Not much in the way of football recruiting info today, so I’ll drop some lacrosse knowledge. Yes, I’m doing a recruiting post for a sport that is not only non-revenue, but not even varsity. Partially inspired by commenters who have filled me in on a few guys to look out for (special thanks to Roger and Old Blue). Quick note: since Michigan’s program is club, it’s difficult to tell which players are actually going to be enrolling in Ann Arbor (the last couple years’ commitment lists seem to have a bunch of guys who never ended up on the team), since there are no letters of intent. The full list (from LaxPower):

Conor McGee, G, Baltimore MD
1st team all-Baltimore selection by the Baltimore Messenger. McGee is the only player on the list that is not playing varsity in college, except for one player moving along to a boarding school (where he’ll undoubtedly rock some serious pastels) and one junior. Gilman is a serious lacrosse school (unlike those total scrubs from Brother Rice), finishing the year ranked #1 in the country. McGee received interest from smaller D-1 schools, but opted for the big-university experience at Michigan. According to the LaxPower database, he’s the nation’s top goalie that will head to a club program.

There is, oddly enough, a ton of video of McGee available, most likely stemming from the fact that his high school program is teh rulz:

There are also non-embeddable Gilman highlights out there if you’re interested.

Cy Abdelnour, G, Ann Arbor MI
Since Conor McGee was the top goalie in the nation to go club, it may be expected that the Wolverines would let several other goalies slide through their grasp before picking up another in the class. That’s not the case, however, as Pioneer’s Cy Abdelnour is the second-best goalie in the class of 2009 to commit to a club school, and he’s also going to Michigan (the first goalie headed to a non-Michigan club team is the #1156 overall recruit, headed to Florida State). He had also been recruited by D-3 Adrian. Cy is a Peruvian adoptee whose adopted father was a linebacker at Florida, and though he’s a little guy (5-6, 150), he led Pioneer to unprecedented heights in the state tournament. He was named first-team all-state in 2008, alongside Quinnipiac signee TJ Yost..

JD Johnson, D, Malibu CA
JD Johnson hails from Los Angeles, where he played at Loyola Academy. He’s a long-stick midfielder/defenseman who was first-team all-league. In addition to his defensive prowess, he was the faceoff man for the Cubs. I couldn’t find measurements on Johnson, but from the video, it appears that he’s much bigger than most of his opponents.

Willie Steenland, M, Minneapolis MN
Steenland was the leader of his Blake School team in 2009, after the departure of 2008’s star player, Dartmouth’s Kip Dooley (who was the Big Green’s leader among freshmen in all statistical categories – please click that link, if only to see Dooley’s outfit). He led his Blake Bears to a fourth-place finish in the state. Steenland was not a consistent scoring threat for his team, but managed to score more than a goal per game over the season while excelling on defense.

Andrew Gualtieri, M, Amagansett NY
Andrew Gualtieri is a midfielder/faceoff specialist from Long Island. For his East Hampton/Bridgehampton team in 2009, he scored 10 (or 12?) goals on the year, and had 4 (maybe 5?) assists. His lack of scoring output leads me to believe that Michigan is looking at him primarily as a faceoff specialist, though some articles on him implied that he ran the offense for the Bonackers. East Hampton/Bridgehampton also sent two players two varsity programs in the class of 2009, with Jared Bowe heading to Delaware and Mark Simmons on his way to Wesleyan.

Harrison Silver, M, Cross River NY
Harrison Silver is a midfielder/faceoff specialist from John Jay High School in Cross River New York, a traditionally strong lacrosse program (1 D-I and 6 D-II players in the class of ’09, in addition to Silver, and 6 D-I and 6 D-III players in the previous class). He earned playing time as a sophomore and a junior, but as a senior, Silver was named a captain for the Indians. He’s a little guy, at 5-9 and 160 pounds, yet still managed to be named all-section (and was a halfback on the Indians’ football squad).

Joseph Hrusovsky, M, Lake Forest IL
The last name likely sounds familiar to Michigan lacrosse fans, as Joseph’s older brother, Anthony, will be entering his senior season with the Wolverines in the fall (his 5th academic year). Joseph was all-state his junior season, as well as his senior year. He’s a high-scoring midfielder (not unlike older bro).

