'12 MD DT/OT Greg Pyke (offer... sorta)

[IrishLax]

Baltimore, MD
The Boys' Latin School

Ht: 6'5" to 6'6"
Wt: 280-315 lbs

Rankings
Scout: #40 OT

Offers
Maryland
Penn State
Virginia

Georgia
Michigan State
Pittsburgh
West Virginia
Duke
Louisville
Rutgers
South Alabama
Tulane
Wake Forest


Heavy Interest/Close to Offer
Alabama
Boston College
Oregon
Tennessee
Virginia Tech
Notre Dame (lacrosse offer)

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[beryirish]

Wait...wait...hold the phone....i must have blacked out....this kid is 280-315 and he got a scholarship for Lacrosse??????

 

[IrishLax]

Has potential to be a big hulking 3-4 NT or OL. Needs lots of work on his technique but is very physically gifted.

Elite lacrosse/football player. Has offers to play "both" from Maryland, Duke, Notre Dame and others... but supposedly leaning towards focusing on football and dropping lacrosse as he adds more and more football offers. Very athletic/moves well for a big guy but I have no information on his strength.

The big problem is that he likely would want to bulk up for football and slim down for lacrosse... making it hard to play both at an elite level. If you bulk up to 330+... you're going to run out of gas realllly fast on the lacrosse field. That's why he's struggling to choose right now. RB/WR/TE prospects usually don't have to make this choice.

From what I'm hearing, if he comes to ND, it will be as a lacrosse player... and it would be like getting a "walk-on" football player with some very good offers... and he wouldn't go on football scholarship until he actually started dressing for games. Could be wrong on that, but it's what I'm hearing.

 

[IrishLax]

Wait...wait...hold the phone....i must have blacked out....this kid is 280-315 and he got a scholarship for Lacrosse??????

I **** you not. Apparently he is physically dominant and basically unguardable for a lot of guys at the high school level. It's like throwing a slightly-bigger Sean Cwynar out there on the field and asking a high schooler to stop him from getting to the goal. Will Yeatman was at least possible to defend because he was 6'5" but only weighed around 220 lbs or so.. I'm guessing Greg moves slower than Will but his sheer mass boggles my mind.

Going to try to dig up some football/lacrosse videos here in a bit.

 

[IrishLax]

Good article: Boys' Latin's Greg Pyke doing his talking on the football field - baltimoresun.com Here are some key quotes:

Though he's a highly touted lacrosse recruit — InsideLacrosse.com rates him the No. 8 prospect in the nation — and claims his favorite sport is "whatever sport I'm playing at the time," Pyke says his place is on the college gridiron.

"I'm definitely going to play football," says Pyke, a coveted offensive lineman recruit. "Duke, Notre Dame and Maryland said I could come there and play both [football and lacrosse], but I'm just going to play football. One D-I sport is enough for me."

A hulking figure — his coaches say his 295-pound weight is "light" — Pyke towers over his counterparts in the Lakers' weight room.

"I'm down to 295 because of lacrosse," Pyke says. "I should be up to 315 by the time football season rolls around."

Though Pyke looks the part of Division I offensive lineman, he's not doughy like some of his counterparts — solid is a better word.

He lacks the distinct waddle of many linemen. He's light on his feet.

Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Mike Farrell says Pyke's lacrosse skills should improve his standing in scouts' eyes.

"What it does is that he's light on his feet," Farrell says. "His footwork isn't great, but he has good balance. That comes from lacrosse. That helps him."

It should be noted Boys' Latin is a lacrosse-first school and he probably doesn't have the best football coaching, plays weak competition, and is likely to have his stock rise considerably as time goes on.

 

[Old Man Mike]

He needs to camp. Let us see him in action. Obviously he's a killer on the lacrosse field, but can he block a pass rusher?? Etc. PSU and Pitt offering any lineman means that he has impressed someone.

 

[IrishInFl]

His high school has a funny name.

 

[NDIrishlover3]

I **** you not. Apparently he is physically dominant and basically unguardable for a lot of guys at the high school level. It's like throwing a slightly-bigger Sean Cwynar out there on the field and asking a high schooler to stop him from getting to the goal. Will Yeatman was at least possible to defend because he was 6'5" but only weighed around 220 lbs or so.. I'm guessing Greg moves slower than Will but his sheer mass boggles my mind.

Going to try to dig up some football/lacrosse videos here in a bit.

He must be good since he is rated so high by inside lacrosse and he has some very good offers but I literally can not even picture a guy this size playing lacrosse and being good at it haha

 

[BeauBenken]

One thing I can tell you, if he is getting recruited by the very best lacrosse schools in the nation and he is that size, he must be very athletic (size considering).

I really want to see some film here.

 

[IrishLax]

One thing I can tell you, if he is getting recruited by the very best lacrosse schools in the nation and he is that size, he must be very athletic (size considering).

I really want to see some film here.

Supposedly has great athleticism and balance... but needs a LOT of work on technique. The thing is I would kill for a kid with this kind of upside because you can totally teach technique. This is probably why he has some good offers and is receiving serious interest from a lot of top schools like Alabama. Great upside.

Going to put in a couple calls tomorrow and see if I can come up with some lacrosse highlights. Only thing I could find on youtube is a short clip of a game winning goal... much more interest to see how he moves with and without the ball to judge his athleticism for football.

 

[IrishLax]

Apparently Greg is also a budding youtube star

Tosh.0 | Video | Best Announcer in Lacrosse

 

[Buster Bluth]

Can he come to Notre Dame on a lacrosse scholarship and walk-on to the football team?

 

[IrishLax]

Can he come to Notre Dame on a lacrosse scholarship and walk-on to the football team?

My knowledge is that he can participate in both on a lacrosse scholarship but if he started dressing or playing for football his scholarship would count against the 85 limit.

With that being said, he is now a very long shot because he has decided to focus on football and with the commitments of Harrel, Decker and the (pending) Prestwood transfer we are no longer looking at any mid-tier prospects on the OL.

It appears Penn State, Maryland and Virginia are the leaders for his services right now with Alabama waiting on some other prospects and likely to offer late in the game if they miss on some elite guys.

Georgia and Michigan State are the latest to offer and may get in the mix.

 

[Kak7304]

He must have incredibly fast feet for his size which would translate great to playing LT or DE. He'd be a great project with incredible potential.