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Commitment #3 of the Thursday was Spring weakside defensive end Lonzell Gilmore, a sort of a hybrid player, but we're going to go with defensive end as he has his hand on the ground rushing the passer while at Spring. And this is good because this is the second defender of the day and this class needs some more defensive bodies.
| DEFENSIVE LINE | |
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| LONZELL GILMORE | DEFENSIVE END |
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HT/WT: 6-3/220 FORTY: 4.70 HIGH SCHOOL: Spring (Spring, TX) VIDEO: Hudl RECRUITING SERVICES: Rivals  5.4 | Scout | ESPN N/R | 24/7 Sports 78 CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.7733 VTM PROFILE DATE: December 20, 2014 OFFERS: Colorado St., Fresno St., Illinois, Miami (OH), Kansas St., Louisana Tech, Nevada, Texas Tech |
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THE PLAYER SPEAKS: I couldn't find any direct quotes from a paper or whatever, so we'll go with Gilmore when he committed, where he said that after a long talk with his family and friends, he wants to become a Red Raider. What I thought was even more cool was Gilmore's head coach at Spring who gushed about Gilmore:
I have been coaching for 15 years and have probably coached a couple thousand kids. Lonzell is by far my most favorite kid to coach. He has become a son to me in the last 4 years. He is one of the hardest working kids I've ever been around. He is an unquestioned team leader, born not by his words but by his actions. How he conducts himself, going about his business, working hard in the weight room, never taking plays off, practicing hard each rep, has allowed him to become someone his peers respect and look up to. I always tell everyone this about Lonzell, if you were to raise a son, Lonzell is exactly how you would want your son to be, character wise, academically, athletically, and socially. He is a tremendous young man, so tonight I am a very proud "Dad" as Lonzell has decided to continue his education and football career at Texas Tech. #WreckEm #GunsUp Love you Bookie
I've seen a lot of praise for players from coaches, but this was pretty awesome.
SCOUTING REPORT: Assuming that Gilmore's weight is remotely correct, then he's pretty close to the weight that Pete Robertson is at right now. For some reason, I had this idea that Robertson committed as a 200 pound safety prospect and I think that Gilmore is truly a weakside defensive end in waiting and not an outside linebacker.
According to MaxPreps, Gilmore had 112 tackles, 7 sacks, and averaging 8 tackles a game. That's a ton of production at the defensive end spot. That's not normal and if you wanted a defensive sleeper for the class, this would be as good as any. A slightly undersized defensive end that makes a ton of plays.
Gilmore is ridiculously quick off of the line of scrimmage and he can track down quarterbacks pretty easily. I totally believe that 4.70 forty time because in the real world that's really fast. I think that Gilmore handles tackles really well for being in high school and given the fact that he lines up inside at times, I think he's more of an inside guy that Robertson. Gilmore tackles really well and he runs like a deer and he tackles ferociously. Texas Tech needed a guy like this, however he fits.