Lee Boshes, LSM, Deerfield IL
Lee Boshes is a longtick middie/defenseman who is one of the stronger defensive players in the Michigan class.

Naturally, Boshes is one of the team’s captains this season.

“He plays long stick middle,” said Deerfield coach Derrick Tiveron. “And defense. He has done a fantastic job helping us to build our defensive unit.”

Among Michigan’s top recruits, he and JD Johnson are the only players who appear to be defensive specialists. Since Michigan’s program is built around a strong defense, adding top defensive players is certainly a priority.

…and I guess the top 8 recruits is a good enough place to stop for now. If you’d like to share info on any of the guys mentioned (or any of those that I didn’t cover in further detail), feel free to do so in the comments.

Posted under Other Sports, Recruiting

The Recruiting Board can be found here.

The Wolverines have offered MN OL Seantrel Henderson the chance to play basketball during the offseason, one of several schools offering him the chance to do so in order to lure him to their teams. While we’re discussing Henderson, take a look at this hilariously oblivious article on his recruitment. Money quote: “USC may be the dark horse.”

I won’t add him to the board quite yet, but keep an eye on FL OL Ed Christian. He is a Florida State commit, but of the super-soft variety. He’ll take visits during the season, and likes the South Carolina Schools along with Michigan and Tennessee.

Removed SC OL Eric Mack, who hadn’t seemed interested in Michigan for a while. He’s now committed to South Carolina.

Removed FL OL Chaz Green (seen at left), who has what amounts to a final 4 of Florida, USC, Georgia, and Ohio State. He had planned to make a summer commitment, but wants a chance to visit the Trojans and Buckeyes, which may delay his decision. Doesn’t sound like any other schools have a serious shot to get back into the mix for him.

NC DT/DE Gabe King has narrowed his list to an approximate top group, which does not include Michigan. I’ll leave him on the board a little longer until it’s a firm final list of schools.

Removed NC DE Prince Shembo. He’s down to a top 4 (info in header), and hasn’t been a major prospect of interest with Michigan so far this year. It think it’s fairly obvious that the Wolverines aren’t in that final list.

Removed LA DE Jordan Allen. He committed to LSU.

Removed SC DE Corey Miller, who committed to Florida State.

Removed OH DE Darryl Baldwin, now an Ohio State Buckeye.

Michigan is in the top 6 for CT LB Khairi Fortt. He’s soon to visit Georgia, and if they’re up to snuff, the Bulldogs will make the list. Otherwise, he’ll probably be down to a top 5. That leaves Michigan as one of the few schools he likes that, if I’m remembering correctly, he has not visited. He plans a summer Michigan visit, and only plans to take 3 official visits, likely to schools on his list that he hasn’t yet seen. Fortt plans to enroll early at his school of choice in January.

OH LB Jewone Snow is still waiting on a Michigan offer. Unless Michigan plans to fill out the defensive class with really highly-rated guys, it seems like he should be a shoo-in. He’s a middle linebacker (a major position of need), he’s a Michigan legacy (son of Garland Rivers), and has a younger teammate who may be the top prospect in Ohio (2011 DE Steve Miller). If the Wolverines were to eventually offer, it seems like they’d have a pretty good shot at Snow.

PA S Brandon Ifill is planning to visit Michigan by the end of the month (info in header). Despite not having visited Ann Arbor yet, Ifill lists Michigan in his top two, along with Maryland. Would a very good visit convince him that he’s ready to commit?

Sam Webb Detroit News fluff on FL CB Tony Grimes. An article entitled “Michigan will be ‘tough to beat'” probably bodes lots of good quotes for Wolverine fans:

“For me to already have a good connection with Coach Hopson is a big plus.”

“Man, there ain’t nothing like the Big House — let me say that right now,” Grimes said. “It was even bigger than I thought it would be.”

“Michigan is going to be tough to beat,” he said. “It’s a great program. The networking is on point at Michigan and the alumni system is amazing. The coaching staff is building something great over there.”

To date, Grimes has scheduled only one of his five official visits. He plans to return to Ann Arbor for the Sept. 12 matchup against Notre Dame. The remainder of his itinerary is a work in progress.

