Moved to committed: MI RB Austin White, who announced for the Wolverines yesterday. Commitment post. Sam Webb had an interview with Austin on WTKA.

SC QB Commit Cornelius Jones has been shining on the 7-on-7 circuit:

“Conelius [sic] made some phenomenal throws,” Brown said. “Defensively, Coach (Mark) Razzano made some good calls in tight situations, and the kids made some big plays with games on the line.”

The Spartanburg team finished second to Byrnes, the powerhouse school with such Division-1 prospects as Marcus Lattimore, Nick Jones, Brandon Willis, and others. Local news provided a bit of video:

Hopefully, the success for the 7-on-7 team bodes well for Spartanburg’s season (though the vikings finished second to Byrnes last summer as well, and still only managed 5 victories in the fall), and eventually Jones’s ability to move up in the rankings. By the way – there seems to be mounting evidence that there’s no “r” in Jones’s first name.

Speaking of studly QB commits, MI QB Devin Gardner has been named to the Elite 11 camp. Gardner headlines the list of 3(!) players from the Great Lakes State participating, joining MSU’s Joe Boisture and PSU’s Robert Bolden.

Removed TX QB Aaron Johnson, as his favorites are OU, TCU, and Houston. It doesn’t appear Michigan is interested, and he clearly wants to stay closer to home.

Removed AL QB Trett Hardman. He’s listed as a pro-style QB by the recruiting services, and I’m really stretching for reasons to get some of these guys off the board who quite obviously aren’t going to end up in Blue.

Super fluff on LA Slot Commit Drew Dileo. Highlights:

“Of all the coaches that came through,” Parkview assistant David Simoneaux said, “Michigan was the most aggressive. They said they just had to have him.”

This likely means that Michigan’s coaches see something in Dileo that the recruiting sites may not. That would continue a trend of the Wolverines’coaching staff valuing different things than Rivals and Scout, leading to possibly underrated class rankings.

Slot receivers in a spread offense are usually matched against linebackers or safeties. They receive the ball in a variety of ways, including handoffs and lateral passes.

In their evaluation of Dileo, Michigan’s coaches saw the perfect fit.

They saw a tough player with sure hands who could make catches over the middle. They saw a versatile, explosive player who could make defenders miss, as a runner or receiver.

“He ([RB coach Fred] Jackson) told us Drew reminds them of Wes Welker,” Simoneaux said.

Brief scouting reort that is basically what we’ve come to expect from these guys. For added fun, insert “white” prior to every use of the word “player!” Also, obligatory white-slot-to-Wes-Welker comparison.

“I know my profile isn’t as great as a lot of other kids’ around the country,” he said. “I know (Michigan) reached out there a little bit to get me. It’s not about proving anybody wrong. I just don’t want people up there to feel like I wasted a scholarship.”

That’s a pretty tame quote, considering the context. I’d much rather have him say something along the lines of “It’s not about proving anybody wrong, it’s about kicking ass and taking names.” There’s also mention that Dileo has always worn #3, which Justin Feagin currently rocks for Michigan.

Removed PA WR Alex Kenney, who committed to Penn State.

MN OL Seantrel Henderson doesn’t have a visit to Michigan in his plans. The recruitment of Henderson is starting to get weird, as there is alternating “Michigan and USC lead” talk interspersed with “Michigan is in his top 10, but not any higher than that”-type speak. Henderson has already visited Ann Arbor once, so perhaps he’s using the officials as a way to see places he’s never been? As a side note, Seantrel himself has said he’s no longer interested in Notre Dame, but his father says they’re right near the top. Maybe his dad just isn’t attuned to the evolving list of favorites.

Removed OH OL Andrew Donnal, who will become a Hawkeye.

In the ongoing search for at least one defensive tackle in this class, GA DT Michael Thornton will give the Michigan coaches a chance to woo him. Thornton plans to officially visit Michigan sometime this fall (info in header).

Removed OH DT Josh Davis, who committed to Purdue.

Removed CA DE Ronald Powell, who will pick between USC and Florida sometime in January.

Removed SC DE Dexter Morant, who committed to Georgia.

Fluff on FL LB Jeff Luc, who has only recently started lifting weights. Stats:

Luc registered 119 tackles, nine sacks, two interceptions, five forced fumbles and had four pass break-ups in 2008.

