'19 IN SDE George Karlaftis (Purdue Verbal)

[BobbyMac]

Defensive End
West Lafayette, IN
West Lafayette HS

Measurements:
6-4
243

Ratings:
247 Comp .... ..... #18 SDE ..... #214 OA ..... .9223 rating
247 .............. ..... #22 SDE ..... #247 OA ...... 90
Rivals ........... ..... Rival's 100 ........................ 5.9
Scout ...........
ESPN ............ NR

Offers:
Notre Dame
Alabama
Indiana
Michigan
Purdue
SMU
Toledo
WMU

Interest:
Miami
PSU
OSU

Media Links:

Twitter - @TheGK88

George Karlaftis - Hudl

Highlights:

<iframe src='//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/5350728/583354e6c124d70ba09427d8' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[BobbyMac]

*** ND probably didn't offer. 247 says he was offered on his timeline but the date says Oct. 29th so it's more likely he is visiting for the Miami game... which makes sense since that's where his Dad played.***

Wolly, GK and phgreek's new favorite recruit.

Moved here from Athens... and I doesn't mean Georgia. He's an ND legacy, Great Grandfather played for ND. His Dad however played TE for the Canes.

Sounds like the Greek version of Iowa commit, AJ Epenesa.

Here's a few stories:

https://indyscout.wordpress.com/2016/08/03/1633/

2019 DE George Karlaftis earns early offer - Football Recruiting - Scout

https://indiana.rivals.com/news/2019-defensive-end-george-karlaftis-has-early-indiana-offer-interest


.

 

[arrowryan]

West Lafayette is a really good 3A school; they're #1 in the state to be exact. And I really hope you're right and he is the Greek version of Epenesa lol

 

[BeauBenken]

Yo, how is the kid from West Lafayette and doesn't have a Purdue offer? He should get one just for being 6'5" 240 from that current dumpster fire.

 

[IrishLion]

Yo, how is the kid from West Lafayette and doesn't have a Purdue offer? He should get one just for being 6'5" 240 from that current dumpster fire.

It's because they know his size is a mirage.

It's all lamb meat and pita bread. Once he gets on a college campus, the lack of Mediterranean food will deflate his measurables.

 

[gkIrish]

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[zelezo vlk]

Pfft. The kid probably can't even read Koine.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[woolybug25]

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Must get!!!

 

[Wild Bill]

He needs to grow out those locks. If we're crootin' Greeks to play DE, I want some flow coming out of that helmet.

 

[BobbyMac]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">West Lafayette (Ind.) High 2019 DE George Karlaftis is visiting <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotreDame?src=hash">#NotreDame</a> this weekend: <a href="https://t.co/GqzQDrZXbI">https://t.co/GqzQDrZXbI</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ND?src=hash">#ND</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Irish?src=hash">#Irish</a></p>— Steve Wiltfong (@SWiltfong247) <a href="https://twitter.com/SWiltfong247/status/786219092407570432">October 12, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[PANDFAN]

just says he is coming, he went to iu loved it, hearing from msu, louisville etc if we offer expect us to get him

 

[BobbyMac]

just says he is coming, he went to iu loved it, hearing from msu, louisville etc if we offer expect us to get him

If he becomes the next AJ Epenesa (as I read on one of the B1G message boards recently) it will be interesting to see what happens.. Dad played for Johnson and Erickson at the U and I've already seen a couple of pictures of George in Miami gear. Great Gramps played for the Irish before WWII and he's just 2 hrs away from SB. If Purdue gets a good hire... like a Les Miles or PJ Fleck that might get him to stay home and lastly, his great uncle was Frank Clair who was a HOF coach that won a lot of Grey Cups in Canada. He was an Ohio St guy. Sounds like a good number of his family comes from SW Ohio.

I predict this thread to be 25 pages by NSD '19.

