Concordia-St. Paul 2020 Recruiting Class Breakdown: Minnesota Boys

ST. PAUL-- In our third edition of PrepRedzoneMN’s NSIC 2020 recruiting class breakdown, we head into St. Paul and look at the Golden Bears of Concordia-St. Paul to see what their recruiting class looks like of our Minnesota prospects. The Golden Bears signed 15 names with Minnesota ties and took 10 players from the recently defunct football program at St. Cloud State. The top two high school programs in the state that the Golden Bears loaded up on are from Park of Cottage Grove (3) and Wayzata (2) which makes up 1/3 of their recruiting class. Finishing in the middle of the NSIC last season at 6-5, the Golden Bears will have an unknown situation at quarterback losing Maxon Hutton (Chanhassen) to graduation, a quarterback who threw for 1500 yards and seven touchdowns. The Golden Bears, however, do return over 1100 yards of rushing last season from Shaq Johnson and Darios Crawley-Reid who split reps almost equally last season. It gets tricky at receiver as RB Darios Crawley-Reid, who was 6th on the team in receiving last season will be the top returner catching passes out of the backfield. Turn it over to the defense, the top returning tackler for the Golden Bears would have been Dez Bassett (Mankato East) before he decided to test Division I waters and ended up at Coastal Carolina. LB Foster Conzet (Wayzata) is the next Minnesota HS product on their defense who had 31 tackles last season. They also have LB Opi Aghenu (St. Paul Central) and DL Shawn Aarhus (Benson), who should play significant roles next season. Here are the 15 names and breakdowns of the Minnesota prospects that represent the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears recruiting class of 2020: Caden Baarts, DB, Fairmont Baarts is a 6’3 180 pound proven winner that comes out of Fairmont, who was 7-1 during the regular season. Baarts had almost 700 all-purpose yards last season and had 14 touchdowns on the offensive side of the ball. On the defensive side of the ball, Baarts had 3 interceptions for the Cardinals. Will play defensive back at CSP. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/8317915/5dc03ab82347950fc0650292">Senior Season </a> Caleb Carlton, LB, Park of Cottage Grove Carlton you may remember from my commitment report I did on him back in January (click <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2020/01/commitment-report-caleb-carlton-from-park-of-cottage-grove-to-concordia-st-paul/">here</a> for that) A 6’1 195-pound linebacker, Caleb is one of two Wolfpack linebackers that have signed to the Golden Bears recruiting class. What I like about Carlton is his vision in traffic as he seems to be a quality hitter that can stop the run and cause trouble in the backfield. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2CEZRe">Senior Tape</a> [player_tooltip player_id="11000" first="Jac" last="Carver"], OL, Wayzata At 6’5 315 pounds Carver defines the word beast. The biggest thing I love about Carver’s tape is how he finishes dudes. Some OL I’ve seen at that similar size, take shortcuts cause they know they outsize the entire defensive line. The Golden Bears got an absolute steal with this state champion from Wayzata. You can learn more about Carver from Brian’s recruiting report from 2019 (<a href="https://prepredzone.com/2019/06/recruiting-report-jac-carver-2020/">click here</a>) <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/8229201/5d91611f041f1310bc4d6fd4">Mid-Season Tape</a> Luke Dunsmoor, DT, St. Cloud Apollo-SCSU Transfer Dunsmoor, a Huskies bounceback, was an offensive linemen’s nightmare in his years at St. Cloud Apollo. At 6’5 275 pounds, Dunsmoor’s mobility on film is what impressed me most during his days with the Eagles. He doesn’t just make tackles, he takes advantage of people on tape! <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/4187602/581547380aff7a88b4b61d05">Senior Tape</a> Billy Errington, TE, Lakeview Errington at 6’6 provides the Golden Bears with lots of options. He is listed coming in as a tight end, Errington has the versatility to line up out wide or inside as your stereotypical tight end. His senior year, he had 40 catches for over 500 yards receiving and 3 touchdowns. A late bloomer as far as recruiting, Errington is a long player that should get some reps soon in the young receiving core the Golden Bears bring to the table. You can check out my colleague [player_tooltip player_id="2138" first="Jake" last="Evans"] commitment report on Errington <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2020/03/commitment-report-billy-errington-te-lakeview-2020/">here. </a><a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/9842943/5d912306a680940fb4fedcd2">Senior Tape</a> [player_tooltip player_id="11036" first="Max" last="Giannini"], LB, Park of Cottage Grove 125 tackles are hard to come by but that just how effective Giannini was in his senior season for the Park Wolfpack in Cottage Grove. Giannini is a flyer into the backfield, tallying 19 tackles for a loss last season for the 3-6 Wolfpack. This player doesn’t just make tackles, he creates havoc with his aggression on at the middle linebacker. I’m sure at some point, we will see Giannini on the same field as Caleb Carlton, which will be a special time for the Park of Cottage Grove faithful. How he didn’t find an FCS home, I’m not sure but Max is going to be a stud for the Golden