Recruiting Boards, as always, are here:
2009 & 2010
and in the sidebar to the left.

Standard RichRod recruiting fluff from the Freep.

This is a little late, but Shavodrick Beaver has been moved from committed and completely removed from the board in the wake of his bizarre decommitment to Tulsa. His player page has been removed from the 2009 Commit HQ (also available to the left).

So what’s the upshot for the rest of the class from the Beaver commitment? Most likely a more intense focus on FL QB Denard Robinson, the only remaining quarterback on the board. The Sun-Sentinel had some kind things to say about his fit in the Michigan offense, and mentions his upcoming visit (more on that in a moment). The header of a Scout article by Allen Wallace is a little more specific:

Denard Robinson still plans to visit Michigan on Jan. 9, Kansas State on Jan. 16 and Central Florida on Jan. 23. “I like Michigan because the old coaches from West Virginia are there,” Robinson said. “Coach Rich Rodriguez is trying to install his system there and I think I’d be a good fit. They need a good dual-threat quarterback like me. I won’t be making a final decision until after my visits.”

…so it certainly sounds like Michigan is much more involved than they were a couple weeks ago, and are back to recruiting Robinson as a QB. Finally, there’s another Scout article, entitled “Is U-M near the top for Robinson?” This is the type of teaser to which the answer is almost always “yes.”

If Michigan doesn’t land Denard Robinson, there’s a good chance that guys like Tajh Boyd, Eugene Smith, and Raymond Cotton come back into play.

…and while we’re up in arms about who will fill the second QB slot, don’t forget about the quarterback still committed in this class. Tate Forcier was recently interviewed on WDFN (audio | transcript). What did he have to say about Beaver?

It didn’t really phase me, I wasn’t worried about him. I knew I was going to have to come in and compete regardless of whether it was against him or against Threet. Him leaving it didn’t phase me.

He’s also ready to go at Michigan, having already enrolled (as detailed here earlier this week), and he’s ready to learn and help Michigan win:

I’m actually heading out there in less than two weeks. Right away right when I get out there, coach Smith and coach Rodriguez both told me I’m going to be spending most of my time with them learning that playbook. And with coach Barwis getting me prepared for next season – that’s the main goal right now, to get ready and hope to lead Michigan to a good season next year.

And how is he going to help Michigan win?

I have everything you want in a quarterback. I’m not the tallest guy, but I know how to get the job done. I have a feel for the game. I feel the pressure. I have a great feel for everything. I have great arm strength. I have good enough speed. Overall it’s just the balance of me as a quarterback. I’m not over the top on anything, but that’s what the Michigan coaches are going to try to get me to do – be the best of the best… My goal is to be a little bit like Colt McCoy. It’s almost nearly the same size and speed. It’s possible I may have a stronger arm than him. That’s kind of a lot to say, but I think if I worked hard I could maybe follow in his footsteps and be the type of quarterback that he is.

And that should be just about everything in regards to 2009. Let’s stick with the quarterbacks theme, however, and move along to 2010.

Sometime early next week, I should (finally) have some video up of 2010 MI QB Devin Gardner‘s performance in theDivision III State Championship game (and of course, some film on his teammate, Michigan commit Cameron Gordon, but that doesn’t really fit with the QB theme, now does it?). Look forward to that somewhere within the next round of updates.

Virginia Tech’s inability to land Kevin Newsome this year may lead them to more heavily pursue another local product next year, in Phillip Sims. Despite his good speed, Sims insists that he wantas to be looked at as a pro-style QB. His current schools of interest (including UVa, BC, and Tennessee) seems to bear that out. Hell remain on the board until he says he’s no longer interested in the Wolverines or a spread offense.

Speaking of other QB prospects Michigan may be a little behind in recruiting, 2010 OH QB Spencer Ware will likely end up at a different position in college, but he’s an electifying athlete either way that Michigan would certainly love to have. The current list for Ware is Ohio State, some SEC schools (including Georgia, his favorite), then a bunch of slightly lesser-tiered schools (including the hometown Bearcats).

…and before I wrap up the QBs-only edition of the Recruiting Update, I may as well take care of a couple things not related to signal-callers:
Removed 2009 MD DE/LB Jason Ankrah. He has committed to Nebraska.
Removed 2009 PA LB Dan Mason, who will choose between Pitt, WVU, and Penn State.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Apologies for being slow to get a post up yesterday. I assume most of you didn’t notice, because you were enjoying your Christmas (or 4th day of Hanukkah, as it were) with your family instead of on the internet. I’ll be going out of town for the next couple days, but posting shouldn’t slow down too much.

