A series exploring the commitments (and subsequent decommitments) of Michigan’s lost members of the class of 2009.

The Commitment
DeWayne Peace first burst onto the scene for Michigan fans when he attended the Rich Rodriguez Skills Camp in Ann Arbor over the summer of 2008. At the time, he had performed well at Kansas’s summer camp as well, and the Jayhawks were thought to be his heavy favorite. However, within a few weeks of visiting Michigan, Peace offered his verbal commitment to the Wolverines on June 25th. Peace was told that he would have an opportunity to prove himself as a wide receiver at Michigan, but that there was also a chance he would end up at defensive back. It was in the secondary that he had distinguished himself at camp, and where the coaching staff eventually saw him ending up.

The Decommitment
After more than 6 months of being committed to Michigan, and weeks of rumors, Peace withdrew his verbal commitment to Michigan on January 8th. Though Peace’s father reportedly insisted that DeWayne remain true to his word, in the end, he did not see himself playing for Michigan. The main reason behind this change of heart was a matter of position: the coaching staff wanted Peace to play corner, while he wanted be a wideout. It would follow logically (though it is unconfirmed, of course), that Peace was told he would play corner for Michigan or he would not play for Michigan at all.

The Impact
Obviously, the coaching staff realized that they weren’t as high on Peace as they had thought all along. If he was a highly-valued recruit, they wouldn’t have given him such an ultimatum, and he may have still ended up in Ann Arbor down the road. However, the coaching staff didn’t see much harm in shedding him from the class, and gave him the ultimatum. As Rodriguez himself said at his Signing Day Press Conference: “Sometimes a kid does you a favor when he decommits,” and Peace was likely one of these players. He ended up committing to the Wildcats of Arizona as a wide receiver.

Senior Year Stats

Video

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Recruiting Boards can be found to the left at any time or right here: 2009 & 2010.

Decent recruiting overview with less than a week left from the Free Press.

OH CB Commit Justin Turner has apparently been offered the #2 jersey when he arrives in Ann Arbor. This would surprise me, as Boubacar Cissoko has been rumored to be switching to #2 this year.

LA DT Commit DeQuinta Jones gave a little feedback on his Michigan visit:

“Snow was piled up everywhere,” said Jones, who verbally committed to the Wolverines over the summer. “But it really wasn’t that cold to me.”

One of the highlights of the trip for the handful of recruits was getting to pay a visit to coach Rich Rodriguez’s home. “We went to coach Rodriguez’s house and played pool,” Jones said. “It’s a three-story mansion.”

Overall, Jones says his visit, “went real good.”

He also said he won’t be sure where he’s going until signing day comes and goes, but current scuttlebutt among those on the internets is that he’ll still end up with Michigan.

2009 FL QB Denard Robinson is considered a Florida lean? This goes against all the conventional wisdom on Robinson and Witty, but it is worth noting in case there’s something to it.

2009 PA WR Je’Ron Stokes is considering taking a visit to Georgia this weekend. I’m not quite sure how serious that interest can be, considering it’s pretty much come from nowhere. Rich rodriguez was also in his home “most of the evening” on Tuesday.

2009 SC DE Sam Montgomery was visited by South Carolina Monday, but he doesn’t plan to head to Columbia before Signing Day for an unofficial, so it seems like South Carolina probably isn’t a player here. Sam will announce his decision on ESPN at 10 or 10:30 on Signing Day. Also a very brief mention of his visit to LSU, wherein LSU commit Chris Faulk commits on his bubbly personality.

2009 LA LB Barkevious Mingo visited Alabama over the weekend.

Superfluff on 2009 MI QB AJ Westendorp. The article seems to say that he’ll definitely accept a scholarship offer somewhere (and Michigan doesn’t seem likely to offer). He might even pick GVSU over Central Michigan if the Chips offer. He’s verrry close to being removed from the board.

