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

2010 Michigan Recruiting Board.

Big House Barbecue As mentioned in this morning’s post, there were no immediate results from the Big House Barbecue event. Though the Wolverines picked up a commitment from PA DE Jordan Paskorz (and how about a little Paskorz fluff? Or were you looking for a more local flavor?), it was prior to the barbecue, and not related to the actual even itself. So, was the whole thing a bust this time around? Not so much. There are lots of positive vibes coming from essentially every recruit who was there, with none moreso than a couple guys who might suddenly be ready to make decisions. “Wilkins moves closer to decision after visit” and “Is a Decision Imminent for Pace?” are pretty good indications-via-headline that PA LB Ken Wilkins and OH OL Christian Pace enjoyed themselves enough to at least seriously consider committing in the not-particularly-distant future. Keep your eyes peeled in the coming days.

Other than those two, nothing seems to be imminent, but the general feeling from the barbecue seems to be a good one, emanating from the mouths of seemingly every recruit who was there. Michigan certainly helped themselves with a number of guys, even if they only managed to accelerate a couple of decision timelines. Some of those who seemd to enjoy themselves: FL CB Tony Grimes, who had his “eyes opened by Michigan,” and seems to be a pretty good player, as well. Another top prospect who was there, perhaps surprisingly to Michigan fans who are staring at the commit list with a shocked expression, was IL WR Kyle Prater (info in header).

Fluff on IA QB AJ Derby. Tom Lemming criticizes several midwest schools for being impatient and not waiting for great prospects like Derby, while lauding Iowa’s foresight to not accept commitments from lesser-rated players. Like, I don’t know, 3-stars James Morris and Austin Gray and unranked Anthony Ferguson and Jim Poggi. I’m just sayin’. Back to Derby though, Lemming seems to think he might be a 5-star caliber player, but that his Hawkeye connections (aside from the obvious – living in Iowa City – his dad also played for Iowa in the 90s) will probably mean he ends up playing for his hometown school.

OK QB/WR Demarco Cobbs is trying to narrow his list, but is having a hard time telling schools that he’s just not that into them. Be forwarned that Michigan is nowhere near his rough top 10 list, which instead consists of Alabama, Arizona, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Tennessee and USC. He basically never mentions Michigan, though he says “a couple schools” are right outside the top list, and could sneak in there. He seems to have little interest in playing QB, and the only reason I’m leaving him on the list for now is that he has a Michigan offer, and there’s no formal cutdown that means Michigan is absolutely out of it.

SC RB Marcus Lattimore has trimmed his list of schools to a final 8, which doesn’t include Michigan. This is curious because of the “I am definitely going to an official visit in Ann Arbor” vibe he was giving out before, but the writing has sort of been on the wall for a while now. I’ll leave him on the board a little longer, until I can get a chance to resolve the official visit issue.

Selective reading by the Miami Herald, when discussing possible future commitments for Da U. They pick out a FL OL Torrian Wilson quote that all of his top 5 schools are “about equal,” while forgetting to mention that he has also said several times that Michigan definitely leads. This is yet another reason why newspapers are failing, guys. I’m not saying the Wolverines will definitely land Wilson, but lying to your readers by omission isn’t exactly a criterion for becoming a beacon of journalism.

GA OT/DE Henry Anderson says Michigan “is in the big picture” (info in header). While that certainly doesn’t mean very much, it’s enough to warrant adding him to the board.

GA DE TJ Stripling might be taking a visit to Ann Arbor soon (info in header). Memo to Pete Cunningham, the author of this article. You can’t have a tease in the excerpt that you’ve already answered in the headline. Stripling had not been previously on the board, so I’ve added him.

Some pretty fluffy stuff on FL LB Jeff Luc. Of actual note from the article: He’s a good student, and trying to get all of his classes in order so he can graduate in December and enroll early at his school of choice.

Michigan has offered GA LB Tyrone Cornelius. I’ve added him to the board.

MD LB Troy Gloster has been offered by Michigan. The former teammate of Florida’s Jelani Jenkins is one of many Division-1 prospects at Good Counsel High School, so keep an eye on the Wolverines’ future actions at that school.

Periodic Pahokee Update Time. It seems I say more about this school than any other, probably because the number of prospects available there, and also because of Michigan’s existing ties to the Blue Devils. Anyway, a weird-ish non-story from the muck over the weekend, as CB Merrill Noel and LB Zachery Allen planned to announce today – then promptly changed their minds. The Wolverines wouldn’t have likely been the school of choice for either guy, so if they want a legit shot at them, a longer recruiting process can only help Michigan. It had been predicted that both would commit to Wake today.

A top 100 list of Florida prospects by the Miami Herald includes a number of Michigan prospects, including commits Ricardo Miller (#19) and Marvin Robinson (#31). The most humorous part of this list is the authors’ insistence on bragging about how much smarter they are than the national recruiting sites, and how they know so much more than those guys. Then they go on to spell about 30% of the names wrong. Great work, guys!

Posted under Football, Recruiting

As always, the 2010 Recruiting Board has a running tally of all the updates.

A very Michigan-tastic relay team of Denard Robinson, Adrian Witty, 2010 RB Cassius McDowell, and Donte Dotson (who does not play football) won the Florida State Track title in the 4×100 relay, with a time of 40.64. They did not, however, break the state record of 40.54, partially because of a bad handoff between Witty and Dotson:

”I’m mad we didnt break it but happy that we won states,” Robinson said. “It’s a great experience. I don’t know what happened. Our exchange wasn’t that good from first to second. That is what got us. It means a lot. To two-peat means a lot, especially after losing two legs from last year.”

