As always, the board.

Moved to Committed:
NJ DE Anthony LaLota. Woo! A defensive end!

Added:
FL LB Mike Marry. Michigan shall make his next cut (info in header).

New Information:
OK RB David Oku. Never mind about deciding this week: he has delayed his announcement yet again.
FL QB Denard Robinson. Still feelin’ Michigan (info in header) despite the multiple QB commits.
SC OL Quinton Washington. Official visit for Wisconsin game, and Michigan looks surprisingly strong in his recruitiment (Sam Webb audio).
AZ DE Craig Roh. Sam Webb thinks he’ll end up at Michigan, unless Rick Neuheisel is particularly slimy (audio).
SC DE Sam Montgomery. Has decided which 5 schools to visit, including Michigan.
MI S Thomas Gordon. Announcing in a couple weeks, and MIchigan looks good (audio same as above).

Etc.:
2008 MI DE Nick Perry qualified on time, and is now at USC. It was thought that if he failed t qualify, Michigan might be back in the picture for him.
2008 NJ LB Marcus Witherspoon ended up at Rutgers, where he will be eligible to play this year.
FL DB Corey Addison. He is thinking about an official visit to Michigan. His commitment to SoCar will leave him off the board for now, but keep him in mind.

Analysis:
Michigan finally grabs a defensive end. If they can grab Craig Roh, a huge weakness will be accounted for at the position.

As of now, I expect to see Roh, Will Campbell, Thomas Gordon, and maybe another guy or two to finish out the class.

Posted under Recruiting

Princeton, NJ prospect Anthony LaLota has pledged his intentions to become a Michigan Wolverine. LaLota, who attends The Hun School, stands 6-5, 260, and runs a very respectable 4.65-second 40-yard dash. Anthony is the 17th commitment in the class of 2009, and the #1 player in the state of New Jersey.

Recruiting Notes
Early in the process, Notre Dame was thought to be the prohibitive favorite for a verbal commitment from LaLota. With their three New Jersey commitments (including one from LaLota’s high school teammate Tyler Stockton), and nothing but effusive praise for the Irish from LaLota, it seemed his recruitment could have come to an end as early as June. Michigan’s offer came in June, and the Wolverines seemed to be an also-ran for LaLota’s services. Near the end of July, LaLota narrowed his impressive list of suitors to seven, and the Wolverines made the cut, though they were still considered an underdog. Late in August, Sam Webb reported on WTKA that LaLota’s decision would not be coming early, and that perhaps Michigan was stronger with Anthony than had previously been known, especially after the unofficial visit he had taken the previous weekend. LaLota also tentatively scheduled an official visit for the Wisconsin game. Then, this week, LaLota’s recruitment came to a head. Michigan and Penn State emerged as his rumored top 2, with other sources reporting that he would either pick a Big East/ACC school or Michigan. When he scheduled his announcement for Friday night at 8, Michigan fans were cautiously optimistic that he would don a block-M cap. LaLota did indeed pick Michigan, and is the 17th commitment in the class.

Player Notes
LaLota is something of an oddity, in that early on, both recruiting services ranked him at offensive tackle, and both gave him five stars. Despite this ranking, LaLota insisted that nearly every school recruiting him wated him as a defensive end. Eventually, Rivals wised up and switched his position, dropping him to four stars in the process. Scout maintains that he is an offensive tackle, and they still give him five stars (and a #3 position ranking) as an offensive lineman. Rodriguez and company recruited LaLota at end, and that will likely be his final college destination. As a strongside defensive end, LaLota is more of a run-stuffer than elite pass-rusher. However, he is not particularly polished, and will likely add some finesse moves to his repertoire in college. One exciting thing about LaLota is that his game is all based on physical talent at this time. He has only been playing football for a couple years, and is loaded with potential upside.

Request
If anyone can digitize the CSTV announcement by LaLota, e-mail me and we’ll get it up on VB.

Posted under Recruiting

All information (past and present) lives on the board.

New Information:
VA QB Kevin Newsome. Still nominally considering Michigan, though Forcier’s commitment pretty much shuts the door on the Wolverines re-landing him. More on Newsome: Michigan isn’t one of the 3 locks to make his top 5.
OK RB David Oku. Spoke less-than-effusively about his Louisville visit. This is recruiting-speak for “I couldn’t have hated it more.” However, he rescheduled his announcement for next Wednesday. Without having visited Michigan, the Wolverines’ chances seem pretty low.
GA TE Terrell Mitchell. Michigan is still on him.
MI DT William Campbell. Some more information on his decommitment, including that he plans to enroll early wherever he chooses. Re-recruitment article from the Freep. Sam Webb discusses Campbell in the Detroit News. Quoth the mother:

“He’s still basically committed to U-M, but I said there is nothing wrong with going to visit a few schools. There is nothing wrong with that.”

This doesn’t sound too bad. Also, the article says he won’t announce his decision until the Army game, which would contradict a recent assertion that he will enroll early.
NJ DE Anthony LaLota. Michigan and PSU are widely regarded to be his de facto top 2. Also, Scout indicates that he is likely deciding soon.
MI S Thomas Gordon. The Cass Tech player has said he’d be a near-lock to Michigan were he to get an offer, and now he has it (info in header). Is his commitment just a matter of time?
FL S Jonathan Scott. His brother transfers from OSU. I guess coming to Michigan would no longer let them engage in sibling rivalry.
MS S Dennis Thames. Fluff, including top schools (Michigan still up there). His injury will keep him out 4-6 weeks.

Removed:
MI RB Hersey Jackson. He is out for the season with an injury. He hadn’t earned a Michigan offer, and needed a big senior year to get one. So much for that idea.

