Article published August 30, 2009
Shooting stars: AAU friendship carries over to UM
Wauseon graduate Elliott Mealer, left, and Whitmer graduate Kevin Koger first met as fifth-graders at a basketball tournament. This season, the friends will be on the Michigan football field.
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WOLVERINE PHOTO/AMIR GAMZU
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By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
ANN ARBOR - As an AAU basketball game progresses at a high school gym in Dayton, a trim and athletic guard, who goes about 160 pounds with his shoes on, chases his man around the floor. With his focus locked in on playing textbook defense, he does not see the large, imposing figure with his peripheral vision.
Then he slams into this immovable mass, and only the sweat and muscle tell him that was another player, and not the solid oak door leading to the janitor's closet. The guard recoils and hits the deck, stunned by a dose of full-body, blunt force trauma. The object he collided with simply turns and moves down the court.
The blind-side screen is a particularly effective implement, especially when the guys setting those screens are a couple of hulks who are also future University of Michigan offensive linemen. The Richter Scale has yet to develop a number for the kind of jolt they deliver.
The Great Lakes AAU team had an imposing physical presence for several years when Kevin Koger and Elliott Mealer were teammates in the offseason program.
"That was quite a luxury - to have two big guys like that who were also very agile and very good athletes," said Regis Rauch, who coached Mealer and Koger with Great Lakes.
"When those two walked out on the basketball floor, we're pretty sure that was fear we saw in the faces of the opposing players and coaches. And when we ran screens off Elliott and Kevin, it wasn't always pretty what happened. Those are two very big guys."Mealer was a multi-sport standout at Wauseon High, and besides being one of the top offensive line prospects in the state, also was a very valuable basketball player for the Indians.
"When he got his feet set down low on the block, I don't think anyone was moving him," Rauch said.
Mealer played tight end and defensive end on the football field, and one recruiting service rated him among the top 15 players in the state his senior year. He made Michigan his college choice and then went to work recruiting his AAU teammate and close friend, Koger, who was a two-sport athlete at Whitmer.
"I was down to choosing either Ohio State or Michigan, and I couldn't decide, and Elliott kept texting me and saying 'come on, man, come with me to Michigan,'•" Koger said. "Once I signed with Michigan, he was the first person I called. I told him I needed a roommate."
Koger recalls the first time he encountered Mealer was as a fifth-grader when they faced each other in a basketball tournament.
"I remember seeing him out there on the court and saying 'man, this kid is big'. But he could play, and once we met a couple of years later and we were on the same team, I found out he could really play," Koger said. "I don't know about me, but when we'd set a screen with Elliott and the guy would just get knocked flat - it was impressive."
Mealer (6-6, 299) said he was always impressed with Koger's energy, athleticism and his ability to run the floor as well as the smaller, quicker guys.
"Kevin is a great athlete, first and foremost, and that is what I noticed from way back when we started playing together on Great Lakes," Mealer said about the 6-4, 249-pound Koger, who holds the Whitmer record for career receiving yards and was an All-City choice on both offense and defense while also playing basketball for the Panthers.
"He had a lot of skill and ability you don't usually see in big guys. And the fact he could move and run so well made it really hard for people to stay with him."
Koger, who one recruiting service had listed as the fourth-best tight end prospect in the nation after his senior season at Whitmer, said the strong basketball background has been a real benefit.
"Playing up front, whether you're blocking or running pass routes - agility and footwork are so important, and I think the things we learned as basketball players translate a lot into football," he said. "The kind of blocking I'm expected to do in this offense - it's the same concept as guarding somebody in space on the basketball court. You've got to shuffle your feet and not get crossed-over."
"Basketball does help with your footwork a lot," Mealer said. "The defensive stance you work on in basketball is pretty similar to what you do in football. And for a guy like me who played center in basketball, posting up a lot, I think that has really helped with the footwork side of things in football."
Michigan offensive line coach Greg Frey said Mealer's basketball experience has been very beneficial to his development as a sound offensive lineman for the Wolverines.
"That basketball background helps - especially in the passing game," Frey said. "Shaquille O'Neal, I'm sure, would be a great pass blocker because it involves the same basic principles as trying to stop a guy from driving to the basket. Technique-wise, knowing how to move your feet to properly position yourself is a big plus."
Rodriguez said he is proud the northwest Ohio duo was part of his first Michigan recruiting class.
"Elliott and Kevin - those are two great kids, and two kids who do things the right way," Rodriguez said. "We used Kevin a lot last year, and now Kevin is bigger, stronger, and faster, and he knows what we want, so we're looking for a very big year from him. Elliott has worked really hard and put himself in position to play this season. I'm very impressed with both of them."
Mealer said he is especially anxious about Michigan's 2009 season opener against Western Michigan on Saturday, since he has not played in a game in almost two years. Mealer missed all of last season while recovering from injuries he sustained in a tragic Christmas Eve accident in 2007 that took the lives of Mealer's father and girlfriend and seriously injured his brother.
Frey said Mealer the football player has made significant progress and worked his way onto the Michigan depth chart as a backup offensive guard. In light of the family tragedy Mealer has endured, Frey said Mealer's comeback has been stunning.
"I look at him as a football player, and I work him and coach him like everyone else, but then I step back and think about it. I can't even imagine the struggle he went through," Frey said.
"I lost my own dad when I was 32. I was a grown man, and it was terribly difficult. He lost a lot more, and at a very young age. I would describe Elliott as one of the single-most classiest guys I've ever been around. His strength and the way he has handled all of this - he's made each one of us a little better person just by being associated with him."
Mealer credits his coaches and teammates at Michigan with providing significant support while he healed.
"This is the first preseason camp I've been though without my Dad being around, so it's been tough, but it's been helpful in other ways because now I'm close to my teammates and coaches - and all of these guys have been great," Mealer said.
"Everyone's got their story, something they have to deal with - not just me. I feel blessed to have such great guys like Kevin and the rest of my teammates always supporting me."
Koger downplays his role in helping his friend, roommate and former AAU teammate.
"We talk about it from time to time, but with Elliott and the kind of character he has, he's always up, always has a smile on his face, and always lifting other people's spirits," Koger said. "We should be helping him, but he is usually the one keeping other guys positive."
Mealer puts the credit for his chance encounter with Koger on the basketball court, and those earth-shattering screens they enjoyed together, and for fate landing them on the same offensive line at Michigan, all on a higher shelf.
"That just shows you how God works - why Kevin was placed in my life like that, early on," Mealer said.
"We had a great time playing AAU basketball together, but we were done with that long before we ever knew we both were going to be playing football here at Michigan. Now we're roommates, teammates, and we've got a friendship that will last a lifetime. That's part of God's plan. There's no other way to look at it."
Contact Matt Markey at:
mmarkey@theblade.com
or 419-724-6510.
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