Joshua Kaindoh is one of 2017's most elite football recruits. He's rated the best weak-side defensive end in the country and the No. 5 player in Florida, where he plays at football factory IMG Academy.
People know Kaindoh well for skills on the field, but he's interesting off it, too.
"I want to be a doctor," he told reporters in Orlando this weekend at a regional Nike recruiting camp for The Opening, one of the country's most prestigious recruiting events.
He's interested in kinesiology, pathology and neurology, and said he has a 3.3 grade-point average. His professional future will play a significant role in his college choice, he said. He wants "the mixture of academics and athletics."
Kaindoh is a Maryland native, and he mentioned the home state Terrapins among his top schools. It's a common thing for IMG recruits to return close to home once they're actually playing in college, and Kaindoh also mentioned Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Notre Dame as schools he's considering. He's set on playing somewhere northern.
He said he's built relationships with Michigan's Jim Harbaugh, Penn State,'s James Franklin and Ohio State's Larry Johnson, among other coaches on staffs across the Big Ten and at Notre Dame.
Kaindoh's recruitment is still in its early stages. He said he wants to visit Notre Dame, but he hasn't set a particular visiting schedule yet in advance of National Signing Day next February.
"I just want to get around," Kaindoh said. "I really haven't been anywhere."
Here's tape from Kaindoh's junior season at IMG: