'08 PA WR/TE Jonathan Baldwin (Pitt Verbal)

[mikmo1111]

after the loss to GT we're all talking about losing recruits but dont you think the michigan loss gives us a better chance with the recruits both teams are going after, like Baldwin

 

[GoshenGipper]

Don't forget other power houses are after him as well.

 

[GoshenGipper]

Here's a video with one of Scout;s guys about some of the top western PA guys. The show a few clips of Baldwin, and mentioned that it looks like it'll probably come down to ND and Pitt, which is something that I've been hearing for a while, with Pitt as the leader right now.

MySpaceTV: Scout.com Recruit Watch Vol. 1 by Bob

 

[notredomer23]

no offense to pitt, but unless he wants to stay close to home, why would you go to Pitt? even we could beat them this year

 

[littlerick77]

i don't think we can beat Pitt this year...IMO

 

[IHateMarkMay]

I dont know about that video, to me, i think it might have said people around the Pittsburgh area are saying Pitt is the leader... and that doesnt seem like much to me.

 

[SoCalDomer]

If Pitt is Baldwin's leader, hopefully the Pitt/Navy game will show him that Pitt is far from turning things around. I'm by no means a Pitt fan, but I thought Wannstedt would have done a better job than he has up to this point. While this year has been a disapointment in the quality of play for us, recruits can take a couple of things away from our performance: big opportunity to start as a freshman, instrumental in turning program around, national spotlight; Pitt offers none of those.

IMO, of the three main WR's we are recruiting (Baldwin, Floyd, Walker), Baldwin has the most upside if his stats on Rivals/scout are correct. He's listed as 6'6", 215lbs, with a 4.4 40-yd by Scout. Those are Calvin Johnson type numbers and we know how well he did in college. He's 3" taller than either guy, is already bigger, and runs a slightly faster 40-yd.

(I haven't seen video of any of them, nor am I a college scout, so that's purely a numbers opinion)

 

[Irish52]

Those numbers are meaningless...it's the size of his heart and desire to play for ND that really matters. In this case, I don't really see that strong desire!

 

[GoshenGipper]

Those numbers are meaningless...it's the size of his heart and desire to play for ND that really matters. In this case, I don't really see that strong desire!

I wouldn't call them meaningless. You can have all the hart, desire, and drive in the world and if you don't have the natural athletic ability to go with it then you'll eventually just turn into a die hard fan because you'll stop being productive on the field. I also wouldn't be too quick to write him off. He has a lot of family ties to the area and to Pitt, decisions like that are never easy to make.

 

[Epitome]

I know that I'm going to hear some criticism for this but, I would take an athlete over heart any day. If you get a kid in the right situation and have them believe in the cause, the heart will take care of itself. I think that is CW's best teaching asset, he believes therefore they believe.

 

[SoCalDomer]

Those numbers are meaningless...it's the size of his heart (snip) that really matters.

I know Rivals and Scout list alot of numbers, but size of heart is not one of them. Hopefully he has a normal size heart. An enlarged heart can be a serious condition. grin:

 

[KamaraPolice]

I know that I'm going to hear some criticism for this but, I would take an athlete over heart any day. If you get a kid in the right situation and have them believe in the cause, the heart will take care of itself. I think that is CW's best teaching asset, he believes therefore they believe.

look at ricky williams, really had no desire to play football, but still is one hell of a football player. although, look at randy moss when the heart was gone...

 

[IHateMarkMay]

speaking of heart... look at rudy... small guy, tons of heart... how good was he?

 

[SoCalDomer]

speaking of heart... look at rudy... small guy, tons of heart... how good was he?

Not very good actually, and I think he would acknowledge that his desire and persistence was not good enough to make him a starter over guys who had size and talent. While Rudy's story is compelling and teaches a lesson about persistence, if ND played a team of Rudy's we'd lose big time but go to the Kleenex Feel-good Bowl every year.

 

[Epitome]

Yeah Rudy was an inspiration, but he only got about 30 seconds of PT.

