This is Tate speaking to the media on signing. He really does sound like a pro dealing with the media. Sorry for the sub-par videography. For most of the time, I was holding the camera with one hand and the mic with another.

I have interviews with Campbell, Vincent Smith and Mike Jones that will be coming throughout the rest of the week.

 

 Tate Forcier Signing Day Interview: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Posted under Personnel

With the 2009 recruiting class out of the way, it’s time for recruitniks to shift attention to the 2010 class for the Michigan Wolverines. Obviously, I’ve been paying quite a bit of attention to the matter on this site, and that will continue.

By the way, for those who have asked me when I’m going to start looking at the 2011 class, since I’ve become so used to worrying about two recruiting classes at once, dont hold your breath. It will be at least into summer, and more likely into the fall, before I start looking in-depth at 2011 prospects.

Without further ado, I’d like to reintroduce you to the 2010 Recruiting Board. Since I’ve neglected 2010 information for the past week or so, due to 2009 Signing Day, there should be a couple updates this week so I can get caught up a bit. On to the new information:

FL CB Lorenza Wood, widely regarded to be the frontrunner to be Michigan’s next commit in the class of 2010, took a recent visit to Georgia Tech (info in header). He is also expected to make a visit to Michigan for a Junior Day sometime this winter/spring. Wood also picked up an offer from Notre Dame.

MI RB Nick Hill, also considered a prospect that Michigan is likely to land if they want him, traveled to (and enjoyed) Notre Dame’s recent junior day (info in header).

If you can wade through all the fluff on Brandin Hawthorne and Brendan Gibbons, there is a tidbit of info in this article, which states that FL Slot DeJoshua Johnson (from Pahokee) has been offered.

…and while we’re on the topic of South Florida 2009 tandems who have had a junior teammate offered, Deerfield Beach’s RB Cassius McDowell received word from Rich Rodriguez that he is welcome to follow Adrian Witty and Denard Robinson to Ann Arbor. He has been added to the board. Witty and Robinson each had a bit to say for themselves, as well:

”If I go up there and work the way I know I’m going to work, I’ll be the starting cornerback at Michigan next fall,” said Witty, who visited Kansas State, Michigan and FIU.

“I’m not the kind of guy who likes to sit on the bench… I want to be the face of Michigan,” Robinson said.

More power to them, and I’m sure Michigan fans wouldn’t complain if their predictions turned out to be true.

Other early 2010 offers: OH WR Jerald Robinson. Michigan is his first D-1 offer. The coach at Canton South has also attended RR’s coaching clinic in the past, so there is a good relationship started there. Of course, Robinson has since committed to Michigan.

IL DE Chance Carter was also at said Irish junior day, and

Irish Emerge As Carter’s Favorite

Notre Dame was always considered the likely favorite to land him, and this certainly reinforces that notion. The Chicago Tribune reports that Wisconsin is his #2 choice behind the Irish.

CA RB Malcolm Jones was named the Offensive Player of the Year in his district. Despite still not holding a USC offer (although his brother plays for the Trojans), He is considered the top pure running back in Southern California for the 2010 class. The latter article also says that Robert Woods, currently on the board as a safety, will play WR in college. He has been moved on the board.

FL WR Kadron Boone holds the Gators as his favorite (info in header). With Michigan already holding commitments from two wideouts in the class, this likely doesn’t affect their recruiting strategy very much.

Speaking of those WR commitments, FL WR Commit Ricardo Miller recently caused something of a flap when his Facebook or Myspace page mentioned something about taking visits to other schools. The Michigan online community collectively flipped out. I have a few comments on the matter (as did the WLA): 1) A kid picking a school other than Michigan (or in this case, taking visits to schools other than Michigan) is not a reflection of his class or character. 2) It’s early in the process, and fans have absolutely no right to harass recruits, and maybe are putting a little too much attention into them. 3) Please, please don’t inter-stalk recruits on social networking websites. It’s creepy, it’s borderline pathetic, and it’s likely a minor NCAA violation. Don’t do it.

Removals:
TX WR John Harris to Texas.
TX DT De’Aires Cotton to Texas.
TX LB Aaron Benson to Texas.
CA DE Chris Martin to Notre Dame. Upside: now I can finally stop stumbling upon news about the singer from Coldplay. Downside: Notre Dame lands another 5-star.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Post-Signing Day BTB Roundtable hosted by Zombie Nation.

1. Were you pleased with this year’s recruiting class? Where did your team excel? Where did they fall short?

I was pleased to the tune of about a B+. Michigan picked up 2 QBs, which were desperately needed, a few good athletes, and some big bodies up front. They could have done better recruiting a couple more DTs (obviously, they lost two on Signing Day), and some linebackers. Other than that, it was a very good class, especially coming off a 3-9 season.

