Moved to Committed: 2009 MI DT William Campbell. Relief, joy, etc.
Removed: 2009 MN WR Bryce McNeal Clemson commit, 2009 MS DT Pernell McPhee, who signed his LOI with Mississippi State, and 2010 IL OL Christian Lombard, who committed to Notre Dame.

This weekend is expected to be a big one for recruiting. The Freep says:

West Monroe, La., defensive end Barkevious Mingo, an Army All-American; Greenwood, S.C., defensive end Sam Montgomery, an UnderArmour All-American; and Denard Robinson of Deerfield Beach, Fla., who Michigan is looking at for the quarterback…

Inkster wide receiver Cameron Gordon and offensive tackle Michael Schofield of Orland Park, Ill., are the only two Michigan commitments scheduled to officially visit for the Jan. 9 weekend. Three-star defensive end Bennie Logan of Coushatta, La., and three-star cornerback Demontre Hurst of Lancaster, Texas, are also scheduled to officially visit at that time…

Leesville, La., wide receiver Travante Stallworth (Auburn) and Lafayette, La., wide receiver Ricky Johnson (Arkansas) have scheduled official visits in Ann Arbor for the Jan. 9 weekend.

According to SoFlaFootball, Adrian Witty will also be in town:

“I’m going to Michigan on the 9th, Kansas State on the 16th, 17th, Florida on the 23rd, Middle Tennessee and FIU the following week,” said Witty.

And Sam Webb filled in a bit more a while back (caution: this is the oldest source, so it may be a bit out of date). He said on WTKA that Je’Ron Stokes will be in town as well, along with maybe Josh Hunter.

And that’s one full recruiting weekend. With no basketball game until Sunday morning, I’m curious as to what the recruits will spend their time doing. I wouldn’t be surprised if they went to a hockey game over the weekend, so if you’re interested in helping with the recruiting effort, get out and support the reigning CCHA champs, as well. Also of note: I’d assume the early-enrolling commits will be on hand for the recruiting visit, and it’s more likely that some of these guys have built up relationships with fellow members of the class of 2009. Will Tate Forcier, Big Will, and the gang be a valuable recruiting force for the rest of this class?

Look for another recruiting update later this week.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

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:
OH QB Courtney Avery. Conference player of the year.
GA QB Blake Sims. Offer list.
PA RB Corey Brown (not to be confused with 2009 PA CB Corey Brown, an Ohio state commit). Currently favors Ohio State, Rutgers, Florida, Penn State, UCLA, and Bama.
FL WR Javon Bell. Fluff with a bit of recruiting info (Michigan not mentioned).
FL Slot De’Joshua Johnson. Junior video. Michigan is “hot in pursuit.”
IL OL Christian Lombard. 10+ minute interview (audio) with a Notre Dame supporter. Takeaways: Doesn’t care how far from home he has to go, looking for good academic support, being recruited by everyone at both tackle positions, thought there were as many MSU fans as UM fans at the game this year.
FL OL Jose Jose. Grew up a Miami Hurricanes fan. It looks like they are by far the team to beat for him.
TX DT Jay Guy. Horns lead for him (info in header).
OH DT Andrew Norwell. Offered by OSU.
IL DE Chance Carter. Has played some offense this season, but it just helped him realize he belongs on D.
FL LB/DE Zachary/Zachery Allen. Video.
FL CB LaMarcus Joyner. Favors Florida State, followed by the other two instate schools.
FL CB Nickell Robey. Fluff.

Etc.:
The watchlist for the 2010 Rivals250 has come out. Of course, it will change a lot before star ratings are actually issued to anyone, but Jeremy Jackson and Ricardo Miller are both on it, though not as “potential 5-star” guys (of which there are only 10). Marvin Robinson is on it as well. Sometime later, I’ll go through and take note of everyone who Michigan has or may have interest in.

Analysis:
Not a whole ton of Michigan-relevant info this time, though it seems like the Wolverines may not have a chance with two of the top DTs on the board. Christian Lombard will probably be a battle, though I don’t think Michigan has gotten itself behind yet.

Posted under Football