Some things that didn’t fit in Thursday’s update is thrown in here as well, so it should be a JAM-PACKED! update. Here’s the 2010 Michigan Recruiting Board.

Super-non-informative article on the recruitment of PA QB Anthony Gonzales (#6). He’s fast enough to play QB for his high school team, and is described as “slippery.” Though Michigan hasn’t offered yet, that certainly fits the description they’re looking for in this class: a good second QB who can potentially change positions down the road if everything works out with the other players. There is no Michigan mention in the article, and Penn State is presumed to be the favorite by the author, with Pitt just behind. Still, if the Wolverines don’t have a second QB committed by the time the season rolls around, Gonzales may be a candidate to pick up an offer.

LSU has jumped into the fray for IA QB/Ath AJ Derby (info in header). He is becoming a bigger and bigger prospect, which means he may be less likely to accept an offer to play second fiddle to Devin Gardner in the QB class of 2010. Of course, it’s still highly likely he plays at Iowa, where his dad played. The Chicago Sun-Times’s Second Season blog thinks it’s Iowa or Florida for him.

Continuing the deluge of QB news, SC prospect Cornelius Jones has set up a summer visit to Ann Arbor (info in header). Smart money is on this visit happening for camp this week. Jones has had Michigan at or near the top of his list for quite some time now, so a good visit with the Wolverines might be enough to convince him to commit.

Removed MI QB Robert Bolden, who does not have the Wolverines on his list of 6 finalists. I’m not disappointed, because I still maintain that Bolden is more of a pro-style QB than a true dual-threat who would thrive in the Rich Rodriguez spread.

Fluff/brief recruiting info on FL RB Cassius McDowell from SoFlaFootball. McDowell is out for the spring with a broken leg, and has been using his newfound free time to pick up the pace with schoolwork, and enroll early in the fall at his school of choice. The teammate of 2009 signees Denard Robinson and Adrian Witty counts the Wolverines among his offers.

Removed FL RB Darion Hall, who committed to Miami. This is not a surprise. You may recall that I was not particularly stoked on Hall, especially considering he apparently has some maturing to do “on and off the field.”

FL/MI WR Ricardo Miller has apparently changed his tune about which Ann Arbor-area high school he’ll be attending, according to Sam Webb. Rampant speculation and semi-disturbing high school fantasy football leagues by Michigan fans have cluttered the interwebs this weekend, but the fact of the matter is, he’s going to go to the school that gives him the best education and opportunity to succeed on the football field.

PA WR Andrew Carswell‘s continued interest in Michigan (they’re in his top 3 with BC and Pitt) may be explained by the fact that he’s a multiple-position player. If he ends up committing to Michigan (I still think it’s something of a longshot at this point), he could end up playing linebacker on defense.

Removed MD WR EJ Scott, who committed to Virginia.

Removed AL WR Soloman Patton, now a Florida Gator.

In your latest breathless MN OL Seantrel Henderson update, a couple fun factoids that may play a role in his recruitment. First, new Gophers OL coach Tim Davis might send his son to Cretin-Derham Hall. That would certainly not hurt Minnesota for Seantrel (unless said son is a total d-bag, but I digress). Another interesting friend item on Henderson:

According to Lemming, Henderson may want to attend the same school as friend J.D. Pride, another Minneapolis-area player. According to Rivals.com, the only offer Pride holds is from Minnesota.

If the Wolverines ever offer Pride, a QB/Ath, it would certainly help their case. Also, maybe Pride could net an Eastern Michigan offer? That could still help the Wolverines land Henderson. I believe both Henderson and Pride are camping at Michigan, and Eastern’s coaches traditionally head across town to take part.

Recruiting info on GA DT Jeff Whitaker, with nary a mention of Michigan. It sounds like he probably won’t end up with an offer. With the Wolverines perhaps having less of a need for DTs in the unconventional defense of Greg Robinson, perhaps they’ll only need one tackle in this class.

MI DT Jonathan Hankins may be their guy at the position, as a camp offer is likely to come through, especially considering even the stingy Buckeyes have deemed him worthy of a scholarship. Sam Webb had a “gut feeling” on the Recruiting Roundup Thursday that Hankins would be blue if offered. For those who are unfamiliar with the WTKA morning show, Sam’s “gut feeling” means that he has heard directly from a source that the information is true.

Removed SC DT AJ Cann. He is down to a final list that does not include Michigan, and the Wolverines are out of the race for his services.

FL DE Lynden Trail is favoring Florida as he quests to add more weight to give his body a more appropriate DE size (he’s currently at 210 pounds, standing 6-7).

Removed PA DE Dakota Royer. He has released a final five list that does not include Michigan. He plans to make a commitment in July. In a really odd twist, especially considering The Sporting News’s Recruitnik blog has an article on Royer from the same timeframe, also featuring direct quotes, that Royer is down to a top 10, with narrowing to a top 5 by the end of July. Either way, Michigan isn’t on his list, so he gone. Adios, guy who did this:

Removed PA DE Kyle Baublitz, who will be a Nittany Lion.

