Somewhat-explanatory fluff on SC QB Commit Cornelius Jones. Sounds like he was running with the wrong crew within the past couple years, but has turned himself around:

“I realized I wasn’t going to do anything with my life if I was to keep going on the road I was going,” he said. “I got in touch with one of my positive friends, and he took me to coach Brown. He gave me a chance, and I’ve been running with it every since.”

“He came into my office one day and said he was told he couldn’t play football at Spartanburg anymore,” Brown said. “He wanted to know if that policy still stood after I took the job. He didn’t have any prior discipline reports and had a 3.7 GPA, so I knew that this was a kid that had been doing what he was supposed to do.”

With the scant amount of football he’s played, there’s a ton of upside with Cornelius, and Michigan fans should be excited to have him in the same class as Devin Gardner. Better still, it seems as though any potential character issues are firmly in his past, and Michigan will get an upstanding citizen as well. Also, there’s now a highlight video of Cornelius available. Alas, Youtube version has already been taken down, so click through and enjoy.

Removed OH QB Derek Roback. He’s down to a final 3 (info in header), and since Michigan never showed any interest in him, it’s pretty clear they aren’t among th finalists.

MI RB Austin White has set an announcement date (info in header). It’s coming up soon, and considering that Michigan had been deemed the leader for Austin within the past few days, it’s highly likely he’ll be pledging to the Wolverines. Keep an eye on Austin in the near future.

Michigan doesn’t seem to be heavily involved with Denard Robinson and Adrian Witty‘s teammate, RB Cassius McDowell. However, if their recruiting does shake out quite the way they’ve planned, he’s definitely a strong possibility for Michigan. In the past, he has spoken of being interested in the Wolverines. Video from McDowell’s junior season:

Cassius McDowell from SoFLAfootball.com on Vimeo.

Removed IN RB Roderick Smith. He committed to Ohio State last week, which I neglected to mention in the last recruiting update.

OH WR Tyrone Williams is likely to commit to Ohio State sometime soon (info in header).

Removed FL WR/DB Kadron Boone. He has a top 9 that he’s looking to trim into a final 5 sometime soon. Michigan is not on said list.

Removed IL TE CJ Fiedorowicz, who committed to Illinois. He hadn’t been prominently listing Michigan.

Fluff on SC OL Eric Mack, with no Michigan mention. It appears as though he wants to play his college ball in the South, looking at the teams he does talk about. He will not commit to any school until after his senior season.

Removed OH OL Travis Jackson, who committed to Michigan State.

Removed NJ OL Dante Weaver, who committed to Temple.

I left him on the recruiting board because I figured he may take visits, and that appears to indeed be the case for Cal commit TX DT Jay Guy (info in header). Michigan is among his offers, but it’s unclear whether that interest is reciprocated on his end. If so, an official visit may be in order.

Michigan is in the top 6 for PA DT Sharrif Floyd. If the Wolverines can get him on campus, he could be the answer to defensive line recruiting woes over the past two classes. As an added bonus, Penn State (regarded to be his favorite) already has two defensive tackles committed, making Michigan a much more attractive option.

Ohio DE Darryl Baldwin plans to make a college commitment by the end of the week. Though Michigan was strong for him early in the recruiting process, I think most analysts are expecting him to end up elsewhere, probably Ohio State.

Fluff on CT LB Khairi Fortt. He has a Michigan visit in his plans for the summer, and he’s hoping to narrow his list of scholarship offers to about 10 by the end of the month. He won’t announce a final decision until during his senior season, however.

Surprise, surprise. FL LB Christian Jones favors Florida State. He has a list of top schools (which doesn’t include Michigan) and plans to make a tour of unofficial visits to several colleges this summer. If that trip happens without a stop in Ann Arbor, or any other indication that the Wolverines are in the running, I’ll remove him from the board.

Removed GA LB Tyrone Cornileus, who has a final four of Gerogia Tech, Miami of Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Removed OH LB Cameron Ontko, who committed to Wisconsin. His brief stay on the board comes to an abrupt end.

CA S Sean Parker will visit Michigan for an official this fall, though he’s not sure exactly when that will be.

FL CB Keion Payne counts Michigan among his offers, but it doesn’t appear that Michigan is one of the schools that has a good chance to land him. It appears as though Miami of Florida and Ohio State (if they offer) are his leaders.

