BETTER KNOW A BUCKEYE: HASKELL GARRETT
This week's Better Know a Buckeye feature continues with a profile of Haskell Garrett, a defensive tackle from Las Vegas.
HASKELL GARRETT
- Size: 6-2/288
- Position: DT
- Hometown: Las Vegas, NV
- School: Bishop Gorman
- 247 Composite: ★★★★
- National Ranking: 70
- Position Ranking: 6 (DT)
- State Ranking: 4 (NV)
- U.S. Army All-American
Garrett will occupy a special place in Ohio State football lore. He will have the distinction as the first player to commit to Ohio State and eventually sign with the Buckeyes from the state of Nevada. His teammate, Tate Martell, later joined him, but Garrett will get this distinction for preceding Martell's commitment by four months. What's more unique about Garrett: he committed to Ohio State less than two weeks after an otherwise innocuous unofficial visit from Zach Smith. He committed to Ohio State, site unseen, with no family connections to Ohio despite also having offers from programs like Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and USC. He had yet to visit any of those programs either before offering his commitment. Notwithstanding junior day visits to Notre Dame and USC, his pledge to the Buckeyes last a year until he signed with the Buckeyes last month.
I retell this story below. After discussing his surprising commitment, I offer a scouting report of a defensive tackle prospect who could thrive as a three-technique defensive tackle. I offer a projection of a redshirt in 2017 before concluding with film for the reader to watch at the end of the feature.
HIS RECRUITMENT
The 2017 class in the state of Nevada promised to be a stacked one for programs across the country to recruit. Most of the talent reside in one program: Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas. The school is responsible for the top four prospects in the state, five of the top six, and seven of the top ten.
Nevada might be a relative backwater for prep football; indeed, Bishop Gorman had zero issue winning the last seven state championships while going undefeated against in-state competition. However, Bishop Gorman has more recently flexed its muscle against major programs from across the country. The program has been undefeated since a September 2013 loss at Booker T. Washington in Miami. It scored wins over Brophy College Prep (Phoenix, AZ), at Servite (Anaheim, CA), at Centennial (Corona, CA), St. John Bosco (Bellflower, CA), Chandler (AZ), at Bellevue (WA), Long Beach Poly (CA), Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, NJ), at Cedar Hill (TX), and Cocoa (FL). Most impressively, it hosted and beat the St. Thomas Aquinas program from Fort Lauderdale in a three-overtime thriller in 2016.
MORE HASKELL GARRETT AT 11W
In other words, Bishop Gorman players, like Haskell Garrett, are good enough to beat anyone and play for any program across the country. Ohio State, which does not seriously recruit Nevada or this program for cause of convenience, expressed an interest in the best players the program has to offer.
Ohio State's recruitment of Garrett starts at the end of 2015 and ultimately with a January 2016 visit from Zach Smith to see Garrett in Las Vegas. By that time, Garrett had already acquired major offers from programs like Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Texas A&M, USC, and Washington. USC, which has a major footprint in Las Vegas and draw from local prospects, was even his first offer early into his sophomore year.
Nothing around this time indicated his recruitment was nearing a conclusion or that Ohio State had any currency with Garrett. Crystal Ball projections favored Texas A&M and Notre Dame. Garrett seemed to talk more about Notre Dame while Texas A&M, at the time, seemed like certain destinations for teammates Tate Martell and Tyjon Lindsey.
It was all that more surprising when Garrett announced his decision on February 10, 2016.
Entire article:
http://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-...3/81116/better-know-a-buckeye-haskell-garrett