The Board.

Moved to Committed:
TX K Brendan Gibbons.

Added:
SC S DJ Swearinger. Michigan has called the onetime target and former Tennessee commit.
Other Tennessee commits may start dominating this category sometime soon.

New Information:
FL RB commit Vincent Smith. Scouting report from SoFlaFootball.
LA DT commit DeQuinta Jones. Still looking at Oklahoma State (Alabama is the other school he’s still considering, for the record).
MI DT ex-commit William Campbell. Here’s his recruiting schedule for the rest of the fall. Sam Webb thinks OL might be his best fit (audio).
SC DE Sam Montgomery. He’s definitely still planning to come on an official.
MD LB Jelani Jenkins. Committed to the awesomely-named Maryland Crab Bowl. Michigan is expected to be in his next cut (audio) – but it’s getting into the top 5 that’s important.
OH S/LB Isaiah Bell. Taking his official visit this weekend (info in header). I’d assume Fitzgerald Toussaint comes along with him.

Removed:
FL QB Eugene Smith. Committed to West Virginia.
SC DE Chris Bonds. Eliminates Michigan from consideration. In case you didn’t believe me the first time.
FL LB Jon Bostic. Uh, not quite sure why he’s still on the board anyway. Michigan is out of it.
AL CB Dre Kirkpatrick. I don’t know how he managed to go this long without an article explicitly trimming his list, but now there’s assurance he can be removed.

Etc.:
Still elsewhere-committed, GA WR Jamal Patterson is hearing from Michigan regardless. Might they be able to convince him to take a visit?
MD RB Tavon Austin is supposed to announced sometime very soon, but I predict his choice will be between WVU and UNC.

Analysis:
QBs on the board committing elsewhere should be something we get used to: Michigan is unlikely to grab another one, but none on the board have technically eliminated the Wolverines, so on the board they stay. The Wolverines will probably start looking for more DB prospects, so keep an eye out. The outside WR position is also yet to be filled, and it’s looking like a prospect who is or has been committed to another school may end up filling the role.

Posted under Football

The Board.

Moved to Committed:

Moved from Committed:
MN WR Bryce McNeal. Decommitted Monday night.

Added:
SC S Devonte Holloman. The former Michigan target has decommitted from Clemson. Potential visits include Michigan.
TX S Craig Loston. Also a Clemson decommit. Michigan was in on him early, but they may not be a player anymore. He’ll get a little time on the board until we can figure out if he’s a viable target.

New Information:
MI DT William Campbell. He’s set his visits. Sam Webb reveals what they shall be.
LA DT Commit DeQuinta Jones. He’s looking around a little bit. Might it result in a decommitment?
AZ DE Craig Roh. His game this Friday will be broadcast over the internet. You can find it at aia365.com. Just as a disclaimer, I couldn’t gt this site to work properly during the week, so don’t get your hopes too high.
MD DE Jason Ankrah. Visiting PSU for the Michigan game this weekend.
MD LB Jelani Jenkins. He has trimmed to 15; Michigan is in.

Removed:

Etc.:
A sort of state-of-the-recruiting class statement from Josh Helmholdt in the Free Press.
Not on the board because he’s technically still committed to Florida, but Nu’Keese Richardson still intends to visit for the Michigan State game next week.

Analysis:

Posted under Football

New Information:
FL TE Orson Charles. He loved his Miami visit, and Georgia appears to be the only other school under serious consideration. He is teetering dangerously close to removal.
PA WR Todd Thomas. Pitt leads. He is also fairly close to removal.
MD DE Jason Ankrah. One local media video piece. Two local media video pieces.
GA LB Devekeyan Lattimore. Knows where he is taking all official visits (Michigan is one).
OK CB Gabe Lynn. Still no favorite.

Etc.:
Want to see Pahokee play in person (and likely Vincent Smith and Brandin Hawthorne commit)? There are tickets available. Bastrop (DE commit DeQuinta Jones, WR target Rueben Randle) will have a game on the ESPN family of networks. Much annoyance to the abundance of articles talking exactly how many games are going to be on ESPN without saying which games. In case you’re curious, Western Branch is figuring what to do without Newsome. According to Sam Webb, Michigan may not be out of it for Oku. I’ll leave him off the board for now.

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

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