2. Name one or two players you want to see get on the field ASAP, and where you think they will fit in.

Tate Forcier is the obvious choice for most Michigan fans, as the QB play for Michigan last year was a choice between a healthy Nick Sheridan or a hurt Steven Threet for most of the year. I’m also pumped to see Will Campbell (along with Forcier, one of Michigan’s 7 early enrollees) at defensive tackle, Justin Turner in the secondary, and any number of the speedy little bastards Rich picked up in ’09.

3. This one’s purely for the sake of argument. Much has been made about the SEC’s recruiting ‘dominance’ over the Big Ten, particularly this year. Either validate that claim, or try to prove it wrong. At least vent a little bit. You know you want to.

Michigan in particular, and the Big Ten as a whole, just need to win. The Wolverines recruited ridiculously well, all things considered. The Big Ten needs to shake its national perception (fair or not) that it’s a weak conference. Of course, I think the Big Ten, top to bottom, is unlikely to ever recruit as well as the SEC, because an overwhelming majority of the nation’s top players come from the Southeast.

4. Going into next year (already), where does your team need to focus its efforts? How about the Big Ten as a whole? What can the conference/your team do better to attract more highly-regarded recruits, or is it even an issue?

Defense should be Michigan’s #1 priority, as they got a couple top guys (Campbell and Turner), but missed out on players like Jelani Jenkins (who would have considered the Wolverines much longer than he did, save for the 3-9 season), Darius Winston, and the two defensive tackles, Pearlie Graves and DeQuinta Jones. With a more successful 2009 (fingers crossed), the Wolverines should have an outstanding 2010 class, especially with all the top prospects they’re in on early.

One word/number answers…

How many freshmen (in your class) redshirt in 2009?

13 (of 22)

Did you watch live TV coverage on signing day? If not, how many times did you hit ‘refresh’ on your browser on signing day?

I had it on in the background as I was moderating the world’s most stressful LiveBlog. I didn’t refresh at all, and most of the information I got was actually from readers pitching in during the blog.

Are you going to your spring game?

Yes.

For the record – it was impossible to answer those questions with enough detail to make them interesting, while only using one word.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

If Michigan wins this, they have a good chance of going .500 in conference and making the tourney. If MSU wins, they have the inside track for the regular season championship. A lot to play for. There will probably be a ton of people trying to contribute, so apologies in advanced if your comments don’t get through.

We’ll get started a bit before 7pm.

Posted under Basketball

Since I didn’t have the opportunity to record the game and score the shots, this edition of UFR will only include the differential.

Penn State Half 1

Half 2

Penn State Totals

Individual players:

Gibson 13min +3
Novak 27 min +15
Lee 29min +8
Harris 34min +20
Lucas-Perry 18min -5
Douglass 24min +22
Wright 1min 0
Merritt 13 min +9
Shepherd 13min +4
Puls 1min 0
Sims 26min +16
Grady 1min +2

LLP’s struggles continue. In a 20-point blowout, he was the only Michigan player in the negative. Douglass was a true G in this game.

The Michigan Athletic Department didn’t find the UConn game worthy of being immortalized in a boxscore, so I’ll give that game the full UFR treatment sometime in the next few days when I get a chance to re-watch it.

Posted under Analysis, Basketball

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

Michigan takes on the Spartans at 7PM tonight on ESPN. The game takes place in a sold-out Crisler Arena.

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.

As has been the case for much of the past decade, Michigan State is simply a better team than Michigan. They have many of the characteristics of classic Tom Izzo-coached teams: they rebound well, they get to the line decently well, and they do everything else just well enough to win the vast majority of their games. Since Michigan’s slide began against Wisconsin, the Wolverines have fallen off in nearly every category. However, they look to have turned it around (at least a bit) over the past two games. The keys for each team will be hitting their shots and not turning the ball over. Michigan has disadvantages in the first category and advantages in the second on each end of the floor. KenPom predicts a 71-67 Spartans win in a 65-possession game.

The Spartans are led by sophomore Kalin Lucas, who has been very efficient in both dishing it to his teammates and not turning the ball over. Another important piece for the Spartans, however, is Raymar Morgan. The junior power forward has missed the last two games, andisn’t expected to play tonight. If he’s missing, that could help decrease Michigan State’s size/rebounding advantage, if only slightly. Chris Alen is the team’s designated sniper, but he’s been struggling from 3 a bit of late. Will he be able to turn it back on against the hated rival?

For as much better a record as Michigan State owns, I’m surprised the Spartans’ tempo-free profile is this close to Michigan’s. MSU is one of the few teams that hasn’t had AT LEAST 3-letter differentials in rebounding on both ends of the floor, and they are certainly one of the closest teams to Michigan in terms of getting to the line. However, I still think the Spartans are too good for Michigan, and the lone game in this rivalry goes MSU’s way in 2009.

