The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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50 THE WOLVERINE JANUARY 2019 COMMITMENT PROFILE J im Harbaugh, along with his as- sistant coaches and his recruiting staff, are always searching for under- the-radar players who fit well into their system. Freshman wide receiver Ronnie Bell is a prime example. Bell was a "0-star" football pros- pect from the Kansas City area who was signed to Missouri State for bas- ketball. He put up massive numbers as a senior on the gridiron, recording 89 receptions for 1,605 yards and 21 touchdowns. The U-M coaches took a flyer on Bell and eventually signed him as a member of the 2018 class. Bell has seen playing time as a rookie, snagging eight catches for 145 yards, a nice first year for a kid who was going to be hooping in Spring- field, Mo., until Harbaugh and Co. came along. Harbaugh and his staff may have done it again with another KC kid, Overland Park (Kan.) Blue Valley North three-star athlete Amauri Pesek-Hickson. The 6-2, 215-pounder has an extensive basketball back- ground and prior to his senior year hadn't played football sine he was in the eighth grade. In his final prep campaign, Pesek- Hickson carried the ball 119 times for 932 yards (7.8 yards per carry) and eight touchdowns. He also had 51 catches for another 812 yards and an additional 14 scores. He even had an interception on defense. Blue Valley North lost in the 6A state championship game, but Pesek- Hicks was a huge reason why they were there in the first place. The ver- satile athlete has an extremely wide range of skills and hopes to put them on display in Ann Arbor. "I want to play anything that re- quires making plays. That's really all I do," Pesek-Hickson said. "I don't have 10-plus years of experience playing football, and I'm not locked into just one position on the field. I just use my athletic ability and do whatever my coach tells me." Rivals.com Midwest recruiting an- alyst Josh Helmholdt also sees a lot of different options for Pesek-Hicks at the next level because of his raw athleticism. "Pesek-Hickson was on no one's radar coming into the season because this was his first year of varsity foot- ball," Helmholdt explained. "It's easy to see the athletic traits when you turn on the film, and I was sur- prised that his ball skills were im- pressively developed for a prospect with so little playing experience in the sport. "Especially today, coaches are look- ing for a size and athleticism combo in prospects, believing that as long as those un-coachable traits exist, they can coach up the rest. Pesek-Hickson has the natural physical gifts." Wherever Pesek-Hickson ends up playing, he's just glad it's going to be in Ann Arbor. The late-rising football star can't believe that he's really go- ing to be strapping on the winged helmet and is beyond excited to be a part of the 2019 class. "It's an unreal opportunity," he said. "Sometimes I sit in my room and realize that this is all real, be- cause in some ways it just feels like a dream. A top team in the country and, realistically in my opinion, a future national champion, wants me to come play football. "If you were to tell me one year ago or maybe even in the beginning of August that I'm going to be going to Michigan, I would've laughed." Pesek-Hickson's impressive senior year earned him an honorable men- tion spot on the Division 6A All-State team from both The Wichita Eagle and The Topeka-Capital Journal. The coaches from the Eastern Kan- sas League also thought highly of Pesek-Hickson, putting him on the all-league first team. — Brandon Brown Michigan Lands Another Potential Diamond In The Rough In Amauri Pesek-Hickson Pesek-Hickson, a 6-2, 215-pound three-star athlete, did not play high school football until his senior year at Overland Park (Kan.) Blue Valley North High. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM FILM EVALUATION Strengths: Amauri Pesek-Hickson's versatility is his biggest strength. He's very explosive and has excellent body control because of his background in basket- ball. That allows him to excel all over the football field. He played running back, wide receiver and several positions on defense as a senior, and looked very comfortable at all of them. Areas Of Improvement: Because of Pesek-Hickson's lack of experience on the football field, he is position-less coming out of high school. Michigan likes his athleticism, but is he an offensive or defensive player? Can he play viper or a dif- ferent linebacker position in Don Brown's scheme? Is he fast and fluid enough to play in the secondary? All of those questions will need to be answered once he gets to Ann Arbor. Michigan Player Comparison: Pesek-Hickson compares favorably to former Wolverine Josh Furman. Pesek-Hick is a little more put together than Furman was coming out of high school, but both have long arms and legs and carry the "athlete" label. Furman never quite found his footing at Michigan as a member of the secondary, but after he transferred to Oklahoma State he developed into a speedy outside linebacker. That'll be the task with Pesek-Hickson as well — find- ing where he fits best. — Analysis from TheWolverine.com