The Boards: 2009 & 2010

2009 MI WR Cameron Gordon has received his offer (Sam Webb audio). I personally would like to see him end up in Ann Arbor, though Iowa should provide tough competition.

2009 NC OL Travis Bond has been added to the North Carolina squad for the Shrine Bowl.

How’s this for a non-update from 2009 FL DB Angelo Hadley? His top 4 remains unchanged, and he will visit Michigan in January.

As has been the case for some time now, Hadley, whom Rivals.com rates as a three-star prospect, is still considering four schools: Florida, Georgia, Michigan and North Carolina… Hadley has taken an official visit to UNC and will trip to Michigan in January.

Among his favorites, Florida has not offered, and he can’t set up an official until they do.

Class of 2009 visitors this weekend, courtesy of the Free Press and Sam Webb (audio):
December 6th:
Thomas Gordon
Teric Jones
Isaiah Bell
Fitzgerald Toussaint
Justin Turner
MI DT William Campbell
FL (via a JC in Mississippi) DE Pernell McPhee. The former Pahokee Blue Devil is a Mississippi State commit.
GA WR Jamal Patterson (Stanford commit).
PA WR Je’Ron Stokes (Tennessee commit). Canceled per Webb.

A bevy of information from the Chicago Sun-Times on 2010 prospects:

Loyola defensive end Chance Carter is giving up basketball to concentrate on football… To live up to his enormous potential, he must dedicate himself to football.

C.J. Fiedorowicz of Johnsburgh, a 6-7, 240-pounder with 4.5 speed, is a high-bred tight end in high school. That will be his position in college.

Christian Lombard of Fremd, at 6-6 and 285-pounds, is one of the best offensive linemen in the country. Colleges came in to evaluate him in the fall and bragged about him. He has great feet, is fundamentally sound, very mobile and makes few mistakes. He was offered by Iowa as a freshman. At last count, he had 29 offers.

Michigan is among those offers. He is one of the top OL targets in the 2010 class.

2010 OH LB Scott McVey seems to be blowing up a bit:

McVey certainly was among the best players on display during Ohio’s showcase weekend of six state finals. His was the grand finale.

McVey was in on six sacks – four of them solo sacks – and hounded Elder quarterback Mark Miller on numerous other plays. He was credited with eight total tackles, but the numbers do not begin to tell the story of the 6-1, 220-pounder from South Euclid who spends his spring running over hurdles instead of through linemen.

His stock is on the rise. Might he be able to garner an offer soon? He now has one from the Buckeyes (info in header).

Removed:
2009 GA LB Devekeyan Lattimore. He has a final 3 sans Michigan (info in header).
2009 GA S/QB Donavan Tate. Commits to North Carolina.

Posted under Football

The Board

New Information
MD RB Tavon Austin. Will visit North Carolina this weekend, then decide between the Tarheels and UM. Considering he never visited Ann Arbor…
FL Slot commit Jeremy Gallon. Selected to the Army AA bowl, and named the district player of the year.
SC OL Quinton Washington. Selected to the Shrine Bowl.
IL OL Commit Michael Schofield. Der uberfluff.
SC DE Sam Montgomery. Selected to the Shrine Bowl.
MD LB Jelani Jenkins. Fluff.
SC S Devonte Holloman. Choosing between Clemson and Michigan for 5th official.
FL S Angelo Hadley. Deciding whether to visit Michigan with Mywan Jackson or not.
FL CB Mywan Jackson. Recently suspended for disciplinary purposes. Bad boy.

Removed:
Travis Hawkins. Maryland commit.

Etc.
Freep fluff on recruiting teammates. Sam Webb in the News about which recruits fans probably don’t have to worry about.

Analysis
Austin will be off the board soon, though that’s no surprise considering he suddenly cancelled a Michigan visit early this year. It’s sounding more like Michigan probably won’t have a chance with Devonte Holloman. They’ll get a shot at Mywan Jackson, though it sounds like Angelo Hadley isn’t all that interested in Michigan (however, see the Freep article about recruiting teammates).

Posted under Football

Board.

Moved from Committed:
TX K Anthony Fera. He’s headed to Penn State now.

Added:
OH CB Mike Edwards. He now has an offer (info in header).
FL K Brendan Gibbons. Probably Michigan’s #1 kicking target now.

New Information:
GA QB/S Donavan Tate. He now say’s he’ll go to college regardless of where he gets drafted by the MLB. Southern Cal, UNC, Bama, Michigan, and Georgia comprise his current top 5.
MI DT William Campbell. Michigan’s top remaining target for 2009.
SC S Devonte Holloman. His teammate (and former UM target) Stephon Gilmore has now committed to South Carolina. Might that help convince Holloman to commit there?
NC OL Travis Bond. He’ll be in this weekend (info in header).
FL CB Angelo Hadley. Michigan is in his top 4 (info in header).

Removed:
OK CB Gabe Lynn. Down to a final 5 that does not include Michigan.
TX K Anthony Fera. Penn State commit.
IL DE Craig Drummond. He’ll pick between Illinois and Wisconsin.

Etc.:
FL WR Willie Haulstead is not on the board because he’s a Florida State commit, but he will be in for the MSU game this weekend.
The Freep weighs in on many of the guys who will be around. Sam Webb does the same in the Detroit News.

Analysis:
Fera’s loss is sad, and I would love to have him, but it appears as though he has moved on, and Brendan Gibbons is now the kicker du jour for Michigan.
Columbus Dispatch article in which MI TE Reid Fragel disses Michigan’s instate recruiting effort. Gee, an OSU commit trying to badmouth Michigan, I’m so surprised. Much ado about nothing.