 

[KamaraPolice]

Against Purdue I saw a funny sign that made me laugh:

"Rudy Could Start This Year"

 

[GoIrish41]

Against Purdue I saw a funny sign that made me laugh:

"Rudy Could Start This Year"

That's funny.

 

[GoshenGipper]

On tonight's Generation Next they had a writer on from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and he felt that Pitt, ND, and Michigan would wind up as Jonathan's three finalists, because he's not the type of kid that would want to be that far from home. Which is basically what we've heard all along. He also said he thought Pitt and ND were the top two right now and that Pitt probably had the slight edge given his high schools connections to Pitt. Which also lines up with everything I've heard thus far. So basically there was no real new info tonight, just a little more confirmation on what's already out there.

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

Thanks Gipper.

 

[Epitome]

More production for pass-catcher Jonathan Baldwin

Uncommitted ESPN 150 prospect Jonathan Baldwin scored two touchdowns in Aliquippa's 36-26 victory over Center (Monaca, Pa.), writes the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

 

[GoshenGipper]

GREAT NEWS!

Jon just recently got his SAT score back an he has told Rivals it is high enough to qualify for ND!

He wasn't just scraping by either. It's a pretty good score.

 

[piyachi]

Fantastic to hear this, regardless of ND. Hope it just adds to the reasons to come to South Bend.

 

[GoIrish41]

GREAT NEWS!

Jon just recently got his SAT score back an he has told Rivals it is high enough to qualify for ND!

He wasn't just scraping by either. It's a pretty good score.

Is there a link Gipper? Just wondering the context of the statement ... did he actually say "I have a high enough score to qualify" or was the score obviously high enough. Not to split hairs, but the former would mean he is specifically excited about the prospect of qualifying for ND, the latter would mean he just got a good score.

 

[GoshenGipper]

Is there a link Gipper? Just wondering the context of the statement ... did he actually say "I have a high enough score to qualify" or was the score obviously high enough. Not to split hairs, but the former would mean he is specifically excited about the prospect of qualifying for ND, the latter would mean he just got a good score.

It's part of a premium article so I don't have a link but he did tell II, which is an Irish site that it was high enough to qualify for ND.

 

[GoIrish41]

It's part of a premium article so I don't have a link but he did tell II, which is an Irish site that it was high enough to qualify for ND.

Then, I remain optomistic about ND's chances.

 

[GoshenGipper]

Then, I remain optomistic about ND's chances.

There's very good reason to be. From everything I've heard it seems as though Pitt and ND have been his top two for sometime.

 

[GoshenGipper]

Jon recently talked about how his recruiting and his Sr. season has been going. Jon has been trying to focus on his Sr. season rather than recruiting and it seems as though that will continue a while longer since he just helped lead his team to the 2nd round of the playoffs. He said he's noticed real improvement in his route running and and speed and he's continuing to work on his catching and acceleration.

He also mentioned that he hears from Florida, Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and USC quite a bit. John Latina, who is in charge of Pennsylvania recruiting for ND talks to him at least once a week. He also reinstated that he got his SAT score back and the coaching staff has told him that he'll have no trouble getting into ND with his new score.

 

[Clausen2Kamara]

Jon recently talked about how his recruiting and his Sr. season has been going. Jon has been trying to focus on his Sr. season rather than recruiting and it seems as though that will continue a while longer since he just helped lead his team to the 2nd round of the playoffs. He said he's noticed real improvement in his route running and and speed and he's continuing to work on his catching and acceleration.

He also mentioned that he hears from Florida, Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and USC quite a bit. John Latina, who is in charge of Pennsylvania recruiting for ND talks to him at least once a week. He also reinstated that he got his SAT score back and the coaching staff has told him that he'll have no trouble getting into ND with his new score.

Good stuff Gip, I really hope we land this kid, I really think he is going to be something special.

 

[GoshenGipper]

Jon made a great 40 TD catch tonight in his team's playoff win. Next week they'll play Jennett who's led by Terrelle Pryor.

 

[NDsuperfan09]

If Baldwin's measureables are anywheres near accurate and he can play great on the field he could be the best weapon we have had in sometime thats if he were to land here.