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Mike Jones Goes Blue

Orlando safety Mike Jones has pledged his word to become a Michigan Wolverine. Jones (6-2, 197) hails from Orlando Edgewater high school. He projects as a strong safety, or perhaps even a weakside linebacker.

Recruiting Notes
Jones hails from the same high school as junior WR Greg Mathews, which gave him something of a familiarity with the Wolverines (of course, former Edgewater players litter the rosters of such programs as Florida, Ohio State, Notre Dame, UCF, and so on). Though he grew up a Miami of Florida fan, the Canes never played a large role for Mike. From early in his recruitment, Jones indicated that not only was he open to leaving home, but also was favoring a few schools in the midwest. Michigan offered Jones in late spring, and the Wolverines joined Notre Dame at the top of his list. Jones took a late June visit to the campuses of both schools, and at this time, Michigan may have moved to the front of his mind. Without a solid scholarship offer from the Irish, Jones picked Michigan on August 1st.

Player Notes
Jones was injured during his junior season, but was impressive in the five games he managed to get in. Jones has very good height and weight for the strong safety position, and if he adds a bit more weight may be a candidate to move to weakside linebacker. He is very explosive for his size, though he may be someone who “plays quick” rather than actually being fast (this is not a bad thing in Scott Shafer’s defensive concepts). He is a big hitter as well.

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Pahokee Duo Set to Go Blue?

Though we’ve all seen what can happen when social networking sites are relied upon to be a source of recruiting information, sometimes the evidence is overwhelming.

Pahokee Blue Devils Brandon Hawthorne and Vincent Smith won’t announce their respective college decisions until August 30th, but it appears as though Michigan has a very good shot at landing both. Several readers have chimed in to let me know that each has changed various aspects of his Facebook page to indicate impending commitment to Michigan.

There is a long time until August 30th, and even longer before signing day, but it appears as though both Hawthorne and Smith intend to don a blue hat at their first game this season.

Posted under Recruiting

Recruiting Update 7-28-08

New Information:
SC OL Quinton Washington. Not expected to take an official to Michigan.
FL QB Eugene Smith. Re-widens his focus after previously having narrowed to a top 5.
CA QB Tate Forcier. Top 6.
PA LB Dan Mason. Will commit to a school at the Army AA game. His current plan for official visits doesn’t include Michigan.
OK CB Gabe Lynn. Fluff.
FL Slot commit Jeremy Gallon. Most important news EVER: he has dreads.
SC DE Chris Bonds. Official visit schedule shaping up. Notre Dame visit for the Michigan game (and he will be unavailable for the big UM-MSU recruiting weekend, when he will be visiting Tennessee).
FL DE Ryne Giddins. Michigan outside of his top 6.
MD LB Jelani Jenkins. GBW headline says a super linebacker visited on Saturday, and the accompanying picture is of Jenkins, so we can assume he visited this weekend, no? Video fluff:

Removed:
MS S Rod Woodson. Committed to Alabama.

Posted under Recruiting, Video

Big Ten 2009 Recruiting Class Rankings 7-26-08

Scout unveiled a new set of rankings, but I’m not going to bother updating the stars for now, since I’m planning to switch to Rivals’ rankings son anyway.

Action since last rankings:
7-19-08 Minnesota gains commitment from Eric Stephens.
7-20-08 Notre Dame gains commitment from Zach Martin. Illinois gains commitments from Tommie Hopkins and Terry Hawthorne.
7-21-08 Michigan gains commitment from DeQuinta Jones. Wisconsin gains commitment from Jeff Duckworth.
7-22-08 Michigan State gains commitment from Tyquan Hammock.
7-23-08 Purdue gains commitment from Rob Henry

New Rankings:

#1 Ohio State – 24 commits
DT ***** Johnny Simon
LB ***** Dorian Bell
DE ***** Melvin Fellows
CB **** CJ Barnett
WR **** James Jackson
MLB **** Storm Klein
MLB **** Jordan Whiting
RB **** Jordan Hall
OG **** Corey Linsley
OT **** Jack Mewhort
S **** Jamie Wood
WR **** Duron Carter
WR **** Justin Green
RB **** Carlos Hyde
CB **** Corey Brown
S *** Bradley McDougald
DE *** Jonathan Newsome
TE *** Reid Fragel
DT *** Adam Bellamy
WR *** Chris Fields
FB *** Adam Homan
LB *** Zach Boren
CB *** Dominic Clarke
OL *** Sam Longo

Sam Longo commits. OSU probably has 3-4 slots left for people like Marcus Hall, Jaamal Berry, etc.