Posted under Football

The Board lives here. Going against the requests of commenters, I’m going to split up 2009 and 2010 updates for now. I think the main fear was that I would be giving less information as a result, but I think it will allow me to give more information on each class.

New Information:
MD RB Tavon Austin. Sets the state rushing record.
MN WR Commit Bryce McNeal. Planning to take visits elsewhere. This includes Florida (info in headers). His commitment appears to be soft, so keep an eye on him.
OH OL Marcus Hall. Selected for the Army Game. Michigan is likely on the outside looking in at his recruitment, however.
MD DE Jason Ankrah. Enjoyed Michigan visit.
MD LB Jelani Jenkins. Fluff relating to the ESPN2 game last week.
GA S/QB Donavan Tate. Plans on officially visiting Michigan. Odds of his choosing football over baseball are still pretty slim.
MD CB Travis Hawkins. Standard post-visit positivity towards Michigan (info in header). Similar vibes here (link same as above).
FL CB Angelo Hadley. Michigan is in his final four.

Removed:
VA DE Will Hill. He is down to a final group that does not include Michigan, after canceling a UM visit last weekend.

Etc.:
Is that a potential walk-on I’m sensing?

Analysis:
Very Maryland-centric update today. Hawkins and Ankrah both seemed to really dig the Ann Arbor experience. Bryce McNeal’s softening of commit status is somewhat troubling, though I still expect that he ends up in blue.

Posted under Recruiting

The Board misses you. You should really visit every once in a while.

New Information:
FL RB Vincent Smith. His decision will be between Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Tennessee. Things still lookin’ good.
OH OL Marcus Hall. Preseason O-line MVP of his league.
SC OL Quinton Washington. A top 10 player in the lowcountry. Whatever the lowcountry is.
PA LB Dan Mason. Fluff.
AL CB Dre Kirkpatrick. It will be a surprise for him to end up anywhere other than Bama, especially with all the time he spends on their campus.
FL CB Angelo Hadley. He has a top/final 5 (Mich, Aub, Fla, UNC, UGa). And fluff is written about him.

Removed:
UT OL Xavier Sua’filo. After expressing early interest in Michigan, there has been no sign that he is still looking at the Wolverines.
WA DT Deandre Coleman. Washington commit.
AZ DE Corey Adams. It seems like he is down to OSU and a couple west coast schools. There hasn’t been any Michigan mention in a while.
PA DE/DT Tyrone Ezell. Pitt commit.
MI DE Justice Akuezue. CMU commit.
CA LB John Michael Davis. Same situation as Xavier Sua’Filo. No mutual interest == removal.
MI S Brock Reynolds. I hear almost nothing about this guy, much less articles about his Michigan interest.
OH CB Tony Graham. Same situation as Brock Reynolds.

Etc.:
The Free Press explores the situation with Michigan’s scholarship numbers for the 2009 class. The ESPN high school football TV schedule is different every time I look, but here is the most updated master list of games. Note that the Pahokee-Olive Branch game is not there. There is no kickers section on the recruiting board, but TX PK Anthony Fera has been offered (info in header). When I pulled guys off the list for lack of mutual interest, top players got a little more benefit of the doubt in staying on the board. Jamaal Berry is now the guy teetering on the edge, since he continues to list Michigan despite being all but committed to the Buckeyes.

Posted under Recruiting

The Board is here.

Moved to Committed:
FL S Mike Jones. Also, he apparently plans to enroll early.

New Information:
MI QB/S Thomas Gordon. Fluff from the News.
MD RB Tavon Austin. He plans to take an official to Michigan.
MD OL Brennan Williams. Selected for the Army Game.
OH OL Marcus Hall. Michigan is in his top 5 (audio).
GA LB Devekaeyan Lattimore. Wants to take a Michigan visit.
MD LB Jelani Jenkins. Fluff with a Michigan mention.
FL CB Angelo Hadley. Michigan in his top 7.

Removed:
FL CB Brandon McGee. He is deciding soon, and Michigan doesn’t appear on his favorites list.

Etc.:
Fluff on TX QB commit Shavodrick Beaver.

Posted under Recruiting

The board.

Added
FL LB Brandon Hawthorne. Michigan in his top two with USF (info in header).
SC S David Sims. Offered.
SC S DJ Swearinger. He has a Michigan offer.
FL CB Angelo Hadley. Offer.

New Information
SC DE Chris Bonds. Recruiting fluff with mention that one of his officials will be to Michigan.
OH OL Chris Freeman. WVU-tinted recruiting fluff.
AZ DE Craig Roh. Plans a summer visit to Michigan.
AL DB Dre Kirkpatrick. Plans to take a visit to Michigan.
NC WR Jheranie Boyd. Michigan is in his top 15.
FL OL Nick Alajajian. He plans to make a summer decision without taking a visit to Michigan. Things don’t look so good here.
SC OL Quinton Washington. Michigan doesn’t make his top 5, but is just barely on the outside.
MD Slot Tavon Austin. Georgia has distinguished itself in his recruitment by offering him as a slot. Michigan has done the same (most other schools want him to play RB), but does not garner special mention.

Removed
TN OL Alex Bullard. Notre Dame commit.

Analysis
Alex Bullard isn’t a huge loss, mostly because it was expected. It may also indirectly help out with Chris Watt (whom I believe UM covets more than Bullard) by making the Irish less appealing to him.

Posted under Recruiting