 

[PANDFAN]

George Karlaftis has seen his recruitment pick up steam in recent months and the 2019 Indiana defensive end will be in South Bend on Saturday night for Notre Dame’s primetime matchup with Stanford.
“Notre Dame first sent an email to my head coach and then sent a letter saying I could come to some games, so I was like, ‘OK,’” the West Lafayette native told Irish Sports Daily.
“I really like Notre Dame, so I really wanted to come to a game to see how it is.”
The 6-foot-5, 245-pounder from West Lafayette High School has a connection to Notre Dame through his great grandfather, Russell Morton, who played one season with the Irish before being drafted for the war.
“Notre Dame has a great history,” Karlaftis said. “It’s an in-state school and it has great academics too, so that’s great. Academics are really important to me.”
He’s looking forward to learning more about the school and the program this weekend.
“I don’t really know any of the coaches, so it’d be great to hear from some of them,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing a really good football game since both teams are really good and hopefully Notre Dame wins.”
The sophomore landed his first offer during the summer from Indiana.
“It was awesome,” he said. “It was my first offer and my first interest really. That was before I had this season, so that was amazing. It was kind of unexpected too honestly.”
In recent weeks, he’s been hearing from schools like Louisville, Michigan State, Iowa, SMU and Central Michigan.
Karlaftis, who has been clocked below 4.6 in the 40-yard dash, said most college scouts like his athleticism.
“I think my strong point is my pass rush,” he added. “I’m a really good edge rusher.”
He was in Bloomington a couple weeks ago for the Hoosiers’ home game against Michigan State.
“That was a great game,” Karlaftis said.
He already has plans for a second trip to South Bend later this month, when the Irish host Miami on Oct. 29th, but doesn’t have any other unofficials beyond that scheduled yet.
It’s obviously early in the process, but he does know what he’s looking for in a college.
“When I’m picking a school, first of all, I’m looking for a great school with great academics and I’m looking for a school that has a great football program with a great coaching staff.”

2019 IN DE Headed To ND This Weekend - Irish Sports Daily

 

[zelezo vlk]

Kid runs a 4.5? That's crazy. Does he have a sister who needs a track scholly?

 

[beryirish]

I feel like this is a bball recruit thread...

Indiana white boy
Indiana offer
visiting Notre Dame
hearing from MSU and Louisville

 

[BobbyMac]

Kid runs a 4.5? That's crazy. Does he have a sister who needs a track scholly?

Hope not. If so --> #SECbound

 

[BobbyMac]

I feel like this is a bball recruit thread...

Indiana white boy
Indiana offer
visiting Notre Dame
hearing from MSU and Louisville

Really? I think I can count the white boys from Indiana who hooped at ND on one hand... and one of them you borrowed from Purdue.

 

[zelezo vlk]

Hope not. If so --> #SECbound

I know I'm just kidding. Runs a 40 below 4.6, that's an OSU lock.

 

[beryirish]

I feel like this is a bball recruit thread...

Indiana white boy
Indiana offer
visiting Notre Dame
hearing from MSU and Louisville

Really? I think I can count the white boys from Indiana who hooped at ND on one hand... and one of them you borrowed from Purdue.

No no no no no - i'm saying when you just read the list i put together, when you close your eyes do you think of basketball or football.

That's what i meant.

 

[BobbyMac]

Freebie from Christian McCollum@ISD:

Karlaftis Enjoys First Taste Of ND - Irish Sports Daily

Notre Dame Stadium may have stood as much as anything.
“It was huge,” he said. “I loved it. The thing that stood out was that it was a full arena. Any other college stadium that I’ve ever been to at least wasn’t full all the way around since I’ve only been to Purdue and IU.

Despite a strong family connection to Miami, Karlaftis isn’t holding that against the Irish.
“My dad played for the Canes, so he really never liked them, but I like them,” Karlaftis laughed. “It’s an in-state school and they’re really good academically. I really like that.”
He could return to South Bend soon, but even if he doesn’t, he’ll be back at some point.
“I may come back for a game this year, but I don’t know yet,” he said, noting that the Irish’s game against Miami later this month is one he has his eye on.
“I will be back in the future though. I’ll definitely be back.”

 

[BobbyMac]

Sophomore season stats:

113 tackles - 13 sacks - 14.5 TFL - 29 hurries - 2 FF

<iframe src='//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/5350728/583354e6c124d70ba09427d8' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[BobbyMac]

Freebie from WLFI CBS 18 in Indiana:

Through tragedy comes triumph for WL’s Karlaftis | wlfi.com

George Karlaftis is not your average high school sophomore.

George was born in Greece. The 15-year-old grew up playing several sports; but if you ask his mother Amy Karlaftis, George’s strength was in the pool.

“Water polo was something that his dad wanted him to do,” Amy Karlaftis said. “It wasn’t a sport that I ever played so I didn’t really know exactly how good he was. All I know is every time they had a tournament, every time they had any kind of competition in Athens, they always wanted George.”