2011 FL RB Demetrius Hart “has favorites” (info in header). We’ll use the mighty VB cryptography kit to decipher who that might be: 1) This article is posted on TheWolverine, therefore Michigan must be among the favorites 2) The article is written by a TheWolverine staff writer, confirming the conclusion of part 1, and implying that Michigan likely leads. Hart has said in the past that he’d probably commit to Michigan as soon as he can get an offer in writing (September 1st, for the record), so this information is not surprising.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

2010 Michigan Wolverines Recruiting Board.

Moved to committed: PA DE/LB Jordan Paskorz. Commitment Post.

Let’s get started with the bad news. For those who were harboring some hope that the Wolverines would be able to steal MI LB William Gholston from the Spartans, it might be time to think again. Take a look at the outfit that the young Mr. Gholston wore to prom (HT: The Only Colors):

So, yeah. Spartans lead. Gholston, despite his frequent trips to ann Arbor, has made even more frequent trips to East Lansing. His high school coach at Detroit Southeastern is allegedly in the pocket of Mark Dantonio, and Gholston grew up a Michigan State fan. All of these factors certainly add up as circumstantial evidence that the Spartans are likely to be the favorite to land Gholston. It’s certainly too early to give up all hope, but it’s probably time to temper some expectations, methinks. It’s unfortunate that he’ll end up moving to defensive end when he gets to East Lansing, when Michigan is offering him the opportunity to remain at linebacker, but there are certainly several factors at play in his recruitment. You can’t get ’em all, so unless he indicates that Michigan still has a definite chance, we’ll kindly move along from Big Will II.

Some offensive soul-searching for the Florida offense in the wake of the Tebow Child’s eventual departure. Michigan isn’t particularly strong with any of the QBs mentioned in the article (TN Barry Brunetti, CA Jesse Scroggins, GA Marcus Smith, and IA AJ Derby – the most realistic prospect in the bunch), but Florida’s schemes will certainly affect their recruiting in this and future classes, which will likely have a domino effect on Michigan, as well.

Speaking of QBs, time to remove one of Michigan’s potential second options from the board: TX QB Jeremy Johnson has finally committed to West Virginia.

In other QB news, FL QB Christian Green has released a top 6, with Michigan nowhere to be found. He’s expressed interest in moving to wideout in college (which would actually be good for Michigan, assuming he’d be willing to play quarterback for at least one year), and seems to be very into Florida State. If I used MGoIcons, he’d get a Nefarious Eduardo up in this joint.

Sam Webb Detroit News fluff on CA RB Brennan Clay:

“I’m open to all the schools right now,” he said. “I’ve told them all that I don’t have a favorite yet and I’m showing them all interest. I’m gonna announce my top 10 before the season starts. I want to take a few official visits and hopefully I’ll be able to commit during mid-season or before our playoffs start.”

Clay, obviously, is the former teammate of presumptive starting QB Tate Forcier, and Michigan has really become more of a factor in his recruitment of late.

Rivals (free) video fluff on MN OL Seantrel Henderson:

Relevant recruiting notes include the fact that he plans to narrow to a top 5 before the season, and take official visits to all of the finalists before eventually making his decision on National Signing Day. He also had some nice things to say about Michigan (probably the most positive-sounding comments about any of the schools he mentioned, for what it’s worth). He said it’s a really big university, and he really likes the campus, plus the coaching staff is pretty cool, and there are nice new facilities and lots of new stuff going on. He didn’t mention this in his Michigan-related snippet, but Seantrel did say he plans to major in business or communications, and wants to go to a school that is strong in either of those. Michigan is excellent in both, so that’s another plus.

Though he went from somebody that the likes of Sam Webb was routinely mentioning as a “hot prospect” for Michigan on the WTKA morning show to a recruit that doesn’t seem to be all that interested in the Wolverines anymore, SC DT AJ Cann is still one of the few interior defensive line prospects on the board at this time. Fluff from his coach:

“A.J. is a humble kid,” he said. “He doesn’t talk about it. A lot of times when you get a kid who’s been offered by 32-35 Division I schools, a lot of kids believe he’s going to get this treatment, he’s going to act this way. A.J.’s the same kid he was before he got those 35 Division I offers.