He says location does not matter in his college choice, and is in no hurry to make a decision – though he does plan to enroll in January.

Removed TX LB Corey Nelson. He briefly had Michigan as a leader, then said he would visit Ann Arbor despite not having the Wolverines in his top 5, but now the teammate of RB Commit Tony Drake has committed to Texas A&M. If he continues talking about taking visits to school’s he’s not interested in, Nelson may be able to find his way back onto the list.

OH S Latwan Anderson has Michigan State and West Virginia in his top 2. Michigan is not far behind, but it seems as though the Mountaineers are a pretty heavy favorite. Might a year of PAIN under inept headman Bill Stewart sour him on Morgantown?

ESPN’s Bill Kurelic predicts that Michigan will land both PA S Brandon Ifill and PA CB/S Cullen Christian, teammates at Penn Hills High. Christian has been an assumed Michigan lock for quite some time, and Ifill has had Michigan near the top of his list, though perhaps not in the leader’s position. Ifill will visit Ann Arbor at the end of this month, and if he enjoys himself, it’s conceivable that he could verbal to Michigan.

FL CB Spencer Boyd is deciding Friday between Notre Dame, Michigan, and Georgia. He hasn’t been at the forefront of Michigan’s recruiting effort lately, so expect him to pick one of the other options (I believe Notre Dame is the leader). Looks like things are heading towards a removal from the board in the next update.

Posted under Football

2010 Michigan Recruiting Board.

PA QB Malik Stokes (younger brother of 2009 signee Je’Ron Stokes) visited Michigan for summer camp, and though he didn’t leave with an offer, picked one up from the Chippewas when he continued to the CMU camp. Central coach Butch Jones is a former RR assistant, and if Stokes ends up selecting the Chippewas, both brothers will be in the state of Michigan together. Malik also has said that the Michigan staff will keep him in mind in case something happens with either of the existing commits.

Removed FL RB Roy Finch, who committed to Oklahoma. It will be interesting to see if this might have an effect on CA RB Brennan Clay, who is also committed to the Sooners. Obviously, Oklahoma has room for 2 running backs in the class, but Clay might be slightly turned off by another prospect (and a similar one at that) at the same position. Clay’s Michigan ties to QB Tate Forcier may give the Wolverines chance to get back in the sweepstakes for his services.

FL WR Quinton Dunbar plans to take one of his officials to Ann Arbor. He also intends to visit West Virginia, Tennessee, and Florida. He won’t make a comitment to any school until National Signing Day. (Photo courtesy of SoFlaFootball).

Be ready to remove PA WR Alex Kenney. ThaRinger.com reports on what is perhaps the least aesthetically-appealing website in history that Kenney will likely commit to Penn State early this week. This is not all that surprising, since Kenney is from State College and his parents reportedly work at PSU.

SC WR/DB Nick Jones visited South Carolina over the weekend along with his high school teammate, RB Marcus Lattimore. While Lattimore is likely long-gone for the Wolverines, Jones continues to list Michigan among his favorites.

MN OL Seantrel Henderson visits both South Carolina schools, and doesn’t mention Michigan among his “offers that stand out” to Phil Kornblut.

Recruiting fluff on NY DE Dominique Easley. The Wolverines are on his offer list, but he didn’t offer up anything else about Michigan in the article. Easley, who plans to trim his current list of schools down to 5 or 6 by the end of the summer, is pictured at right.

MD LB Josh Furman will take one last visit this summer, to Michigan (info in header). He’s already been to a few other schools, but Ann Arbor is the only visit he plans to take before his football season starts back up.

Georgia has secured a commitment from a teammate of FL LB Jeff Luc. LB Deon Rogers had mostly MAC-level offers… and Georgia saw fit to offer him and accept a commitment. This is likely only relevant to Michigan because of how it might affect the Luc recruitment. Even that has seemed to hit the back-burner lately, as Luc news hasn’t been flowing as freely as it was earlier in the spring. Michigan is expected to be one of Luc’s officials, and getting a top-ranked prospect on campus always gives the team a chance to land them.