Regardless, here’s what’s coming up in the immediate future on Varsity Blue:

• Recruiting post later today, concentrating on the quarterback situation.
• Other recruiting news has been coming in fast and furirous, so there should be a couple more recruiting-heavy posts in the upcoming days.
• After that stuff is out of the way a bit, I’ll start getting into the off-season posts, and looking forward to next year.
• On the basketball side of things, I’ll hopefully be posting the Oakland UFR-like substance rough draft-ish thing up soon, and will keep updating on basketball.

As always, if any breaking news happens, we’ll have it up ASAP.

Posted under Blog News

Unfortunately, Notre Dame ruined my early gift, but I’m sure there will plenty today to make up for it.  Drive safely and have a merry Christmas.

Posted under Blog News

For those of you who don’t live in Southeast Michigan, you probably haven’t seen the ads for the Motor City Bowl. It’s worth checking out, mainly because I think I could have made a better commercial in about an hour

I’m making fun, but really I’m jealous. I would have been thrilled with the Motor City Bowl. Also, MSU, WMU and CMU all have 9+ wins. Weird…

 

 Motor City Bowl Ad: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Posted under Video

Allow me to quote myself for a second here:

Snyder also reports that Rodriguez expects 8 early-enrolling recruits from the class of ‘09. Those would be Tate Forcier, Shavodrick Beaver, Vincent Smith, William Campbell if he re-commits, Anthony LaLota, Brandin Hawthorne, Mike Jones, and Vlad Emilien.

OK, not that I’ve been compulsively checking the student directory to see if these guys have enrolled (I have), but the first early returns are in. Umich e-mail addresses have been created thus far for Robert Forcier (Tate), Vincent Smith, Brandin Hawthorne, Vlad Emilien, and… William Campbell? Of course, “William Campbell is not exactly the least common name in the world, but the address was created yesterday, along with all the other ones so far. Even the Michigan Daily found its creation notable.

Of the other three early-enrollment candidates, Shavodrick Beaver will obviously no longer be enrolling at Michigan ever, much less early, and there have not yet been e-mail addresses created for LaLota or Jones.

Early Christmas presents so far? It sounds like it.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

It’s been rumored for quite some time, but the Athletic Department confirmed today that freshman center Ben Cronin will redshirt and miss the remainder of the 2008-09 season:

University of Michigan men’s basketball coach John Beilein announced today (Tuesday, Dec. 23) freshman center Ben Cronin (Syracuse, N.Y./Henninger HS) will miss the remainder of the 2008-09 season following surgery on his left hip.

The surgery, performed by Dr. Jon K. Sekiya, is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 14, at the University of Michigan Medical Center. Cronin will be out five to six months due to recovery and rehabilitation.

“After discussing Ben’s condition with his family and the U-M medical staff we have decided surgery is the appropriate action,” said Beilein. “Even though it is a setback, Ben has been fantastic with his attitude and his determination to get healthy as soon as he is able to rejoin the team.”

“It’s a disappointment I will not be able to practice and help this team get better, but I know this surgery is the best option for me right now,” said Cronin. “I am excited to get healthy and put this hip issue behind me. I am going to take it slow, but I know I will be working as hard as I can over the next five to six months to be ready for next season.”

Cronin is one of four newcomers to the Wolverines this season after he averaged 12.6 points, 11.7 rebounds and 7.2 blocks per game at Henninger High School. After missing most of the preseason with the hip injury, Cronin has seen limited action this season playing in just two games.

Cronin will play next year as a redshirt freshman, with one year (while healthy) to learn under the tutelage of DeShawn Sims and Zach Gibson.

Posted under Basketball, Personnel

As always, the recruiting boards can be found directly to the left or right here:
2009 & 2010.

The first-draft Scout 100 for 2010 has been released. Obviously it will change a ton even before signing day, but certainly by the time any of these guys sign anywhere. For now, it’s just a helpful way to see who some prospects might be (of course, remember some of these guys will completely disappear, and some will merely be replaced by other guys).

Recent indications have been that 2009 OL Quinton Washington might be leaning to Michigan. Might he now be looking towards South Carolina as his favorite? I’m not familiar with the source, so take that FWIW. At least he’s not claiming a favorite.

