I have received reliable information that there is good recruiting news on the way. In a very good couple of weeks of commitments, this could just add to the great season so far. More information as it becomes available.
(for a hint: see if there have been any prospects’ myspace page redesigns lately)
Posted under Recruiting
Though many believed Kevin Newsome would be the only top-flight quarterback in Michigan’s class of 2009, improbably-named Texas QB Shavodrick Beaver has also committed to Michigan (Scout). Beaver (6-4, 200, 4.5), unlike Newsome, is not expected to enroll early.
Player Notes
Beaver is a run-pass quarterback, with a very good TD-Int ratio for a player with that distinction, especially at the high school level. As the second quarterback in this class, it will not be a surprise if he redshirts in 2009.
Recruiting Notes
Beaver was off the recruiting radar for Michigan fans for quite some time, despite his status as a highly rated dual-threat QB. Beaver wasn’t thinking much about Michigan either, as he was prepared to commit to TCU when his Michigan offer came. He quickly reconsidered, and Michigan moved among his top choices, sending TCU fans into a tizzy. After indications that a quarterback could commit this week, many Michigan fans were thinking it would be Tate Forcier yesterday. However, Beaver committed today instead.
It will be interesting to see what Beaver’s commitment means for Tate Forcier. Tate has said that Beaver would not scare him off from committing to Michigan, though he doesn’t plan to commit until a little later in the process. However, if Tate were to go blue as well, that may frighten Beaver into changing his commitment.
More on Beaver as it happens.
Posted under Recruiting
In case you were worried about Kevin Newsome’s speed, check out this video of his 4×100 team winning the large school division at the Penn Relays.
Newsome is the anchor leg in lane 2(? second from nearest at the finish line, the guy who wins). He brings his team the victory.
Also, according to Sam Webb on today’s edition of the Michigan Insider on WTKA, there may be other good QB news this week. Tate Forcier or Shavodrick Beaver may announce for Michigan this week.
Thanks to frequent commenter RJ for the tip.
Posted under Recruiting, Video
New Information:
AZ DE Craig Roh will visit Michigan this summer.
VA QB Kevin Newsome participated (well) in the Penn Relays.
PA OT Eric Shrive. He has a Nebraska offer, and now one of his teammates will be a Husker.
Article on various prospects including Morgan Newton, Stephon Gilmore, and Quinton Washington.
Not a lot of action this week. Players that I haven’t seen anything about lately (in terms of link to Michigan) may on the cusp of getting dropped (a couple of the quarterbacks, maybe a running back or two, probably safety).
Posted under Recruiting
This will become a weekly feature for Saturdays henceforth. If there is no recruiting action during the week, I’ll either skip it or do something else informative.
Action since last rankings:
4-5 Northwestern gains commitment from Evan Watkins.
4-18 Michigan gains commitment from Fitzgerald Toussaint.
4-19 Ohio State gains commitment from Darrell Givens.
4-21 Ohio State gains commitment from Jordan Hall and Dorian Bell.
4-24 Michigan gains commitment from Kevin Newsome. Melvin Fellows switches commitment from Illinois to Ohio State.
New Rankings:
| #1 Ohio State – 8 commits | ||
| DT | ***** | Johnny Simon |
| LB | ***** | Dorian Bell |
| RB | **** | Jordan Hall |
| CB | **** | Darrell Givens |
| WR | **** | Chris Fields |
| CB | **** | CJ Barnett |
| MLB | **** | Storm Klein |
| MLB | **** | Jordan Whiting |
| OT | *** | Jack Mewhort |
| S | *** | Jamie Wood |
| LB | * | Adam Homan |
Ohio State has picked up three 4-star players and one 5-star player since the last rankings were given. They have a very strong start to their class. Adam Homan switched from FB to LB, where he will likely (not) play in college.