From the way he effusively speaks about Michigan, that Notre Dame official visit may be a pretty good time to look for a potential commitment from Grimes. Scouting report:

“He is considered by some to be (Florida’s) most physical corner,” said Scout.com Florida analyst Geoff Vogt. “He will beat receivers up mentally and physically, and he does not get beat one-on-one. He has the ability to mirror receivers all over the field and he will come up in the run game and make his presence felt. He doesn’t have lights-out speed, but he is physical, and his competitiveness just can’t be taught.”

He also has decent height for a corner (which I guess is predictable for a guy whose physicality is his most praised attribute). The lack of elite speed may be a question mark, but Michigan already has super-speedy guys like Boubacar Cissoko and Courtney Avery, so a couple taller corners might be in order anyway. lance at UMGoBlog also rounds up a bunch of the available information on Grimes, including video:

Added FL CB Eric Mitchell. This Scout header is particularly revealing: he visited Michigan over the summer, and the Wolverines stand in his top 5 along with Ole Miss, South Florida, Vandy, and Louisville. To the best of my knowledge, he does not yet hold a Michigan offer.

Removed FL CB Travis Bell, who has committed to West Virginia.

Removed FL CB Spencer Boyd, who (as predicted) committed to Notre Dame over the weekend.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Compare to the previous edition of the recruiting class rankings. Action since last rankings:

7-13-09 Iowa gains commitment from Andrew Donnal. Wisconsin gains commitment from Joseph Brennan. Purdue gains commitment from Josh Davis.
7-14-09 Penn State gains commitment from Alex Kenney. Indiana gains commitment from Harrison Scott.
7-15-09 Michigan gains commitment from Austin White.
7-17-09 Notre Dame gains commitment from Spencer Boyd.
7-18-09 Indiana gains commitment from Cody Evers.

Penn State passes Michigan on the basis of a much better ranking per commit, and not that many fewer commits overall. In addition, Scout released their 2-stars, so nearly every Big Ten commit now has a ranking of some sort on that service.

The inevitable Kenney commitment has finally come to fruition.

Austin White continues Michigan’s in-state dominance.

Spencer Boyd commits to Notre Dame.

No change for the Buckeyes.

Nothing new for MSU.

Nothing new for Minnesota.

Illinois has nothing new.

Iowa gets an important lineman in Andrew Donnal.

Joseph Brennan commits to the Badgers.

Indiana picks up a couple new commits.

Nothing changes for the Wildcats.

Sean Robinson picks Purdue.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

MI RB Austin White has committed to the Michigan Wolverines, according to the premium recruiting sites. White, who hails from Livonia Stevenson, is one of the top prospects from the Great Lakes State. White weighs in at 6-0, 186lbs, and has been timed at 4.44 in the 40-yard dash.

Recruiting Notes
The commitment of White completes the in-state switcheroo between Michigan State and the Wolverines, which saw Nick Hill commit to the Spartans. Coming into the recruiting season, Hill had been considered a strong Michigan lean, while White has serious family ties in East Lansing and was expected to end up there. However, as the recruitments got underway, White became more and more interested in the Wolverines. Throughout the spring, he started leaning towards Michigan, and enjoyed his visit for Michigan’s summer camp. Last week, he announced a press conference for today, at which he made his college choice. He selected Michigan, and becomes the Wolverines’ 16th commit in the class.

Player Notes
Scout is a bit higher on Austin than Rivals, ranking him as a 4-star prospect and the #17 RB in the class (Rivals has him at 3 stars and #32). He has good vision, quick feet, and surprising abilty to catch the ball out of the backfield for a high school prospect. He’s an upright runner who needs to get lower to avoid injury, though adding bulk in the weight room will help in that regard as well. White may not be coming in strictly as a running back, however. This summer, he played in the defensive backfield in 7-on-7 competitions, where he reportedly impressed. If he doesn’t foresee immediate playing time on offense, he may opt to try his hand on the other side of the ball.

Video

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Somewhat-explanatory fluff on SC QB Commit Cornelius Jones. Sounds like he was running with the wrong crew within the past couple years, but has turned himself around:

“I realized I wasn’t going to do anything with my life if I was to keep going on the road I was going,” he said. “I got in touch with one of my positive friends, and he took me to coach Brown. He gave me a chance, and I’ve been running with it every since.”

“He came into my office one day and said he was told he couldn’t play football at Spartanburg anymore,” Brown said. “He wanted to know if that policy still stood after I took the job. He didn’t have any prior discipline reports and had a 3.7 GPA, so I knew that this was a kid that had been doing what he was supposed to do.”