Posted under Analysis, Basketball

Reminder: Tim will be appearing on WTKA 1050AM today with John U. Bacon on the Big show at 4pm. You can tune in or listen online here. **CHANGE** The A-Rod “scandal” has forced WTKA to recshedule on me. I’ll let you know when I actually go on. -T

(Part 1 Part 2)

Taylor Lewan

Rodriguez said that Taylor has exactly the type of frame that he looks for in his tackles.  He has a big frame, but still has a ton of athleticism.  Taylor himself has said the Jake Long is his favorite player, and he could end up having a similar game. He’s a bit smaller, only 6’6″ and 270lbs, but with a year or two in a college conditioning program, he should be a monster.  Coach noted that he has only been playing OL for a year, so is somewhat a blank canvas and may have been underrated by the recruiting services.  I’m guessing he’ll redshirt, but I would be surprised if he didn’t contribute down the line.

Denard Robinson

Coach said that Robinson may be the fastest kid they recruited. He doesn’t have the fake 40 times of Teric Jones, but watching his game film, you can really get a sense of how fast he is out on the field.  Rodriguez also conceeded that while Denard may not be the tallest player out there, he has a knack to make plays when it appears there’s nothing there.  The consensus of Robinson is that this is his year to compete to start at QB. If he wins it, he could start for a long time, if not he’ll likely switch positions down the line.  He’s got a lot to work for this offeseason and fall.

Craig Roh

I was kind of under the imppression that Roh would end up taking a red shirt this year, but Rodriguez said that he was excited for Roh to make an “instant impact.”  That could mean pushing the older guys to work harder, but maybe playing time. He’s kind of slight right now coming in at 6’4″ 230lbs, but he’ll have summer conditioning and fall practice to put on some size.  Roh has a unique technique where he starts extemely low. Also, judging by the UA All-American game, he has a mean spin move that is very effective against good HS tackles. It will be interesting if Coach Tall will try to change his technique to a more orthodox style or just help Roh improve his technique.

Michael Schofield

Schofield is very similar in size to Taylor Lewan (I think we’ve figured out Rodriguez’s type), but maybe not quite the all around athlete that Lewan is. Coach seemed very proud to share that not only did Schofield not give up a sack all year, but also the entire unit went the entire season without a holding penalty.  Obviously Schofield has experience playing on a talented, well-coached offensive line.  Hopefully that will help as he gets used to the college game. I have to imagine he’ll red shirt as the OL is fairly deep at this point and he still needs some size.

Vincent Smith

Je’Ron Stokes

Rodriguez didn’t seem to be taken on the rollercoaster ride the blogosphere was subjected to regarding his commitment.  Coach made it pretty clear the he expects to Stokes to make a pretty quick impact on the football team.  He said Stokes will immediately compete at inside and outside receiver in addition to returning kicks.  Having that amount of flexibility should allow him to see quite a bit of playing time his freshman year.

Fitzgerald Toussaint

Early favorite for best name of the class along with Vlad Emilien.  Tim and I had a chance to see Fitz play live, and while he was largely held in check, he still busted some great runs when it looked like he would be hit for a loss. He has a huge stable of moves and flat out athleticism.  Rodriguez wants him at running back and returning kicks. Coach predicts the Fitz will have an immediate impact on the team.

J.T. Turner

Rodriguez mentioned that some sources considered Turner the best player in the state of Ohio. So that means, along with Campbell and Roh, University of Michigan got commitments from, arguably, the best players from Michigan, Arizona and Ohio.  Turner had a great performance at the UA All-American game, playing corner and some safety.  Coach said he expects to play Turner to play both Safety and CB, and said that unless something unforeseen happens, Turner will see the field as a freshman.  I always get nervous at freshmen in the defensive backfield, but Warren, Jackson and Woodson all had good freshmen years, so maybe my anxiety is misplaced.

Quinton Washington

This was probably the biggest suprise of this class. I was pretty sure he was going to stay at home in South Carolina, but Washington chose the maize and blue, which is good as Schofield and Lewan both appear to be tackles while Washington is an interior lineman. He’s listed at a sizeable 6’3″ 315lbs, and is reported to be athletic to boot.  Like the other two linemen in this class, I’m going to guess that he’ll get a redshirt. There’s a ton of depth this year and having that extra year at the end can really make a huge difference.

