OG Tope Imade (May 21)(May 26 COMMIT)

Godz40acres

Godz40acres

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Tope Imade ..... Bowie (Arlington, TX)
:hookem::hookem::hookem:-horn ..... OG ..... 6-4.5/327 ..... TEXAS​

Nicknamed "Grizzly Bear" by his HS coach, Tope Imade isn't a desperation offer by any means. Full-time playcaller and part-time offensive line coach [wink], Joe Wickline, has been talking with Imade for a couple of months. He's told him to "be patient;" that he wanted to do some more eval of him. Now Wick's decided this big ol' bear will fit well in his cage. (Tope Imade is pronounced, TOH-pay ih-MAHD-eh)

Per 247Sports:
Aggressive player who plays through the whistle every play. Great kid who is very coachable and will go the extra mile to be great. Really like this kid, has great upside with the ceiling to be great one day once he works out the kinks. Good athlete who also throws the shot put and discus on the track team.

Imade sports a long and athletic frame with long arms and levers. Big, athletic OL prospect with excellent size and frame. Knee bender with good flexibility and athleticism. Weight room star that can lift the house and has a 515-pound squat. Powerful run blocker with exceptional power in hips and legs. Moves well laterally with excellent feet for a big man. Fires off ball, rolls his hips underneath him at contact and will bring his feet. Gets into set position, showing good flexibility in his hips and ankles. Shows good punch, uses his long arms and hands to manipulate DL. Shows decent change of direction in pass pro and when working up to the second level. Athletic enough to hit moving targets in space.

Comes with some technical flaws and is very raw. Gets exposed when he gets back on his heels and plays high during pass protection.

Per Scout:
Imade is a big, tall, long-armed lineman prospect who could possibly play guard or tackle at the next level, though guard appears to be his best fit. Consistently finishes blocks, whether at the LOS or when blocking at the second level. Athletic enough to chase down blocking assignments. Great frame. Sometimes plays a bit stiff with high pad level. Overall a strong high major-caliber OL prospect.

Imade is a massive prospect with long arms and big hands who excels in the run game, where he's a mauler with the strength and power to dominate in close quarters. He also possesses the athleticism to chase targets while pulling or advancing to the second level.



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Imade is a beast and he may not be done growing! 515 lbs. deadlift in HS!

I like how aggressive he is - did you see how in this short clip how he pancakes almost everyone he blocked? And as stated he fights his man all the way to the whistle. Seemed to have good footwork. I don't remember seeing him on pass plays but if he needs help with pass blocking Wickline can improve that skill.
 
“Coach Wickline called me and said that they were going to go ahead and offer me,” Imade said. “I was so happy. I was shocked, really. I just said wow to myself. It’s just hard to explain.”

“Right now, it’s even,” Imade said. “I’m going to talk to my dad about it and narrow things down. But I really like Texas. I like the academics and the program as a whole. I also like their history of Nigerian players like Brian Orakpo.”

“I like Coach Wickline,” Imade said. “I think he’s a funny guy, and that’s what I need in a college coach. He said if I go to Texas, he expects me to work hard and be a bad ***.”
[citation]
 
Comment made by one of my favorite posters on another site:

Ohhhhhhh this guy has attitude in a big way! I checked out his pancaking and bury em alive reps, then went back to check out his footwork…..then checked out his ability to move…then went back to the brutality for some laughs. Tope!!!!! Bring that nasty streak of yours to Austin and park it right on the line of scrimmage!

Check out the way his teammates are content to block a few steps and then watch the play as it heads downfield. Then check to see which time zone Tope has just planted his man in. I’m stoked!!!!

326 pounds…and he moves like that???

Beautiful!!!!!!!!

by WileyCousins on May 26, 2015 | 12:03 PM​
 
Per IT:
How he fits at Texas: Tope is one of those “leaner” recruits that Wickline covets, no doubt. In reality this is what Wickline offers often look like. A big, long kid with quick moving feet that is a mobile wall opponents cannot scale or tunnel under. When he gets locked onto an opponent, it’s all over but he may also have the quickness to play at right tackle. He’ll be a bull on zone runs and is effective on reach blocks.

Coach says: [Almost] has tackle measureables at the guard spot. Probably got pegged there since he doesn’t have the ideal athleticism to stick at tackle. One thing I love about him is that he will get after you through the whistle; once he locks up on you he is looking to finish. Would love to see him play with better leverage, but that is something that can be coached up over time. He has enough athleticism to navigate and locate his man on the second level in the run game. Strong as an ox.
 
Per a HornSports staff member at Imade's Spring Game (May 28):
1) I saw what I thought I'd see. A big raw kid who will get beat due to technical mistakes, but a giant ball of athleticism and versatility. That was Imade tonight, there were times that he made things look so good. Also it's a spring game and was very watered down as the Bowie head coach told me it would be.