From the same article:
MN WR Bryce McNeal‘s decision will be announced at the Army game. Obviously, I wouldn’t expect said decision to be for Michigan. SC DE Sam Montgomery‘s official visit will be some time in January, and FL CB Jayron Hosley‘s will be January 17th.

Not that I ever though Michigan had a chance with him, but maybe things are less dire than it seems with 2009 AL CB Dre Kirkpatrick? Michigan has been out to visit him, and it sounds like there might be a chance he’ll return the favor to Ann Arbor.

2009 FL K Commit Brendan Gibbons‘s high school coach is retiring, and there is one item of note:

He coached 29 All-State players and three All-Americans (Davey Ford, 1996; Abram Elam, 1999; and Brendan Gibbons, 2008), and 11 of his former players are playing college football.

Cardinal Newman is not much of a huge pipeline, for what it’s worth. Hooray Brendan, though.

Scouting report on 2010 TX QB Aaron Johnson, including season stats:

Quarterback Aaron Johnson is only 82 yards away from topping the 1,000-yard mark [rushing] for the season… The Lobos can throw; Johnson has passed for 1,505 yards and 15 TDs, but has been intercepted seven times.

So, he’s productive, but perhaps not as accurate as one might hope? Take from it what you will. Also, in today’s “non-relevant information” department, take a look at the weightlifting facility of Lake Travis, the team Longview will be playing this weekend. Yes, that is a high school. Also, here are some highlights of last week’s Longview game.

Want some fluff on 2010 FL WR/S Eric Dungy? It’s your lucky day! Standard “he doesn’t have an ego despite having an NFL coach for a dad” stuff.

Removed 2010 OH LB/DE Jamel Turner. He has committed to Ohio State, giving them a good start for a second consecutive year.

Another recruiting post will be coming within a couple days, because there’s a lot more information to share.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

<cliche>The shooting inside was as cold as the weather outside</cliche>

This wasn’t the best game Michigan has played.  Neither team was really able to get into any sort of rythm, and the flow wasn’t helped out at all by the referees.  I’m not sure if it was how the FGCU Eagles were playing defense or just a bit of laziness, but Michigan rarely got any sort of penetration or post presence.  While Beilein does believe in the power of the 3pt shot, I’m sure he wasn’t happy with almost 66% (42/64) field goal attempts being from long range, especially when the team wasn’t shooting particularly well.

For a while it didn’t really matter since since FGCU showed why they are in the bottom 10 of RPI.  They didn’t get to double digits until about 3:10 left in the first half, while Michigan had put up a (from just watching the game) very inefficient 27 points.  FGCU went on a run midway through the second half to cut it down to eight.  Eight seems to be the magic number, because then Manny keyed a little run to put the game out of reach.  He didn’t do it with his scoring but rather he finally got some penetration which first led to a Sims dunk.  Manny then drove to the right and kicked out on consecutive plays to Novack then Grady for corner threes.  From there, the game was basically over.

Quick Notes:

• Reed Baker had 16 points and played fairly well.  There were a few people in the crowd really cheering on Reed Baker, which was fine, but when he’s on the line hitting the free throw of a three point play to get them within 8pt, the funnyness is gone, and you should root for your team.
• DeShawn Sims was definitely the MVP for Michigan this game.  He went a very efficient 20/20 with 5 offensive rebounds.  He generally took good shots and was a force inside on the glass and with the ball.
• Manny Harris had another quiet game and sat on the bench quite a bit after picking up a couple offensive fouls.  In the Oakland game, he was still able to get penetration and make plays happen.  He was much more passive tonight.
• Laval Lucas-Perry played fairly well, but doesn’t look as comfortable in the offense as the other guards out there.  This will come with time.  He was still able to make some shots (2/3 from deep) and get to the rim and free throw line.  He does look like the third guy to get into double figures most nights.
• Zack Novack, Jevohn Sheppard Stu Douglass, Zack Gibson were never really able to get going.  Gibson missed his outside shots and did his Courtney Simms impression whenever he got inside.  Novack and Douglass never really got their shots going and Sheppard was never in the game enough get his rhythm.
• There was dumb fan behind me saying we needed to post up when there was Grady, LLP, Novack, Lee and Gibson in the game.  I respectfully disagree,

Posted under Basketball

Or: Tim’s foray into tempo-free statistics.