| #2 Michigan – 6 commits | ||
| DT | ***** | William Campbell |
| QB | **** | Kevin Newsome |
| CB | **** | Justin Turner |
| S | * | Isaiah Bell |
| RB | * | Teric Jones |
| RB | * | Fitzgerald Toussaint |
Michigan has continued a fairly strong (though not OSU-ian) start to the recruiting year. Kevin Newsome fills a huge need for the Wolverines, and is the right guy for this system. He will end up a very high 4-star or a 5-star (currently Scout’s #41 player (they had 50 5-stars last year), and Rivals’s #39 player (they had 30 5-stars last year)), though an early commitment to Michigan typically means death to a player’s ranking. Fitzgerald Toussaint is another RB/slot hybrid, with impressive film. High 3 or low 4-star likely.
| #2 Michigan State – 6 commits | ||
| RB | ***** | Edwin Baker |
| RB | **** | Larry Caper |
| SLB | **** | Chris Norman |
| WR | *** | Donald Spencer |
| DT | * | Blake Treadwell |
| QB | * | Andrew Maxwell |
No movement since the last rankings. Passed by Michigan because the Wolverines’ commitments will end more highly ranked, and fill positions of need effectively.
| #4 Illinois – 2 commits | ||
| DT | **** | Lendell Buckner |
| OT | **** | Leon Hill |
Losing Melvin Fellows wasn’t enough to drop the Illini below a couple teams with fewer commits.
| #5 Wisconsin – 3 commits | ||
| OG | * | Ryan Groy |
| DT | * | Jared Kohout |
| DE | * | Shelby Harris |
No movement. Their guys aren’t yet ranked, but Wisconsin develops linemen like it’s their job (side note: it is, in fact, their job).
| #6 Minnesota – 3 commits | ||
| QB | *** | Moses Alipate |
| C | * | Ed Olsen |
| OT | * | Josh Campion |
Minnesota is going through a big scheme change, and needs to recruit players to the new system. After a huge (and pretty good) 2008 recruiting class, Minnesota is not off to a fast start in 2009. Once a new batch of rankings come out, they might sneak past Wisconsin.
| #7 Penn State – 1 commit | ||
| C | * | Ty Howle |
JoePa is death to Penn State’s ability to recruit.
| #8 Northwestern – 1 commit | ||
| QB | *** | Evan Watkins |
A big QB. Curious to see whether he has the quicks to run Northwestern’s scheme, which requires some mobility.
T-9th – Indiana, Iowa, Northwestern, Purdue (0 commits)
Posted under Recruiting
The Board. With the Newsome thing, it will be interesting to see which other QBs continue to be interested in Michigan. One formatting note: committed players are now tacked to the top of their respective positions on the board.
Moved to Committed:
VA QB Kevin Newsome. WOOOOOOOOOOO! Conquering Heroes dug up some factoids on Newsome.
Added:
OK CB Gabe Lynn. He has an offer and is friends with RB prospect David Oku. He is one of the top cover CBs in the nation.
SC DE Sam Montgomery. He reportedly has been offered by UM. A four-star prospect at a position of major need.
GA S Darren Myles. He has a Michigan offer.
New Information:
TX QBs Shavodrick Beaver and Kolby Gray attend an Elite 11 combine.
NC DB Devonte Holloman. Michigan and Clemson are his current top 2.
OH OL Marcus Hall. Top 6: OSU, USC, Ill, Mich, Fla, FlaSt. Currently plans to decide after taking 5 officials.
SC OL Quinton Washington. He is strong. but he may end up staying in South Carolina. Recruiting fluff.
Removed:
PA RB Jordan Hall. Michigan may have wanted him a bit for the slot position, but it is clear they had higher priorities there. His offer may have just been an attempt to get Terrelle Pryor to think harder about attending Michigan.
MS DB David Conner. His listed height and weight have been falling ever since the initial evaluations came out, and it also appears that he won’t leave the SEC.
Etc:
For those of you who doubted my reasoning for having a big spring game (I’m lookin’ at you, Charles), SI’s Andy Staples agrees with me. 2-part interview with Lloyd in the Free Press.