Adrian Witty

I’m not sure if this is Rodriguez being political or sincere (probably somewhere in between), but he called Adrian Witty the most “overlooked” recruit in this class. The more cynical fans see Witty as additional bait in order to get a commitment from Robinson, but Coach mentioned that Witty had a very productive senior year with quite a few interceptions.  I have to assume Witty will redshirt this year, and I’m not quite sure where he’ll end up when all is said and down. Hopefully, he’ll be able to contribute.

Posted under Football, Personnel

There’s a lot of stuff to get through the next few days, so we decided to have a plan.  Today will be mostly about recruiting with a round up post here and on MGoBlog (different and complementary posts).   We’ll also post the last the round of information of specific players from the signing day press conference (part 1; part 2).

Finally, Tim will be appearing on the Big Show with John U. Bacon on WTKA at 4pm (listen live online here).  He’ll be talking about blogging and recruiting. It should be interesting, or at least something different.

Tomorrow we switch gears to basketball and talking about Michigan State. If you don’t want to wait until tomorrow, Dylan at UMHoops.com is off and running, including a chat with KJ at SpartansWeblog.  We’ll have a limited UFR (just the plus/minus) from the Penn St. and UConn games as well as the standard preview of the opponent.  There will a be a live blog on MGoBlog (maybe cross posted here).

Wednesday we’ll have reaction to the basketball game and hopefully be ready to run some of the player interviews from the signing day press conference.  Standard caveat of all great plans of mice and men, etc., but that’s our tentative schedule. Should be an exciting week.

Posted under Blog News

WR/DB Jerald Robinson has told Rich Rodriguez that he intends to sign with Michigan a year from now. Robinson stands 6-2 190-lbs, and has been clocked at 4.55 in the 40-yard dash. He hails from Canton South High School in Canton, Ohio.

Player Notes
When Michigan offered Robinson last week, many Michigan fans were (understandably) perplexed. With commitments from two outside wideouts already in the class of 2010, why keep going after them, especially this early in the process? However,one of Robinson’s key traits is his versatility to play many positions. Once he gets to the college level, he could play wide receiver or safety, and considering he’s still just a high school junior, he could even add more weight and play linebacker. Certainly the Michigan staff had a plan in order when they offered him, and they aren’t just loading up at one position. He was an area all-star:

Robinson led South in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns this year and was second in receptions. The junior standout caught 34 passes for 756 yards and seven touchdowns. Five of his seven touchdown catches were 20 yards or longer, including an 86-yarder and a 56-yarder.

Robinson also recorded 56 tackles in the defensive backfield and led the team in interceptions with seven.

in addition to being named first team all-state.

Recruiting Notes
I first became aware of Robinson when Jim Stefani mentioned him on his spectacular underclassmen recruiting blog as a prospect of interest for Michigan. In the run-up to Signing Day 2009, he wasn’t mentioned much, as the focus was on completing this year’s class. However, after the ’09 class was inked, Rodriguez and Co. almost immediately sent Robinson an offer (his first D-1 scholarship). After coming home from an Ohio State visit with only his Michigan offer in hand, it didn’t take long for Jerald to jump on it, and he told just about anyone who would listen yesterday that he would be committing today. A commitment is expected to come to fruition, and he will be the 3rd commit in Michigan’s recruiting class of 2010.

Video

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Action since last rankings (pace yourself; there’s a lot):
1-28-08 Iowa gained commitment from Jake Reisen.
1-30-09 Indiana gains commitment from Griffen Dahlstrohm(!).
2-1-09 Michigan State gains commitment from Jairus Jones.
2-2-09 Ohio State gains commitment from Marcus Hall. Illinois loses commitments from Jamar Bass and Cornelius Carradine. Purdue gains commitment from Antavian Edison.
2-3-09 Ohio State loses commitment from Justin Green. Illinois gains commitment from Justin Green. Michigan gains commitment from Quinton Washington. Illinois gains commitment from Michael Buchanan.
2-4-09 Michigan loses commitments from Pearlie Graves and DeQuinta Jones. Michigan gains commitments from Denard Robinson, Adrian Witty, and Je’Ron Stokes. Penn State gains commitment from Justin Brown. Notre Dame gains commitment from Manti Te’o.  Illinois loses commitment from Kraig Appleton. Wisconsin gains commitment from Kraig Appleton. Minnesota gains commitment from Eric Carter. Minnesota gains commitment from Eric Jacques. Purdue gains commitment from Kevin Pamphile.
2-6-09 Notre Dame gains commitment from Roby Toma.
2-7-09 Illinois loses commitment from Darryl Lee.

These won’t quite be the final rankings, as a few schools (Michigan among them) may pick up a late recruit or two. I may also give another set of rankings when we know who has enrolled for the fall. First 2010 rankings should be coming next week, as long as there are no changes to the 2009 classes.

Bolded players are already enrolled at their school of choice.

New Rankings:

Posted under Football, Recruiting