Inside Gideon Gash's recruitment: Brother factor, visits planned, timeframe for a decision

Detroit Catholic Central (Mich.) athlete Gideon Gash was the headliner at last weekend’s Adidas Polynesian Bowl Combine and he exceeded expectations. 

Gash is a great looking prospect and is rated the No. 97 player in the Rivals Industry Ranking, an equally weighted average that utilizes all three major recruiting services and the No. 3 athlete in the county. 

He’s even higher in the Rivals 300 and checks in as the No. 64 prospect nationally and after what we saw last weekend, he should continue to trend up. 

Gash has rare athletic traits in terms of size and speed. He measured in at 6-4, 206 pounds, broke the Poly combine record with a 4.35 time in the 40, had a camp best 120” broad jump plus a solid 4.47 shuttle. He earned a well deserved invite to the ’27 Polynesian Bowl following the camp. 

Gash worked out at corner both days and shows the ability to play four or even five positions in college. He’s good enough to play receiver or even grow in to a tight end on offense and can play corner, safety or grow in to an off-ball linebacker on defense. 

A lot will depend on how much weight he naturally puts on as he physically matures. He’s someone we could easily see at 6-4, 240 pounds in 2-3 years so a hybrid safety/linebacker who can run, blitz, play in space, cover tight ends and attack the line of scrimmage and be essentially a position-less player you can move anywhere is pretty intriguing.

On the recruiting front, Gash told us he solid group of six schools he’s currently focusing on. 

“My top schools right now are Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Michigan State, Indiana, Alabama and LSU,” Gash said. “They’re all showing me a lot of love, they reach out and check on me and I have a good relationship with all of those programs.”

Gash’s most recent visit was to Oklahoma for the Sooners ‘Future Freak’ event.

“It was a great visit, I really enjoyed it there,” Gash said. “Several players committed and being there, you can understand why. I was never tempted because I want to take my visits but the coaches were really cool and the atmosphere was amazing. 

“They have a super unique position for me that I like a lot. It’s a safety that can also play on the edge and I think it fits me really well.”

Gash’s older brother Samson Gash signed with Michigan State in February so you can expect the Spartans to be a player in his recruitment the rest of the cycle. 

“It’s always been a dream for us to play college ball together,” Gash said. “If I have to walk my own path or it’s not the right fit for me, I’ll choose a different school but it would be a dream to play together. 

“It would be super cool but I have to make the best decision for me. I do like the new staff and what coach Fitzgerald is building. I visited in January and had a good time so I’m excited to go through the process and play it out.”

Texas Tech and LSU are slated to host Gash over the next few weeks.

“I’ll be at both schools for spring practice,” Gash said. “LSU is a dominant program and the coaching staff has been reaching out a lot and been aggressively recruiting me. I’m excited to visit and see the campus for the first time. I want to watch a practice as well as see how the coaches and players interact.

“This will be my first time seeing Texas Tech as well. They’re starting to roll and playing some really good football. They played great defense last year and had some big time playmakers on that side of the ball. I like their style of play so looking forward to that trip as well.”

Alabama is another intriguing option. 

“I visited Bama when Samson went down there for his official visit,” Gash said. “It was a great atmosphere to be there. I got to see a game and just experience all that Bama is about and what SEC football is about.

“It’s such a prestigious program and that offer carries a lot of weight. It meant a lot to me so I’m definitely interested for sure.”

As for a timeframe for his decision, Gash said sometime before his senior season. 

“I want to take official visits to all of those schools first,” Gash said. “I don’t have any dates yet but I want to visit all of them first, then likely decide in July or August before my season. 

“I want to focus on my team and our goals without recruiting being a distraction for me. The biggest factors for me are the culture of the program, a place that pushes you to work hard on and off the field and the coaching staff and how connected I feel with them.”