2017 National Signing Day Profile: Craig Nelson

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2017 National Signing Day Profile: Craig Nelson

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

Craig Nelson, 5’10”, 180 pounds, Miami, FL (Booker T. Washington High School), RB, 247Sports Composite Ranking: 3-Stars

Roughly a month before National Signing Day, many (Hoosier Huddle as a collective included) were quite concerned with the lack of offensive skill players in the 2017 class. The defensive commits and offensive linemen coming in looked great but we had just seen the offense struggle with inconsistency and explosiveness during the 2016 season and Hoosier fans wanted to see some “game breakers” brought in. The past few weeks have alleviated those concerns as a number of exciting skill players have joined the 2017 Hoosier Army and rounded out the recruiting class. One of those recent offensive commits is Craig Nelson, a speedy running back from Florida. Nelson played defense for powerhouse Booker T. Washington High School in Miami for his sophomore and junior seasons before switching to running back and bursting through with 1,074 rushing yards and ten touchdowns along with 150 receiving yards and five touchdowns.

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2017 National Signing Day Profile: Britt Beery

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2017 National Signing Day Profile: Britt Beery

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

Britt Beery, 6’6”, 250 pounds, Carmel, IN (Carmel High School), DE, 247Sports Composite Ranking: 3-star (83.79)

His high school teammate Kurt Rafdal elected to look elsewhere following the IU coaching change but Britt Beery chose to stay in the Hoosier state and stick to his commitment. The three-star defensive end starred for Carmel High School and he’s rated as the 16th best prospect in the state. He chose IU over Ball State, New Mexico and Syracuse and there was interest from Michigan State, Vanderbilt and Northwestern. 

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2017 National Signing Day Profile: Whop Philyor

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2017 National Signing Day Profile: Whop Philyor

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

Whop Philyor, 6’0”, 175 pounds, Plant, FL (Plant High School), ATH, 247Sports Composite Ranking: 3-star (82.81)

 The mid-January commitment of Tyrese Fryfogle appeared to open the floodgates for offensive prospects to pledge their allegiance to the “2017 Hoosier Army”. In the days between Fryfogle’s commitment and National Signing Day, IU added a number of skilled athletes that boosts the level of speed and athleticism on the Hoosiers roster. The next man to commit after Fryfogle was Plant High School’s De’Angelo “Whop” Philyor. The 6’0” do-it-all athlete is the high school teammate of fellow IU commit Thomas Allen and he chose Indiana over offers from multiple high majors including Arizona, Iowa State, Louisville, Syracuse, South Florida, Virginia Tech and more. 

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2017 National Signing Day Profile: Caleb Jones

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2017 National Signing Day Profile: Caleb Jones

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

Caleb Jones, 6’9”, 380 pounds, Indianapolis, IN (Lawrence North High School), OT, 247Sports Composite Ranking: 3-star (84.22)

Indiana has earned a well-earned reputation for developing physically-gifted offensive line prospects into tremendous offensive linemen and potential NFL players. The signing of Caleb Jones has given offensive line coach Greg Frey a super-sized addition to his position group and he has the physical tools and size to become another great Indiana offensive lineman. Jones is the 13th ranked prospect in Indiana and he is a gigantic presence. 247Sports lists him at 6’9” and 380 pounds and he chose the Hoosiers over offers from Purdue, Illinois, Cincinnati and Western Michigan. He was named to the Indy Star’s All-State team and he was a huge part (no pun intended) in improving Lawrence North’s rushing attack during his four years as a starting left tackle. The LN Wildcats play in the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference (MIC) with powers like Ben Davis, Carmel, Warren Central and Center Grove and they have steadily improved from a walkover to a competitive test, largely thanks to the improvement of their offense. 

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2017 National Signing Day Profile: Tyrese Fryfogle

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2017 National Signing Day Profile: Tyrese Fryfogle

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

Tyrese Fryfogle, 6’2”, 206 pounds, Lucedale, MS (George County High School), WR, 247Sports Composite Ranking: 3-Stars

Indiana’s 2017 recruiting class was filled with mostly defensive prospects that had signed on to play for Tom Allen and continue the positive momentum built by the 2016 season. Once the Hoosiers named Mike DeBord as offensive coordinator and Grant Heard as the passing game coordinator and wide receiver coach, it seemed to be only a matter of time until IU started rounding out the class with some offensive playmakers. The first of those to commit during the run up to National Signing Day was Tyrese Fryfogle, an unranked wide receiver with a  close relationship with new WR coach Grant Heard. 

