Recruiting Boards, as always, are here:
2009 & 2010
and in the sidebar to the left.

Standard RichRod recruiting fluff from the Freep.

This is a little late, but Shavodrick Beaver has been moved from committed and completely removed from the board in the wake of his bizarre decommitment to Tulsa. His player page has been removed from the 2009 Commit HQ (also available to the left).

So what’s the upshot for the rest of the class from the Beaver commitment? Most likely a more intense focus on FL QB Denard Robinson, the only remaining quarterback on the board. The Sun-Sentinel had some kind things to say about his fit in the Michigan offense, and mentions his upcoming visit (more on that in a moment). The header of a Scout article by Allen Wallace is a little more specific:

Denard Robinson still plans to visit Michigan on Jan. 9, Kansas State on Jan. 16 and Central Florida on Jan. 23. “I like Michigan because the old coaches from West Virginia are there,” Robinson said. “Coach Rich Rodriguez is trying to install his system there and I think I’d be a good fit. They need a good dual-threat quarterback like me. I won’t be making a final decision until after my visits.”

…so it certainly sounds like Michigan is much more involved than they were a couple weeks ago, and are back to recruiting Robinson as a QB. Finally, there’s another Scout article, entitled “Is U-M near the top for Robinson?” This is the type of teaser to which the answer is almost always “yes.”

If Michigan doesn’t land Denard Robinson, there’s a good chance that guys like Tajh Boyd, Eugene Smith, and Raymond Cotton come back into play.

…and while we’re up in arms about who will fill the second QB slot, don’t forget about the quarterback still committed in this class. Tate Forcier was recently interviewed on WDFN (audio | transcript). What did he have to say about Beaver?

It didn’t really phase me, I wasn’t worried about him. I knew I was going to have to come in and compete regardless of whether it was against him or against Threet. Him leaving it didn’t phase me.

He’s also ready to go at Michigan, having already enrolled (as detailed here earlier this week), and he’s ready to learn and help Michigan win:

I’m actually heading out there in less than two weeks. Right away right when I get out there, coach Smith and coach Rodriguez both told me I’m going to be spending most of my time with them learning that playbook. And with coach Barwis getting me prepared for next season – that’s the main goal right now, to get ready and hope to lead Michigan to a good season next year.

And how is he going to help Michigan win?

I have everything you want in a quarterback. I’m not the tallest guy, but I know how to get the job done. I have a feel for the game. I feel the pressure. I have a great feel for everything. I have great arm strength. I have good enough speed. Overall it’s just the balance of me as a quarterback. I’m not over the top on anything, but that’s what the Michigan coaches are going to try to get me to do – be the best of the best… My goal is to be a little bit like Colt McCoy. It’s almost nearly the same size and speed. It’s possible I may have a stronger arm than him. That’s kind of a lot to say, but I think if I worked hard I could maybe follow in his footsteps and be the type of quarterback that he is.

And that should be just about everything in regards to 2009. Let’s stick with the quarterbacks theme, however, and move along to 2010.

Sometime early next week, I should (finally) have some video up of 2010 MI QB Devin Gardner‘s performance in theDivision III State Championship game (and of course, some film on his teammate, Michigan commit Cameron Gordon, but that doesn’t really fit with the QB theme, now does it?). Look forward to that somewhere within the next round of updates.

Virginia Tech’s inability to land Kevin Newsome this year may lead them to more heavily pursue another local product next year, in Phillip Sims. Despite his good speed, Sims insists that he wantas to be looked at as a pro-style QB. His current schools of interest (including UVa, BC, and Tennessee) seems to bear that out. Hell remain on the board until he says he’s no longer interested in the Wolverines or a spread offense.

Speaking of other QB prospects Michigan may be a little behind in recruiting, 2010 OH QB Spencer Ware will likely end up at a different position in college, but he’s an electifying athlete either way that Michigan would certainly love to have. The current list for Ware is Ohio State, some SEC schools (including Georgia, his favorite), then a bunch of slightly lesser-tiered schools (including the hometown Bearcats).

…and before I wrap up the QBs-only edition of the Recruiting Update, I may as well take care of a couple things not related to signal-callers:
Removed 2009 MD DE/LB Jason Ankrah. He has committed to Nebraska.
Removed 2009 PA LB Dan Mason, who will choose between Pitt, WVU, and Penn State.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

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

The Board lives here. Going against the requests of commenters, I’m going to split up 2009 and 2010 updates for now. I think the main fear was that I would be giving less information as a result, but I think it will allow me to give more information on each class.

New Information:
MD RB Tavon Austin. Sets the state rushing record.
MN WR Commit Bryce McNeal. Planning to take visits elsewhere. This includes Florida (info in headers). His commitment appears to be soft, so keep an eye on him.
OH OL Marcus Hall. Selected for the Army Game. Michigan is likely on the outside looking in at his recruitment, however.
MD DE Jason Ankrah. Enjoyed Michigan visit.
MD LB Jelani Jenkins. Fluff relating to the ESPN2 game last week.
GA S/QB Donavan Tate. Plans on officially visiting Michigan. Odds of his choosing football over baseball are still pretty slim.
MD CB Travis Hawkins. Standard post-visit positivity towards Michigan (info in header). Similar vibes here (link same as above).
FL CB Angelo Hadley. Michigan is in his final four.

