I guess this is my punishment for only giving 1 recruiting update last week: there’s a ton of information that I need to cram in. Expect at least 1 more recruiting update this week, and maybe 2, since the Spring Game should be a fairly serious recruiting event. This update will be a strict adds/removals/offers affair. You can find the 2010 Recruiting Board here.

MI QB Devin Gardner (seen at left) has publicly announced his commitment to Michigan. He was already listed as committed on the recruiting board.

Michigan has apparently offered (or are heavily recruiting) LA DE Jordan Allen. However, the homestate LSU Tigers are still considered the (perhaps prohibitive) favorite.

The Wolverines also recently offered PA DE Dakota Royer.

According to two particularly revealing Scout headers, the Wolverine have offered both NY DE Dominique Easley and DE RB Jamaal Jackson. They’ve both been added to the board, and given the amount of football talent that comes out of that state, I’m surprised I didn’t have to look up the postal code for Delaware.

This Rivals header is equally obvious, and so it is true that OH OL Christian Pace has been offered, confirmed by ESPN. Sticking with ESPN, IN DE Blake Lueders has also received an offer. TX S Luke Muncie has also been offered (info in header).

FL WR Quinton Dunbar has decommitted from the University of Miami, and the Wolverines are among the 5 he will consider (joined by the Big 3 in Florida, as well as UCF). He will announce his decision on Signing Day. He’s been added to the board.

MI CB Mylan Hicks from Renaissance High School has received offers from the Wolverines and Michigan State this week.

A super-sketchy ESPN report that I’m not sure how much I should trust asserts that Michigan offered 5 teammates at DeMatha High School in Maryland. I don’t trust the offer status, but it’s certainly worth at least adding the guys to the board. They are Michael Cooley, S Lorenzo Waters, OL Ari Kouandjio, RB Marcus Coker and S Jeff Knox. The only two that I had even heard of before this report were Knox and Coker, and Cooley isn’t in Rivals’s or Scout’s databases, while Kouandjio is nowhere to be found on Rivals (and Scout throws an ‘e’ at the end of his first name). Keep this developing situation in mind.

Another article with a pretty good amount of Michigan-related information is offered up by The State. SC S Bashaud Breeland has received a Michigan offer, as has SC DT Brandon Willis. VA LB Chase Williams is hearing from Michigan, and may get an offer down the road. He’s been added to the board.

GA QB/Ath Blake Sims, who was thought to be a pretty serious candidate for another signal-caller in this class, committed to Alabama. The first articles I saw about it had non-definitive titles like “Has Blake Sims committed to Alabama?” or “Blake Sims reportedly commits to Alabama,” but stuff in the last day or so has been more definitive.

CO QB/Ath Kain Colter has committed to Stanford, and will be removed from the board.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Surprising nobody, MI QB Devin Gardner publicly committed to Michigan at Inkster High School today. His coach had told the press that Gardner committed to Michigan’s coaches, but Devin wanted to wait until after his basketball season ended. He was Michigan’s 4th commitment in the class of 2010.

“Devin Gardner Goes Blue“

Posted under Football, Recruiting

The 2010 Recruiting Board can be found here.

Added to the Board as Committed:

TX RB/Slot Tony Drake, who received an offer and committed immediately. Tony Drake Commitment Post. Jim Stefani posted an information dump on Drake, from which these are the highlights, translated into coherent thoughts:

Overshadowed by several D-I prospects at Skyline, including receivers Mike Davis (LSU) and Joe Powell (Oklahoma), but a legit big-time talent with 4.4 speed. Projects as a slotback in college. Drake combined for 605 rushing and receiving yards as a sophomore, and averaged 10.5 yards per touch. As a sophomore starter at WR he was a second team All-district choice and had 260 yards receiving, combined for 605 rushing and receiving yards, and averaged 10.5 yards per touch.. As a junior back-up RB to senior James White ([3-star] Iowa State signee), he was second on the team in rushing with 55 carries for 429 yards (7.8ypc) and 3 TDs. He added 7 receptions for 73 yards.

So, yeah.