George represented Greece on the National Water Polo Team. It appeared George would take his athletic career to great depths, but then the unexpected happened in June of 2014.

“Oh that was bad,” George Karlaftis said. “That was bad.”

“I guess being the sports person that I am, I would say it was a curveball that I didn’t see coming,” Amy Karlaftis said.

George’s father, Matthew, died of a massive heart attack. He was 44 years old.

“After he passed away, believe it or not I haven’t cried,” George Karlaftis said.

Amy vividly recalls the day.

“He didn’t cry,” Amy Karlaftis said. “He was the only one home with me. I just remember him like falling to his knees saying, ‘No, tell me mom it’s not true.’ He did not cry, but you could tell two days later George wasn’t little boy George anymore. George was a man.”

Two months after Matthew passed away, Amy packed up and moved the family to her hometown — West Lafayette.

The man who shined in the water soon found a new sport — football. But the current West Lafayette sophomore was initially reluctant to play.

“Eighth grade year I did not want to play,” George Karlaftis said. “I did not want anything to do with football, and that was because my dad got injured in college. My mom was like, ‘Yeah, he got injured so I don’t know if you want to play.’ I thought about it and then I came out freshman year.”

Football runs in the family genes. George’s father was a tight end for the University of Miami in Florida and his grandfather played for Notre Dame.

It didn’t take long for George to gain interest from Division I colleges, despite playing the game for just two seasons.

“He’s scary,” West Lafayette head coach Shane Fry said. “I’ll tell you what, he can get on you in a hurry. You might think he’s out of the play and all of a sudden, he’s not only in on the play. He’s making the play.”

While George has already received an offer from Indiana and taken an unofficial visit to Notre Dame, the 6-foot-5, 245-pound defensive end is far from reaching his full potential.

“I think I can get 10 times better,” George Karlaftis said.

His head coach agrees.

“Well he’s only 15 and he’s played football for a year and a half,” Fry said. “His ceiling is incredible.”

From the pool in Greece to the gridiron in Indiana, one of George’s strongest supporters is watching from above. Fittingly, George wants to follow his father’s footsteps.

“I’ve always liked Miami, really, because that’s where my dad went,” George Karlaftis said. “Miami’s just been up there since I was a kid.”

Amy knows Matthew would be overjoyed with what their son has accomplished.

“I think he’s the one that’s being shocked right now,” Amy Karlaftis said. “We’re turning it around on him. I think he would be shocked that his son is so phenomenal and has stepped up and is doing something so great and he’s a well-rounded individual. I think he would be very proud of him.”

 

[dublinirish]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Caught up w/ 2019 DE George Karlaftis down here. Has an <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Indiana?src=hash">#Indiana</a> offer, great grandpa played at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotreDame?src=hash">#NotreDame</a>: <a href="https://t.co/dho5sgzJ6o">https://t.co/dho5sgzJ6o</a> <a href="https://t.co/X5RDRUUvmB">pic.twitter.com/X5RDRUUvmB</a></p>— Allen Trieu (@AllenTrieu) <a href="https://twitter.com/AllenTrieu/status/817457950667276290">January 6, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Notre Dame is a huge football school. Getting an offer from them would be nice because my great grandpa (Bill Morton) played there before serving. That would be pretty cool because I have family ties obviously. It would be great to have an offer from there."

 

[zelezo vlk]

I can't remember. We hate the Greeks because we like the Turks. Is that right?

 

[BobbyMac]

I can't remember. We hate the Greeks because we like the Turks. Is that right?

We hate the Greeks because they feed us gyros while they eat souvlaki. Malakas!

 

[zelezo vlk]

We hate the Greeks because they feed us gyros while they eat souvlaki. Malakas!

Oh wait, that's right. We disagree with their views on Cyprus and because we want souvlaki

 

[BobbyMac]

Oh wait, that's right. We disagree with their views on Cyprus and because we want souvlaki

...don't forget Moussaka and Pastichio. The divide is deeper than most recognize.

 

[gkIrish]

I can't remember. We hate the Greeks because we like the Turks. Is that right?

Negged

 

[fightingirish26]

Someone wanna update the title, he doesn't have an offer yet

 

[AdmiralBackhand]

We haven't been doing well with kids that have connections to former players. At least lately.