Michigan takes on Florida Gulf Coast University tonight at 7PM in Crisler Arena. The game is not on television, but can be seen on BigTenNetwork.com

Tempo-Free and efficiency comparison  (if you need an explanation of what any of these things mean, head to KenPom’s website):

Differences of more than 100 places in the rankings garner two-letter advantages, differences of more than 200 get a third I’m still getting used to a 100 ranking being anything other than awful, so keep in mind there are some 344 teams in Division I – and we’re playing #344 in a week and a half!

So, uh, yeah. Florida Gulf Coast isn’t exactly what you’d call a “great team.” The only areas in which they have an advantage over Michigan are those you’d expect: Rebounding and Michigan getting to the line. With a perimeter-oriented zone-defense team, Michigan can give that up.Pomeroy predicts an 82-54 win for Michigan.

Michigan’s effective field goal percentage is strongly correlated with their offensive efficiency, and FGCU’s ability to restrict opponents’ eFG% is correlated with their defensive efficiency. Considering Michigan was one ranking away from having an advantage of 100 places over FGCU, I’d say it looks to be a good offensive day for Michigan. Without needing to get to the rack to score, I doubt Michigan will spend much of the day driving the lane. Florida Gulf Coast’s offense doesn’t appear to rely on hanging onto the ball, and that’s a good thing for them: they’re terrible at doing so. Look for Michigan to exploit FGCU turnovers, hopefully leading to a lot of fast breaks.

Finally, and most importantly, Reed Baker returns to Crisler Arena. The Rainmaker is second on the team in minutes played, shooting 41.2 eFG% from the floor, and has nailed 84.8% of his free throws. Guard Delvin Franklin and Wing Derrick O’Neil are the stars for FGCU, and Rainmaker plays a key supporting role.

Posted under Analysis, Basketball

Since I plan (hope) to do something a little more in-depth about this game as an experiment, I’ll just give a few brief thoughts on the game.

LLP

He can definitely shoot the open three. He was 4-6 from behind the arc, though the first few looks he got were wide, wide open. He only played 16 minutes (6th on the team), which was probably a good way to ease him in. What I thought was more interesting was the fact that he never played at the 1 spot. Going in, most observers thought he’d be taking away point guard minutes from former walkon David Merritt, while leaving Kelvin Grady’s playing time intact. Instead, LLP took away minutes from former walkon CJ Lee, and maybe Jevohn Shepherd.

Personnel

“How did he take away time from Jevohn Shepherd?” you may ask. Perhaps it actually had nothing to do with the availability of Laval, but this game, the coaches went a with a very small lineup very often. Grady or Merrit played the 1 spot, and two other shooting guards were on the court at the same time. Somehow, having Stu Douglass and Zack Novak on the court at the same time failed to rip a hole in the space-time continuum. Regardless, this was an intereting lineup choice, and it will be interesting to see whether it is something the coaches see as being viable in the long-term, or if it was a one-time (or few-time) deal against a particular weakness they saw in Oakland. Also, Anthony Wright didnt’ play a second in this game. That can only be construed as a good thing.

Rebounding

Michigan actually managed to out-rebound the Golden Grizzlies, which is an encouragin sign. Not only did Oakland have a fairly large lineup (especially when they played 7-footer Ilja Milutinovic), but Michigan went with a small lineup for much of the game. When you look at the rebounds that went through players’ hands (hopefully bad luck, rather than a pattern), there is even more room for improvement here, which could certainly aid the fortune of Michigan down the line, as Beilein’s teams have never rebounded all that well, and it would be a boon if they could.

Manny & DeShawn

Harris had a quiet first half, not scoring at all. He came back in the second half to notch 15 points, but it wasn’t his scoring that made Manny important in this game. He notched 13 assists without a single turnover. He had 6 rebounds, making him 4 away from a triple-double. If this is considered an “off night” for Manny, imagine what he can be when he is truly on. I think in the future, the role players are going to continue stepping up, so Manny doesn’t have to take control in every game. That said, he will still be capable of doing so when his team needs him. DeShawn Sims, on the other hand, produced consistently throughout the game, and scored a game-high 20 points. He still had a slightly slow first half, and again the role players proved they can help the team survive slumps by the stars.

Etc.

Was it just me, or did the rims in the Palace seem reallllly soft? There were a few times where shots just died on the rim, and then fell in. There were some really ridiculous bounces on free throws that ended up dropping in as well.

The refs were crappy (as they so often are). Of course, it may be my bias speaking, but I thought a slight majority of the poor calls went against Michigan. When I watch the game more closely, I reserve the right to change my mind.

Posted under Basketball