From Jim Stefani‘s Twitter feed:

JimStefaniLook for Devin Gardner to offically go public to Michigan in the next 10 days

That was Friday, so keep an eye out in the next few days. Gardner said he would be announcing as soon as basketball ended, and his team lost 63-56 to Patrick Lucas-Perry (yes, that Lucas-Perry)’s Flint Powers team over the weekend. Thus, the announcement should come any time now.

SoFlaFootball brings the recruiting fluff on FL QB Stephen Morris (he recently got his first offer, from FIU). Also, Morris’s junior highlights:

Stephen Morris from SoFLAfootball.com on Vimeo.

OH QB/Ath Spencer Ware has been selected to the Army AA game.

While we’re on the topic of QB recruits, FL QB Christian Green is favoring Florida State (this is not earth-shattering news, so much as common knowledge by this point. However, he does say that he wants to play in a spread offense. Conventional wisdom also has him wanting to play WR, not QB, at the next level.

After stating in no uncertain terms that Michigan would be getting an official visit from him, SC RB Marcus Lattimore has released a top 10 list, which does indeed include Michigan. It also includes Georgia, Florida State, LSU, Auburn, South Carolina, Clemson, Maryland, North Carolina, and Duke. He has also stated that his Michigan official will be for The Game on November 21.

OH WR commit Jerald Robinson has been named 2nd team all-state in basketball.

GA WR Tai-ler Jones, a teammate of QB target Blake Sims, has narrowed his list of potential choices to 7:

“I made a top seven. It’s Ohio State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Cal, UCLA, North Carolina and Stanford. I wanted to name a top five, but I just felt like I couldn’t decide which two to cut. So I decided on a top seven.”

No Michigan. With a decision coming by the end of April, the Wolverines don’t have much time to get back in on him, so he’s been removed from the board. Unclear whether this will have any effect on Michigan’s pursuit of Sims.

Added to the board because he’s been offered (info in header): NJ OL Jake Kaufman.

MN OL Seantrel Henderson still has to be considered a longshot for Michigan to land, but he “was especially impressed” with his unofficial visit last weekend.

Josh Helmholdt sees your fluff, and raises with more fluff, Mr. Webb. I’d still consider the Wolverines a heavy underdog to land MI DE William Gholston, but they’ve been able to make some progress in recruiting him. As Helmholdt says in the Free Press, he’s been on campus a lot lately, and has seemed to really like Greg Robinson, particularly the “spinner” position, which would fit his skill set perfectly. Gholston does not plan to make an early decision, which is probably good for Michigan. The longer he waits, the more opportunities he’ll have to visit Michigan’s campus, realize Mark Dantonio is a douchebag, see that 2008 was an aberration, not a trend, etc.

IL DE Chance Carter, long thought to be a Notre Dame lock anyway, has eliminated all but four schools from the running for his services: Notre Dame, Stanford, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. With an early commitment pending (he plans to decide by May), Michigan doesn’t have much of a shot to get into this one, and I’ve removed him from the board.

Sam Webb’s weekly recruiting column in the Detroit News focused on TX LB Caleb Lavey this time around (particularly, his dad’s having been an equipment manager in the 70s). Lavey, who recently visited Ann Arbor and enjoyed himself greatly, grew up a Michigan fan (pictured at left touring the Michigan locker room in 2002, at approximately 10 years old), and is carrying the Robert Tate Forcier Memorial Chilhood Michigan Fandom Picture torch for the class of 2010. With Michigan having offered few linebackers to this point, and Lavey one of them, I’d assume that he is one of their top LB prospects, and perhaps the one with whom they have the best chance this early in the process. He’s currently in the process of unofficially visiting just about every school in America, so don’t expect him to make a decision until the summer. For personal info on Caleb (including his schedule of visits), you can always check out his website.

Gholston photo by Matt Pargoff for the Detroit Free Press, Lavey photo from a family collection.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Per both premium sites, Michigan has received a commitment from RB Tony Drake out of Dallas’s powerhouse Skyline High School. Drake is a little guy (5-8, 160) and could end up at either RB or slot.

Recruiting Notes
Drake’s recruitment moved quickly, to say the least. Most Michigan fans hadn’t heard of him before today. However, Rich Rodriguez and company had, and after evaluating his film, they offered Drake, who accepted almost immediately.