#2 Michigan – 13 commits
DT ***** William Campbell
QB ***** Kevin Newsome
CB **** Justin Turner
QB **** Shavodrick Beaver
WR **** Bryce McNeal
RB **** Teric Jones
RB *** Fitzgerald Toussaint
WR *** DeWayne Peace
OL *** Michael Schofield
S *** Isaiah Bell
LB *** Jordan Barnes
WR *** Jeremy Gallon
DE *** DeQuinta Jones

A defensive end goes a long way to easing Michigan fans’ fears about the position.

#3 Penn State – 16 commits
OT ***** Eric Shrive
CB **** Darrell Givens
DE **** Sean Stanley
OT **** Mark Arcidiacono
S *** Stephen Obeng-Agyapong
S *** Malcolm Willis
S *** Derrick Thomas
QB *** Curtis Drake
C *** Ty Howle
CB *** Stephon Morris
WR *** Brandon Felder
OT *** Adam Gress
RB *** Curtis Dukes
OL *** Nate Cadogan
OG * Frank Figueroa
WR * Christian Kuntz

Nate Cadogan commitment is now official. Figueroa and Kuntz figure to be low three-star types, maybe dropping in twos.

#4 Notre Dame – 13 commits
RB ***** Cierre Wood
OL ***** Chris Watt
MLB **** Carlo Calabrese
RB **** Theo Riddick
DT **** Tyler Stockton
OL **** Alex Bullard
CB **** Marlon Pollard
TE *** Jake Golic
TE *** Tyler Eifert
LB *** Dan Fox
OL *** Zach Martin
P * Ben Turk
K * Nicholas Tausch

Chris Watt commits, failing to realize that ND OL have underperformed horrifically in recent times. Turk and Tausch have a rating ceiling of high three-stars (standard for non-all-world kickers).


#5 Wisconsin – 10 commits
DT **** Jared Kohout
OG *** Ryan Groy
DE *** Shelby Harris
QB *** Jon Budmayr
OT *** Zac Matthias
RB *** Montee Ball
TE *** Brian Wozniak
WR ** Jeff Duckworth
MLB * Chris Borland
OL * Travis Frederick

Wisconsin’s OL commits get a bonus half0star because of their inherent Wisconsin-ness. Jeff Duckworth drops for the Badgers.

#6 Michigan State – 13 commits
RB **** Edwin Baker
RB **** Larry Caper
SLB **** Chris Norman
WR *** Donald Spencer
DT *** Blake Treadwell
QB *** Andrew Maxwell
WR *** Patrick White
WR *** Dana Dixon
LB *** Tyquan Hammock
OL * Micajah Reynolds
OL * Nate Klatt
WR * Bennie Fowler
TE * Derek Hoebing

Tyquan Hammock goes green after not getting the Michigan offer he wanted.

#7 Minnesota – 9 commits
QB **** Moses Alipate
RB *** Hasan Lipscomb
C *** Ed Olsen
OT *** Josh Campion
RB ** Eric Stephens
WR * Victor Keise
DE * Nick Rengel
OL * Brooks Michel
K * Dan Orseske

Gophers pick up Eric Stephens, whom the recruiting sites give vastly different rankings (Scout 2-star, Rivals 4-star).

#8 Illinois – 8 commits
DT **** Lendell Buckner
OT **** Leon Hill
QB **** Nathan Scheelhaase
WR **** Terry Hawthorne
WR *** Steve Hull
S ** Tommie Hopkins
CB ** Joelil Thrash
FB * Greg Fuller

The Illini grab Terry Hawthorne and Tommie Hopkins. Is Hawthorne’s teammate Kraig Appleton next to drop?

#9 Indiana – 15 commits
LB *** Jere
my Gainer
QB *** Edward Wright-Baker
DT *** Adam Replogle
WR *** Jamonne Chester
WR *** Duwyce Wilson
OL *** Charles Chapman
QB *** Dustin Kiel
CB ** Lawrence Barnett
DE ** Josh Keyt
S ** Nick Zachery
S ** Kenny Watkins
S ** Demetrius Carr
S ** Ted Bolser
OL ** Pat McShane
K * Mitch Ewald

Dustin Kiel, Lawrence Barnett, Charles Chapman, Mitch Ewald, and Pat McShane commit. While the Hoosiers have a lot of commitments (which would rank them higher in many ranking systems) their abundance of 2-star guys really limits where this class can end up.

