Ken Wilkins, a senior-to-be at Trinity High School, made an oral commitment to play football at the University of Michigan Tuesday at a noon press conference held at the football field behind the high school.
Wilkins selected Michigan over 24 other offers. His final five choices were Michigan, Pitt, West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia.
At 6-4, 235, Wilkins could play outside linebacker but also has the frame to grow into a defensive end, which is where he spent his junior season at Trinity. Wilkins was a first-team all-state selection as a junior and finished the year with more than 80 tackles and 10-plus sacks.
He is the seventh Division I recruit Trinity has produced the past five years and the 43rd Hillers player to decide to play football at the college level during that span.
With Wilkins set to join the Big Ten in 2010, he'll be the fourth Trinity player in the conference. Andy Miller and Andrew Sweat are at Ohio State. Mike Yancich is at Penn State.
When's the last time one local high school had four players in the Big Ten?
18 comments:
this is a great pick for this kid in my mind he is better than sweat an yancich thats just me but the trinity program continutes to put players in the next level. Good Luck Kenny Go Blue
The next level is great but why don't they have more success on the high school gridiron when they have a steady stream of D 1 talent coming through?
should have went to the big east for some real ball
Congradulations but I hate Michigan
Just another blue chipper Wanny let get away.
Hey Paterno...Play Pitt you chicken sh....
I can't say that I'm surprised at all that he ended up choosing Michigan. When his kids end up with Big 10+1 offers, Dalton's kids seem to go there. (Endres was not offered by a Big 10+1 school)
I just wonder how well Wilkins will fit into RRod's defensive scheme. (Not to mention that RRod is a scUMbag) I feel like Pitt's defensive setup would've served him better. Plus, look at some of the recent linebackers Pitt has put into the NFL, and look at the stud defensive ends they have right now.
As a Pitt fan it stinks to watch local players that Pitt seemed to want go elsewhere, but right now, Wilkins doesn't seem to be their worst miss of the year. Until they are having strong winning seasons consistently, recruiting will get tougher and tougher.
"why don't they have more success on the high school gridiron when they have a steady stream of D 1 talent coming through?"
I hear this a lot about Trinity's program and thought I would offer my two cents.
It doesn't help that one of the greatest high school programs in the state in this millennium also plays in Trinity's conference, Thomas Jefferson.
But I think Trinity fans forget about just how bad this program was before Dalton arrived. It was, to be kind, awful.
Now, the Hillers make the playoffs on a consistent basis, have managed to pull off an upset or two while there and is no longer an also-ran. Most important, Dalton puts kids into colleges. And parents should be ecstatic over that.
There are two positions the Hillers have struggled with on offense that stops them from moving up another notch: running back and wide receiver.
The Hillers have not had a natural super talent at these two positions since Dalton arrived. A Travis Thomas-type player at running back and Perry Ivery-type talent at receiver just haven't been there.
If you can run the football, you can control a game. Just ask Guy Montecalvo.
But the ability to throw the ball when defenses move up to stop the run also is critical, and takes you deeper into the playoffs.
If the Hillers can develop talents as good as Thomas or Ivery, they will go further. It's that simple, but easier said than done.
This hasn't been such a bad ride for Hillers fans. Don't take it for granted.
I wish people would quit making excuses for Trinity football. The truth is that there is plenty of talent going through that program, every bit as much as TJ and yet they continue to be dominated by a BETTER COACHED TEAM. The truth is that Dalton is not a good coach and he cannot take advantage of the talent he has. He had 3 D1 linebackers on the same team and gave up more than 4 TD's in 3 games that year, thats almost impossible to do.
The vastness of his ineptness as a coach is indefinable. Don't give him credit for getting these kids recruited, the truth is that these kids deserve the credit, they are the ones that have worked their tails off, not big Eddie.
then why were they so bad before Dalton was the coach...another Trinity moron parent
and maybe name the d1 players of the 90's before Dalton can't believe i posted twice but I hate negative people
Whether you like him or not he does know his kids and at a very young age. He is very involved in the youth program. Just look around and you will see him there, consistently. All coaches make bad decisions from time to time. I'm glad that there are those who believe they could fit in his shoes better. You either have an axe to grind or a personal problem with him because he does help these kids evaluate their options. For those who decide not to play football in college, he would be the first to tell them that their education is and always will be the most important issue.
Perhaps if their best running back had not gotten injured in the fourth game last year, this discussion would not be taking place.
Trinity has had some quality RB's the last 8 years. Brian Kimutis(2001), Ben Jennings(2005),Troy Garove(2006),and Mike Yancich(2007).
The problem is, they just run into better teams in the playoffs. After upsetting Penn Hills(2005), they lost to Mt. Lebanon whom they could've beat. Last year, they were wiped out by injuries on offense.
Some years when they made the playoffs was because Dalton coached them farther than they probably should've gone.
WOW, is there anything else the Trinity coaching staff should be doing instead of making excuses for themselves on here?
Please, 3 D1 LB's on the same team, that team should have won the National Championship. They didn't even win their conference, thats nothing short of pathetic.
3 players dont make a team.. it takes 11
You guys make me sick. I can't believe that you keep on different coaches to make them out to be bad. As far as I can see Trinity has made leaps and pounds over the past years. After I was there they did not win a game for at least two years. And when I was there we made the playoffs once (lost). And don't get me wrong we had players. Mike Wall (Tulsa), Sam Morgan, Jason Hartley, Bill Beck, Chad Williamson. So maybe you have to look at the coaches and say they are doing a good job and the program compete's year after year. Also lets be honest 10 years ago if I would say Trinity was going to be in the playoffs for 4 straight years let alone win two or three games people would say one of two things. "Your Nuts" and "We will take it." So instead of bashing coaches take a minute and thank them. Because if you can't understand why little johnny is not playing LOOK IN THE MIRROR.
Leaps and pounds?
You must have been hit in the head too many times by TJ's massive line as they were throttling your Hillers.
The fact that TJ is so doninant does not make everyone else in the conference bad. From this outsider's perspective Dalton has done a pretty good job at Trinity.
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