Player Notes
As mentioned above, Drake is a little guy (listed anywhere between 5-6 and 5-9), and with his skill set and size, he could excel as either a quarkback or a slot receiver in the Michigan offense. His measurables call to mind Jeremy Gallon, though Gallon was more proven at the time of his commitment last year, having been a multi-year starter at QB for Apopka, whereas Drake has been on the bench for Skyline, behind James White (3* Iowa State commit in the class of 2009), and second-leading rusher QB Chris Frazier (a 2* who signed with SMU). He finished the year with 429 yards on 55 carries (7.8 ypc) and 3 touchdowns. Receiving, he had 7 receptions for 73 yards (10.4 ypc).

Etc.
Drake is a high school teammate of Scout/Rivals 4* LB Corey Nelson. Though he hasn’t shown the Wolverines much interest yet, Drake’s commitment might help them get their foot in the door with Nelson.

Video

Photo by Milton Hinnant of the Dallas Morning News.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Removed:
As predicted earlier this month, TX DE Reggie Wilson chose the Longhorns.
IL RB/WR Rayvonte Rice says he’ll give up football to focus on basketball. 

Added to the board with offers or interest:
SC S Brashaud Breeland (info obvious from header). 
FL CB Mark Deas (published by GBW).
A two-fer: GA DT Michael Thornton and TX QB Dylan Thompson are both hearing from the Wolverines.

From the same article: recruiting fluff on FL OL Brent Benedict, who holds a Michigan offer. It doesn’t appear he has any plans to make a spring visit to Ann Arbor.

From the Free Press, regarding Ohio prospects with interest in both Michigan and Michigan State (admittedly, a very specific set):

Latwan Anderson (Lakewood St. Edwards) is one of the top safety prospects in the nation for the class of 2010… Anderson is in the process of narrowing down his list and plans on having a final five. Two of the schools he says will definitely be on his final list are the Spartans and Wolverines.

Derrick Bryant (Columbus Brookhaven) lives in the shadow of Ohio State, but he may not end up in Scarlet and Gray… Bryant was offered early by Michigan and the Spartans recently followed suit. The Wolverines are seen as the team to beat at this point.

Defensive lineman Darryl Baldwin (Solon) is another big-time prospect that both the Spartans and Wolverines are after… The big obstacle with Baldwin will be the fact that unlike the above prospects, the Buckeyes have already offered him. The amount of recruits from Ohio that get an Ohio State offer and don’t end up playing for Jim Tressel can usually be counted on one hand.

So: Bad on Baldwin, Good on Bryant, Neutral-to-Good on Anderson.

This is slightly old news, despite my not having heard a word about it from any other source:

Northwestern is returning to the belly of the Big Ten’s beast to try and lure away another Columbus (OH) recruit. Rivals.com reports on how interior lineman, Travis Jackson, has put NU in his top five along with Stanford, Michigan, Vanderbilt and Cincinnati after visiting the Evanston campus for junior day recently.

I’ve honestly not heard of the guy, but if the Wolverines are in his top five without an offer, he may be a prospect down the road.

SC DE Brandon Willis wins state weightlifting championship.

Another day, another article on VA QB Phillip Sims that doesn’t mention the Wolverines. He’s close to being removed form the board.

OH LB Marcus Rush has named Michigan his leader (info in header).

The always-excellent Jim Stefani gives a look into Michigan’s early returns in the 2010 class, where things might go from here, and even a couple prospects to keep an eye on in future classes.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

The 2010 Recruiting Board lives here.

Removed:
FL OL Leon Orr. Committed to Florida.
VA OL Marquis Wallace. Committed to West Virginia.

THE MOST IMPORTANT RECRUIT IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD HAS SURFACED! A Louisiana QB named – I shit you not – Munchie Legaux has apparently been offered by Michigan. Landing him alone would likely make up for missing out on at least Pearlie Grave and DeQuinta Jones, though Barkevious Mingo will require more make-up work. LeGaux has been added to the recruiting board, in addition to our collective hearts.

Offered GA RB Mack Brown has released his first top 4, and the Wolverines are nowhere to be found on it: the list consists of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Oklahoma.