Posted under Recruiting
Comments Off on Recruiting Update 4-25-08
Woooooooooooooo!VA QB Kevin Newsome has given his word to become a Michigan Wolverine. Newsome is a 6-3, 212-pound player from Chesapeake, Virginia. He becomes the 6th commitment for Michigan’s 2009 class. He is currently a high 4-star (the second rated dual-threat quarterback), and could end up a five-star when all is said and done. He is planning an early enrollment for the winter semester.
Player Notes
Newsome, from Western Branch, is a Tebow-like Quarterback, a physical runner who is more like a linebacker than a safety (a la Pat White). However, he has more top-end speed than Tebow, running (and exceling) in various track events. His teammate, Javanti Sparrow (also a track athlete), is a cornerback who may be in the running for a Michigan offer down the road. Newsome is also a good student, participating in National Honors Society, and having considered other quality academic institutions like Northwestern and Duke.
At this year’s Army Junior Combine, he measured 6-3.5, 205lbs (slightly taller than his listed 6-3, and lighter than 215, but he could have added that weight). He benched 18 reps of 185 pounds, right around the median at the event, and certainly among the strongest for QBs.. As far as speed, he did the agility drill in 4.29, among the fastest times there, and ran a very respectable (especially for a QB) 4.68 40-yard dash, at a slow event where Teric Jone’s 4.47 tied for the fastest time there.
Recruiting Notes
When Russell Shepard committed to LSU, not only did it mean Michigan’s top prospect was off the board, but it also catapulted Newsome to #1 (or 1a, depending on your thoughts about Tate Forcier). Virginia Tech was considere the early favorite for Kevin Newsome, and even more so after another Virginia QB, Tajh Boyd, committed to West Virginia. Newsome received an early Michigan offer, and visited Ann Arbor for the spring game at Saline High school. While he enjoyed the game (in terrible weather), he still visited several other Midwest schools the following weekend – without stopping by Ann Arbor. However, a visit from Michigan coaches on the first day of the spring evaluation period to Western Branch High School solidified Michigan at the top of his list.
Video
Youtube-ness.
Game winning drives? Check.
Et Cetera
Newsome’s younger brother, Keevon, is a 2010 DE prospect, who won MVP honors among D-linemen at a recent underclassman combine. Newsome’s commitment has to put the Wolverines in good position with Newsome the younger as well, though he will probably start out a VT lean.
And of course, Newsome’s teammate Javanti Sparrow is a 2009 CB prospect. It will be interesting to see if Michigan pursues him with Newsome in the fold.
Posted under Recruiting
| Linebackers | ||
|---|---|---|
| WLB | MLB | SLB |
| Mouton (rSo) | Thompson (rSr) OR Ezeh (rSo) |
Ezeh (rSo) OR Evans (So) |
| Logan (Sr) | Panter (Sr) | Patilla (rSo) OR Herron (rFr) |
| Demens (Fr) OR Witherspoon (Fr) |
Fitzgerald (Fr) | Hill (Fr) |
Arriving in the fall: Kenny Demens, Marcus Witherspoon, J.B. Fitzgerald, Taylor Hill.
With a fair amount of depth here, and not much at DE, someone among the linebackers who played DE in high school may start bulking up and change positions. Michigan loses a few seniors, but only one of them (Johnny Thompson) is a projected starter. In recruiting, Michigan can probably hold out for a top guy or two unless they lose a couple players to defensive end.