Analysis:
Like I said immediately in the wake of the Campbell “decommitment,” nothing has really changed for Big Will. When he was “committed” he said he’d take 5 visits and probably pick Michigan, and following his “decommitment,” he’s saying… that he’ll take 5 visits and probably pick Michigan. On that basis alone, there’s nothing to freak out about (if we didn’t really have him before, did we really lose him).

Etc.:
NC S Devonte Holloman. He will take visits other than Clemson. Typical “not including elsewhere-committed prospects” rules apply, but keep in mind that one of them will be to Michigan. He is planning to enroll early, fwiw.
MI WR Commit Bryce McNeal. A bit of fluffy stuff.
TX QB Commit Shavodrick Beaver. Don’t forget, he plays on ESPN2 in a couple hours.

Michigan Targets Visiting South Bend This Weekend:
NC OL Xavier Nixon (though he’s not on the board anymore, could a strong game from the Wolverines rekindle his interest in Michigan?).
SC DE Chris Bonds (have seen a “maybe” next to this one).

Posted under Recruiting

The board can be found here. I’m still trying to decide which days/how often to post recruiting updates. Until I settle into something of a rhythm during the season, I’ll just post them as the post fills up.

New Information:
MI WR Cameron Gordon. He is in no hurry to make a decision. I wonder ig Michigan will pursue him a little stronger now that they want his 2010 teammate Devin Gardner.
TN WR/DB Marsalis Teague. He may take a Michigan visit.
MI TE Dion Sims. Still hasn’t made up his mind, but his current choice is basketball over football.
GA TE Terrell Mitchell. Michigan is outside his top 3 (SoCar, WVU, Kentucky). With the Wolverines not really planning on taking a pure TE, he may be close to removal from the board.
CA OL Michael Philipp. USC starts showing some interest.
MD LB Jelani Jenkins. Michigan will make his next cut (Sam Webb Audio). Sounds like Michigan made quite an impression on his visit.
NJ DE Anthony LaLota. No longer planning an early decision, Michigan official tentatively scheduled for Wisconsin game (Sam Webb Audio, same as above).
AZ DE Craig Roh. Sam Webb fluff from the Detroit News. Remember, Roh is officially visiting this week.
SC S David Sims. Michigan out of his top 5. It’s unclear from the article whether that is “top” or “final,” so he remains on the board for now.
Also: Vincent Smith and Brandin Hawthorne have moved up their announcement(s) from their game Saturday to tomorrow.

Removed:
KY DE Trevor Foy. He is down to a final 2 of Purdue and Louisville.
MD OL Brennan Williams. Down to a final 3 that doesn’t include Michigan.

Etc.:
MI DT commit William Campbell:Uh… yeah.
IN LB Commit Jordan Barnes. Fluff from the hometown paper.
Plantation, FL guys all plan to graduate early, take the info just in case Michigan nabs one of them.

Etc.:
If anyone manages to catch the Miami (Oh) game against Vanderbilt tonight, e-mail me your thoughts. I’s on ESPNU and I won’t be able to make it somewhere to watch.

Posted under Recruiting

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!

Posted under Recruiting

The Board.

Added:
PA OL Adam Gress. Offered (info in header).
FL DE Ryne Giddins. Offered.

New Information:
NJ DE Anthony Lalota. ND is probably his favorite.
MD LB Jelani Jenkins. West coast swing.
FL DT Antwan Lowery. Miami and Florida are near the top of his list.
GA S Darren Myles. Michigan will make his next cut.
AZ DEs Craig Roh and Devon Kennard. Both will have top 10 lists out soon.
MS DT Josh Boyd. He will camp at Michigan.

Removed:
SC WR Alshon Jeffrey. Southern Cal commit.
FL OL Nick Alajajian. Not in his top 6, combined with the fact that a decision date has been set, seem to show that Michigan is not in this race.
MI OL Zac Matthias. Wisconsin commit.

Analysis:
Jeffrey and Alajajian were both considered longshots with only token inclusion on the recruiting board. Matthias is a bogger loss for MSU (the Spartans need all the good linemen they can get – especially instate and especially those who are good enough to end up at a lineman factory like Wisconsin) than it is for Michigan, who didn’t like him enough to offer before camp…. Speaking of camp, those itching for more commitments should be in luck, as summer camp (Sunday-Thursday) is usually a time when a couple guys get offers and commit.

Posted under Recruiting

The Board. Pretty much all stuff will be in guys whose status (offered, on/off the board, etc.) has changed. Additional substantive update coming Monday.

Moved to Committed
MN WR Bryce McNeal.
FL WR Jeremy Gallon. Also added to the board in this update. He will probably be a slot.

Added
NJ DE Anthony LaLota. Michigan has offered.
FL WR Jeremy Gallon. Offered and also committed.
IL OL Michael Schofield. Offered.

New Information
TN OT Alex Bullard. He will make a decision today. Probably for TN or ND, though M is still in it until the end.
FL RB Vincent Smith. Offered.
Others Monday.

Removed
MI TE Reid Fragel. Ohio State commit.
NY DE Andre Civil. Rutgers commit.
LA OL Chris Faulk. LSU commit.
NC RB Desmond Scott. Rutgers commit.
FL WR Nu’Keese Richardson. Florida commit.
NC OL Xavier Nixon. Eliminates Michigan.

Analysis
It seems like tons of guys were removed, but keep in mind that this is three weeks of action. A couple commits from somewhat highly-touted players should keep people satisfied, at least somewhat. With camps coming up fast, it should be a fun time to follow recruiting.

Posted under Recruiting