Bobby Petrino has risked turning off some of the top recruits in Arkansas, including very highly-rated running back Michael Dyer, by offering very few in-state prospects:

“We’re just wondering what’s wrong with the in-state kids, because obviously they do a good job on the out of state kids,” [Dyer] said. “It’s the people who live in Arkansas who are actually having a hard time getting recruited by Arkansas.”

Michigan is interested in Dyer, and though he was considered a lock to Arkansas early in the process, Petrino may end up losing out be cause of a perceived disrespect toward top Arkansas prospects.

SC QB Cornelius Jones won’t announce his decision until Signing Day, and (from the same article) SC DE Brandon Willis, a HS teammate of RB Marcus Lattimore, received a Michigan offer, and he plans to enroll early at the school of his choosing. Speaking of Lattimore, this article has a bit of good information on him. The highlight:

“I grew up a [South] Carolina and Florida State fan, but I don’t really think it will make an impact on my decision,” he said. “But I mainly pulled for Florida State when they had Chris Weinke and Peter Warrick.”

While his childhood preferences may not be a factor in his decision, Lattimore says there are three things that he will be very interested in looking at when evaluating each of his potential schools.

“First will be if the school has my major, which is sports administration or sports management, but probably the second one would be how comfortable I feel there with the players, coaches, and in that environment. Third would probably be the facilities,” said Lattimore.

Michigan’s Division of Kinesiology is among the best nationally for those majors. Lattimore also intends to trim his list of choices to 8 by summer. Considering he’s said Michigan is a lock to receive an official visit, I’d be surprised if they weren’t in the final 8.

FL OL Brent Benedict has received a Michigan offer.

MI DT Tremondae Branch is starting to see his recruitment pick up. Cliff notes:

“I just got home from Michigan’s Junior Day,” Branch stated. “I was really impressed. I had been there before because my older brother played football there, but it seemed like it was at another level. I know they changed the offense since then, but they didn’t change the tradition. It is a great program for anyone…

“But that’s why I’d rather play football in the South,” Branch continued. “Even though the northern schools have a lot of competition with big guys, I just think by playing in the South I’d have to work harder which would make me a better player and it would bring my game to a whole different level…

“Right now I‘m still wide-open to anyone because I do not have any offers yet,” Branch concluded. “I just want to play college football somewhere.”

I haven’t been able to figure out who his brother is. Captain Obvious would say “Alan Branch, obviously,” but I don’t think that’s the case, because Alan is from New Mexico. Does anybody know who Tremondae’s older brother is? Also: Durr idiotic SEC crowing.

Michigan offered MI DE CJ Olaniyan, and that (predictably) made them move up on his mental list of schools. He was at Junior Day last weekend. Following that, a pretty good fluff piece from Sam Webb in the Detroit News.

OH DE Marcus Rush wasn’t able to make it to Junior Day last weekend, but that didn’t stop the Wolverines from offering him (info in header) when he came later in the weekend to take in a spring practice.

AL DE Martaze Jackson was the MVP (“winner”) of the National Underclassmen Combine.

This is either the worst tease for an article ever, or Michigan HASN’T offered IL DE Louis Trinca-Pasat. I’m thinking it is indeed the worst tease ever, and he’s been offered. I won’t note it on the board yet, because I’m relying a little heavily on context clues here.

A little recruiting fluff on FL LB Jeff Luc:

Luc says no school is ahead of any other at this point. Academics and graduation rate are important factors to him, and he said he likely will wait until the fall to make his decision. He plans to major in accounting or engineering.

Michigan is obviously very strong in both of those fields (if they’ll let him major in what he wants, of course).

IL LB Rickey Simpson is hearing from Michigan.

And your “WTF?” news of the day: Toledo fans seem to think Devin Gardner was going to commit to their school before the coaching staff there was changed following 2008. Like, no. Dude, no. I would be surprised if the Rockets have ever landed a 4-star or 5-star prospect at all.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Don’t forget to check out all the information over time on the 2010 Recruiting Board.

Moved to Committed:
MI QB Devin Gardner. WOOOOO! The somewhat complicated story seems to be that he’s committed to Michigan, but won’t officially tell the media until his basketball season ends. So, he is committed, but the reason Rivals doesn’t list him on the commit list is his reluctance to give them an interview prior to the end of his hoops season.
OH Ath/WR DJ Williamson. More WOOOO!
OH LB Antonio Kinard. WOOOO round 3!

