'11 CA DE/OT Troy Niklas (Signed Notre Dame LOI)

[jason_h537]

Tight End
Anaheim, CA Servite HS

Ht: 6-5
Wt: 240
40: 4.7
GPA: 3.4

STATS
'09: 16 Catches, 128 Yards, 8.0 YPC, 9.8 YPG

RANKING
Rivals: , #16 TE, Rating 5.8, National #219, Rivals 250
Scout: , # 8 OT, #75 on Scout 300 Final List
ESPN: , #19 TE, Grade 79

OFFERS
Notre Dame (camp '09)
Stanford
USC

Arizona
Cal
Colorado
Florida
Nebraska
Oklahoma
Oregon
Oregon St
Tennessee
UCLA

ND RECRUITER: Mike Denbrock (Brian Polian)

DECISION SCHEDULE:

 

[BGIF]

Camped at ND and USC last year.

Rivals 250 to Watch
ESPN 150 To Watch

 

[NDinL.A.]

He goes to one of my brother's alma mater. Got to see him play once this year...he's a big boy and a very nice player. Plays both sides of the ball. He was offered by the previous regime, but hadn't heard from the new staff until he finally received an email yesterday from the staff saying they'd be in touch shortly. He seems to have genuine interest in ND.

EDIT: Steve Wiltfong from ISD just did a story on him, and he likes our chances with ND after speaking with him. After receiving a couple of emails from the staff, he's going to call them. Says he's looking for a strong academics, a good staff that he gets along with, a strong spiritual experience, and a winning program. Thinks Kelly will turn ND around.

 

[BGIF]

He's picked up a bunch of offers since the last update including
Arizona, CAL, Colorado. Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Oregon St, Stanford.

 

[BGIF]

USC's invited him to participate in their Rising Stars Camp in June. They get about 250 athletes at that camp. Niklas camped at USC last summer but hasn't been offered.

 

[BGIF]

Scout added a 4th Star and lists him as their #11 TE.

 

[jason_h537]

Old school TE. Much more of a blocker, he can catch but is not a Rudolph/Carlson type.

 

[NDinL.A.]

Not much new here from an ND standpoint. We did have a coach visit him during May evaluation period. The following schools visited: USC, UCLA, Cal, Notre Dame, Stanford and Miami.

He just got offered by Florida and UCLA. Said UCLA is recruiting him hard. SC wants him to earn an offer at a camp, which he might do...if they offer he'd strongly consider them, but they are loaded at TE, so it'd probably have to be as a DE.

He'd rather play DE in college, but he's open to anything. Says all schools are even and that he'll take his time in the process...

 

[NDinL.A.]

Per ISD, down to 2 schools.....Stanford and ND!

Would be a huge get, as he is getting a lot of love as a quality DE, a position of great need. Don't know when he'll decide...

 

[IrishInFl]

How good is he at DE? BTW, it's nice to see a kid who says he cares about academics actually mean it.

 

[KPENN]

Any ideas when he'll decide? He'd be a nice get being he's versatile and if he played TE it would add to our potentially ridiculous depth and talent there.

 

[BGIF]

Couldn't find any stats on for him on defense only on offense.

Here's his offensive Stats and updated Ranking.


STATS
'09: 16 Catches, 128 Yards, 8.0 YPC, 9.8 YPG

RANKING
Rivals: , #16 TE, Rating 5.8, National #219, Rivals 250
Scout: , # 17 TE
ESPN: , #19 TE, Grade 79


Niklas was recruited by ND last year and camped at both ND and Southern Cal. SC has got obvious number problems recruiting this year and Niklas hasn't gotten an offer.

ND should have a leg up from last year's attention except that those ND coaches are now working elsewhere including his prinicpal ND recruiter Brian Polian who's now at Stanford.

His position in college, TE or DE, may have some bearing on his decision. He plays both ways but his more recognized as a TE than a DE. The three recruiting services have him ranked about the same in the 16 - 19 range but he only had 16 catches for an average 8 ypc last season. That's probably more a product of his team's offense rather than his pass catching abilities.