#10 Northwestern – 4 commits
QB *** Evan Watkins
RB * Mike Trumpy
DE * Anthony Battle
WR * Drew Moulton

Trumpy and Battle will be low threes, Moulton a high two.

#11 Purdue – 4 commits
DT **** Kris Cooke
QB *** Rob Henry
S * Ishmael Aristide
WR * Gary Bush

Aristide could end up a high three-star. He was on the verge of being a big prospect before a bad junior year injury. Bush will be a mid three-star. The Boilermakers pass Iowa.

#12 Iowa – 2 commits
OT *** David Barrent
FB * Brad Rogers

Ferentz’s glory days in recruiting seem to be over. Rogers will end up a low two-star.

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Recruiting Update 7-25-08

I forgot to link it Monday, but don’t forget that the board is here.

Moved to Committed:
LA DE DeQuinta Jones. The awesomely-named one is also added to the board in this update. Commit article.

New Information:
VA QB commit Kevin Newsome. Some glorious, glorious reassurance from Sam Webb that he is firmly committed, and recruiting other players to Michigan. Now in convenient print form! Newsome speaks with SI about transferring to Hargrave.
FL QB Eugene Smith. He made the Elite 11. And is performing quite well.
FL S Jonathan Scott. Michigan in his top 3 (info in header).
SC DEs Sam Montgomery and Chris Bonds. Both plan to take officials to Michigan.
FL CB Mywan Jackson. Michigan visit this weekend.
NJ DE/OL Anthony LaLota. Narrows his list to 7 (including the Wolverines).
NV DE Keenan Graham. Will he decide before getting a chance to visit Michigan?
MS S Rod Woodson. Now reports an offer.

Removed:
AL DE William Ming. Alabama commit.
IN LB TyQuan Hammock. After not getting the Michigan offer he wanted, commits to Michigan State.

Analysis:
Hooray, a defensive end! Michigan will want at least one more in this class, likely a speed rusher. Other sources of celebration: Reassurance on the Newsome front! Hooray!

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Programming Update and tidbits

Coming this afternoon: Michigan State Preview.
Coming sometime this week: A classic Bo interview (“classic” in this case meaning “old,” not “something seen by people other than those who lived in the dorms circa 1994”).
Coming Sunday: The podcast (like usual, but this one that I’m particularly excited about).

For Newsome-worriers: Rest assured (for now). More in the Friday recruiting update.

Jim Stefani has a bit more on DeQuinta.

An interesting discussion that took place in the comments last week:
Why is Indiana having recruiting success in Michigan?
Paul theorized thusly:

I wonder if that means that MSU is getting better players outside of Michigan so they don’t have to pick up the crumbs or if MSU is just losing its grip on said crumbs.

I think it’s neither. Pretty much all of the guys from Michigan who have committed to the Hoosiers either would never have gotten a High-level BCS offer (sorry Indiana), such as Kenny Watkins and Jamonne Chester, or are sleepers who would have had to wait a while for even an MSU offer, like Charles Chapman and Jeremy Gainer.

The only difference between this year and past years is that Indiana’s recruiting class is filling up earlier, so they can grab these sleepers before better offers come, or snatch the other guys away from the jaws of MAC schools.

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DeQuinta Jones Goes Blue?

Rivals is reporting that Louisiana defensive end DeQuinta Jones has given Rich Rodriguez his word to become a Michigan Wolverine. Jones (6-2, 265, 4.7) hails from Bastrop High School, the home of one of the nation’s top receivers in Rueben Randle. Jones is the 13th commit in this class, and the coaches would certainly like him to bring his teammate up north as well. Jones is a three-star to both sites.

Recruiting Notes
Jones’s recruitment stayed out of the mainstream media, with Scout and Rivals the only main sources to follow his every move (creepy, I know). However, in early July, he was featured in an article on GoBlueWolverine.com. Michigan fans took notice. Jones committed to Michigan on. He cited his relationship with linebackers coach Jay Hopson (the former headman at Southern Miss) among the reasons that he picked Michigan.