Removed:
FL RB Tiger Powell. Committed to South Florida.
TX CB Adrian White. Committed to Texas.

TX DE Reggie Wilson has set a decision timeline for himself: He’ll commit to a school before the end of the month. His “Final 3” consists of Texas, Oklahoma, and TCU, but I’ll leave him on the board a little longer, until there’s confirmation from another source (not that I’m doubting the credibility of BON, but best to hear it from the horse’s mouth).

FL QB Stephen Morris, one of the stars of Michigan’s 2008 summer camp, is making a name for himself. At least, there’s definitely a PR firm pumping out releases about him. Morris has also started to draw the attention of a familiar face to Michigan fans:

“I just received a couple of letters from Coach Loeffler, who is the new QB coach at Florida, and he really wants me to come up and visit. It’s funny how things turn out, he was the coach who first convinced me to come up to the University of Michigan for their football camp a couple of years ago – and we had a great time there.”

Funny how things turn out, indeed. From the sounds of it, he was more interested in Michigan than in Loeffler after his visit to Ann Arbor, but a coach with whom he’s established a relationship should certainly be considered a threat. There’s also relevant recruiting information in the article:

His list of top schools includes: (in alphabetical order) Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

The Florida attention is likely to shake that list up a bit.

TX LB Caleb Lavey is the #5 linebacker in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for the class of 2010. His measurables aren’t what’s keeping him that low, however: It’s the fact that he plays in a lower division against lesser competition.

Scouting report on MI RB Austin White. The “unsubstantiated rumor” that he committed to Michigan on Junior Day doesn’t exist, even in unsubstantiated form, anywhere other than this site to my knowledge. Let me know if I’m mistaken.

It might be in the best interest of FL LB Jeff Luc to get out of Miami, according to his brother. For the record, said brother went to Florida State, so this isn’t exactly an advocate for going to a school like Michigan.

FL RB Corvin Lamb has said it in no uncertain terms: he wants to go to Florida. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gave the Gators a commitment before the spring is over.

Ohio State and Michigan State, in that order, lead for OH DE Darryl Baldwin. Michigan was on him early in the process, so expect them to turn up the heat if they really want him.

For those who fear that FL S Marvin Robinson is no longer likely to end up in Ann Arbor, take heart: he recently named the Wolverines his #1 school. An early commitment still doesn’t look likely, but at least the Wolverines aren’t playing catch-up.

Michigan has offered OH OL Skyler Schofner, and also FL DE BJ Butler.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Ohio Linebacker Antonio Kinard, a 6-4 210lb player from Youngstown Liberty High School, has given his word to become a Michigan. Wolverine. Kinard actually committed Friday, but (free) news about his commitment didn’t come out until late yesterday. He can be considered either the 5th or 6th commitment in the class.

Recruiting Notes
Kinard’s interest in Michigan, and theirs in him, can be easily determined: He’s the younger teammate of 2009 Wolverine signees Fitzgerald Toussaint and Isaiah Bell. However, Michigan fans weren’t really aware of him until even later than that. When Varsity Blue scouted a Youngstown Liberty game in October, we were almost entirely unaware of Kinard, and didn’t focus any attention on him. We did notice a standout linebacker (though we thought at the time it was 2009 linebacker Julius Ferrell), which ended up being Kinard. The Michigan staff, of course, was more diligent in their scouting, and were able to offer Kinard in January. He didn’t take long to accept, giving Michigan his verbal pledge on Junior Day.

Player Notes
Kinard is a tall linebacker with good athleticism. Though we we were unaware of him as a prospect when we scouted the Liberty game (though he did bust a 50-plus yard touchdown from the fullback position), He, Bell, and Toussaint were by far the most physically impressive in terms of appearance. Much of Kinard’s responsibility in high school was playing the run and rushing the passer, so those are the areas in which he excels. However, with his quickness, he should be able to learn to play the pass very well in addition to the other two. He is still a small-ish guy, so he’ll need to add strength in order to play at the college level. He has a tall frame, and may even be able to add enough weight to play a hybrid OLB/DE position, known as the “spinner” in Greg Robinson’s schemes.

