, Immediately Makes Cut for Michigan/Penn State/Texas Target

‘Twas a productive morning for Notre Dame football as they offered an offensive line prospect Friday morning & made his cut just hours later

Notre Dame made a scholarship offer Friday morning and were immediately included as that player announced his final eight schools a few short hours later.

Notre Dame made the cut down to 2021 offensive tackle Tristan Bounds’ final eight potential schools.  The newly offering Fighting Irish join traditional power houses Michigan, Penn State, Texas and Virginia Tech while Boston College, Vanderbilt and Virginia also made the cut.

Bounds is a 6-7, 285 pound prospect from Wallingford (Choate Rosemary Hall), Connecticut.  He ranks as the 39th best offensive tackle in the class per 247Sports, who grades Bounds as a three-star prospect.

Bounds spoke to 247 after cutting his potential schools down to eight and says two things especially stick out when considering Notre Dame.

“Notre Dame is (on the list) because of the academic tradition and also they have a program that puts offensive linemen into the NFL,” Bounds said. “I think those two things alone make Notre Dame very enticing.” Tristan Bounds to 247Sports

Bounds also says he’d like to announce his decision before the start of the season as long as he’s able to make his official visits this summer.

Of Notre Dame’s eight current commitments in the 2021 class, only Pat Coogan finds a home on the offensive line.