Recruiting Boards can always be found on the left sidebar. 2009 & 2010

First things first: it’s quite obvious that, this late in the recruiting process, there are only a few realistic prospects left on the board. There may be other guys that end up wearing the right colors, but it’s more likely that they come out of the woodwork. So, a lot of prospects came off the 2009 board in the past week (unrealistic though some of them may have been). Let’s review:
MS S/WR Dennis Thames. Mississippi State Commit.
TX CB Demontre Hurst committed to Oklahoma State, but may still visit the Canes.
FL DB Jonathan Scott picks WVU.
AL LB Tana Patrick is now only considering Bama, Auburn, USC, MIami of Florida, and Tennessee.
FL CB Jayron Hosley is going to USF, whether he has publicly committed (yet) or not.
CA OL Michael Philipp, who hadn’t really been considering Michigan in quite some time, commits to Oregon State.
NC OL Travis Bond picked UNC over Michigan, adding to the ridiculously large recruiting class in Chapel Hill.

SC OL Quinton Washington is one of the few remaining targets that Michigan has a chance with. The Sporting News’ The Recruitnik blog gives an entirely uninformative update on his recruitment. Phil Kornblut says he visits South Carolina, which is Michigan’s main competition for his signature. Considering he came out of that visit not only uncommitted, but also unwilling to say USC was his leader, chances here don’t look dire. However, he did leave the visit “knowing what he wants to do,” which may be bad, considering it probably means “my last visit rulzed.” Regardless, he does not plan to publicly commit until signing day.

LA LB Barkevious Mingo, who visited LSU this weekend, does not plan to commit anywhere until signing day.

LA WR Travante Stallworth is still “committed” to Auburn, but has a top 3 of Michigan, South Carolina, and Auburn. RichRod has his in-home tonight. Stallworth seems a little more effusive about Michigan than his other choices:

“At Michigan, it was different than any other college campus I’ve ever been to,” he continued. “They have outstanding facilities and the academics are top of the line. Coach (Rich) Rodriguez wants me to come in as a slot receiver and even said I could try quarterback. If it didn’t work out, I could switch to receiver. They just want to get the ball in my hands in the open field.”

RR will also be in the home of DE Sam Montgomery, who has taken 2 officials without committing anywhere. He wants to go to business school, which means Michigan is by far the best option out of his current choices in that regard. He’s still going to LSU, Tennessee, and Oregon.

Freep fluff on the visit by PA WR Je’Ron Stokes (along with a general discussion of WR recruiting). If Stokes gets through his PSU visit without committing, Michigan’s chances in this one aren’t bad. Stokes didn’t really appear to be enjoying himself too much at the hoops game though (photo of Darryl Stonum, Stokes, and Jeremy Gallon by Matt Pargoff in the Detroit Free Press).

Tennessee has hopped in on OK DT Commit Pearlie Graves. The likelihood he ends up in Ann Arbor is ever-dwindling.

FL QB Austin Dantin is practically begging for an offer, though if he’s stooping that low this late in the process, that probably means he’s unlikely to get one. He’s added to the board regardless.

The Palm Beach Post ranked the area’s top 25 seniors:

6. Brandin Hawthorne, LB, 6-1, 181, Pahokee, Enrolled at Michigan

8. Vincent Smith, RB, 5-9, 180, Pahokee, Enrolled at Michigan

11. Brendan Gibbons, K, 6-0, 215, Cardinal Newman, Verbal to Michigan

Hooray South Florida guys.

MI QB AJ Westendorp appears likely to accept a scholarship offer at a D-II or DI-AA school, rather than accepting a walk-on offer at Michigan.

…And this update is getting enormous, so I’ll drop the 2010 knowledge on you later this week.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Recruiting Boards (2009 & 2010) can be found anytime in the left sidebar.

LA DT Commit DeQuinta Jones visited Arkansas last weekend, and seemingly enjoyed himself.

Jones is set to visit Michigan this weekend and plans to visit either Mississippi State or Ole Miss the following weekend. He said he isn’t certain when he’ll make a decision.

“I might wait until signing day and surprise a lot of people.” Jones said.

Given the conventional wisdom regarding his recruitment, a reaffirmation of his Michigan commitment might be the most surprising thing possible. I’m still super-leery of a guy who is (nominally) committed being unsure of when he’ll make a decision.

Michigan and Florida are likely to be the final 2 for FL QB Denard Robinson. Florida is out in the lead, but the Wolverines are making a strong push:

One interesting dynamic could be his teammate, defensive back Adrian Witty, who will visit Florida on the weekend of Jan. 23. Kansas State is offering the pair the chance to play together on the next level, and Michigan may follow suit. If that happens, especially in the case of the Wolverines, it will be interesting to se e if the temptation to play alongside his high school teammate proves too much for Robinson to pass up. That said, I still feel Florida is the team to beat here.

Michigan has indeed offered Witty (by far his biggest offer), so that could certainly help with Robinson. The two had (and enjoyed) their official visit to Ann Arbor last weekend. If Witty doesn’t get offered by Florida, that would be a very good thing for Michigan. There’s also a mini-scouting report on Denard:

One other quick note on Robinson: Photographer Tim Casey and I visited him at practice for the Dade-Broward All-Star Game this weekend, he certainly has a big-time arm. While his size isn’t the greatest (even 6-0 might be a little generous), Robinson is an incredible athlete and deserves every opportunity to play the position on the next level.