Video

Courtesy of Scouting Ohio.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Ohio WR/Athlete DJ Williamson has pledged his word to sign with the Michigan Wolverines in the Class of 2010. Williamson, who hails from Warren Harding High School (the alma mater of Mario Manningham, among other former Wolverines), measures in at 6-1, 172lbs, and has been clocked in the 4.4 range in the 40-yard dash.

Recruiting Notes
Though Warren Harding High School is constantly fighting the reputation that its players and coaches hate Ohio State, there’s no denying that they may have a certain affinity for Michigan. Thanks to successful Wolverines who have hailed from Warren, like Carl Diggs, Prescott Burgess, and Mario Manningham, DJ Williamson was one of those Michigan Wolverines fans. When Rich Rodriguez sent word to Harding High just over a week ago that he was interested in offering DJ, it was a dream come true. However, a commitment didn’t come immediately. First, Williamson made his way up to Ann Arbor for the Michigan Junior Day, where he met with the coaches, and decided that he did indeed want to wear the winged helmet. He became the 4th commitment in Michigan’s class of 2010.

Player Notes
Though Michigan fans may say “ANOTHER receiver?!?,” my inner Lee Corso says “Not So Fast, My Friend.” Like fellow Ohioan Jerald Robinson, Williamson is a very versatile player. He has the skill set to play either on the outside or in the slot, and could even find an eventual home on the defensive side of the ball. Combine that with the fact that Jeremy Jackson may have the potential to move to pass-catching tight end down the road, and the logjam doesn’t look quite so bad. Williamson has very good change of direction skills, nice speed (10.82 100m), and good height (though he’ll likely need to add some bulk to be ready to play at the next level). He also has the ability to be a good return man in the near future.

Video

Courtesy of ScoutingOhio.com

Posted under Football, Recruiting

According to Rivals and Scout, Devin Gardner, a dual-threat quarterback from the class of 2010, has pledged his word to become a Michigan Wolverine. Gardner hails from Inkster High School, and measures 6-4, 200, with a 4.50 second 40-yard dash.

Recruiting Notes
Gardner appeared on Michigan fans’ radar in the summer of 2008, when he transferred from UD Jesuit to Inkster. He performed at Michigan’s 2008 summer camp as both a quarterback and a wide receiver. The staff liked him at both positions, and offered him as a QB shortly after the Rich Rodriguez 7-on-7 competition. Though Gardner had grown up a Buckeyes fan, he remained open to any school that gave him interest. Give them interest he did, as schools from LSU to Michigan to West Virginia mailed the dual-threat QB official offers. When the Buckeyes told him he wasn’t their top choice in January, he abruptly removed Ohio State from his list, and many speculated that Michigan would take over the top spot. Gardner made his meta-announcement early last week shortly before he took an unofficial to Michigan’s Day.  his actual announcement came today, when he picked out the maize-and-blue hat.

Player Notes
Gardner is a big mobile QB in the Vince Young/Terrelle Pryor mold. In fact, he is often described as “The (Vince Young OR Terrelle Pryor) of the Class of 2010.” He runs like a deer, and has exceptionally quick feet, which he uses to escape pursuers. His throwing mechanics need a lot of work, as he has a low/sidearm release, much like that of Vince Young. Through all  his current shortcomings as a player, it is important to remember that he is only a high school Junior, and it will be at least a year and a half before he hits FieldTurf: he has plenty of time to work on them (and poor mechanics didn’t seem to hurt Vince Young that much, either). On top of the tangible skills that can be quantified or easily observed, many talent evaluators have branded him with having that indescribable “it factor.” In his junior season, Devin threw for 1,886 yards, 28 touchdowns (several of them to class of ’09 Michigan commit Cameron Gordon), and 7 interceptions. He ran for 1,401 yards and 22 touchdowns. As previously mentioned, he is a bit raw, but will receive plenty of coaching when he gets to Ann Arbor. Gardner will likely be the more highly-rated quarterback in Michigan’s class of 2010, so he will likely hit the field as a freshman.

Video
Hey! A Varsity Blue original!

Posted under Football, Recruiting