| Class of ’09 Linebackers | ||||||||
| Name | Measurables | Rating | Hometown | School | Offer? | Timetable | Player Notes | Recruiting Notes |
| Jelani Jenkins | 6-1, 200, 4.45 | ***** | Wheaton, MD | Our Lady of Good Counsel | Offer | Student-athlete with a 4.0. Washington Post all-Met 1st team as a junior. | Virginia wants him like it’s their job. Will he stay closer to home? | |
| Julius Ferrell | 6-1, 230, 4.55 | **** | Youngstown, OH | Liberty | Hits like a ton of bricks. Described as David Harris-like. | Ohio State may not have room for him in their class. His teammate Isaiah Bell is committed. | ||
| Jonathan Pippin | 6-1, 210, 4.5 | *** | River Ridge, LA | John Curtis | From the program that sent Joe McKnight to USC. | He lists a lot of SEC schools and Michigan. | ||
| Dan Mason | 6-1, 223, 4.59 | *** | Pittsburgh, PA | Penn Hills | Pitt is his early leader, and he lists West Virginia, which may translate to new-UM. | |||
| John Michael Davis | 6-1, 220, 4.59 | *** | Los Flores, CA | Tesoro | Dropped from a 5-star after Scout’s first re-evaluation. | Grew up a Michigan fan. He is currently listing Michigan, but how well will New-UM recruit California after the departure of Ron English? | ||
| Dan Fox | 6-3, 215 | *** | Cleveland, OH | St. Ignatius | Attended UM junior day. | |||
After a very large 2008 LB class, this isn’t a huge area of priority. Michigan can hold out for higher-level prospects.
Posted under Personnel, Recruiting
| Secondary | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CB | FS | SS | Nickel | CB |
| Warren (So) | S. Brown (Jr) | Stewart (rSr) OR Harrison |
Harrison (Sr) | Trent (rSr) |
| Harrison (Sr) | Williams (rFr) | Chambers (So) | Dutch (rSr) | Woolfolk (So) |
| Williams (rFr) |
Arriving in the fall: Boubacar Cissoko (CB), JT Floyd (Nickel), Brandon Smith (SS).
| Committed Safeties | ||||||||
| Name | Measurables | Rating | Hometown | School | Player Notes | Recruiting Notes | ||
| Isaiah Bell | 6-3, 205 | *** | Youngstown, OH | Liberty | Junior Film. | Michigan’s fourth commit, on 3-31-08 | ||
| Class of ’09 Safeties | ||||||||
| Name | Measurables | Rating | Hometown | School | Offer? | Timetable | Player Notes | Recruiting Notes |
| Devonte Holloman | 6-2, 200 | ***** | Charlotte, NC | Independence | Offer | Post-officials decision, potential early enroll | SS prospect. He also plays QB in high school, but is unlikely to toss the rock in college. Fluffy fluff. | Notre Dame, Florida, and Clemson are the top 3. He has said he wants to stay close to home. He wants to get down to 5 schools by the end of summer. |
| Jonathan Scott | 6-3, 190, 4.6 | *** | Daytona Beach, FL | Seabreeze | Offer | Strong safety prospect. | He has family at both Georgia Tech and Ohio State. Michigan in his top 5. | |
| Dorian Berry | 6-3, 200 | *** | Baldwyn, MS | Baldwyn | A big dude who projects as a SS. He may have trouble qualifying for college. | Hopson-Mississippi connection. | ||
| Rod Woodson | 6-1, 200 | **** | Olive Branch, MS | Olive Branch | Jay Hopson gives Michigan the ability to recruit Mississippi. | |||
| Shamari Benton | 5-11, 175 | *** | Birmingham, MI | Brother Rice | Early decision | Plays OLB and standup DE in HS. He’ll need to add tons of weight to be on LB, or show faster 40 times to be a safety. | Favors Michigan State over Michigan. | |
| Brock Reynolds | 5-11, 175 | *** | Battle Creek, MI | BC Central | Thin safety prospect. He’ll need to add more weight to get high-DI offers. | |||
A ton of safety prospects out there right now.
