[Photo via The Star Press]
It didn't take long for Michigan's satellite camp tour to pay dividends. This afternoon, three-star Winchester (IN) Community ATH Kiante Enis committed to the Wolverines after participating in the Indianapolis camp, as first reported by 247's Steve Wiltfong. Enis becomes the eighth commit in the 2016 class and Michigan's third at running back, joining Kingston Davis and Matt Falcon.
We'll see if Enis actually ends up there; 247's Steve Lorenz tells me Michigan is taking Enis as a pure athlete, and he could end up at running back, slot receiver, or even safety at Michigan; for now, they're taking the athlete they want and seeing how it'll play out.
GURU RATINGS
| Scout | Rivals | ESPN | 247 | 247 Comp |
| 3*, #26 ATH | 3*, #54 ATH | NR ATH |
3*, 87, #36 RB, #553 Ovr |
3*, #53 RB, #712 Ovr |
Despite posting some eye-popping statistics last year (more on that later), Enis currently is stuck in the middling three-star range. Much of that may be due to his high school and the quality of competition; he's the first Division I prospect to come out of Winchester Community in the Rivals era. As Enis hits the camp circuit, not to mention adds the exposure of being a Michigan commit, we'll see if his rankings begin to rise.
The four sites are in general agreement about his size, pegging him at 6'1" or 6'2" and 190-200 pounds; a solid frame for a player with his elite speed.
SCOUTING
There's very little scouting out there on Enis. What we have are tantalizing track numbers and absurd high school statistics. On the latter: Enis rushed for 3,189 yards and 49 touchdowns on 299 carries (10.7 YPC) as a junior; his yardage and touchdowns were both among the top figures nationally. On the former: he is faaaaaaaaaast:
Enis is also a mid-major basketball recruit. That athleticism on the hardwood still didn’t do a whole to attract more recruiters on the gridiron.
But now, college coaches can’t ignore the electronically timed 10.53 second 100-meter dash Enis posted at the recent Randolph County track meet, which according to his football coach Mike Jones, is currently the top time in the state of Indiana.
Verified athleticism.
Legitimate size.
Enis added his Michigan offer shortly after that blazing run. Later in that article, Enis claims a 4.35 40-yard dash time; that figure would get a lot of FAKEs in normal situations, but not after seeing his elite sprinting times.
Enis is the nephew of former Penn State and NFL running back Curtis Enis. His high school coach sees him as much more than just a speedster, per 247's Steve Wiltfong:
“He’s tough,” Jones said. “All the stuff we do, everybody talks about the speed, and obviously speed is the unteachable factor, but he’s so good in between the tackles right now. We had a drive last week, it was a third-quarter drive that put the nail in the coffin. We ran trap, ice, read, just over and over and over, all inside stuff. He carried it 28 times and wanted it more.”
Enis is “by far, by far,” the best player to ever suit up in Winchester. He owns the school’s career rushing record, career touchdown record and he’s one interception away from that record as well.
“He’s explosive, dominant, the speed helps so much,” Jones said. “The thing I like about him, he’s so tough with the ball. He never gets tackled by one guy. The film shows it over and over. He doesn’t go down.”
That's about it as far as scouting reports go; ESPN hasn't ranked him or posted an evaluation, Rivals has just two articles about him (both focused on recruiting), and Scout doesn't have much more than that.
What's clear from the film and the numbers is that Enis is an explosive, versatile athlete; it's not a surprise that Michigan is willing to take an athlete of his caliber now and figure out the positional details later.
OFFERS
Enis holds offers from Ball State, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Indiana, Iowa, Miami (NTM), Michigan State, Ohio, and Western Michigan. His bigger offers have come this spring, including MSU extending one within a week of Michigan doing so last month. Enis backing up the speed apparent on his film with top-notch times on the track has clearly helped his recruitment.
HIGH SCHOOL
Winchester Community is a small school (enrollment: 459, per IHSAA) that participates in Indiana's second-smallest classification (2A) for football. Enis is the first major prospect to come from the school; in fact, he's the only recruit from WC to hold a Division I offer in the Rivals database, which extends back to 2002.
If you're wondering why major offers have been slow to come in, that helps clear up the picture.
STATS
In addition to the rushing stats mentioned above, Enis recorded four interceptions during his junior season, and he also had four receptions for 104 yards and a score, per MaxPreps. More complete stats, as well as sophomore stats, are available at that link.
FAKE 40 TIME
Enis' self-reported 4.35 gets one FAKE out of five because of his track exploits. Speed is not an issue, to say the least.
VIDEO
Junior highlights:
Sophomore highlights and single-game reels can be found on his Hudl page.
PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE
I... have no idea. Enis has the size and athleticism to play running back, receiver, or defensive back; safety seems to be a legitimate possibility given the number of guys already committed as running backs, though Enis also mentioned a desire to have the ball in his hands during his recruitment, and after watching the film it's hard to blame him. Wherever he ends up, he's a good bet to compete for a spot as a return man, and his speed will make him a player to watch on either side of the ball.
UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS
Michigan is up to eight commits in the class, and they look poised to hit nine when fellow Indiana athlete Chris Evans announces his decision on Saturday. Unless something changed in the last week, Michigan will happily take both Enis and Evans, who has similar positional flexibility.
It's still far too early to take a stab at the final numbers for this class; it's clear the coaches are eyeing a class in the neighborhood of 20-25 prospects, which would require a decent but not unreasonable amount of attrition before Signing Day. Wide receiver, tight end, offensive line, defensive tackle, defensive end, outside linebacker, and—depending on where Enis and maybe Evans end up—defensive back remain areas of need.