With the scant amount of football he’s played, there’s a ton of upside with Cornelius, and Michigan fans should be excited to have him in the same class as Devin Gardner. Better still, it seems as though any potential character issues are firmly in his past, and Michigan will get an upstanding citizen as well. Also, there’s now a highlight video of Cornelius available. Alas, Youtube version has already been taken down, so click through and enjoy.

Removed OH QB Derek Roback. He’s down to a final 3 (info in header), and since Michigan never showed any interest in him, it’s pretty clear they aren’t among th finalists.

MI RB Austin White has set an announcement date (info in header). It’s coming up soon, and considering that Michigan had been deemed the leader for Austin within the past few days, it’s highly likely he’ll be pledging to the Wolverines. Keep an eye on Austin in the near future.

Michigan doesn’t seem to be heavily involved with Denard Robinson and Adrian Witty‘s teammate, RB Cassius McDowell. However, if their recruiting does shake out quite the way they’ve planned, he’s definitely a strong possibility for Michigan. In the past, he has spoken of being interested in the Wolverines. Video from McDowell’s junior season:

Cassius McDowell from SoFLAfootball.com on Vimeo.

Removed IN RB Roderick Smith. He committed to Ohio State last week, which I neglected to mention in the last recruiting update.

OH WR Tyrone Williams is likely to commit to Ohio State sometime soon (info in header).

Removed FL WR/DB Kadron Boone. He has a top 9 that he’s looking to trim into a final 5 sometime soon. Michigan is not on said list.

Removed IL TE CJ Fiedorowicz, who committed to Illinois. He hadn’t been prominently listing Michigan.

Fluff on SC OL Eric Mack, with no Michigan mention. It appears as though he wants to play his college ball in the South, looking at the teams he does talk about. He will not commit to any school until after his senior season.

Removed OH OL Travis Jackson, who committed to Michigan State.

Removed NJ OL Dante Weaver, who committed to Temple.

I left him on the recruiting board because I figured he may take visits, and that appears to indeed be the case for Cal commit TX DT Jay Guy (info in header). Michigan is among his offers, but it’s unclear whether that interest is reciprocated on his end. If so, an official visit may be in order.

Michigan is in the top 6 for PA DT Sharrif Floyd. If the Wolverines can get him on campus, he could be the answer to defensive line recruiting woes over the past two classes. As an added bonus, Penn State (regarded to be his favorite) already has two defensive tackles committed, making Michigan a much more attractive option.

Ohio DE Darryl Baldwin plans to make a college commitment by the end of the week. Though Michigan was strong for him early in the recruiting process, I think most analysts are expecting him to end up elsewhere, probably Ohio State.

Fluff on CT LB Khairi Fortt. He has a Michigan visit in his plans for the summer, and he’s hoping to narrow his list of scholarship offers to about 10 by the end of the month. He won’t announce a final decision until during his senior season, however.

Surprise, surprise. FL LB Christian Jones favors Florida State. He has a list of top schools (which doesn’t include Michigan) and plans to make a tour of unofficial visits to several colleges this summer. If that trip happens without a stop in Ann Arbor, or any other indication that the Wolverines are in the running, I’ll remove him from the board.

Removed GA LB Tyrone Cornileus, who has a final four of Gerogia Tech, Miami of Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Removed OH LB Cameron Ontko, who committed to Wisconsin. His brief stay on the board comes to an abrupt end.

CA S Sean Parker will visit Michigan for an official this fall, though he’s not sure exactly when that will be.

FL CB Keion Payne counts Michigan among his offers, but it doesn’t appear that Michigan is one of the schools that has a good chance to land him. It appears as though Miami of Florida and Ohio State (if they offer) are his leaders.

