It’s time to respond to a post that I find to be completely off-base regarding Kevin Newsome. You may remember the author from giving us an insight or two on Newsome and Jelani Jenkins a while back, but I’m not going to link the source article, since it was particularly dickish when all I’ve done is give the guy hits:

For any of the folks from the Varsity Blue web site that as still visiting, let me say, to quote the great poet Henry Rollins: “HA HA HA, sucker! Sucker!” Did you really think you were going to get Kevin Newsome out of the 757? You are a total idiot for doubting me. His brother, rising junior standout Keevon Newsome, wants to go to Vah-tech, and Kevin Newsome is already concerned that Michigan is going to present some problems. You don’t leave your native school to go to Hargrave because your grades are above the line, so he obviously has some academic problems. Nobody is as accomodating of academic and behavioral shortcomings as Frank Beamer, and none of Rich-Rod’s shady, illegal recruiting tactics are going to change that. A lot of people with optics into this one tell me it is already done and that Newsome will formally back out of his verbal to Michigan and commit to Vah-Tech before the season starts. For all you Varsity Blue dorks, my prediction remains unchanged: Kevin Newsome will be a Hokie, and Jim Tressel will bitch-slap the Wolverines for another five straight years (at least).

I highly doubt Kevin Newsome would be the president of his high school chapter of National Honor Society if he had grade issues. Thus, it must follow that he is going to Hargrave for other reasons. Could one of these reasons be to get away from the pressure within the 757 to go to VT? It certainly follows logically, especially when you take into account that Newsome’s new head coach at Hargrave is particularly fond of making his players remain true to verbal commitments.

Also, Keevon is a big VT fan, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up there. However, if Kevin was going to do the same, wouldn’t he have taken the opportunity of the VT camp to take a visit (especially considering Keevon was there for the camp).

I won’t even bother to respond to the allegations of sady recruiting tactics (dumb) or the touting of Frank Beamer as a sketchy character. Both are laughable.

For more information on Michigan’s quarterback situation, check out the Free Press. Even if Newsome does back out of his verbal, Michigan has a couple slightly less-touted contingency plans.

Posted under Recruiting

Much stuff from late last week snuck its way in here because of the JAM PACKED WITH CONTENT nature of Friday’s update.

Added:
FL WR Rontavious Wooten. Michigan is in his top 4, though LSU leads.
WA DT Deandre Coleman. I’m still convinced Michigan needs to take another DT in this class.
FL OL Andrew Carter. Apparently offered.

New Information:
Pahokee, FL prospects. Will play on ESPN August 30, where many of them also plan to announce college decisions. Also, they got in a huge brawl this weekend.
MD RB Tavon Austin. Wants to have freedom in his college offense. Seems a spread attack would be a good fit for him.
GA WR Braxton Lane. Baseball fluff. At this point, I expect him to be a top pick in next spring’s MLB Draft, and would be surprised if he went to college. Hell, we’d definitely take him for both sports.
FL TE Orson Charles. Decision Timeline.
OK RB David Oku. Talks officials (Michigan’s is for the MSU game). Video? Video:

Ladies, if you’re going to go visit him at work, don’t forget to sport some of this stuff.

Removed:
FL DT Antwan Lowery. Down to two (info in header). I’m betting neither is Mich, since he has visited several other schools.

Posted under Recruiting

Audio only this week. Enjoy.

Posted under Recruiting

Action since last rankings:
7-5-08 Ohio State gains commitment from Sam Longo.
7-7-08 Notre Dame gains commitment from Marlon Pollard. Purdue gains commitment from Gary Bush.
7-8-08 Michigan State gains commitment from Nate Klatt. Notre Dame gains commitment from Tyler Eifert.
7-10-08 Indiana gains commitment from Duwyce Wilson.

New Rankings:

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

Michigan is waiting for more commits.

Adam Gress, Curtis Dukes, and Christian Kuntz commit.

The Irish grab two prospects, is big-timer Chris Watt on the horizon?

Wisconsin moves past Michigan State because I give slightly more value (up to a bonus star) to any offensive lineman that Wisconsin deems worthy (and they have 3 so far in this class).

