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

Rivals is reporting that Louisiana defensive end DeQuinta Jones has given Rich Rodriguez his word to become a Michigan Wolverine. Jones (6-2, 265, 4.7) hails from Bastrop High School, the home of one of the nation’s top receivers in Rueben Randle. Jones is the 13th commit in this class, and the coaches would certainly like him to bring his teammate up north as well. Jones is a three-star to both sites.

Recruiting Notes
Jones’s recruitment stayed out of the mainstream media, with Scout and Rivals the only main sources to follow his every move (creepy, I know). However, in early July, he was featured in an article on GoBlueWolverine.com. Michigan fans took notice. Jones committed to Michigan on. He cited his relationship with linebackers coach Jay Hopson (the former headman at Southern Miss) among the reasons that he picked Michigan.

Player Notes
Jones is a big-time defensive end – something the Wolverines sorely need after missing on Nick Perry in 2008. He is considered more of a run-stuffer with speed than an edge rusher, but he shows ability to get to the quarterback as well. He has good size, and may even be able to grow into a defensive tackle unless the staff wishes to keep him at end. He comes from a winning program (Bastrop won the Louisiana state title in 2007) and hopes to bring his success to Ann Arbor. Jones was listed by the Times-Picayune as a player just outside the top 25 in the state of Louisiana. Blogger Dandy Don pegs him at #19 in the state, while praising his work ethic.

Video

Bastrop in the state finals.

Posted under Recruiting

UPDATE: I just update the podcast feed, so if you subscribe, you might have to tell your software to check the feed again. In the future I’ll try to get it updated over the weekend. Also, I resubmitted it to iTunes, apparently it rejected it last time. If you want to manually add the podcast feed to your iTunes copy this:

http://www.panel-creations.com/varsity_blue/podcast/vblue_podcast.xml

Select Advanced>Subscribe to Podcast and paste the URL. It should then automatically update each week.

Posted under Recruiting, Video

As everyone likely knows by now, Michigan commit Kevin Newsome has decided to transfer from Western Branch High School, and will instead enroll at Hargrave Military Academy for his senior football season. Despite still being a high schooler, Newsome will participate on the post-graduate football team.

Most recruiting fans are only familiar with Hargrave Military Academy because of prospects who graduate from high school, but don’t have the grades to qualify for college. Hargrave has a post-graduate program for “5th-year seniors” to improve their grades enough to qualify for college, while still playing football. Newsome doesn’t have this issue because:

1. He is going to Hargrave for his senior year, not after he graduates (the first time).
2. He is a good student (NHS member, class president, etc.)

It seems like he has a good head on his shoulders, so I doubt it’s because he needs to get grade or discipline issues sorted out. I would think it’s something more along the lines of being prepared for college football (and Barwis!).

As for whether this is good for Michigan, I’m not sure. Hargrave seems to be pretty good about keeping college coaches away from already-committed players, but at the same time, they have a good relationship with Virginia Tech’s coaching staff (3 cadets moved on to Virginia Tech just last year). Obviously, since Virginia Tech is one of the main competitor’s for Newsome’s services, that is slightly worrisome. However, Newsome’s former high school coach seems to be putting some pro-VT pressure on Newsome:

“I thought when he picked Michigan, he jumped the gun a little bit, and I was disappointed,” Johnston said. “I told him that.”
“We’re very close, and I’ve told him I’d like to see him stay closer to home,” Johnston said. “I’m not going to push it, but there’s something about playing in your home state.”

It seems like Kevin might be trying to avoid those around him giving him undeserved grief for not picking their favorite school. Without knowing for sure why Newsome is moving to Hargrave, and how well-received Michigan’s coaches are at that school (Rodriguez did get a commitment from a Cadet before moving on to Michigan last year), it is impossible to know whether this move impacts Michigan positively or negatively. Of course, down the road, it will be interesting to see whether this also affects Newsome’s younger brother, Keevon.

And of course, the Free Press takes this as incontovertible evidence that Newsome’s commitment to Michigan will not be honored.

Posted under Recruiting

Completing the, uh, bi-fecta for the day, DeWayne Peace has committed to the Michigan Wolverines. Peace (6-0, 178, 4.68) is a DB/WR from South Grand Prairie HS in Texas. He becomes the 12th player in the 2009 class.