| Committed Cornerbacks | ||||||||
| Name | Measurables | Rating | Hometown | School | Player Notes | Recruiting Notes | ||
| Justin Turner | 6-2, 200 | **** | Massilon, OH | Washington | Junior Film. | Michigan’s second commit, on 3-28-08 | ||
| Class of ’09 Corners | ||||||||
| Name | Measurables | Rating | Hometown | School | Offer? | Timetable | Player Notes | Recruiting Notes |
| Dre Kirkpatrick | 6-2, 180, 4.5 | ***** | Gadsden, AL | Gadsden City | Offer | Signing day decision | Scout’s top defensive back early in the recruiting game. | Looking mostly at southern schools. He visited Auburn 2-22 weekend Going to Bama 3-8 weekend. |
| Brandon McGee | 6-0, 180, 4.45 | **** | Plantation, FL | Plantation | Offer | He is a HS QB as well. | Grew up an FSU fan, but is also interested in Ohio State. | |
| Travis Hawkins | 5-11, 185, 4.42 | **** | Gaithersburg, MD | Quince Orchard | Offer | Early enroll | A lot of big-time offers imply that he will be a very good prospect. | Plans to visit Ann Arbor. |
| DJ Hunter | 6-0, 190 | **** | Middletown, OH | Middletown | Favors Indiana and Ohio State, along with Miami of Florida. He claims offers from the entire Big Ten except OSU and Michigan. | |||
| Tony Graham | 5-11, 185, 4.44 | **** | Trotwood, OH | Trotwood-Madison | Michigan’s emerging pipeline into T-M can only help with Graham. He plans to attend Michigan’s summer camp. | |||
| Corey Brown | 6-2, 185, 4.58 | **** | Monroeville, PA | Gateway | Offer | Also plays WR on offense. Sam Webb video interview. | He is friends with some Pitt players (Shayne Hale, Cam Saddler), and his HS coach is a Pitt supporter. | |
| David Conner | 6-0,200 | *** | Batesville, MS | South Panola | Offer | Plays safety in high school, but will probably grow into an OLB in college. He’s a little short for the position. He was a first team all-state selection in 2007 according to the Clarion Ledger. | Michigan is among his first offers. | |
| Javanti Sparrow | 6-0, 170, 4.49 | *** | Chesapeake, VA | Western Branch | Super-fast track star who is a HS teammate of Kevin Newsome. | Interested in attending the same school as teammate Newsome. | ||
| Ryan Campbell | 6-0, 175, 4.38 | *** | Columbus, GA | Shaw | Super-fast track star who is a HS teammate of Kevin Newsome. | Jim Stefani notes that he is originally from Michigan. | ||
| Varmah Sonie | 5-10, 160 | *** | Apple Valley, MN | Apple Valley | A friend of WR Bryce McNeal | Visited Michigan with McNeal last weekend. | ||
Michigan will like at least one super.
Posted under Personnel, Recruiting
| Offensive Line | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| Ortmann (rJr) | MacAvoy (rJr) | Molk (rFr) | Zirbel (rJr) | Schilling (rSo) |
| Huyge (rFr) | Moosman (rJr) | Moosman (rJr) | Moosman (rJr) | Dorrestein (rSo) |
| O’Neill (Fr) | Wermers (Fr) | Barnum (Fr) | Mealer (Fr) | Zirbel (rJr) |
| Khoury (Fr) | Omameh (Fr) |
Arriving in the fall:
Dan O’Neill, Rocko Khoury, Kurt Wermers, Ricky Barnum, Elliott Mealer, Patrick Omameh. Redshirts on the way for just about all of them except maybe O’Neill and whichever interior OL is most ready to play.