Nate Klatt becomes a Spartan.

Keise, Rengel, and Michel probably low-3/high-2 guys. Kickers are rarely rated very well.

Steve Hull to the Illini.

Indiana gets a boatload of commits. Keyt will be a 2-star (he is being brought in as a greyshirt long-snapper), Gainer might end up a mid-to-high 3-star, and the rest will be in the low 3-star range.

Northwestern is still in on a couple of big-timers. Will they be able to land one?

Ferentz’s glory days in recruiting seem to be over.

Not sure where Aristide will be ranked, but it has to be a more important commit than a long-snapper. He was on the verge of becoming a big prospect before a junior year injury.

Posted under Recruiting

Mega-full week. Some stuff may be held until Monday’s update.

Added:
IN OL Kyle Koehne. Top 4 of UM, MSU, BC, UF. Wants to decide before his senior season.
VA DE Will Hill. Visiting this weekend.

New Information:
VA QB Commit Kevin Newsome. May camp at VT. :(
MI QB/S Thomas Gordon. Nearly guaranteed to commit if offered.
MS S Dennis Thames. Recruiting fluff, +visited this week and subsequently named Michigan his favorite.
IN OL Zach Martin. Top 5 of UM, ND, UVa, UK, Ill. Wants to decide before senior season (not set in stone). Visiting this weekend.
GA LB Devekeyan Lattimore. Likes Michigan and plans to visit this summer (info in header).
NV DE Keenan Graham. Michigan in his top 9.
OK CB Gabe Lynn. Michigan would let him run track in college.
CA WR Shaquelle Evans. Michigan “high on his list.” He is expected to visit Notre Dame for the Michigan game.
GA CB Darren Myles. He plans a visit to the northern schools on his list sometime this summer. Michigan is on his list but not explicitly mentioned as one of the visited.
NC WR Jheranie Boyd. Recruiting fluff.

Removed:
SC QB/S Stephon Gilmore. Michigan is out of his top group.
FL CB Brandon McGee. Has made decision plans, Michigan not among the schools considered.
IA WR Keenan Davis. Will not decide until signing day, no apparent M interest.
TN WR Marlon Brown. Trimmed list, no Michigan.
NC CB Terry Shankle. Michigan eliminated.

Etc.: TheWolverine’s Josh Helmholdt breaks down Michigan and MSU recruiting classes thus far.

Posted under Recruiting

In case you missed the update from Friday in your holiday stupor, check it out here. As always, the board is here.

Added:
MI DE Justice Akuezue. Interest, etc.
OH DE Tank Carradine. Michigan is one of his favorites.
FL CB Jayron Hosley. Drawing some Michigan interest.
CA WR Shaquelle Evans. Michigan in his top group.
FL CB Mywan Jackson. Visiting Michigan this summer, with offer.
LA LB Jonathan Stewart. Offered.

New Information:
AL CB Dre Kirkpatrick. Will decide on signing day.
OK RB David Oku. Visiting Michigan for the MSU game (official).

Posted under Recruiting

Action since last rankings:
6-28-08 Indiana gains commitments from Kenny Watkins, Jeremy Gainer, Demetrius Carr, and Ted Bolser. Minnesota gains commitment from Brooks Michel.
6-29-08 Illinois gains commitment from Steve Hull.
6-30-08 Minnesota gains commitment from Dan Orseske.
7-2-08 Indiana gains commitment from Adam Replogle. Penn State gains commitments from Adam Gress and Curtis Dukes.
7-3-08 Indiana gains commitment from Jamonne Chester.
7-4-08 Penn State gains commitment from Christian Kuntz.

New Rankings:

Huge week for the Bucks with tons of commits. Their remaining slots are probably reserved for specific guys they know they’ll get (i.e. Marcus Hall).

Michigan is waiting for more commits.

Adam Gress, Curtis Dukes, and Christian Kuntz commit.

Nothing new for Notre Dame. Is Charlie’s gravity losing its pull?

Wisconsin moves past Michigan State because I give slightly more value (up to a bonus star) to any offensive lineman that Wisconsin deems worthy (and they have 3 so far in this class).

Solid but not spectacular class thus far.