FL DE/LB Corey Lemonier is playing outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense this year at Hialeah, which is probably fairly comparable to the hybrid roles in Michigan’s new defense under coordinator Greg Robinson. It should come as no surprise, then, that Lemonier plans to use one of his official visits on a trip to Ann Arbor. DE/LB is the new WR in this recruiting class, as far as “how many of these guys can we fit in the class?”

MI S/LB/Ath Daniel Easterly currently favors Illinois, but his feelings about the Wolverines are hard to tell, because he won’t name schools that haven’t offered him among his favorites. He is going to camp at Michigan, so if he earns an offer there, the Wolverines would likely be a serious player in his recruitment.

Michigan is a reported offer for OH S/WR Bobby Swigert. He’s apparently camping this week as well.

Removed SC S Bashaud Breeland, now a Clemson commitment.

Removed MD S Jeff Knox, who committed to Pittsburgh.

FL CB Nickell Robey is going to visit Ann Arbor this summer along with FL S commit Marvin Robinson (info in header). This is obviously good news as far as Robey’s recruitment, but there’s also some moderately bad news that relates to Robinson: he still wants to take a visit to Chapel Hill to check out the Tar Heels (info in header). He still plans to honor his verbal commitment, so this isn’t exactly “ACK FREAK OUT”-type news, but the verbal is less than solid, it seems.

Removed OH CB Jordan Paschal. The Trotwood-Madison (Roundtree, Shaw, Moore) product committed to Louisville.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

I hadn’t heard quite the pessimism on TX QB Jeremy Johnson that Brian apparently had, which was deemed enough to remove him from the recruiting board, but “Michigan Back in it for Johnson” certainly implies that 1) Michigan wasn’t in it recently, and 2) that he’s not someone Michigan fans should forget about quite yet.

SC QB Ker’Sean Wilson is still drawing some Michigan interest. He’s obviously quite far down the list of prospects.

SC RB Marcus Lattimore talks his favorites in a (free) diary on ThebigSpur.com:

Nothing has really changes as far as my leaders, but I am going to North Carolina and I have a feeling I am going to really like it there. Auburn is still at the top, followed by Florida State and Georgia.

After stating in absolute terms that he would be giving Michigan an official visit this season, this is a big step back. However, if Michigan still wants him (and there’s no indication that they wouldn’t), there’s plenty of time to get back in his recruitment, especially if he makes it to campus in November.

You may remember from last year that the coaching staff held a “Barbecue at the Big House” recruiting event in the spring. They plan on holding that event again, and so we’ll hear names trickle in of guys that plan to attend (and we can assume that most players within reasonable driving distance will show up). Add a confirmation from NJ RB/Ath Tony Jones (info in header). I assume that the staff is looking at Jones as an athlete/slot/defensive back rather than a ballcarrier, but that’s my opinion based on numbers and nothing more.

Removed FL WR Fred Pickett. The transfer to Pahokee has given a verbal commitment to West Virginia.

OH TE Alex Welch is adding to his offer list, picking up Oklahoma and Notre Dame recently. Michigan was among the earlier of his bigtime offers, and they didn’t take a tight end in the last recruiting class, so perhaps they’ll have a pretty good shot with him.

MI DT Tremondae Branch is feelin’ Arkansas. He doesn’t report offers from bigtime schools closer to home, but Michigan and MSU are allegedly “showing interest.” A camp appearance is likely the soonest that Branch would see an offer come through.

Entirely non-informative ESPN fluff on MI DE William Gholston. The only potentially relevant snippet is that he still intends to be kept at linebacker in college. Michigan will afford him that opportunity, and State probably wouldn’t, which is a big bonus for the Wolverines. Gholston will participate in the Under Armour All-American game. One bonus bit of fluff:

Tom Lemming of CBS College Sports has rated high school football prospects for 30 years. His magazine, Prep Football Report, is well respected throughout recruiting circles. He said the class of 2010 in Michigan is one of the best he’s seen in this state.

“It’s a very good year,” he said. “I’ll probably have two players from Michigan in my top 10. (Quarterback) Devin Gardner (Inkster) is the real thing. He has an NFL body. William Gholston (Detroit Southeastern) has long arms, quick feet and a good burst. It’s a good year for defensive ends and he’s right there with the best of them.”

His national top 10? That would be crazy, not that I’m complaining.

IN DE Blake Lueders has officially narrowed his list of suitors to a final 5. Michigan is not on the list (Stanford, Wake Forest, Boston College, Notre Dame, and Northwestern are), so he’s been removed from the recruiting board.

As mentioned above, the “Barbecue at the Big House” is going to be a fairly large recruiting event, and per mgoblog’s Tom Van Haaren, PA DE/LB Ken Wilkins plans to attend. Better yet, he may have his mind on committing, if the Wolverines will have him. I’ve added him to the board, though I’ve seen no indication of whether he’s been offered.