OH LB Jordan Hicks has trimmed his list to 6, and Michigan is not among them. It was never particularly likely that the Wolverines would get into his recruitment, since he seemed to favor Ohio State, Texas, and USC very strongly from the start. I’ll leave him on the board for now, since his teammate, TE Alex Smith, seems to have a pretty strong interest in Michigan (Duane Long ruminates on his likelihood of getting a Buckeye offer, as well). However, don’t expect Michigan to have a great chance at Hicks.

Removed FL LB Javarie Johnson, who committed to Miami of Florida over the weekend.

MD S Lorenzo Waters has received a Miami of Florida offer. At this time, he appears to be favoring Wake Forest, Michigan, and the Hurricanes.

Removed GA S Alec Ogletree, who committed to Georgia.

Removed FL CB Lorenza Wood, who, as predicted, committed to Notre Dame on Friday.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Pushed back a day because I didn’t have internet available over Memorial Day weekend. I’ve also fallen behind in actually updating the board, so look for that to be rectified in the coming days.

2010 Michigan Recruiting Board.

TN QB Barry Brunetti is focused on Penn State, West Virginia, and Mississippi State. He’s a little further down Michigan’s QB board, as the Wolverines haven’t offered yet. However, if Michigan’s other options start falling through, he could be an option down the road – if he doesn’t make a decision before that point.

FL QB Jeffrey Godfrey is taking an extra courseload so he can enroll early at the school of his choice.

OK QB/WR DeMarco Cobbs has a top 10 list, and Michigan is not on it. He says it’s not firm quite yet, so I won’t remove him from the board, but he’s teetering pretty close to removal. He has stated he wants to play WR in college, so Michigan’s opportunity at QB is probably not a huge draw for him.

Absolutely non-informative recruiting fluff about AR RB Michael Dyer. When the entire article is simply asking questions like “What are the chances this five-star recruit will be lined up behind Tyler Wilson or Ryan Mallet for the Arkansas Razorbacks?,” you just don’t have enough material to write an article, dude. The least you can do is include a scouting report or an interview with the kid.

LA Slot Trovon Reed is starting to plan out his summer visits – and Michigan isn’t on the list at this point (Florida, USC, LSU, and Oregon are). With Drew Dileo and Tony Drake already committed, have the Wolverines missed out on their opportunity to land a top-flight slot like Reed? I’ve discussed this recruiting method recently, and though there’s no indication the Wolverines would have been a major player for Trovon, it certainly doesn’t help that there’s apparently no room for him. Reed is part of the planned mega-package including TX RB Lache Seastrunk, and not having any spots available for superstar prospects may be a troubling sign for this class. Speaking of Seastrunk, he performed well in his high school’s spring game.

Speaking of top-flight running backs, SC RB Marcus Lattimore has definitely backed off his claim that Michigan was definitely in his top 5. His current top five consists of Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, North Carolina, and Penn State (in order). No word on whether he still plans to take an official visit to Michigan for the Ohio State game in November.

Tennessee-tilted fluff on FL OL Torrian Wilson. It’s odd that they mention Michigan as “among his top schools” when he’s said in no uncertain terms to national recruiting reporters that Michigan is certainly his #1 school, but whatever. Wilson plans to visit some of the schools he’s interested in this summer (he already visited Michigan for the spring game), and he might be making an early decision.

Michigan has been in contact with FL OL Perry Meiklejohn, according to Phil Kornblut. Though the Wolverines haven’t offered yet, he may be somebody to watch down the road. Also interesting from that article: read from the top, regarding how coaches can affect the star rankings of certain prospects. I wouldn’t say it’s evidence to completely ignore star ratings, but it’s definitely enough (alon gwith other factors) to prompt me to take them with a grain of salt.

PA DT Sharrif Floyd is now hearing from the SEC. He’s tied for 4th among defensive tackles to Rivals. In a down year for talent at the position, and a year of major need for the Wolverines at said position, Floyd is probably one of their top targets along the defensive line.

Speaking of needs at DT, there’s a decent in-state prospect in Jonathan Hankins. This fluff article is (understandably) State-slanted, and it sounds as though both Michigan and Michigan State are planning to offer if he has good performances at their respective summer camps. one thing to keep in mind: he’s a teammate of 5-star OLB prospect William Gholston, and according to the article, the two are pretty good friends. Gholston will attend the Big House BBQ (info in header).

