Two days after IU offered Tyus Flakes a scholarship, he tore his ACL. A week later, he had surgery.
He began calling all the schools which had offered him. Some coaches didn’t even bother to reply. The 247sports 3-star running back prospect found himself growing worried. But the school he wanted most stayed true to its offer.
“Indiana hit me back and let me know that they still wanted me and they were still with me,” Flakes said.
How much did this loyalty mean to him when it came to making his ?decision?
“That means everything to me,” Flakes said.
Flakes committed to IU Sunday night on his way back from a visit to Bloomington, making him the third commitment in IU’s 2016 recruiting class. He is from Auburn, Alabama, a small college town of its own. But Bloomington stood out. He said IU was the best campus he has been to.
The son of an ex-military man, Flakes said he comes from a good family. But to commit to go to school over 500 miles away from home took a good relationship between him and the Hoosier coaching staff.
IU Running Backs Coach Deland McCullough was Flakes’ lead recruiter. Flakes said he and McCullough have a great bond. When he made his visit to Bloomington for the IU football camp, the whole staff made him feel like Bloomington is where he should spend his college years.
“They really brought me in and made me feel like I was at home and let me know that, ‘you’re a great player, and you have a future here and big things ahead of you,’” Flakes said.
As a sophomore at Auburn High School, Flakes ran 1,411 yards and 12 touchdowns for the Tigers. One year later, he ran 1,391 yards and 10 touchdowns in five less games and 43 less carries. He will not be playing in his senior season. The IU coaching staff told him not to rush his recovery at all.
Flakes had a long list of offers from small southern schools but said he was not as interested in them. He said it came down to IU and Georgia Southern in the end, but IU came away with his commitment.
Flakes is committing to a school which just sent a running back to the NFL Draft.
Tevin Coleman broke the IU single season rushing record with over 2,000 yards on the ground before being drafted 73rd overall by the Atlanta Falcons.
“That’s all the motivation right now,” Flakes said.
While it is motivation enough for the young running back who is rehabbing his knee, he knows he cannot concern himself with the accomplishments of a former IU player.
“I’m trying to break his record,” Flakes said. “Be the next Tyus Flakes, not Tevin Coleman.”