2010 SC QB Cornelius Jones is getting Michigan interest, though he’s no longer reporting a Michigan offer as he (falsely) was over the spring/summer.

2010 FL WR/Slot Chris Dunkley has a top 5, and Michigan isn’t in it. The big 3 Florida schools, Georgia, and West Virginia are.

The 2010 contingent from Byrnes, SC (including RB Marcus Lattimore, one of the nation’s top prospects, and fellow target DE Brandon Willis) made their way to Duke’s junior day last week, and will visit Florida State this weekend.

Michigan Sports Center does a bit of super-sleuthing to determine that Michigan has offered 2010 MI QB Robert Bolden.

Removed:
2009 VA QB Tajh Boyd. Clemson.
2009 TX WR Josh Gordon. Baylor.
2009 TX CB/WR DeWayne Peace. Arizona.

Guys who weren’t on the board but can pretty much be forgotten about now:
2009 LA WR Travante Stallworth. Reaffirmed to Auburn.
2009 FL WR Willie Haulstead. Don’t entirely forget about him, but he’s reaffirmed his FSU commitment.

Posted under Football

Recruiting Boards:
2009 & 2010

Moved to Committed: MI QB Nader Furrha. The Ann Arbor Pioneer product will be a preferred walkon for the Wolverines. He has already enrolled in school, and will take part in spring practice. Furrha will add depth, but Michigan is still seeking a viable quarterback candidate in this class.

Moved from Committed: TX CB/WR DeWayne Peace. He decommitted yesterday, citing a desire to play WR. Michigan coaches told him they liked him primarily as a CB, and that would be his position once he got to Ann Arbor. The stubborn stance by Michigan coaches certainly implies that he won’t be sorely missed from the recruiting class (and I think most fans felt he and Jordan Barnes were the most expendable members of said class). Classy move by the coaches to not lead a kid on just to get his signature, then change his position without his consent once he arrived on campus. It seems more likely now that Michigan feels good about a CB prospect or two, and probably an outside WR as well. Peace will remain on the board – for now – but his player page has been removed from the committed player HQ.

It should come as no surprise that a high school powerhouse like Pahokee gets all sorts of individual honors for its players, but it is certainly notable that the small school offensive AND defensive Players of the Year go to the same high school – and now will remain teammates in college. Vincent Smith took home the offensive honor for the area, and Brandin Hawthorne earned the defensive distinction. In the photo (courtesy of The Palm Beach Post’s Ray Graham), Smith is second from the left, and appears to be sporting a gold grill. Hawthorne is on the far right. The other two gentlemen are FSU commit Lonnie Pryor and 2010 Florida commit Matt Elam.

This is obviously a little dated, as the Army game has come and gone, but here’s a little San Antonio fluff on 2009 K Commit Brendan Gibbons:

East kicker Brendan Gibbons (West Palm Beach, Fla.), who is committed to Michigan, doesn’t fit the stereotypical kicker mold — you know, small and reclusive.

For starters, the talkative 6-foot, 202-pounder is unusually buff for a kicker. On top of that, Gibbons spent the better part of Thursday’s first practice hyping up Michigan to a handful of skeptical teammates.

He at one point noted Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor, the MVP of last year’s U.S. Army All-American Bowl who had a drawn-out recruiting process that ultimately came down to the Buckeyes and Wolverines, “should be wearing blue.”

Gibbons isn’t just all show, though. He was consistently booming the ball on field goals and kickoffs during practice.

Clearly Gibbons is a good recruit/recruiter for the Wolverines. He also told GBW that 2009 VA QB Tajh Boyd was now interested in Michigan. However, with Boyd’s final official now scheduled for Clemson, it appears that ship has sailed. Boyd won’t be added to the board unless there is a radical change in the coming days. And to wrap up the kicker talk – not to bag on a kid for not choosing Michigan, but having watched both All-star games, I’m very glad with the way Michigan’s kicking situation ended up for the 2009 recruiting class. Gibbons also earned the Maxwell Award for high school kickers.