Commitment Notes
Peace was a somewhat under-the-radar prospect through much of his recruitment. Until early June, he favor the Texas A&M Aggies and the Kansas Jayhawks. That all changed with a visit to the Rich Rodriguez Football Camp, however. Peace and Michigan were mutually impressed, and upon Peace’s return, A&M was out of the picture, and Michigan was in the top 2 with Kansas. DeWayne decided to end his recruitment shortly thereafter, and gave his word to become a Michigan Wolverine.

Player Notes
Peace has been impressive at both wideout and corner, and is known for good quickness and fluid hips. He moves in and out of breaks cleanly, and uses good routes to get open. At Michigan, it is unclear whether he will be a defensive back or wideout/slot.

Video
From the Super Jayhawk camp.

Posted under Recruiting

Jordan Barnes, a three-star linebacker from Fort Wayne, IN, has given his word to become a Michigan Wolverine. The 6-0, 225 pound product of Homestead Senior High School, picked Michigan over Auburn and Alabama.

Recruiting Notes
Barnes grew up in the state of Alabama, and made it clear that the two in-state schools were his favorites early in the process. However, after attending the BBQ at the Big House, Michigan started making inroads. When he announced his intentions to have a press conference, it was clear that the Wolverines were in the running along with the two ‘bama schools. Before he could get to a press conference, however, Barnes committed to the maize and blue.

Player notes
Barnes is a quick linebacker, and he uses his speed to make plays. His combination of good speed and slightly shorter stature make him a fit to end up on the weakside in college. His film shows that he could also move to the offensive side of the ball, where he could be a big, quick FB (MAX in the Rich Rodriguez system).

Posted under Recruiting

Michael Schofield, Michigan’s 10th 2009 commit, is an offensive lineman hailing from Orland Park, Illinois. The Sandburg High School product stands 6 feet, 6 inches tall, and tips the scales at around 270 pounds.

Schofield’s height seems to be evidence that he will be capable of being an offensive tackle down the road. His lighter weight shows the difference between the athletic linemen preferred by the new coaching staff, as Schofield will put on some weight, but probably never play above 290lbs.

Want more evidence that Schofield is athletic? How about taking note of the fact that he is a hurdler on the Sandburg track team?

110 Meter Hurdles
Finals

Place   Heat  Lane   Wind   Competitor, School                                       Time
 1      1     4           Ryan Buchanan (Fr), Bolingbrook                         16.3
 2      1     5           Mike Schofield (So), Sandburg                           16.3 

While his time of 16.3 may not be particularly impressive when compared to Kevin Newsome’s 14.15, there are a few factors to keep in mind. 1) Kevin Newsome is an all-american in track. 2) Michael Schofield is an offensive lineman. Schofield also shows his strength by chucking the discus for Sandburg.

Schofield seems like a future left tackle at this point, with good height and exceptional athleticism. Rivals and Scout are in disagreement on him at this point, with Rivals considering him a 4-star (#15 offensive tackle) and Scout a 3-star (#47 offensive tackle). Judging by offers from schools like Miami of Florida, Penn State, and Wisconsin, Rivals is likely to be a more accurate ranking.

Posted under Recruiting

Michigan’s offensive line recruiting for the class of 2009 has kicked off with the commitment of Michael Schofield. Schofield (6-6, 280) hails from Orland Park, Illinois, where he attends Sandburg High School. He is Michigan’s 10th overall commit for the class.

Recruiting Notes
Schofield attended the BBQ at the Big House recruiting event. He received a scholarship offer from Rich Rodriguez shortly thereafter. Michigan was the most prestigious school pursuing Schofield, and he decided to end his recruitment on June 16th.

Player Notes
Schofield is a tall, nimble lineman. He has very good height (listed anywhere between 6-5 and 6-7) and will likely end up as a tackle in college, though it remains to be seen if he has the skill set to protect the quarterback’s blind side.

Etc.
Thanks to commenter Obes for tearing me away from the Utah preview I was working on to break the news of this commitment, and also to RJ, who text messaged me the news minutes later.

Posted under Recruiting

The first edition of the Varsity Blue recruiting video podcast is live! In the near future, look for the podcast to also be available for subscription on iTunes. In the first edition, the current Michigan commitments are introduced.

As of today, we are planning to make this a weekly offering.

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