Removed:
VA DE Will Hill. He is down to a final group that does not include Michigan, after canceling a UM visit last weekend.

Etc.:
Is that a potential walk-on I’m sensing?

Analysis:
Very Maryland-centric update today. Hawkins and Ankrah both seemed to really dig the Ann Arbor experience. Bryce McNeal’s softening of commit status is somewhat troubling, though I still expect that he ends up in blue.

Posted under Recruiting

The board lives here.

Posted under Recruiting

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

Added:
FL CB Josh Robinson. He plans to take a Michigan visit (info in header).

New Information:
MN WR Commit Bryce McNeal. He had been planning to take visits, but is now completely solid to Michigan (audio).
FL CB Jayron Hosley. Michigan is among those recruiting him the hardest.
AZ DE Craig Roh. His top 5 will come out soon. My uneducated guess is that Michigan will be in it.
FL DB Mywan Jackson. Reacts (quite positively) to his Michigan visit.
MD DE Jason Ankrah. Michigan is in his top 7.
AR CB Darius Winston. Though he has backed off his remarks that Michigan leads, his high school coach thinks this is still the case.

Removed:
FL DE Ryne Giddins. Down to a final 6 that doesn’t include Michigan.
NC WR Jheranie Boyd. Michigan outside of his final 10.
FL OL Andrew Carter. Illinois commit.

Etc.:
I urge you to listen to the Sam Webb Recruiting Insider podcast (linked above in the Bryce McNeal section) from WTKA. It provides a lot of good information, and I should really do a better job of listening to it myself (fortunately, VB super-commenter RJ usually helps me out if something particularly interesting is said). Also, Michigan is probably. looking to take a kicker in the class of 2009. The primary candidates are TX Anthony Fera and FL Brendon Gibbons, but the recruiting process for a kicker will be pretty short, so I won’t bother to add them to the board. Just keep those names in mind.

Posted under Recruiting

Added:
NC OL Travis Bond. Plans to visit Mich (info in header). Smart money is on MSU or Toledo weekends.
TN WR Marsalis Teague. There is some Michigan interest.
VA OL Morgan Moses. Virginia’s top OL plans a Michigan visit.
SC DB David Sims. He plans to take an official visit to Michigan, so it stands to reason that they are in his top 5.
AL DE William Ming. Mega-old article, but it mentions that Michigan is recruiting him.
IN LB Tyquan Hammock. Visited Michigan this week.

New Information:
MD DE Jason Ankrah. Extends his PSU visit. Is he feeling the Nittany Lions?
MD LB Jelani Jenkins. His teammate Caleb Porzel picks Maryland. The two had discussed being a package deal.

Removed:
MD RB Caleb Porzel. Committed to Maryland.

Posted under Recruiting

Added:
CA QB Tate Forcier. He refuses to stop mentioning Michigan, so it would be inappropriate to not at least include him on the board.
FL QB Eugene Smith. Ditto.
CA OG Michael Philipp. Michigan is interested and he wants to visit AA.
MD DE Jason Ankrah. Offered:

Jason has offers from Illinois, Oregon, Maryland, Nebraska, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Syracuse and others. Jason said he attended North Carolina, North Carolina State, Syracuse and Penn State Junior Days.

New Information:
IL OL Commit Michael Schofield. Linked to his junior highlight video.
VA QB Commit Kevin Newsome. Can’t play on the post-grad team at Hargrave?

“We have a rule that, even if that young man, Newsome, wanted to come to our school, he would have to play on the high-school team. We don’t jump over our high-school team.”

FL LB Brandon Hawthorne. Decision after officials.
AL CB Dre Kirkpatrick. Fluff.

Removed:
NC QB Everett Proctor. Michigan seemed to be offering him as a draw to Xavier Nixon, who has eliminated Michigan.
PA OL Adam Gress. Final 2 doesn’t include Michigan. And also, he committed to Penn State.
IL OL Chris Watt. Wolverines out of his final 8.
PA DT Levi Brown. Committed to Temple.
MS DT Josh Boyd. Committed to Mississippi State.
AZ DE Devon Kennard. Michigan did not make his final 5 (USC, UCLA, ASU, Cal, Texas).

Analysis:
So, uh, any other DTs? At this point, there doesn’t seem to be a high correlation between guys who have offers and guys that Michigan can realistically land. If the coaches want another tackle in this class, I expect to see some more offers go out soon. If they landed somebody like Chris Bonds, he could conceivably move from end to tackle, but there isn’t exactly a glut of DEs, either.

Posted under Recruiting