Player Notes
Jones is a big-time defensive end – something the Wolverines sorely need after missing on Nick Perry in 2008. He is considered more of a run-stuffer with speed than an edge rusher, but he shows ability to get to the quarterback as well. He has good size, and may even be able to grow into a defensive tackle unless the staff wishes to keep him at end. He comes from a winning program (Bastrop won the Louisiana state title in 2007) and hopes to bring his success to Ann Arbor. Jones was listed by the Times-Picayune as a player just outside the top 25 in the state of Louisiana. Blogger Dandy Don pegs him at #19 in the state, while praising his work ethic.

Video

Bastrop in the state finals.

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Recruiting Update 7-21-08

Slow weekend for recruiting news, despite big camps across the south (I guess that could qualify as good news)…

Added:
IL OL Patrick Ward. Four-star is considering Michigan, and will narrow to a top 7 list soon.

New Information:
VA DE Will Hill. A bit of fluff involving Michigan.
SC DB Damario Jeffrey. Michigan in his final 7.
AR CB Darius Winston. Despite an Arkansas decommit, he shows up to their senior camp. Also, he no longer maintains that Michigan is his leader.
FL QB Eugene Smith. Michigan makes his top 5.

Removed:
VA RB David Wilson. Committed to Virginia Tech.
IL OL Zach Martin. Notre Dame commit.

Etc.:
Steven Threet fluff from the Toledo Blade. Cathy Schembechler interview in the Dayton Daily News.

Posted under Recruiting

Big Ten 2009 Recruiting Class Rankings 7-19-08

Scout unveiled a new set of rankings, but I’m not going to bother updating the stars for now, since I’m planning to switch to Rivals’ rankings son anyway.

Action since last rankings:
7-12-08 Michigan State gains commitment from Bennie Fowler. Penn state gains commitment from Nate Cadogan.
7-13-08 N0tre Dame gains commitment from Chris Watt. Michigan State gains commitment from Derek Hoebing.
7-14-08 Indiana gains commitment from Mitch Ewald. Indiana gains commitment from Pat McShane.
7-15-08 Purdue gains commitment from Kris Cooke.
7-16-08 Illinois gains commitment from Nathan Scheelhaase. Indiana gains commitment from Lawrence Barnett.
7-17-08 Indiana gains commitment from Dustin Kiel.
7-18-08 Indiana gains commitment from Charles Champan.

New Rankings:

#1 Ohio State – 24 commits
DT ***** Johnny Simon
LB ***** Dorian Bell
DE ***** Melvin Fellows
CB **** CJ Barnett
WR **** James Jackson
MLB **** Storm Klein
MLB **** Jordan Whiting
RB **** Jordan Hall
OG **** Corey Linsley
OT **** Jack Mewhort
S **** Jamie Wood
WR **** Duron Carter
WR **** Justin Green
RB **** Carlos Hyde
CB **** Corey Brown
S *** Bradley McDougald
DE *** Jonathan Newsome
TE *** Reid Fragel
DT *** Adam Bellamy
WR *** Chris Fields
FB *** Adam Homan
LB *** Zach Boren
CB *** Dominic Clarke
OL *** Sam Longo

Sam Longo commits. OSU probably has 3-4 slots left for people like Marcus Hall, Jaamal Berry, etc.

#2 Michigan – 12 commits
DT ***** William Campbell
QB ***** Kevin Newsome
CB **** Justin Turner
QB **** Shavodrick Beaver
WR **** Bryce McNeal
RB **** Teric Jones
RB *** Fitzgerald Toussaint
WR *** DeWayne Peace
OL *** Michael Schofield
S *** Isaiah Bell
LB *** Jordan Barnes
WR *** Jeremy Gallon

Michigan is waiting for more commits.

#3 Penn State – 16 commits
OT ***** Eric Shrive
CB **** Darrell Givens
DE **** Sean Stanley
OT **** Mark Arcidiacono
S *** Stephen Obeng-Agyapong
S *** Malcolm Willis
S *** Derrick Thomas
QB *** Curtis Drake
C *** Ty Howle
CB *** Stephon Morris
WR *** Brandon Felder
OT *** Adam Gress
RB *** Curtis Dukes
OL *** Nate Cadogan
OG * Frank Figueroa
WR * Christian Kuntz

Nate Cadogan commitment is now official. Figueroa and Kuntz figure to be low three-star types, maybe dropping in twos.

