Renaldo Sagesse
Defensive Line 6-4/305/5.00
Cegep Du Vieux HS (Montréal, QC)
NR: ** - Position Rank: NR
His Recruiting Story
Since the days of Tshimanga Biakabatuka, many Canadian born youngsters have
dreamed of suiting up in the Maize and Blue. Montreal Cegep Du Vieux
defensive tackle Renaldo Sagesse was one of those youngsters.
"I'm from Canada so we see a lot of Michigan games," Sagesse said. "As
a kid growing up you hear a lot of about Michigan. Plus, the high school
that I played for had guys that went to Michigan. When I first got there
I said I want to be like those guys. Emmanuel Casseus went to Michigan
a couple of years back, and last year he was my defensive line coach. He
really gave me a lot of advice and said a lot about Michigan and about the
chance he had to go there. Alain Kashama and Deitan Dubuc are from my
school and they went there as well. Biakabatuka went to our rival school. Everybody
that plays football in Montréal knows about him because he did really
well with Michigan."
Despite Sagesse's boyhood affinity for the Wolverines, he almost ended up suiting
up for another Big Ten program. The athletic lineman originally pledged
to Illinois since it was the Illini that showed him the earliest interest. Michigan's
late push almost fell on deaf ears, but thanks to the persuasiveness of the
coaches in Ann Arbor and an outstanding visit, any reservations he had were
soon eliminated.
"I was committed to Illinois during the holidays, and at the end of December
Michigan started calling," Sagesse recalled. "The last head
coach we had at my high school had a couple of players that went to Michigan,
so he knew I had the talent to go to there. At first I wasn't really interested
because I was like, ''you haven't shown me any interest.' They said,
'we'll just come see you and have a little chit chat. If you like us,
we'll get a visit.' Then they went to my high school and I had a good talk
with the defensive line coach, Coach Stripling. He was explaining to
me the situation. They have a good opportunity at defensive tackle this
year."
"So I made the visit and talked to Coach Carr," Sagesse continued. "My
host was Greg Banks and his roommate was Adam Patterson. I had to ask
a lot of questions because during that time I was committed to Illinois, so
I had to make sure I understood everything about Michigan. They were
saying it is a good tradition and that everything I saw on TV was right. They
said, 'It's a good school academically and it's a good school football wise,
so you've got the best of both worlds. You're going to have a chance
to make big plays and be a part of a good football tradition. Then, if
you don't make it in football, you're going to make it in business.' After
the visit Coach Carr came to my house and I talked to the defensive coordinator,
Coach English. After that I just felt like I had a good chance with Michigan,
so that's why I changed my decision."
GoBlueWolverine Commentary
"I'm about 6-4, 305 and I like to be the kind of defensive tackle
that can do a lot on the field," he said. "I don't really look
at my stats so I don't really remember them. I know I had a great season
and we went to the semifinals. When it's a running situation I can clog the
middle and let the backers make the play, or I can bust the play up the middle
myself. What I really like is pass rushing. I cause havoc in the middle. That's
my forte'. I like to pass rush." - Renaldo Sagesse