Recruiting Report: John Collins Jr. (MPLS North-2021)
Minneapolis North has been one of the most dominant programs of the decade under Coach Charles Adams. The 6x section champ, 2016 State Champ, and the first black championship coach in Minnesota history helped to bring North back from a school…
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Continue ReadingMinneapolis North has been one of the most dominant programs of the decade under Coach Charles Adams. The 6x section champ, 2016 State Champ, and the first black championship coach in Minnesota history helped to bring North back from a school that had as low as 89(!) total students at one point to a perennial A/AA contender as well as the undisputed best public school team in the Twin Cities. The Polars are consistently more athletic, more talented, and better coached than their opponents, and this success has translated to the next level as Coach Adams (@spankoa) recently tweeted a picture of the dozens of former North HS players that signed with college programs.
Credit @spankoaIt’s an impressive list and should solidify North as a recruiting hotbed for all levels of college coaches. Another big up-and-coming stud for the Polars is 2021 graduate athlete John Collins Jr. The 5’11, 270 lber. is a All-District HM honoree, a three-sport baller for North, and two-way player on the football team was a pancake machine 2019 and also was a weapon on the defensive side of the ball for the Polars. He was kind enough to give NFN some of his time to discuss North’s 2019 season, his prep career thus far, and any recruiting news and hopes he may have! Junior Season Hudl
NFN: Hello and thank you for your time, John! Please begin by sharing with us a little bit about where you’re from, a little bit about yourself, and any awards you’ve received!
Collins Jr.: “I’m from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Grew up on the north Northside. I started playing football when I was 6 years old, for Harrison Park. I am a 3 sport athlete, basketball, football and baseball. I am 5 foot 11 inches, 280 pounds, 205 bench, 335 squat. Last year I had an honorable mention.”
NFN: Now tell our readers about North’s 2018 season and your final game in the 2A semifinal game at US Bank Stadium.
Collins Jr.: “Coming into the 2018 season we were expecting a championship, we knew we would hit some bumps in the road but we thought we would still come through. We went the whole season undefeated, until the semi-Final game.We knew that if we wanted to make it farther we had treat every game like it was our last. We knew that we were losing a lot of key players from the 2018 season, we knew we had to have players step up to fill those spots.”
NFN: Forsure. How about this past fall? You guys had a phenomenal run until that championship game against Caledonia that ended unfortunately, what was that like? And what do you like about playing for North’s program?
Collins Jr.: “Coming into the 2019 season I was expecting us to make it farther then the follow season. We had being in the weight room all off season.
Collins (72) with a US Bank pancake special.We all are multi-sport athletes, so we had to find time to get in there as a team. I knew that I had to work on my strength and agility. Playing for North comes with high expectations, but that’s good because that makes you wanna be better. I love playing for north because our coaching staff try’s there best to get us better to compete at the next level.”
NFN: If possible, give us a little detail into the ’19 season and what should we expect from North in 2020?
Collins Jr.: “The first eight games were, Johnson, Southwest, Henry, Como, Washburn, Central and Richfield. Those teams gave us a little competition, especially the Johnson and Southwest games for sure. Blue Earth game was a real tough one for us, we were down 20-6 at halftime. But we knew that if we want to make it back to U.S. Bank we had to do something soon. After halftime everything just start to click for us. The semi-final game against Panyesville was also a tough game. Those guys put up a fight and just wouldn’t quit, But at the end we still came out on top. But by far the toughest game was Caledonia. They went hard every play to the whistle blew. Coming into the game we knew we had to come up with a new game plan, because as you know our Quarterback was suffering an injury in his throwing arm. Which caused us to not be able to really play our game. This season we just have to make sure everyone stays healthy and we have to be ready for the playoffs.”
NFN: Forsure. You guys have a really good squad coming back in 2020 though. So what’s new with recruiting and what are you looking for in a college program?
Collins Jr.: “I don’t have any certain schools that I would like to go to. I had a visit planned but I wasn’t able go because the way or schedule was. A couple colleges from other states have been contacting me. I haven’t been to any camps but I do plan on going to a lot over the summer. I’m just looking for a college that makes me feel welcome, and will get me to the highest level possible.”
Good luck to the Polars in 2020 as Collins & Co. will be grinding all offseason to get that elusive second state championship since 2016!