'09 MN WR Bryce McNeal (Official Offer)

[HotMic]

Scout Profile
Rivals Profile



Minneapolis (MN) Breck High School

Ht: 6-foot-2
Wt: 170 lbs
Forty: 4.45 secs
Class: 2009 (High School)


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11/21

By A. Trieu. McNeal already has offers from Nebraska, Colorado, Minnesota, and Iowa. He says North Carolina and Louisville are his favorites at this point.

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2/11

By A. Trieu. UConn has offered.

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2/18

By Trieu...Arizona and UNC have offered, joining UConn, Minnesota, Colorado, Nebraska and Iowa.

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3/17

By A. Trieu. Michigan has offered. He says he will take an official visit to Michigan.

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3/17

From the Wisconsin site...talks about his contact with the Wisconsin staff and with a couple of current players. Has visited Wisconsin, UConn, Iowa, Minnesota and Notre Dame and will visit USC and UNC.

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4/1

By Trieu...Louisville has offered...will narrow it down to five next month.

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4/9

From the Ole Miss site...Ole Miss has offered. Has family in Mississippi and is interested in the Rebels.

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4/23

From the MSU site. Michigan State coaches will be in to see Bryce tomorrow, and he is hoping to get an offer. He will decide sometime in the fall.

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5/8

From the Clemson site. McNeal will be visiting Clemson and Michigan soon and says those two are his clear top two. He doesn't know when he will make his choice.

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5/9

By Trieu...recent offers from Oklahoma, Illinois, Clemson and Auburn. WVU has also started recruiting him. Coaches from Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa State, Colorado and Mississippi have been by his school.

[Bernini]

Athlete Vault: McNeal's Athleticism Runs in the Genes



by Jason Pughe

Bryce McNeal the 6-2, 175 pound wide receiver from Minneapolis, Minnesota comes from an athletic family. McNeal’s step-dad played in the NFL, his dad and uncle were Mr. Basketball in Minnesota, and he’s also related to another NFL player Dominique Byrd. Despite the athletic ties, McNeal gives all the credit to God.
“I take no credit for how successful I am.” McNeal said. “I give it all to God and if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be able to be in the situation that I am in. He’s helped me in my life long journey and I give all the credit in the world to Jesus Christ my Savior.”
McNeal holds offers from a number of quality college football programs such as Michigan, Nebraska, Illinois, South Carolina, North Carolina, Minnesota, Iowa, Clemson, Auburn, Michigan State, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, and Louisville. Growing up McNeal was a fan of two schools, but despite being a fan he’s not ready to name one of them a leader yet.
“I was a Louisville and Clemson fan growing up,” he said. “I know a couple of the commits for Michigan. I’ve talked to Shavodrick Beaver the quarterback that committed there and also Teric Jones a lot. I talk to those guys a lot and they are really cool. They are doing a good job of recruiting me with the coaches. I don’t really have a #1 school right now. I have a list of five schools right now but I am not releasing them yet. I’m looking to make my decision at the beginning of our football season.”
Last year Michael Floyd was the top wide receiver in Minnesota. He ended up choosing Notre Dame and is one of McNeal’s good friends. Despite their friendship, McNeal says it doesn’t affect his decision.
“Michael Floyd is a good friend of mine; we both train with the same personal trainer,” he said. “Mike’s cool and he’s a good friend but since he went there it doesn’t affect me negatively or positively.”
In addition to Floyd attending Notre Dame, McNeal also has another close friend at the University of Nebraska.
“My team mate Xavier Rucker is playing wide receiver at Nebraska,” he said. “He was kind of my mentor when I was a freshman and he was a senior. I started my freshman year and he took me under his wing.”
So far, McNeal has visited five schools. This month McNeal visits two more schools, including one for the second time.
“I’ve visited Notre Dame, Michigan, Wisconsin, Connecticut, and Nebraska,” McNeal said. “The visits all had their negatives and their positives and they were all different. I can’t honestly say one was better than the other, but there were places where I could see myself there. I am going to Michigan again on the 18th and then to Clemson at the end of the month.”
On the field McNeal prides himself on his route running and his hands. This off-season he plans on working on his strength. McNeal’s favorite player is NFL wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and he actually grew up five blocks from him. While he gets ready for next season, he is going to visit more schools and look for the things that are really important to him. There a number of colleges that are eagerly awaiting this fall and hoping that McNeal will soon call their campus “home”.
“First and foremost it is academics and I want to find a place that feels like home for me,” he said. “I want find a place where I am comfortable and can have fun. It will be easier for me to work hard and enjoy my time there if I am comfortable. I’m not trying to go too far away from home but not too close either. I’m trying to find a place right in the middle.”