David Molk was out for most of the spring (with mono), but I think he’ll use summer camp as a springboard into a starting position. Though Michigan doesn’t lose anyone from this group, the departures of a few players mean that they are still a little thin at the position. Rodriguez likes to have around 16 linemen on the roster, and he will have 15 on the roster next year (including a couple who aren’t likely to ever have big contributions).
| Class of ’09 Offensive Linemen | ||||||||
| Name | Measurables | Rating | Hometown | School | Offer? | Timetable | Player Notes | Recruiting Notes |
| Xavier Nixon | 6-6, 285 | ***** | Fayetteville, NC | Jack Britt | Offer | Considered one of the top OT prospects. A basketball center, he is reknowned for his quick feet. HS coach fluff. | Due to a mix-up, Rodriguez got his film late. Michigan is probably playing catch up on this one. | |
| Marcus Hall | 6-5, 295, 5.35 | ***** | Cleveland, OH | Glenville | Offer | From Ted Ginn Sr.’s Glenville high | Ginn had a beef with the Carr administration, will he send prospects to new-UM? Top 3 of OSU, USC, Illinois would imply otherwise. | |
| Eric Shrive | 6-7, 282, 5.10 | ***** | West Scranton, PA | West Scranton | Offer | Deciding after 2008 | Likely the midwest’s top OT. Film evaluation. | Many consider Notre Dame a heavy favorite (went to their junior day 2-24). Local paper blog on Shrive’s recruitment. Maybe telling: midwest visits do not include UM. |
| Xavier Sua’filo | 6-5, 275 | **** | Provo, UT | Timpview | Being recruited by a lot of top schools. ESPNU Under Armour game. | He wants to take an unofficial to Michigan. | ||
| Chris Freeman | 6-8, 315 | **** | Trotwood, OH | Madison | Offer | He is also a PF prospect for basketball? I guess that means he is ridiculously athletic for his size, but… what? | Michigan has the Trotwood-Madison connection in their favor for this huge OT prospect, though he is the cousin of OSU LB Marcus Freeman. Florida is also hard on Freeman. He plans to attend several Michigan spring practices. |
|
| Chris Watt | 6-4, 270 | **** | Glen Ellyn, IL | Glenbard | Offer | pre-season decision | Viscious interior prospect. | Came to UM junior day. Just like everyone else in the country, he has been offered by Notre Dame (they may be the favorite) (like, seriously). He wants to stay within the midwest. |
| Quinton Washington | 6-4, 320 | **** | Saint Stephen, SC | Timberland | Offer | Currently listed at OT, though his measurables project him on the interior. | Lists a lot of southern schools and Michigan. | |
| Khalil Wilkes | 6-4, 285 | **** | Jersey City, NJ | St. Peter’s | Likes playing in spread offenses. | Has interest in Michigan. His dad played at Rutgers, and they can be considered the current favorite. | ||
| Zach Matthias | 6-6, 305, 5.1 | **** | Hemlock, MI | Hemlock | He plays basketball at his size, which means he is likely a good athlete. An in-state semi-sleeper along the lines of Jake Long. Scholar-athlete as well. 1st Team all-conference as a junior. | Expected to attend Michigan’s junior day. | ||
| Brennan Williams | 6-6, 260, 5.2 | *** | West Roxbury, MA | Catholic Memorial | Jim Stefani noted that his dad is from Michigan and played at Toledo. | |||
| Tahir Basil | 6-2, 250, 4.88 | *** | Philadelphia, PA | Roman Catholic | Good student, maybe not an elite OL prospect (but S&C could mold him into one). | |||
| Ricky Clemons | 6-5, 305 | *** | Flint, MI | Carman Ainsworth | A little short to be a true OT. Could move inside in college. He’s already got the mass, it will likely need to be converted into muscle. | Grew up a State fan, but went to his first CFB game for The Horror. | ||
| Zach Martin | 6-5, 260, 5.10 | *** | Indianapolis, IN | Bishop Chatard | Offer? | Right around tackle size. | Michigan spring game visitor. Offer is not confirmed as yet. | |
| Henry Conway | 6-6, 295 | *** | Shaker Heights, OH | Shaker Heights | Not a big-time prospect, but he has good size. Tackle project. | Michigan Spring Game visitor | ||
Not a ton of need here. They will probably be able to hold out for a couple highly-ranked guys (1-2 tackles, 1-2 interior OL).
Posted under Personnel, Recruiting
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