2011 FL RB Demetrius Hart “has favorites” (info in header). We’ll use the mighty VB cryptography kit to decipher who that might be: 1) This article is posted on TheWolverine, therefore Michigan must be among the favorites 2) The article is written by a TheWolverine staff writer, confirming the conclusion of part 1, and implying that Michigan likely leads. Hart has said in the past that he’d probably commit to Michigan as soon as he can get an offer in writing (September 1st, for the record), so this information is not surprising.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Compare to the previous edition of the recruiting class rankings. Action since last rankings:

7-2-09 Minnesota gains commitment from Donnell Kirkwood.
7-6-09 Notre Dame gains commitment from Justin Utupo. Purdue gains commitment from Sean Robinson.
7-7-09 Notre Dame gains commitment from Tommy Rees. Iowa gains commitment from Brandon Scherff.
7-9-09 Illinois gains commitment from CJ Fiedorowicz. Northwestern gains commitment from Chi Chi Ariguzo.
7-10-09 Penn State gains commitment from Robert Bolden. Michigan State gains commitment from Travis Jackson. Michigan State gains commitment from Michael Dennis. Wisconsin gains commitment from Cameron Ontko.
7-11-09 Notre Dame gains commitment from Kendall Moore.

Penn State passes Michigan on the basis of a much better ranking per commit, and not that many fewer commits overall. In addition, Scout released their 2-stars, so nearly every Big Ten commit now has a ranking of some sort on that service.

The Nittany Lions grab Robert Bolden, and pass Michigan (even though he’s overrated).

No change for Michigan. There should be at least one commit coming this week, though.

The Irish grab three commits, and are nipping right at Michigan’s heels for second best class.

No change for the Buckeyes.

The Spartans dip into Ohio for offensive linemen Travis Jackson and Michael Dennis.

Nothing new for Minnesota.

Top TE CJ Fiedorowicz picks the Illini.

No change for Iowa.

Wisconsin gets Cameron Ontko, who ESPN thinks is by far the worst Big Ten commit (among ranked players) so far.

Nothing new for Indiana.

Spectacular name Chi Chi Ariguzo picks purple. One more legit commit would probably see Northwestern put some serious heat on Indiana, if not pass them.

Nothing new for the Boilermakers.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

2010 Recruiting Board. Big update today. Hopefully everything from the last week can get taken care of in the next update.

Fluff on LA QB Terrance Broadway. There’s no Michigan mention, and it appears as though Michigan probably isn’t pursuing him. Broadway is on the fringe of being removed from the board.

Removed OH QB Dwight Macon. He named a top 3 of Ball State, Toledo, and Bowling Green. It appears at this time that he’s probably a MAC-level talent, and of no further interest to Michigan fans.

Michigan is likely to make the next cut for FL RB Brandon Gainer (info in header).

Removed GA RB Kendrun Malcome, who committed to Georgia. Malcome wasn’t a great prospect of interest to Michigan fans, but the Wolverines may feel a ripple effect. Georgia has been the leader for FL RB Eduardo Clements for some time, with Michigan not far behind. Malcome joins 2009 commit Washaun Ealey in the Dawgs’ backfield, and the crowded situation may help the Wolverines look a little more attractive in comparison.

Removed OH RB Braylon Heard, who’s headed to West Virginia.

Removed PA RB Dom Timbers. He committed to Syracuse, and was likely not a Michigan-caliber recruit.

Removed FL WR James Louis. He’s narrowed down to a final 4 that does not include Michigan.

Removed PA WR Andrew Carswell. He committed to Pittsburgh.

Removed FL OL Chaz Green. He’s only focusing on 5 main schools. With a planned decision by the end of summer, that doesn’t give Michigan enough time to try to get back into this one.

OH DT Terry Talbott plans to take all 5 official visits before committing to any school. By the way, he and his (non-twin) brother Terrance happen to attend the same school as QB Braxton Miller, probably Ohio’s top prospect in the class of 2011.

Removed FL DT Richard Ash, who has now been offered by USC. Since USC and Florida were his dream offers, and he has them both now, look for one of those two schools to land the Pahokee product. His early commitment (August 28th) doesn’t give Michigan much time to get back into this one, either.

Sam Webb Detroit News fluff on MI DE CJ Olaniyan. Of note: He’s close to setting a top-5 list, and Michigan is one of the 5-6 schools he’s already visited. the Wolverines look to have a chance for his top list. However, with the way defensive end recruiting has gone so far this season, I’d be surprised if he ultimately ended up in blue.

Removed GA DE Henry Anderson, who picked Stanford.

Added OH LB Cameron Ontko, who is “hearing from Michigan” (info in header).

Removed FL LB Zachery Allen. The Pahokee product (probably Michigan’s last best hope for a Blue Devil in the class of 2010) picked Wake Forest.