Keise, Rengel, and Michel probably low-3/high-2 guys. Kickers are rarely rated very well.

Steve Hull to the Illini.

Indiana gets a boatload of commits. Keyt will be a 2-star (he is being brought in as a greyshirt long-snapper), Gainer might end up a mid-to-high 3-star, and the rest will be in the low 3-star range.

Northwestern is still in on a couple of big-timers. Will they be able to land one?

Ferentz’s glory days in recruiting seem to be over.

Not sure where Aristide will be ranked, but it has to be a more important commit than a long-snapper. He was on the verge of becoming a big prospect before a junior year injury.

Posted under Recruiting

Added:
CA QB Tate Forcier. He refuses to stop mentioning Michigan, so it would be inappropriate to not at least include him on the board.
FL QB Eugene Smith. Ditto.
CA OG Michael Philipp. Michigan is interested and he wants to visit AA.
MD DE Jason Ankrah. Offered:

Jason has offers from Illinois, Oregon, Maryland, Nebraska, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Syracuse and others. Jason said he attended North Carolina, North Carolina State, Syracuse and Penn State Junior Days.

New Information:
IL OL Commit Michael Schofield. Linked to his junior highlight video.
VA QB Commit Kevin Newsome. Can’t play on the post-grad team at Hargrave?

“We have a rule that, even if that young man, Newsome, wanted to come to our school, he would have to play on the high-school team. We don’t jump over our high-school team.”

FL LB Brandon Hawthorne. Decision after officials.
AL CB Dre Kirkpatrick. Fluff.

Removed:
NC QB Everett Proctor. Michigan seemed to be offering him as a draw to Xavier Nixon, who has eliminated Michigan.
PA OL Adam Gress. Final 2 doesn’t include Michigan. And also, he committed to Penn State.
IL OL Chris Watt. Wolverines out of his final 8.
PA DT Levi Brown. Committed to Temple.
MS DT Josh Boyd. Committed to Mississippi State.
AZ DE Devon Kennard. Michigan did not make his final 5 (USC, UCLA, ASU, Cal, Texas).

Analysis:
So, uh, any other DTs? At this point, there doesn’t seem to be a high correlation between guys who have offers and guys that Michigan can realistically land. If the coaches want another tackle in this class, I expect to see some more offers go out soon. If they landed somebody like Chris Bonds, he could conceivably move from end to tackle, but there isn’t exactly a glut of DEs, either.

Posted under Recruiting

The new Recruiting Board is up, so I thought I should go over some of the new features.

When Tim and I were discussing what would be ideal, we started thinking something that was basically a message board with each prospect getting his own thread. The only problem there was formatting the information and making it look nice and convey the information quickly. And then there are the issues of maintenance and moderation inherent in message boards.

It seemed like a hybrid would be the best solution, so now you can comment on each and everyone of the recruits individually. Any info or articles, rumors you’ve heard, an opinion/gut feeling you have, anything that could give a more rounded picture of the prospect can be posted there. You have to register, but that is really quick and no personal information is required (the registration link is at the bottom of the board as well as under the comments section- Tim). This helps prevents spambots from doing what they do and gives troll another hurdle.

I hope everyone will contribute so we can have a super complete, informative source for the 2009 class.

Posted under Blog News, Recruiting

Today’s update will be a little behind because a bunch of stuff came out in the last 24 hours, and I’m still getting accustomed to the new board, and I don’t want to leave you, the loyal reader, waiting. That stuff will either wait until friday, or find its way into a third recruiting update for this week.

Added:
Ain’t nobody.

New Information:
MS WR/S Dennis Thames. Discusses possibly being a package deal with teammate Clayton Moore. More has committed to Ole Miss in the time since this article.
FL RB Vincent Smith. Fluff.
MA OL Brennan Williams. Top 6 of Mich, Duke, BC, Maryland, UVa, Wake.
FL TE Orson Charles. Midwest tour doesn’t include Michigan.

Removed:
GE TE Jim Teknipp. Committed to UCF.
MI RB Malek Redd. Committed to Central Michigan.
PA DE Jack Lippert. Pitt commit.

Posted under Recruiting