After spending the evening in Midland on Friday to watch three-star offensive tackle Ryan Hayes and his Traverse City (Mich.) West Titans beat the Chemics 42-20, I was able to glean some back channel information on the 6-7, 250-pounder.
Someone who has been around Hayes as he’s come up through the programs could not be more complimentary of the future Wolverine. Here are the cliff notes of our discussion:
Four-star offensive guard Emil Ekiyor and his Indianapolis Cathedral squad traveled to Wayne State University in Detroit on Saturday to face off against Detroit Martin Luther King but unfortunately, the 6-4, 339-pounder was forced to watch from the sidelines with a high ankle sprain. Ekiyor said that someone rolled up on the outside of his ankle and caused the injury. Ekiyor was gingerly walking around the field on Saturday with an air cast on his lower leg. King defeated Cathedral 38-35 making the trip to Detroit even worse for Ekiyor but all was not lost.
The big lineman swung through Ann Arbor today and had a great time with the coaches. He was able to spend time with Greg Frey and Tim Drevno and attend their position meetings as the team preps for Florida. Other schools aren’t giving up on Ekiyor but every time he heads up to Ann Arbor, things seem to get more and more solid between the two parties. Expect him to sport the maize and blue when it’s all said and done.
That’s it for now. Things will start to pick up now that the season is upon us. Hang in there — six more days.
Someone who has been around Hayes as he’s come up through the programs could not be more complimentary of the future Wolverine. Here are the cliff notes of our discussion:
- Hayes wears a size 17 shoe. The kid is already 6-7, 250 pounds and probably isn’t done growing.
- Even in 17s, he has amazing footwork. His coaches have him do things that even Jake Fisher couldn’t do when he was at West. Being able to get out and pull from the tight end spot is not easy and Ryan makes it look like a simple walk through drill.
- The West coaches have essentially had to put a “governor” on Hayes during practice so he doesn’t hurt his teammates. There are just one or two players on the team that Hayes is “allowed” to go 100% against.
- Everyone involved with the program and around the area agrees that Hayes is probably the best football, basketball and baseball player to ever suit up at West. He absolutely dominates on the gridiron, can take over games in basketball, and erased batters as a pitcher on the diamond. He might legitimately be able to play all three in college.
- Aside from being a jumbo tight end/offensive lineman in football in high school, Hayes is also a superstar punter. He consistently booms 50-60 yarders with a lot of hangtime and could probably do that in college as well. Lucky for him, guys who will eventually play at 6-8, 310 pounds don’t punt and make a lot more money doing others things.
Four-star offensive guard Emil Ekiyor and his Indianapolis Cathedral squad traveled to Wayne State University in Detroit on Saturday to face off against Detroit Martin Luther King but unfortunately, the 6-4, 339-pounder was forced to watch from the sidelines with a high ankle sprain. Ekiyor said that someone rolled up on the outside of his ankle and caused the injury. Ekiyor was gingerly walking around the field on Saturday with an air cast on his lower leg. King defeated Cathedral 38-35 making the trip to Detroit even worse for Ekiyor but all was not lost.
The big lineman swung through Ann Arbor today and had a great time with the coaches. He was able to spend time with Greg Frey and Tim Drevno and attend their position meetings as the team preps for Florida. Other schools aren’t giving up on Ekiyor but every time he heads up to Ann Arbor, things seem to get more and more solid between the two parties. Expect him to sport the maize and blue when it’s all said and done.
That’s it for now. Things will start to pick up now that the season is upon us. Hang in there — six more days.
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