He was a 4* on rivals and 247. .94 on 247 is a high score also.
more importantly, he was a dominating guy who everyone knew before his senior year. Blocked for duke. Duke was in the state title game as a junior.
here’s
@LuCane in Jan ‘12: “He has a chance to be the highest draft pick out of the entire last two classes.”
here”s
@gogeta4, jan. ‘12: “i played lt..........this kid is BIG TIME............good feet for a big guy...kid can actually get to second level...kid reach blocks on the dt's...and he pancakes guys...aww man....A Dream.......are 2 best prospects are both from Norland...this kid has nfl written all over...with work in the weightroom and conditioning..looks to be a rt in the future.”
Here’s
@Larry: “I think he's our second best player in the class. Reminds me of Michael Oher in HS. Just with how nasty he is at the point of attack and how he engages a defender with bad intentions.”
Here’s
@jandman514: “He's a high 4 star on rivals and scout and i think 247 sports just not ESPN but i'm sure they will bump him up soon.”
@jevoasis: “Sick. Big bonus is that he dominated against top level competition.”
Those are all January 2012 comments. You made me go back with your **** stubbornness and now I spent the past two hours reviewing the history. Regretfully, very little on this board in the early days of his commitment. And nothing on Google. But I happened to belong to Shadow's board back then, so did a search there and found the relevant timeline:
Very few scouts knew about Flowers until he began to get noticed at a Nike camp 2 months on
3/27/2011. By then he had already been at Miami's Junior Day and Kehoe had begun to recruit him. Here's a blurb on that camp:
"The offensive line was not the biggest group ... but two-way lineman, who has
an offer from Buffalo, also did well in 1-on-1s. He delivers a good punch and has the feet to mirror rushers, but does need to sit back a little more as he can bend at the waist, get a little top heavy and leave himself exposed.
Ereck Flowers (Miami, Fla./Norland) is a tackle prospect with good size and moved his feet well but does need to improve his flexibility and play with more bend."
Flowers committed on
5/26/2011. Here's a comment about his offers at the time:
"OT Ereck Flowers (6’6, 305) of Miami Norland High School was most recently offered by Miami. His other offers include, “Buffalo, Cincinnati, UCF, USF, FAU, FIU, Florida St., Louisville, Memphis, Purdue, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Western Michigan, and Illinois. I expect Ole Miss and West Virginia to offer next week.”
What caused Kehoe to jump on Flowers and lock in his commitment was that he went to an Under Armour combine earlier that Spring where the scouts go a look at him and loved what they saw. A scouting analyst who I admire, Charles Fishbein, said this about him just after he committed:
"I first saw him at the Under Armour Combine and came away impressed. This spring he has been really good. Probably one of the top lineman that I have watched this spring. ... I can tell you this....Tons of coaches came down this spring and every single one of them liked him. He got offers from Alabama, Mississippi, Florida State, Miami, Rutgers, UCONN, West Virginia, Wake, Georgia Tech....I can go on and on.... Miami got a prospect that will rank in the top 30 in Florida by the start of the season. He is a legit 4* prospect. Good feet, bends well, is athletic, can get to the 2nd level....There is not much not to like. Only thing he will need to do is get stronger....More of a RT than a LT."
I should note that there was a little chatter about him prior to his May 2011 commitment where some people felt he wasn't Miami material. But the general consensus was he was taking big steps in his development and although a project, would be a good take for Miami.
...
Respectfully, no he was not a 4 star when we started recruiting him, he was a 3 star. The national attention started after we got on him.