3-star back commits for 2011

Not many players commit to the IU football program and immediately talk about the scoring potential they will bring to the offense.

However, not all players have shown D’Angelo Roberts’ scoring ability.

The 5-foot-10, 180-pound running back rushed for more than 2,600 yards and scored 32 touchdowns during his junior campaign at Bloomington High School North. Roberts averaged more than 215 yards a game rushing and ranked second in the state in that category last year.

Roberts said he hopes his success will translate into touchdowns
on the collegiate level.

“As a running back, every time I touch the ball I want to get to the end zone,” Roberts said. “When we practice, every time I touch the ball I run to the end zone. That’s what my goal is, so that is what I work on.”

Roberts snagged offers from Ball State, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Indiana and Western Kentucky and had interest from Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

While Roberts said he always wanted to go to IU, he still went through recruitment with other schools to ensure that the Hoosiers would be a good fit.

“The main schools I was talking were Penn State and Cincinnati,” Roberts said. “I had a lot of contact before that, but it came down to IU, Penn State and Cincinnati.”

He said he picked IU because of his original feelings and the coaches.

“It always was where I wanted to go,” he said. “I always had a good feeling because I had a really good relationship with Coach (Dennis) Springer ... and you can’t beat that,” Roberts said.

Roberts became the 20th member of the 2011 recruiting class and is one of 11 other three-star recruits for the Hoosiers.

— Candice Rohrman