2) Imade's footwork in his pass drop has gotten remarkably better since his film from last year and even his performance at The Opening regional camp.

3) He struggles with consistency a bit, such as when he tried to lay a shoulder into a kid instead of using his hands. The smaller defender was able to go right under him with that. He also has a tell when he's going to pull that I picked up on the 2nd play from scrimmage. He lines up with his feet closer together and raises his butt up slightly higher to "cheat" and get out of his stance faster on the pull. These are minor details that will be straightened out with coaching.

4) He also struggles a bit feeling the defender on his help side. When offensive linemen are pass blocking a rush of 4 they often have responsibilities to one side or the other depending on the slide protection called. Imade had some trouble feeling his backside help and getting over there.

5) Other than these coaching details he has some things about him that stand out on the positive side. Once he locks on, you are going for a ride until the whistle. This kid is a finisher who puts people on their backs. He also flashes some great flexibility and athleticism, and really shines when he gets into space or works to the second level. Imade shows great skills in the open and quick change of direction skills to get his body in a good position.
 
Per HornSports:
One Texas commitment who won’t be in attendance this weekend is 2016 Arlington Bowie OL Tope Imade. [Imade] had a busy summer of camp circuits and then decided to enter the workforce. He told us he recently got a summer job and won’t be able to make it due to his work schedule.

There should be no worries about Imade though. He kept an eye on the events in Oregon at “The Opening” and couldn’t be more excited to play with Shane Buechele. Buechele opened a lot of eyes at the camp and nearly went wire to wire as the number one ranked quarterback. I asked Imade if he was keeping up with how his future teammate was doing, and he couldn’t contain his excitement:

“Yeah I heard, calling him good would be an insult. He’s that talented. I can’t wait to block for him."
 
[After the 2nd game of the 2015 season] Imade’s taken the responsibility of his position seriously and vowed to become more of a leader. In the spring, Imade was quiet and reserved, keeping mostly to himself off the field while other teammates gathered together to joke around or pump each other up. Last weekend Imade had transformed - he was loud and vocal on the sideline and urging the team along when the game was slipping through their fingers.

Imade isn’t just a vocal leader, he prefers to lead by example. After the Jesuit loss, Imade exhibited that leadership when he deleted his twitter app and vowed to focus on Cedar Hill instead of outside distractions like the popular social networking app.

Imade also leads with his play on the field. The big guard is routinely the lineman who is farthest down field trying to finish off two or more guys in one play. His relentless ability is one of the best facets of his game.
[Full HornSports article]
 
Per HornSports:
When covering recruiting, you never want to break the news to a recruit that their coach is not going to be coaching at the college they committed to next year. Unfortunately we found ourself in that position on Saturday when we revealed to Arlington Bowie offensive lineman Tope Imade that Joe Wickline would not be returning. At first Imade seemed distraught over the news and said to us, “Guess it’s time for me to get to know some new people.” He then asked why Wickline would be gone and we explained that Sterlin Gilbert would be bringing his own offensive line coach with him.

What happened next caught us by surprise.

“They hired coach Mattox from Tulsa?” Imade asked.

We told him yes and asked if he knew him. Imade immediately relaxed.

“Of course. We have a great relationship. His mother in law is an English teacher at Bowie and she kept trying to get me to go to Tulsa,” Imade told us with a laugh.

While coaching changes can often shake up commitments, it’s clear that Mattox should have no issues holding on to this one.
 
Imade was voted a first team all-district offensive guard for District 4-6A, and also earned honorable mention all-state honors for Class 6A from the AP.
 
Per TFB:
Texas OL commit Tope Imade has been one of the biggest Longhorn recruiters since he committed to Texas back in May. Imade was the main recruit going after Jean Delance and led the charge for Texas’ newest commit, Zach Shackelford. Imade said he also did a little recruiting work on CB Eric Cuffee, S Brandon Jones, and TAMU DE commit Mark Jackson. Imade also made some mention of a few “silent commits”. I know that will get everyone all riled up.

Imade absolutely loved his Texas visit, he said the best part of his visit was listening to Coach Strong speak saying, “He’s like a siren from Greek mythology. Everytime he speaks, you just want to hear more and more.”

When I asked him to rate his visit from 1-10 he had to show his rap knowledge by quoting a J-Cole song saying, “On a scale from one to ten I’m a hundred grand” and added that his visit was out of this world.

Imade says he loved hanging out with Coach Matt Mattox, “real cool, chill guy. A players coach and I respect him.”

Imade said he loves his hometown in Arlington but can’t wait to get down to Austin to get to work.
 
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