“He busts his butt in practice. He’s a leader out there. When you tell him to do something, he asks no questions. He’s front of the line, showing young guys what drills we do offensively and defensively the same thing. He’s responded to it well and hopefully, within the next couple of weeks, that will take a little bit off of him.”

So, mostly boilerplate “the teams played hard and somebody won”-type coachspeak about one of his top players, no? However, I’m not quite sure how to interpret the very end of that quote. It sounds like he may be deciding soon.

PA DE Dakota Royer has been a steady prospect over the course of the year, collecting offers in small batches, but never really blowing up. Now, however, he at least has the opportunity to become something of an internet sensation (HT: Black Shoe Diaries):

That’s Mr. Royer jumping out of a 4-foot pool from shoulders-deep. He’s apparently quite explosive, though many sports media outlets would probably rather have you believe that he’s a “gritty” or “lunch pail” defensive end. Michigan has offered Royer, and stands a good chance to be in his top list for the foreseeable future.

OH LB Commit Antonio Kinard often seems to be the forgotten commit in Michigan’s 2010 class so far, but he’s having a successful track season of his own. He is a long jumper, and recently took first place at a meet, thanks to 2 of the best 3 jumps.

VA LB Chase Williams has mentioned Michigan in the past, but it doesn’t sound like he’s particularly interested in the Wolverines:

“This month has been packed with 19 schools including Virginia, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Tennessee, South Carolina and Ohio State,” he said. “All of them are saying they want me to come to camp this summer so they can see me in person to see all the things they see on film.”

“I haven’t made a true list of top schools yet,” he said. “I am starting to focus more on the schools that have offered and maybe one or two others. That is because I think I’m making a decision kind of early. I think the time when I cut things down is getting closer, but I know I haven’t approached that barrier yet.

The early decision and lack of strong Michigan interest seem to imply that the Wolverines probably don’t have much of a chance to land him, at least at this time.

AL S Jarrick Williams has not reported Michigan interest, despite being one of the top secondary prospects in the nation. Now, it appears as though he’s narrowed his list of choices to Auburn and Alabama, and I think that’s as good an excuse as any to remove him from the recruiting board.

Fluff in the Broward Sun-Sentinel includes very little information. It’s about how spring high school football – which we don’t have in Michigan, much to my chagrin at times – is no longer just about schemes and whatnot, but also an opportunity for college prospects to show their stuff for scouts, and get noticed, hoping for recruiting results down the road. The only reason I’m even bothering to link it is a pretty cool picture of FL CB Tony Grimes, shown at left making an over-the-shoulder catch, though I have no idea whether he was intercepting or receiving the pass.

FL CB Spencer Boyd is still favoring Notre Dame, and plans to make a summer decision. Like many defensive backs of late (including FL CB Lorenza Wood, who had previously been favoring Michigan and now likes the Irish), he cited the TEH AWESOMEZ recruiting abilities of Irish Defensive Coordinator Corwin Brown, who played for Michigan. Take that as you will, and I’m glad to see a former Wolverine having success in the coaching world, but I’d certainly prefer to see him do so in a place other than South Bend. The biggest threats to the Domers for Boyd seem to be SEC schools.

Like I said in this week’s previous recruiting update, defensive back doesn’t seem to be a huge concern at this point. The Wolverines are holding steady with several prospects, and a commitment this weekend at the Big House BBQ (about which I’ll have more info tomorrow morning) would go a long way to easing the fears of Michigan fans.

Of course, the Michigan coaching staff may not be all that confident in their ability to land some defensive backs, as they’re still handing out offers like candy. The latest is GA CB Darius Robinson (info in header). I’ve added him to the recruiting board.

Non-2010 stuff below.

2009 QB signee Denard Robinson is considered one of the frontrunners (along with 2010 FL CB Cody Riggs) to be the Class 6A-4A High School Athlete of the Year. If he wins the award, it will be due to both his football and track exploits, so congratulations to Denard (HT: The Michigan Football Blog).

A quick note on 2011 FL RB Demetrius Hart. In a weather-shortened spring game, he managed to rip off a 65-yard TD run. He’s considered a top 2011 prospect, and has stated that he’d probably commit to Michigan as soon as he could receive an official offer on September 1st. With Ricardo Miller now at Ann Arbor Huron rather than Hart’s Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, that Michigan love may have declined a bit, but they’ll probably still pursue the diminutive speedster.

Posted under Football, Recruiting