Morgan Newton is one of IU’s top quarterback targets and one of the hotter in-state prospects for 2009. The physically imposing recruit has already garnered a slew of scholarship offers from various schools, and has had an IU offer on the table since May of last year.
Living only about an hour and a half from Bloomington, Newton knows the IU campus quite well, and he knows that the close proximity would be very convenient for his family, even though it wasn’t a huge factor in his decision. Overall he said that he has good feelings about campus. “It’s not far from home, the facilities, and obviously the squirrels,” he joked. “The campus is nice. It has everything, it offers everything, it has different varieties of people, athletically, you know, it’s just a pretty good school.”
He noted family, coaching staff, conference, and education as major factors in his decision-making, specifically noting the Big Ten, ACC, and SEC as conferences he would prefer. “I just want to be in a competitive [conference], the highest level of football I can play in, if that’s possible.
Morgan Newton
Height: 6’5”
Weight: 210-215 lbs
Hometown: Carmel, Indiana
Rivals.com Rankings: 3 stars, 17th out of pro-style QBs
Interested Schools: Indiana, Illinois, Florida, Clemson, Iowa, Kentucky, Penn State, Purdue, South Carolina
Newton is no stranger to football, first playing the game back in 3rd grade. He played a variety of positions but in 8th grade he switched to quarterback and hasn’t moved since. His extensive experience and his great physical tools have helped him blossom into a star at Carmel High School (IN). He amassed 1,882 yards and 25 touchdowns through the air last season, as well as 753 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground.
When asked about his success on the field, Newton mentioned his size as a major plus. At 6’5” and somewhere around 210-215 lbs, he definitely has ideal size to quarterback at the next levels. In addition he noted his versatility, the ability to both run and throw the ball, and his overall football IQ as more of his strengths. “Just knowing the game and growing up around the game” has helped him to be a better quarterback, he said.
Despite his effectiveness running the ball, Newton maintains that he’s a traditional passing quarterback first. His athleticism still gives him an advantage though. “I don’t really consider myself a dual threat guy, because that’s not what I do, so-to-speak,” he said about his personal playing style. “But athletically, it’s nice to have an escape when plays break down.”
As for what he still wants to work on next year, he listed “working on footwork, speeding up my release, and just learning more and more about the game, studying the game, and trying to understand the game” as some of his priorities.
With so many schools still jockeying for his commitment, he maintains that his recruitment is “still pretty open,” although he did say that “there’s high interest in IU” as an option.He doesn’t have any sort of timetable yet for making a decision, but he still has plenty of time to go through his options.
Hopefully he will see enough from IU to eventually make a commitment here down the line. He would be a great pick-up for any program.
Thanks to Morgan for the interview!
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