[GoRU]

U-M faces stiff competition for Minneapolis receiver

The new Michigan football paradigm is one that not only features philosophical changes in scheme, but also in the type and size of players that are recruited. There are obvious differences in the kinds of athletes recruited at quarterback and offensive line -- and the diminutive slot receiver prospect has gone from having a non-existent role to one of prominence. Amid all that change, though, there are some player traits that will remain unmistakably Michigan.

One example is the continued presence of the bigger wideout, or "outside receiver" as it is now termed by the new coaching staff. One of their most coveted "outside receiver" targets is Bryce McNeal of Minneapolis Breck. Rated a four-star prospect and the No. 16 receiver in the country by Scout.com, McNeal stands almost 6-3, weighs 175, runs the 40 in 4.45 seconds and vertical jumps 37 inches. Michigan is one of 19 programs that have already extended scholarship offers, and the school that lands the 2009 Army All-American will get a better player than many realize, according to Scout.com Midwest recruiting analyst Allen Trieu.

"I love Bryce's game," Trieu said. "He's very smooth, natural, and has some of the best hands I've seen. He can make tough, acrobatic catches and he also is very dangerous after the reception.

"He isn't a 6-4, 200-pound giant, but he has decent enough size to play outside. He also has attributes like elusiveness and hands that would project well to the slot. So he's a player who can fit multiple roles in an offense.

"He's a great kid off the field, too. The Wolverines would be lucky to have him on the field, in the locker room, and on campus."

McNeal believes his reputation as an asset on and off the field has been instrumental in raising his appeal among college coaches.

"I just think that one of the reasons I'm highly recruited is because I'm a good kid," he said. "My parents raised me right. I'm true with God. I'm not going to do anything to jeopardize (the reputation) of the university because I'm not going to put me or my parents in that situation."

U-M visit 'unbelievable'

The opinions of the McNeal's parents will carry major weight in his college choice. That's why he has made it a point to have them with him during campus visits whenever possible. His father traveled with him to Ann Arbor in late March and was impressed by what the program has to offer.

"It was unbelievable," Bronson McNeal said. "Just look at the history of Michigan. They always win and they're on TV. (The coaches) were really good, down-to-earth people. They really emphasized the education, even the strength and conditioning coach. Everybody I talked to was focused on education."

Bryce McNeal liked the coaching staff, as well.

"Usually you find one or two coaches on a staff that you like," he said. "It's rare that you get along with all of them. It's not all football with them (Michigan coaches). We talked with Coach Rodriguez for maybe an hour to and hour and a half. We also talked to the strength coach (Mike Barwis). He's a great guy. He made me want to start working out right then."

Big event Saturday

In the weeks since that visit, McNeal has gotten even more acquainted with the Michigan family. He has taken particular interest in the Wolverines' two quarterback commitments, Kevin Newsome and Shavodrick Beaver.

"(Newsome committing) definitely boosted Michigan because I didn't really know who would be throwing me the ball," McNeal said. "He is one of the top five quarterbacks in country.

"I've talked to Shavodrick Beaver even more. When he committed he hit me up on MySpace and said, 'I'd love to have you (at Michigan). Hit me up so I can holler at you not just about football, but about life in general.'

"So I hit him up and ever since then we've been cool. We've been talking just about every day."

While the recruiting effort put forth by U-M coaches has proven to be quite compelling, there are still a few other prominent contenders.

"My top schools right now would be Clemson, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Oklahoma," he said.

Clemson has have been mentioned as Michigan's stiffest competition, but the Wolverines are staring squarely at a chance to distance themselves from the pack. With McNeal set to return to Ann Arbor for the "Barbecue at the Big House" junior day event this Saturday, Michigan's quest for stronger positioning rests on how satisfactorily it answers the following question.

"Do my mom and dad approve (of the school)?" McNeal asked.

If Rodriguez and company make as positive of an impression on mom as they did on dad, Michigan could prove nearly impossible to beat.