2009 DT Commit (albeit a soft one) DeQuinta Jones visits Arkansas this weekend. I would postulate that they are not Michigan’s biggest threat in landing Jones.

Speaking of All-Star fluff, 2009 SC DE Sam Montgomery participated in the Under Armour game, and the Index-Journal ran perhaps one of the fluffiest articles I’ve linked in a recruiting update. Fortunately, there is a little bit of actual information:

Along with playing in the Shrine Bowl on Dec. 17, Montgomery was also an All-Lakelands and Associated Press All-State player on a Greenwood team that bounced back from a 1-4 start to win the Region 1-AAAA title and make the Class AAAA, Division II state playoffs.

Montgomery lined up at defensive end in all but two games for the Eagles and recorded 78 individual tackles, 11 sacks and three forced fumbles. Despite having completed just his second season playing football, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Montgomery has Division I scholarship offers from schools around the country, including Southern California, Miami (Fla.), LSU and Michigan.

So, honors and stats and fluff hooray. By the way, Montgomery’s lead recruiter for LSU, defensive line coach Earl Lane, got the axe yesterday, and that may have an effect on Sam’s recruitment.

2010 AR QB Claude Johnson participated in the Army AA Junior Combine, where he performed well:

“I made some good, accurate and strong throws,” Johnson said. “The receivers helped me out a lot because there’s a lot of good players out here. I do believe I was one of the best out here.

“Some of them do have more height, and that’s an advantage in college football right now, but I have heart and I play hard. I feel like I can play with anyone.”

Johnson ran a 4.78-second 40-yard dash and a 4.35-second pro-shuttle time in the early morning testing.

So he’s certainly far from a blazer, but could definitely still be considered a dual-threat.

And how about a couple removals?
2009 MA OL Brennan Williams committed to UNC at the Army game.
2009 MD RB Tavon Austin commited to West Virginia.
2009 FL CB Mywan Jackson committed to North Carolina, which was something of a foregone conclusion when he set up his announcement between three schools earlier this week, when the ‘Heels were the only team he visited.

For news about this weekend’s visitors, check out the recruiting post from earlier this week. Sam Webb brings the most recent update on who’ll be in town.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

As has been reported just about everywhere except, oddly, GBW, DeWayne Peace has decommitted from Michigan. I’ll cover this much more in-depth in tomorrows (fairly massive, perhaps resulting in being split up) recruiting post.

And now, I return to hammering out the Indiana Basketball UFR.

Posted under Football, 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

The Board.

Moved to Committed:
IL OL Michael Schofield. Commitment article from Sun-Times.

Added:
SC TE Jim Teknipp. He wants to visit Michigan this summer.
FL TE Orson Charles. He has a Michigan offer. Most consider him a Florida lock, however.
MD RB Malek Redd. Impressive at Michigan camp.
MD RB Caleb Porzel. Teammate of Jelani Jenkins, and he seems like a good fit for the spread. Michigan is probably playing catch-up, however.
TX WR DeWayne Peace. There is clearly mutual interest for the camper (info in header).

New Information:
SC DB Damario Jeffery. Michigan is in his top 6 (contrary to Monday’s recruiting post).
LA WR Rueben Randle. Miami of Florida leads (info in header).
OK RB David Oku. Sam Webb News fluff.

Removed:
SC DB David Sims. He has dropped Michigan.
LA DT Chris Davenport. It doesn’t appear that he has any interest in the Wolverines.

Etc.:
You can ignore most of the article, but take note of the blurb at the bottom:

ESPN television is currently in production on a special that will profile the top prospects at the Nike and Elite 11 training camps. The information used in this article was gathered as part of the television production process.

Analysis:
Schofield is a good get for Michigan. This is partially because offensive line was a position of some need in this class, and also because he is a particularly good fit with great athleticism. He is moving upward in the rankings.

Posted under Recruiting