Daniel Gresham recruit updates: 2014 running back/fullback

While at Arkansas, Petrino drew the ire of Texas high school coaches by pulling scholarships from several players from the state and likely did not do himself any favors with the decision on Gresham, either.

A four-star prospect by 247Sports, the 5’10, 230-pound Gresham is the No. 51 player in Texas and the No. 426 player in the country by the 247Sports Composite rankings. Formerly committed to Texas, Gresham also had offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Missouri, Ohio State, Ole Miss, and Tennessee.

LEANDER, Texas -- The recruiting process hasn’t always been an easy one for Fort Worth (Texas) All Saints running back/fullback Denial Gresham. He was committed to play for Texas for more than six months and supposed to join teammate and close friend Demetrius Knox in Austin.

That package deal fell apart, and Knox and Gresham decommited. Gresham was suddenly on the market for the first time as a highly-coveted prospect -- he had committed to the Longhorns after they became his first offer. Then Gresham decided that he wanted to head home after all and pledged to the Cardinals in late June, less than three weeks after he declared Miami his leader.

The nation’s top fullback by 247Sports and in the service’s composite rankings, Gresham is a consensus three-star prospect 247Sports considers the only current four-star pledge in a Cardinal class that stands at now at 16. As the only running back in the class, Gresham was sold by Strong and company on becoming a feature back in the Louisville offense, a promise he never received from the Texas coaching staff, a consideration in his decommitment from the ‘Horns.

More than just a true fullback, Gresham operated both as a blocker and a load back for an All Saints team that went undefeated last fall. Dedicated to improving his breakaway speed last summer, the Kentucky native worked to get lean and reduce his 40 time, efforts that paid off with more long runs.

247Sports broke the news on Thursday based on information from sources, but Gresham did not respond to attempts by the services to confirm or deny his status until early Saturday.

Early in the process, Knox and Gresham planned on being a package deal and for some time it looked as if it would happen -- after Gresham committed to Texas when he received his first offer from the Longhorns in August, it seemed like only a matter of time until his close friend joined him, which Knox did in November.

From Fort Worth (Texas) All Saints, offensive lineman Knox and running back/fullback Gresham tripped to Columbus last weekend to visit Ohio State.

Knox is a native of Ohio and grew up a Buckeyes fan, revealing less than two weeks ago that he planned on visiting Columbus ($) to see his father, telling Hookem.com that he had told the Ohio State coaches that he’s “not going there.” He also said that he as “an understanding” with the Texas coaches about his visit.

If you’re looking for the most inglorious recruit of the 2014 recruiting class, that distinction could belong to Daniel Gresham. Gresham hails from Fort Worth (Tex.) All Saints Episcopal School and is quite possibly one of the top fullbacks in the 2014 recruiting class.

Gresham weighs in at 225 pounds and stands at 5’11 and is considered a consensus four-star recruit. Gresham is ranked the 224th-best national recruit by 247Sports, the recruiting service also considers him the top fullback and the 30th best Texas recruit. Scout also ranks him as the top overall fullback and ESPN has placed Gresham on the ESPN Watchlist.