Bears! <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/7950568/5dc2f5896e826e0cf09bca8e">Senior Tape</a> [player_tooltip player_id="11012" first="Brayden" last="Hilgemann"], LB, Marshall This linebacker class these Golden Bears have is going to be scary in a couple of years especially adding Hillgemann too from the powerhouse that is the Marshall Tigers. The top two things about Hilgemann’s game are his vision as he always knows where the football is going which I think he gets for being Marshall’s running back too. The other thing about his game is confusing others, as he’s strong in coverage and yet can use his force in the backfield as well. You can read a little more about Brayden in the recruiting report I did on him last October <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2019/10/recruiting-player-profile-brayden-hilgemann-marshall-2020/">here</a>. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/8006198/5dbdc57ef31c840d6c4045fa">Senior Tape</a> Brian Lankford-Johnson, RB, Palm Bay (FL)/North St. Paul-Purdue Transfer After a promising freshmen year at Purdue, Lankford-Johnson had his head held high. With Jeff Brohm coming into East Lafeyette from Western Kentucky, a whole new plan was in place for the Boilermakers offense and unfortunately, Lankford-Johnson wasn’t a part of it. After a two year break from football, Lankford is playing in front of his hometown crowd and gives the backfield of the Golden Bears even more of a lift, as from watching the tape Lankford-Johnson’s running ability gets quicker and quicker the second he hits a lane. We will have to see if he can turn heads like he used to do for the Polars before he moved to Florida to become a top back in the state of Florida for Palm Bay. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2AAuaZ">SeniorTape</a> Ian Miller, OT, Park of Cottage Grove The third and final member from the Wolfpack to commit to the Golden Bears is 6’5 260 pounder Ian Miller, who will play offensive line at the next level. Miller is a rough nosed offensive tackle that will fight in the trenches for his teammates. Miller although slightly undersized, has a unique edge he serves every defensive tackle. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2CD9X9">Senior Tape</a> [player_tooltip player_id="11004" first="Bryce" last="Sievers"], QB, Jordan Sievers may see the field sooner than expected with the QB1 situation brewing with the Golden Bears. Sievers at 6’3 offers good size, some mobility, and a big arm that he showed off in many games for the Jordan Hubmen over the years. Averaged about 240 yards per game passing as a senior in a Jordan program that was held away from the state tournament for the first time since 2018. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/5401447/5d8a684a5b3e860f30b42fbc">Senior Tape </a> Ethan Sigler, OL, Cretin-Derham Hall Sigler is a 6’6 260-pound offensive linemen that will be staying in St. Paul after a solid career at Cretin-Derham Hall. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2CFfJd">Prior Lake Game Tape</a> Ben Thompson, RB, St. Paul Harding-RCTC Transfer Thompson was second-team All-Eastern Division last season at running back for the Yellow Jackets of Rochester Community and Technical College. Thompson is a bouncy back that seems to have the ability to find the gaps in and place a juke, spin, etc. whatever it takes to get free. He’ll play with a very deep running back core this season for the Golden Bears. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2Ab1Bq">JUCO Tape</a> Anthony Ukofia, DB, Wayzata The All-State and All-Metro free safety from Wayzata is a player you don’t want to get hit by. When he’s in pursuit, he will make you pay. Had 2 interceptions last season for the state champion Trojans from Wayzata. Ukofia also had 71 tackles last season, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 forced fumble. With the playmaking ability he has, he has an opportunity to make an immediate impact at safety for the Golden Bears with Dez Bassett transferring to Division I. Here is his recruiting report to learn more about Anthony (<a href="https://prepredzone.com/2019/10/recruiting-report-anthony-ukofia-wayzata-2020/">click here</a>) <a href="http://www.hudl.com/video/3/8229002/5de29fd4f55fe20c60d8e0f6">Senior Tape</a> Karson Vigeland, LB, Blooming Prairie We’ll close off this recruiting class with two speedsters. When I watched the film, I kept asking myself this prospect is 6’5 and runs that fast! Vigeland played on your Class 1A state champions who beat BOLD in the championship game. Vigeland played cornerback for three seasons for the Awesome Blossoms but will play outside linebacker for the Golden Bears. Vigeland was a big-hitting corner and I’m sure he will bring that same mentality as a linebacker in a new system. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2CVvcQ">Senior Tape</a> [player_tooltip player_id="11048" first="Troy" last="Ellison"], WR, St. Anthony Village Ellison, more than likely the fastest player in the Class of 2020 in the metro, is taking his talents to the Golden Bears. Troy is a hard worker that has a creative route-running ability to make people look stupid. Not the biggest guy on the field at 5’10 but will always make the tough catch no matter what. Also dominant in the return game and his shiftiness made him return multiple kicks to the house last season. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2CUPKE">Senior Tape</a>