WA LB Zach Fogerson received a Michigan offer last week, and it seemed to open his mind to a decommitment (info in header). However, he’s apparently firmed up his commitment to the Huskies since then. Since the offer from Rich rodriguez seemed to mean so much to him, I would be surprised if his recruitment is completely wrapped up. I’ll add him to the board for now, but be wary of him if he continues saying he won’t take other visits.

More fluff on FL LB Christian Jones. HIs work ethic is praised, though there are still the signs that Florida State probably has an insurmountable lead for his services. It appears at this time as thought the Gators might be the only team capable of catching FSU.

MD DBs Jeff Knox and Michael Coley are both holding MIchigan offers, and they both intend to make a visit to Michigan over the summer. The Wolverines have also offered a couple of their teammates, so don’t be surprised if there is a DeMatha contingent on campus something this summer (for summer camp?).

OH S Latwan Anderson runs track:

The Tarblooders were without ailing but almost healed junior sprinter Tony Foster, but were aided by the recent addition of junior Latwan Anderson, a transfer from St. Edward. He was fourth in the 100 (11.4), won the 200 (21.3) and ran on the winning 4×100 and 4×200 relays.

“He asked to come out for the team on Monday,” Glenville coach Tony Overton said. “Latwan is a little out of shape, but he’s working hard.”

Hurray track updates.

Speaking of track updates, OH WR/DB commit DJ Williamson is fairly accomplished himself:

“This title means a lot because it’s the last one,” said junior Deaver Williamson, who tied the league record in the 100 (10.6) and broke the 200 mark (21.40) to tie classmate Marvin Logan for the points title. “We wanted to come out and win both sides, boys and girls, and put our names in history forever.”

I’m still schocked that Rivals and/or Scout haven’t bumped him at least up to three stars on the basis of size and blistering speed.

More track? More track. Dior Mathis is one of Southeast Michigan’s best sprinters, with a new personal best 100m time of 10.71.

I’m not ready to call PA CB Cullen Christian a lock (hell, I’m barely ready to call committed players like Marvin Robinson locks), but he certainly doesn’t seem interested in other offers:

As the far as the Colorado, Christian adds “its very exciting for me to get an offer from the Big 12.”

Can that be interpreted realistically in any other way than “I have no interest in your school, but the situation requires that I say something nice.”? I think not.

Re-removed MD CB Louis Young, who recommitted to Stanford, after decommitting earlier this spring.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

I guess this is my punishment for only giving 1 recruiting update last week: there’s a ton of information that I need to cram in. Expect at least 1 more recruiting update this week, and maybe 2, since the Spring Game should be a fairly serious recruiting event. This update will be a strict adds/removals/offers affair. You can find the 2010 Recruiting Board here.

MI QB Devin Gardner (seen at left) has publicly announced his commitment to Michigan. He was already listed as committed on the recruiting board.

Michigan has apparently offered (or are heavily recruiting) LA DE Jordan Allen. However, the homestate LSU Tigers are still considered the (perhaps prohibitive) favorite.

The Wolverines also recently offered PA DE Dakota Royer.

According to two particularly revealing Scout headers, the Wolverine have offered both NY DE Dominique Easley and DE RB Jamaal Jackson. They’ve both been added to the board, and given the amount of football talent that comes out of that state, I’m surprised I didn’t have to look up the postal code for Delaware.

This Rivals header is equally obvious, and so it is true that OH OL Christian Pace has been offered, confirmed by ESPN. Sticking with ESPN, IN DE Blake Lueders has also received an offer. TX S Luke Muncie has also been offered (info in header).

FL WR Quinton Dunbar has decommitted from the University of Miami, and the Wolverines are among the 5 he will consider (joined by the Big 3 in Florida, as well as UCF). He will announce his decision on Signing Day. He’s been added to the board.

MI CB Mylan Hicks from Renaissance High School has received offers from the Wolverines and Michigan State this week.

A super-sketchy ESPN report that I’m not sure how much I should trust asserts that Michigan offered 5 teammates at DeMatha High School in Maryland. I don’t trust the offer status, but it’s certainly worth at least adding the guys to the board. They are Michael Cooley, S Lorenzo Waters, OL Ari Kouandjio, RB Marcus Coker and S Jeff Knox. The only two that I had even heard of before this report were Knox and Coker, and Cooley isn’t in Rivals’s or Scout’s databases, while Kouandjio is nowhere to be found on Rivals (and Scout throws an ‘e’ at the end of his first name). Keep this developing situation in mind.

Another article with a pretty good amount of Michigan-related information is offered up by The State. SC S Bashaud Breeland has received a Michigan offer, as has SC DT Brandon Willis. VA LB Chase Williams is hearing from Michigan, and may get an offer down the road. He’s been added to the board.

GA QB/Ath Blake Sims, who was thought to be a pretty serious candidate for another signal-caller in this class, committed to Alabama. The first articles I saw about it had non-definitive titles like “Has Blake Sims committed to Alabama?” or “Blake Sims reportedly commits to Alabama,” but stuff in the last day or so has been more definitive.

CO QB/Ath Kain Colter has committed to Stanford, and will be removed from the board.

Posted under Football, Recruiting