The somewhat-odd saga of MI LB/DE Andy Phillips came to an end last week. Early in the week, he said “if I’m going to play MAC ball, I’m going to play at CMU” ($). He was still seeking out better offers, but by the weekend, he was ready to play MAC ball for CMU. I’ve removed him from the board.

Removed MI S Earnest Thomas, who committed to UCLA. He never received much attention from Michigan, but it seems as though he blossomed into a better prospect than many were expecting. In other Orchard Lake St. Mary’s news, QB Robert Bolden, who has already been removed from the recruiting board, is announcing a decision on Friday, likely for Penn State.

FL CB Tony Grimes has set up his official visit to Ann Arbor (info in header). Forthcoming: free news on when that visit actually is.

MI CB Dior Mathis now favors Oregon and Michigan State over the Wolverines. Since Michigan had long been considered the favorite, that’s a bad thing, but there’s plenty of time to get back in the forefront of this Cass Tech player’s radar. Mathis will decide after his senior season, and plans to enroll early at his school of choice.

Sparty fluff on MI P Mike Sadler, who is one of the three kicking specialists Michigan is looking at heavily for this class (WI P Will Hagerup is the only one who has been offered at this point). Also mentioned is OH LB Jewone Snow. Michigan has yet to offer, but does have a family connection in their favor, as he’s the son of Garland Rivers. I wouldn’t be upset if the Wolverines offered for two reasons 1) He’s at MLB, a position of need, and 2) It could only help in recruiting his 2011 teammate, DE Steve Miller.

…and that seems like a perfect transition to talk a little 2011 recruiting and Miller. Video interview (HT: UMGoBlog):

Miller has visited Ann Arbor, but he says that Ohio State was his dream school growing up. If this Michigan coaching staff wants to get truly serious about recruiting, they’ll have to start beating the Buckeyes for prospects from Ohio. Going hard after Miller might be a good way to start getting that going. Steve already holds a Michigan offer.

Since the 2010 recruiting class is already starting to take shape, the 2011 recruiting board should be ready to debut any time. I’ll unleash it on the publis whenever the Wolverines get their first verbal commit for the class of 2011 (which may be coming soon, according to some insiders).

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Compare to the previous edition of the recruiting class rankings. Action since last rankings:

6-29-09 Notre Dame gains commitment from Chris Badger. Minnesota gains commitment from Zac Epping. Illinois gains commitment from Andy Gallik. Iowa gains commitment from Matt Hoch. Indiana gains commitment from Jibreel Black.
6-30-09 Minnesota gains commitment from Kip Smith. Indiana gains commitment from Marlandez Harris. Michigan State gains commitment from Nick Hill.
7-1-09 Penn State gains commitment from Levi Norwood. Ohio State gains commitment from Roderick Smith. Minnesota gfains commitment from Mark Lenkiewicz. Indiana gains commitment from Matt Perez. Northwestern gains commitment from Paul Jorgenson.
7-2-09 Ohio State gains commitment from Drew Basil.

No change for Michigan.

The Nittany Lions grab Levi Norwood.

Notre Dame steals safety Chris Badger from Stanford.

Ohio State picks up a bigtime RBin Roderick Smith and kicker Drew Basil.

The Spartans pick up Nick Hill, who had previously been presumed a hige Michigan lean (until not receiving his offer at camp).

Big week for the Gophers as they snag 3 more commits.

Andy Gallik commits to the Illini

Nothing new for Wisco.

Iowa picks up

The Hoosiers add Xavier Whitaker, and he becomes their highest-rated commit. Should Northwestern be ahead of them? Not quite yet.

A decent QB joins the class for the Wildcats, along with a target for him to pass it to.

Oh my! A commit! Or 4.

Posted under Basketball, Coaching, Football, Recruiting

2010 Michigan Recruiting Board.

OH QB Caleb Watkins appears to be a MAC-level talent. With that in mind, along with the fact that the Wolverines already have two quarterbacks committed, he’s ready to be removed from the board.

Josh Helmholdt says in the Free Press that which has already been internet scuttlebutt for quite some time: MI RB Austin White has been a Michigan lean since early this spring. The rest of the article is mediocre at best, with the general idea being “MSU is way better because they signed 12 guys from the state of Michigan last year,” but, like, Michigan only wanted maybe 304 of them, so what’s the point?

