Jarrod Tuszka
It was bound to happen any day, and NDSU football recruiting is off and running with the verbal commitments of a pair of players who are similar in stature. Jarrod Tuszka is a 6-foot-4, 215-pound prospect at defensive end from Warner, S.D., and Grant Morgan is a 6-5, 250-pound defensive tackle prospect from Oshkosh, Wis.
Tuszka, playing for a small school, does everything for his team, as you would expect. “He has great skills,” said Tom Kulesa, his head coach.
Tuszka said his performance at NDSU’s summer camp was probably the biggest reason he got an offer. He said Minnesota-Duluth was his other scholarship option, although other, unspecified schools were in the mix.
Morgan is more of a highly-touted recruit. Central Michigan of the FBS Mid-American Conference also offered. Here is his highlight tape.
DOM:
Morgan’s coach Chris Kujawa told me that Morgan loved the atmosphere when he came to Fargo and what really put NDSU over the top is that Morgan has relatives in North Dakota.
FRIDAY UPDATE 11:45 AM
Not soon after those two recruits verballed, NDSU got another from the state of Wisconsin in 6’1, 205 pound linebacker Alex Hahn. His head coach at Oak Creek HS, Mike Bartholomew told me “he’s got a great motor, has only played D-line the last two years, this will be his first season without his hand on the ground.” His stats last year as a defensive lineman are impressive, he racked up 75 tackles wih 9 sacks and 8 tackles for loss. 75 tackles from the d-line is a massive total, made more impressive that Oak Creek plays at the top level of football in Wisconsin. I also asked Bartholomew about the run of players NDSU is getting in Wisconsin and he said it all traces back to Tim Polasek. Polasek used to play for Bartholomew and have a great relationship, Bartholomew said that is consistent with most of the high school coaches in the state of Wisconsin. It’s a terrific pipeline for NDSU, look at the current roster, led by Brock Jensen, Colten Heagle and Justin Juckem. That takes the verbal total for 3 for 2013, that’s a lot this early, I think NDSU didn’t hit 3 last year till late August/early September.
Surprised qbert didn’t scoop you guys on this one.
We beat out the University of Minnesota for a recruit? Awesome! …oh, University of Minnesota (Duluth campus) was the other scholarship offer he had? What division are they again? Are they moving up to our level? Why are we competing with them for football players? Basketball I could understand, but football… really?
Do you think we should wait to make an offer after he gets more attention from other D1?
He impressed the staff at NDSU football camp. The tape shows he is a good player. If a kid is good, who cares what other schools are recruiting him?
Here is video of Jarod Tuszka http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7bWY9jSHxc
I wouldn’t put too much stock on U of M recruits either. At least Duluth can win games. I wouldn’t be surprised if they could blow out the no namers.
Preston Evans choices were down to NDSU and Augie, SDSU didn’t offer him a scholarship. Did you think he was ok? Thats why we leave the recruiting to the coaches, they go by a kids talent not by who is recruiting him. Go Bison!
be careful questioning who a recruit is being pursued by…Remember Joe mays was lightly recruited…..
Jack, no need to be be such a douche bag…….. does the name Colter Boyer from little Hurley, SD, stop that little piece of brain you have from rolling around in your head? Remember, In Craig, we trust !!
Jack, ill tell u bout rufus saylee though.
Morgan is a FBS recruit, big big bigtime recruit for ndsu. jerrod was under the radar but a beast!!
Why mention that Central Michigan is a Division I FBS and not mention that Duluth is a Division II program? Just an observation on trying to show that NDSU can recruit with the big boys.
NDSU is a FCS National Championship, why always carry a chip on the shoulder and wish to be FBS or at least recruit with them.
I made an assumption that most readers in our primary readership area of Minnesota and North Dakota are aware Duluth is a D-II school while — despite NDSU playing CMU a few years ago — the Chippewas are still not a household name as far as their division.
Jeff is sure a little defensive.
Just answering a question posed by a reader, Nothing more, nothing less.
Fort God’s sake you guys! We get info on recruits and everyone crucifies the kids for who is or isn’t recruiting them. Why would Jeff Kolpack be defensive? One thing about the 80′s we didn’t have to put up with all the doubters! They just won the national title give it a rest! Go Bison!
Thanks for the updates and thanks for the video editions. You guys are great for our Bison addiction. Keep up the good work.
Good work jeff and dom! Most of us appreciate your guy’s work so keep it up! Doesn’t matter who these guys are until they prove it on the field. I believe the coaches see something in these guys to offer them this early.
Three new pieces for the Bay, I mean the . . . “Gate City Rollers” defense!
LOL! Go BIson!
Ok, UMD National DII football champions in 2008, the same year the jokers from Grand Forks were beginning transistion from DII.
Keep up the good work Jeff.
First NDSU beats out UMD for a recruit. Then they offer a scholarship to a walk-on at UND and get shot down. Looks like some great recruiting efforts out of Fargo.