Speaking of Witty, Michigan has stopped recruiting 2009 FL CB Jayron Hosley. They apparently feel good enough about cornerback recruiting to take a pass on Hosley, which means they probably feel that they are likely to land Witty, or are likely to offer other prospects that they like their chances with.

Michigan’s last couple (realistic) offensive line recruits for the 2009 class are thick in their recruitments. NC OL Travis Bond visited ECU last weekend, and the author of that article strangely thinks it’s a foregone conclusion that Bond will eventually be committing to the Pirates. I don’t think that’s even close to the case. According to MGoBlog’s TomVH, Bond will announce next week. SC OL Quinton Washington has all sorts of visits going on, and Rich Rodriguez will visit his house next week.

2009 LA WR Travante Stallworth was an official visitor last weekend, and he offered a bit of reaction to Phil Kornblut:

“The Michigan trip went pretty well,” Stallworth said. “I liked the coaches and players. Everything was top of the line with the facilities. And the academics, I liked that, too.”

He enjoyed the visit enough that the Wolverines have pulled even with the schools at the forefront of his recruitment (info in header).

Miami of Florida is the favorite for 2009 TX CB Demontre Hurst. He’s apparently become a hot prospect of late, as several schools seem to have ratcheted up the intensity on him. I would be surprised if he ended up committing to Michigan.

2009 FL LB Mike Marry doesn’t sound like he’ll be visiting Michigan, and he is close to being crossed off the old list. He has visits to Ole Miss, USF, and Duke.

Added to the 2010 board: IL LB Rickey Simpson. He is “Hearing from several.” Hmm, that article was posted on the front page of the Michigan Scout affiliate. I wonder if the Wolverines are one of the teams in contact with him. Info, quite obviously, in header.

2010 FL WR Chris Dunkley has received an offer from Miami. Michigan offered in the fall, but the Canes at least have a hometown advantage.

2010 TX DT Jay Guy has reportedly been offered by Michigan (info in header).

Despite apparently growing up a Michigan fan, 2010 OH RB Erick Howard (the state’s Mr. Football for the 2008 season) currently favors Ohio State (info in header). Obviously, Michigan has some time to make up the gap.

2010 FL CB Lorenza Wood has received his Michigan offer, and the Wolverines have long been his established favorite. Might he pick the maize-and-blue soon?

Posted under Football, Recruiting

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

Yeah, so obviously this one was supposed to be published before the one that came out earlier this week, but oh well. On to the information.
Recruiting Boards:
2009 & 2010. These are also always available if you look directly to the left.

Moved to Committed:
2009 MI WR Cameron Gordon. Commit article.
2009 AZ OL Taylor Lewan.

Moved from Committed:
2009 IN LB Jordan Barnes. From the sounds of it, he isn’t going to give Michigan a ton of consideration going forward after his decommit. He has been removed from the board.

Also removed from the board: 2009 VA QB Kevin Newsome, who has committed to Penn State.

Added to the 2010 recruiting board: AL WR BJ Chitty, a recent Auburn decommit (audio)

Might 2010 FL RB Corvin Lamb be favoring FIU?:

The kid you’re thinking about, Northwestern High’s Corvin Lamb, a junior, who has not committed to FIU just yet.

Uh, what? If FIU were to land this kid (likely a top-100 type), it would be something of a major coup. I guess stranger things have happened, so be on the lookout. However, other sources indicate he’s a big Florida fan. That makes a little more sense, considering it’s not crazy.

2009 OH S Commit Isaiah Bell will likely end up at linebacker at Michigan (info in header). Obviously, this stems from what the coaches have told him is his likely position here, though I guess that could theoretically mean a bandit-type position if there is indeed a coordinator change.

Among those visiting Florida last weekend was 2009 MD LB Jelani Jenkins. Michigan is in the mix to get one of his remaining official visits. Word on the street, however, is that he’s all but committed to the Gators, with Penn State as the only likely challenger remaining.

2009 JC DE Pernell McPhee enjoyed his official visit. So much, that he has now proclaimed he favors UM over Miss State. Oddly for a kid from Florida (via Mississippi), he likes the cold and snow, and he also enjoyed himself at the hoops game. He’s still nominally committed to Mississippi State, so he remains off the board for now, but UM might be right in this one. The JC signing period started yesterday, and he has not signed an LOI anywhere.

New offers? New offers:

“Michigan assistant coach Jay Hopson was in Coushatta, La., recently to check out one of the Bayou State’s top rising prospects – Red River defensive end Bennie Logan. After U-M’s evaluation, Logan had an offer from Michigan. Assistant coaches also extended offers to Tallahassee (Fla.) FAMU defensive end Alex Williams and Lancaster, Texas, cornerback Demontre Hurst on recent visits to their schools.”

Logan had already been added to the board. Williams will be added, and Hurst re-added after he was on it briefly earlier this year.

2010 FL LB Anthony Hamm really, really likes Florida. He’s now teetering on the edge of removal, and it sounds like he’ll commit to the Gators soon anyway.

Want to know who else sounds like a lost cause? 2010 Pahokee DT Doral Willis. When an article is entitled “I Would Commit to Miami on the Spot,” he’s pretty much a done deal, assuming the ‘Canes offer. I’ll leave him on the board for now, in case they don’t.

Posted under Recruiting