Fluff with video on FL DE/DT Corey Lemonier. His current top-4-ish substance does not include Michigan, and it seems that they aren’t heavily pursuing Corey at all. He does list early playing time as one of the key factors in his decision.

Quick scouting report on NY DE Dominique Easley, who holds a Michigan offer.

FL LB Christian Jones continues to assert that he is not a Florida State lock (though that may be lip service to some of the other schools recruiting him). What I hadn’t previously realized about him: his team last year was terrible. It’s certainly not a reason to not recruit a talented kid, but there is certainly a school of thought out there that recruiting players from programs that are successful year after year (Muskegon, Massillon Washington, Pahokee, Miami Northwestern) brings in players who are ready to win, and used to winning. It also means it’s more likely that there are players from the school in future classes for establishing pipelines.

OH LB/S Kurtis Drummond, a high school teammate of RB prospect Andre Givens, is planning to make a visit to Michigan for the Big House BBQ (info in header). I’ve added him to the board.

FL S/CB Lamarcus Joyner hasn’t mentioned Michigan at all lately, and it seems as though he’s narrowed down his list of possibilities to Ohio State, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Tennessee, and USC. One more article indicating a narrowed focus should be enough to completely remove him from the board.

Springtime means track updates!

OH WR/DB commit DJ Williamson excels on the track, not that the Youngstown Vindicator finds us worthy of knowing the actual times:

Deaver Williamson topped the field in both the 100 and 200…

The Raiders’ 4×100 and 4×200 (meet record) relays had the top times and featured Logan, Seawood, Threats and Williamson — the same group that competed at the prestigious Penn Relays earlier this season.

“We did what we expected to do today,” said Williamson. “The heat and the wind and having the back-to-back races made it tough, but we just kept our minds straight and had a good attitude for our races.

“We really want to win state in the 4×100 this year. It was really crazy at Penn, running against the Jamaicans and I think we surprised ourselves a little bit [fourth in the big school division]. We’ll have some good competition next week, so we need to keep our No. 1 spot.”

PA Slot Receiver Alex Kenney logs a 10.67 100m time. He also plans to commit before his senior season – and embraces rastafari ideals… uh… maybe he’ll fit in well at Penn State?

CA S/WR Robert Woods runs a 47.31 and 21.43 in the 400 and 200m, respectively.

2009 OH RB Commit Fitzgerald Toussaint wins the 100m and 4×100, and comes in second in the 200m – all on a hurt wheel. The 100m time was a 10.96, despite the injured hamstring.

The Wolverines have added another class of 2009 walkon, Joe Reynolds from Rochester Adams. Reynolds will attend Michigan on track scholarship, but has also been invited to participate as a wide receiver for the football team. He caught passes for 700 yards and 9 touchdowns as a senior at Adams.

Removals…

OH TE Alex Welch commits to Notre Dame.

CA OL Matthew Jakubiec commits to Arizona.

FL CB Derek Owens has reiterated that he will be a package deal with his teammate and friend, WR Marquel Wade. Considering Michigan is in pretty good shape with a number of DBs (including fellow Floridian Rashad Knight), and they are certainly not in the market for more WRs except for maybe top-flight guys who can play multiple positions, I’ve made the executive decision that both Owens and Wade are removed from the board.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

The Board.

Added:
GA Slot Justin Lord. ESPN reports Michigan is pursuing him.
OH LB Anthony Gibson. Michigan after the Trotwood-Madison prospect.

New Information:
MI RB Austin White. Fluff.
PA WR Alex Kenney. Notre Dame is pursuing him. Penn State has to be the favorite though.
FL WR/Slot Chris Dunkley. Scouting report and another from SoFlaFootball.
FL Slot De’Joshua Johnson. Offered. And a SoFlaFootball scouting report.
OH DT Josh Davis. Honorable mention all-conference.
SC DE/OT Dexter Morant. Recruiting-y fluff.
MI DE William Gholston. Sam Webb in the Detroit News fluff.
FL CB Lorenza Wood. More video added.
SC CB DeAndre Hopkins. Fluff.

Analysis:
De’Joshua Johnson appears to be the first true slot offered by Michigan in the 2010 class. Obviously, there is the Pahokee connection there.

Posted under Football