#4 Notre Dame – 12 commits
RB ***** Cierre Wood
OL ***** Chris Watt
MLB **** Carlo Calabrese
RB **** Theo Riddick
DT **** Tyler Stockton
OL **** Alex Bullard
CB **** Marlon Pollard
TE *** Jake Golic
TE *** Tyler Eifert
LB *** Dan Fox
P * Ben Turk
K * Nicholas Tausch

Chris Watt commits, failing to realize that ND OL have underperformed horrifically in recent times. Turk and Tausch have a rating ceiling of high three-stars (standard for non-all-world kickers).

#5 Wisconsin – 9 commits
DT **** Jared Kohout
OG *** Ryan Groy
DE *** Shelby Harris
QB *** Jon Budmayr
OT *** Zac Matthias
RB *** Montee Ball
TE *** Brian Wozniak
MLB * Chris Borland
OL * Travis Frederick

Wisconsin’s OL commits get a bonus half0star because of their inherent Wisconsin-ness. Borland will be a mid three-star, frederick a high three.

#6 Michigan State – 12 commits
RB **** Edwin Baker
RB **** Larry Caper
SLB **** Chris Norman
WR *** Donald Spencer
DT *** Blake Treadwell
QB *** Andrew Maxwell
WR *** Patrick White
WR *** Dana Dixon
OL * Micajah Reynolds
OL * Nate Klatt
WR * Bennie Fowler
TE * Derek Hoebing

Bennie Fowler and Derek Hoebing commit. Reynolds will be a low three-star, as will Klatt and probably Fowler. Hoebing may end up a high two-star.

#7 Minnesota – 8 commits
QB **** Moses Alipate
RB *** Hasan Lipscomb
C *** Ed Olsen
OT *** Josh Campion
WR * Victor Keise
DE * Nick Rengel
OL * Brooks Michel
K * Dan Orseske

Keise, Rengel, and Michel probably low-3/high-2 guys. Orseske will end up a high two.

#8 Illinois – 5 commits
DT **** Lendell Buckner
OT **** Leon Hill
QB **** Nathan Scheelhaase
WR *** Steve Hull
CB ** Joelil Thrash
FB * Greg Fuller

Thrash will be a mid three-star, Fuller a high two.

#9 Indiana – 11 commits
LB *** Jeremy Gainer
QB *** Edward Wright-Baker
DT *** Adam Replogle
WR *** Jamonne Chester
WR *** Duwyce Wilson
OL *** Charles Chapman
QB *** Dustin Kiel
CB ** Lawrence Barnett
DE ** Josh Keyt
S ** Nick Zachery
S ** Kenny Watkins
S ** Demetrius Carr
S ** Ted Bolser
OL ** Pat McShane
K * Mitch Ewald

Dustin Kiel, Lawrence Barnett, Charles Chapman, Mitch Ewald, and Pat McShane commit. While the Hoosiers have a lot of commitments (which would rank them higher in many ranking systems) their abundance of 2-star guys really limits where this class can end up.

#10 Northwestern – 4 commits
QB *** Evan Watkins
RB * Mike Trumpy
DE * Anthony Battle
WR * Drew Moulton

Trumpy and Battle will be low threes, Moulton a high two.

#11 Purdue – 3 commits
S * Ishmael Aristide
WR * Gary Bush
DT **** Kris Cooke

Aristide could end up a high three-star. He was on the verge of being a big prospect before a bad junior year injury. Bush will be a mid three-star. The Boilermakers pass Iowa.

#12 Iowa – 2 commits
OT *** David Barrent
FB * Brad Rogers

Ferentz’s glory days in recruiting seem to be over. Rogers will end up a low two-star.

Posted under Recruiting

Recruiting Update 7-18-08

Added:
NC OL Travis Bond. Plans to visit Mich (info in header). Smart money is on MSU or Toledo weekends.
TN WR Marsalis Teague. There is some Michigan interest.
VA OL Morgan Moses. Virginia’s top OL plans a Michigan visit.
SC DB David Sims. He plans to take an official visit to Michigan, so it stands to reason that they are in his top 5.
AL DE William Ming. Mega-old article, but it mentions that Michigan is recruiting him.
IN LB Tyquan Hammock. Visited Michigan this week.

New Information:
MD DE Jason Ankrah. Extends his PSU visit. Is he feeling the Nittany Lions?
MD LB Jelani Jenkins. His teammate Caleb Porzel picks Maryland. The two had discussed being a package deal.

Removed:
MD RB Caleb Porzel. Committed to Maryland.

Posted under Recruiting