FL RB Eduardo Clements counts Michigan among his top 3 with Georgia and Miami. He plans an additional pair of official visits to Tennessee and South Florida.

FL RB Giovanni Bernard seems to have eliminated Michigan from the running:

“I have it nailed down to my nine right now. I don’t know exactly when I’ll make my choice, maybe make my one school decision around signing day. I’m just really trying to enjoy this, really concentrate on the schools I’m wanting to go to and at the same time concentrate on football. Right now, the nine schools are Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, FSU, Miami, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Notre Dame, and Nebraska.”

I’ll leave him on the board just a little while longer until it can be confirmed he’s naming a final 9, rather than just a top 9. He plans to announce his commitment near Signing Day.

GA RB Mack Brown will be announcing his decision in July, and is down to two choices (info in header). Since Michigan hasn’t been involved in his recruitment lately, it’s probably safe to assume that the Wolverines won’t be his choice. That’s reason enough for me to remove him from the board.

Removed GA RB Kendrun Malcome, who committed to UGa.

Removed MI RB Nick Hill, who committed to Michigan State. Actually, he was a guy who reeeally wanted a Michigan offer, so I’ll leave him on the board just a bit longer.

Removed PA RB Dom Timbers, who committed to Syracuse.

Fluff on LA WR Trovon Reed, about losing his mother this spring. Reed is a prototypical slot receiver, and part of a potential mega-package including TX RB Lache Seastrunk. With these factors in mind, it’s hard to imagine a reason that the Michigan staff hasn’t heavily pursued him, and instead went for players like Tony Drake and Drew Dileo. There’s always the chance that they know something we don’t, but doesn’t it seem like they didn’t even give top-ranked guys a chance? Michigan isn’t mentioned in the article, and Reed is soon to be long gone from the board.

FL WR Chris Dunkley doesn’t seem to be too high on Michigan anymore (if he ever really was):

“I like West Virginia, I like Florida, Florida State. I like Ohio State, I like USC, and I like Georgia. That’s not in any order I’m just naming schools off the top of my head.”

Since that’s not an official list at this time, I’ll leave him on the board. He plans to announce his decision during the Under Armour All American game in January.

Removed OH OL Taylor Miller, who committed to Toledo.

GA DT Michael Thornton has received a Michigan offer (info in header). His alleged excitement about it is more likely to be headline writing rather than an indication of his actual interest, though, so don’t think he’ll be committing to Michigan any time soon.

OH DT Jibreel Black has selected Indiana. This is only a moderate surprise, since his brother Larry already plays for the Hoosiers. However, Jibreel had a much more impressive offer sheet than his brother coming out of high school, including teams like Michigan and Michigan State. I wouldn’t put it past this Michigan staff to give Black one more big push. If they don’t, I’ll remove him from the board.

GA DE Henry Anderson was considering a Michigan visit this week:

Clemson and South Carolina will make the cut with DE/OL Henry Anderson (6-6, 245) of College Park, Ga., when he gets down to a final 10 this week. Anderson said last week Georgia Tech, Stanford and Virginia also will be on the list. He will visit Wisconsin on Tuesday and might see Michigan while he’s up in that area.

No word on whether he actually made it, but if he did, the Wolverines are likely to be on that top 10 list. When it is revealed to a free source, we’ll know if Michigan is still under consideration.

In your occasional 2011 snippet, Bucknuts guru Bill Kurelic thinks that 2011 OH CB Greg Brown might be committing to Michigan sometime soon. Brown has been favoring Michigan for a while now (though it had been thought that OSU was making a play for him this spring), and received an offer from the coaching staff following Michigan’s camp.

Whenever Michigan gets its first 2011 commit, the 2011 recruiting board will debut. If you know of anyone who should be on it, let me know in the comments or by e-mail.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Florida SG Tim Hardaway, the son of former NBA player Tim Hardaway… uh… Sr., has committed to Michigan’s basketball class of 2010. He is a spot-up shooter who has a smooth stroke from the outside. I would posit a guess that Michigan is looking for at least a true wing in this class, likely a scorer along the lines of Mt. Pleasant’s Trey Zeigler or Casey Prather from Tennessee.

Alas, I am an ignoramus when it comes to basketball recruiting, and I direct you to UMHoops for further education.

Posted under Basketball, Recruiting