With Koyack ND appears to have filled its TE needs. They need DEs.

Stanford on the other hand has recruited DE's heavily (12) the past 3seasons while securing fewer TEs (4), only one of those TEs had 4 Stars:

Stanford .. DEs TEs
'11 Verbals 4, 0
'10 Signees 4, 1
'09 Signees 4, 3

 

[mcbri014]

Any ideas when he'll decide? He'd be a nice get being he's versatile and if he played TE it would add to our potentially ridiculous depth and talent there.

The ISD article says no timeline has been set and that he will be visiting both schools several more times. According to Troy, both schools are recruiting him as a jumbo athlete, which hopefully gives us an advantage because his choice won't come down to a position preference... he should be on campus next month. Kid is really sincere about education, a faith-based community, and a great program. Would be a great get!

 

[jason_h537]

I don'yt think Niklas plays much defense at all, its more of a projection based on his size and athleticism. I love seeing Cali kids go to ND but he is a TE to me and a really good blocking TE at that.

 

[BirdmanND06]

I don'yt think Niklas plays much defense at all, its more of a projection based on his size and athleticism. I love seeing Cali kids go to ND but he is a TE to me and a really good blocking TE at that.

One of the nice things about Niklas is that he could play several different positions. ND likes him best as a DE, but he could also end up as a TE or possibly even an OT.

 

[Irish.Ca]

With Koyack ND appears to have filled its TE needs. They need DEs.

I think its a bonus that he as well as many other recent recruits are able to play multiple positions. Think back to when Rudolph got hurt, Ragone couldn't catch a ball to save his life and Tyler was unable to go due to his back while Golic was not really an option.

Our TE spot has been a problem area over the past few years (let me finish). We've had lots of transfers out, some on/off campus things happen to the guys (their own fault I might add). Plus lots of games lost to injuries which I think Longo and his program will help eliminate with better strength/conditioning. But its like Kelly and his QB's, its better to have too many than too few. You can always run plays that are to a players strength.

 

[TerryTate]

Per Rivals

He's down to Notre Dame and Stanford
Again, he's 6'7", 240 lbs, and runs a 4.7 - He would be a huge pickup at DE.

I'm a fan of Kelly's "Big Skill" mold.

 

[jmurphy75]

This kid will be a playmaker where ever he ends up...I hope it's in blue and gold!

 

[NDinL.A.]

Per Rivals

He's down to Notre Dame and Stanford
Again, he's 6'7", 240 lbs, and runs a 4.7 - He would be a huge pickup at DE.

I'm a fan of Kelly's "Big Skill" mold.

C'mon Terry, our boys from ISD broke this yesterday! Where you been LOL?

 

[TerryTate]

C'mon Terry, our boys from ISD broke this yesterday! Where you been LOL?

Seriously. This is embarrassing. Stupid work

 

[jason_h537]

Plans to be on campus again before school starts

 

[Big23Head]

Now is an OT and USC is now interested in him since the position change. Unofficially visited USC on Monday.

 

[TerryTate]

Video:

#87 Troy Niklas

Thank me later

 

[amgarvey]

I honestly don't care what this kid comes in as. I'd take him as a TE, DE or OT. I'd love to have a huge athlete like this on the team. I'm also a very big fan of the "big skill" category.

 

[The Polish Irishman]

According to BlueandGold.com:

He will take a visit to ND, but nothing is setup. He is now considering U$C along with ND and Stanford

 

[jason_h537]

According to BlueandGold.com:

He will take a visit to ND, but nothing is setup. He is now considering U$C along with ND and Stanford

USC is looking at him to play OPT and has really stepped up the attention they are giving him. Believe he wants to visit for the abnquet but could come sooner

 

[jonesman]

This kid is tenacious. Hope Kelly stays after him.

 

[aubeirish]

With Lynch out, are we looking at this kid some more?

 

[NDFANnSouthWest]

we should of been looking at him the entire time...

 

[TerryTate]

We have been. ND, USC, Stanford are the top 3