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2017 National Signing Day Profile: Tramar Reece

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2017 National Signing Day Profile: Tramar Reece

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

Tramar Reece, 6’3”, 210 pounds, Clearwater, FL (Clearwater High School), DE, 247Sports Composite Ranking: 3-star (81.49)

The pipeline from Florida to Bloomington has certainly remained open for the 2017 recruiting class and Tramar Reece is the latest to flock from the Sunshine State to don the Cream and Crimson. Reece is a three-star pass rusher that chose IU over Duke, Iowa State, Louisville and several others. He is 6’3” and incredibly quick for a defensive end and his production at the high school level is unquestionable. Heading into his junior year of high school, football didn’t appear to be in his future. He weighed just north of 180 pounds and desired to play division one basketball. However, on October of 2015, Reece’s life took a drastic change. His mother, by all accounts a terrific role model and parent, died of a sudden heart attack. According to Reece’s high school coach, Don Mesick, that tragedy has pushed the young defensive end to make the most of his physical gifts.

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2017 National Signing Day Profile: LaDamion Hunt

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2017 National Signing Day Profile: LaDamion Hunt

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

LaDamion Hunt, 6’0”, 183 pounds, Carrolton, GA (Carrolton High School), CB, 247Sports Composite Ranking: 3-star (82.43)

IU has a number of very good players in the secondary. Marcelino Ball and Zeke Walker and Ben Bach are terrific options at Husky. Jonathan Crawford, Chase Dutra, Khalil Bryant and Tony Fields are among the quality options at safety. However, they don’t have an abundance of guys that are truly “cover corners”. Rashard Fant is a lockdown senior corner that IU is very thankful to have back for the 2017 season, A’Shon Riggins emerged as a very good second corner and Tyler Green improved greatly throughout the season but the rest of the depth chart is largely unproven and the Hoosiers needed to bring in at least one cover corner in this class. IU coaches looked to the Peach State and hope they found the answer in three-star prospect LaDamion Hunt. 

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2017 National Signing Day Profile: Juwan Burgess

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2017 National Signing Day Profile: Juwan Burgess

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

Juwan Burgess, 6’0”, 185 pounds, Plant, FL (Plant High School), ATH, 247Sports Composite Ranking: 3-star (87.82)

It’s not often you see a recruit “flip” from the University of Southern California and become an Indiana Hoosier but that’s exactly what versatile athlete Juwan Burgess did. On January 20, he became the third prospect from Plant High School (Thomas Allen and Whop Philyor) to pledge to Tom Allen and the Indiana Hoosiers as he announced he was switching from USC and choosing IU over offers from basically every major college football program.

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2017 National Signing Day Profile: Michael Ziemba

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2017 National Signing Day Profile: Michael Ziemba

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

Michael Ziemba, 6’3”, 245 pounds, Lake Mary, FL (Lake Mary High School), DE/TE, 247Sports Composite Ranking: 3-star (82.55)

The Indiana Hoosiers continue to recruit the Sunshine State incredibly well as they added yet another prospect from Florida to their roster. Michael Ziemba, a 3-star prospect from Lake Mary, has sent in his fax letter and officially joined the “Hoosier Army”. Ziemba had an extensive offer list and he chose IU over Cincinnati, East Carolina, Purdue and Appalachian State. Ziemba would probably have been ranked higher than he ended up being but he suffered an injury that forced him to miss all but one game of his senior season at Lake Mary High School. IU linebackers coach William Inge has been supremely valuable as a recruiter in the Central Florida area and he was the lead man on Ziemba’s successful recruitment

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2017 National Signing Day Profile: Harry Crider

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2017 National Signing Day Profile: Harry Crider

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

Harry Crider, 6’4”, 260 pounds, Columbus, IN (Columbus East High School), OL, 247Sports Composite Ranking: 3-star (83.16)

The Indiana Hoosiers stayed within the state’s borders to land the man they hope will be their starting center sooner rather than later. Harry Crider is a three-star prospect from Columbus East High in Columbus, Indiana and he chose IU after de-committing from the University of Virginia. Crider is yet another in-state player that chose IU over many other “Power Five” offers and he’s seen by many as a natural leader and a “true center”.

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