Expect a lot of these this early in the recruiting season, as we try to figure out who will and won’t be serious prospects. After the UM junior days, it should settle into a weekly or bi-weekly thing. On to the updates:
Added:
MI QB Thomas Gordon. He’d be a major fall-back guy or position-switch candidate, but if he got an offer, he’d probably like Michigan.
TX WR Greg Timmons. He’s from super-safety Craig Loston’s school.
TX DE Mike Brockers. Need to find more DE prospects. He’s from a strong recruiting area.
NY DE Andre Civil. He’s a four-star-ish prospect who was as-yet only interested in Syracuse and Rutgers.
VA CB Damien Thigpen. He is a good-to-great prospect who consistently lists Michigan in his top lists. Still need to find more good CB prospects.
Removed:
OH CB C.J. Barnett. He committed to Ohio State, and it’s hard to pull early commits from the Bucks, particularly when they commit this early.
CA S Patrick Hall. Committed to USC.
Analysis:
This early in the game, it’s still difficult to determine who is and isn’t a serious prospect with mutual Michigan interest. I still need to unearth more D-Linemen and corner prospects. Michigan is really getting into the Houston area, so they get a little more leeway, since I’ll assume Michigan may be able to pull prospects in a pipeline-style way.
On to Michigan’s #1 prospect in 2009, TX QB Russell Shepard. Texas was considered to be his early favorite. Earlier this week, the Horns accepted a commitment from pro-style QB Garrett Gilbert. This a) takes up a depth chart spot at his position, and b) may indicate where Texas is looking to go with their offensive style in the future (i.e. non-running QB). Texas also held its first junior day this weekend (the second of two is the 23rd, for day 2 of their spring practice). For those who are unaware, junior days at Texas might as well be known as “commit days.” In 2008, 9 of the Horns’ 20 prospects committed at their first junior day. Shepard attended the junior day on Sunday, but did not commit (though Texas did get 3 verbal pledges – and many expected that he might have pulled trigger). Shepard’s non-commitment means he isn’t quite sold on the Longhorns, which is good for Michigan and all Shepard’s other suitors.
Update: An anonymous commenter points out an article with the following (very promising) quote:
“I would say Texas is still up there, but Michigan is really at the top of my list, especially if they don’t get (2008 top recruit) Terrelle Pryor,” he said. “I feel like I could go there and play right away.
Posted under Recruiting
Tags: Football, Recruiting
Shepard also said in an interview Michigan is at the top of his list.
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/longhorns/index.html
“I would say Texas is still up there, but Michigan is really at the top of my list, especially if they don’t get (2008 top recruit) Terrelle Pryor,” he said.