If only there were video of this whole thing… ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE:

The legs are as follows: Dotson, Witty, McDowell, Robinson. All are very fast. Robinson finished 3rd in the 100m dash, with a time of 10.62.

Oklahoma-oriented radio interview/podcast-like-substance with CA RB Brennan Clay. Talks about how big a threat the Scripps Ranch offense was, in large part thanks to Tate Forcier. Brennan caught 70 passes and ran 107 times, so he’s definitely a multi-skilled threat. Not to sound the alarm bell quote yet, but he lists about 10 of his offers, and Michigan is not among the schools he names.

IL RB LaSteven McKinney is among the 400 nominees for the Army All-American Game, and he talks a little bit of recruiting.

Former Michigan and 10-year NFL running back Tyrone Wheatley is the [EMU] Eagles’ running backs coach and has kept tabs on McKinney.

“I talked to Coach Wheatley yesterday on the phone,” McKinney said. “He said that I’m definitely the type of player that they like and I remind them a lot of Reggie Bush. They said that they can’t see why I don’t have anymore offers yet, so it was a very good compliment and he seems like a pretty good guy.”

“I’m thinking I should have everything narrowed down by national signing day,” McKinney said. “I’m very open-minded about everything.”

I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s given at least a glance later on, though it sounds like it would be for either defense or slot:

McKinney is also a polished receiver, as Racki sometimes uses the standout in the slot… Though he is a productive running back at the high school level, McKinney is being recruited by many schools as a defensive back because of his fluid hips and quickness. Racki said every Big Ten school, including Illinois, has shown interest with only Michigan State recruiting McKinney as a running back.

I would presume that, since Michigan has 2 RB/Slots prospects already committed, he would be a defensive guy, or maybe a contingency plan for a decommit. He may be the type of kid who comes to Michigan’s camp, as the Eastern Michigan coaching staff typically attends.

OH RB/DB Christian Bryant has received his Ohio State offer, so it’s likely only a matter of time before he commits to the Buckeyes. Like many Glenville players, the Ohio State offer was all that was holding him back from becoming a Buckeye. He may wait a while to announce a commitment, as Glenville players often do, but he’s as good as Scarlet.

Has Michigan offered FL WR Ace Sanders? I had’t previously heard of the kid, and I’d be shocked if they offered yet another WR (albeit a slot). Still, I was wrong in questioning a report last week, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, and at least add him to the board as unoffered.

They’re also still visiting the high school of NC WR Anthony Creecy. Again, I’m skeptical of their desire to take another true WR, but this is a results-based recruiting board, so he’s added. Of course, any additional WR recruit may still end up at another position.

FL WR Quinton Dunbar has Michigan in his top 6, despite aforementioned glut of wide receiver recruits for the Wolverines. The need for another outside wideout is low, and a recruiting class heavy in wide receivers isn’t exactly inviting to recruits, so look for Michigan to miss one of the next couple cuts for Dunbar, barring unforeseen circumstances.

After visiting Ann Arbor earlier this spring, FL OL Torrian Wilson named the Wolverines his favorite. I assumed, like many other Michigan fans, that after the afterglow of the trip started to fade away, that Wilson would back off that statement, and eventually start favoring another school (such as the hometown Miami Hurricanes, which took 8 Miami Northwestern prospects in the class of 2008). Recent indications, however, are that Wilson still favors the Wolverines. Better yet, he plans to decide sometime this summer, which means other schools don’t have a ton of time to catch up with Michigan. Keep an eye on this one though, since I wouldn’t be surprised if the ‘Canes made a push at Torrian.

Since Wilson seems to be holding strong with the Michigan lead, it reduces the downside of FL OL Jose Jose announcing for Tennessee, except for the fact that a player named “Jose Jose” should get the full red carpet treatment on name basis alone.

IN DE Blake Lueders is going to start cutting down his school list (info in header). Considering he recently released a top 6 with Michigan nowhere to be found, don’t be surprised if the Wolverines don’t make his first cut.

FL LB Jeff Luc is among the nation’s top linebacker prospects, and is near the top of the charts overall, as well. I guess, then, that he’s deserving of a pretty serious fluff piece from Gridiron Studs:

He has turned his life completely around through football and faith. Luc now sports a 3.7 G.P.A., is on track to graduate early and wants to be an engineer major in college. As for what college that would be, that’s the big question that Luc will keep people waiting on.

” I don’t have a favorite right now,” Luc says, “I like them all.”

Here’s the video referenced in the article (and it is indeed impressive):

Yay, video.

MD LB Javarie Johnson, though it was erroneouly reported a while back that he committed to Michigan, has in fact not. However, he still did enjoy hi visits to both East Lansing and Ann Arbor, and holds both the Spartans and the Wolverines in high regard. Maryland and Miami still loom in his recruitment, but that group of schools may be an unofficial top 4. Aside from schools of choice, Johnson plans to be a January enrollee, so his decision will likely be made sooner rather than later.

FL CB/Ath TC Robinson, the cousin of S commit Marvin Robinson, is currently favoring Michigan (info in header). If an offer ends up coming through for Robinson the Second, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up in Blue, what with the family connection and all.

Continuing the Pahokee-centric bent from Monday’s recruiting update: Josh Helmholdt expands in the Free Press on Michigan’s recent rash of offers to Pahokee players:

Michigan returned to Pahokee early during recruiting for the class of 2010 and offered four-star wide receiver De’Joshua Johnson.

Smith visited Pahokee High last week and offered three more Blue Devils: linebacker Zachary Allen, cornerback Merrill Noel and defensive tackle Richard Ash. They also have offered wide receiver Chris Dunkley, who will be transferring to Pahokee from Royal Palm Beach High for his senior season.

And as I speculated Monday:

The five Pahokee players with U-M offers plan to travel with Pahokee coach Blaze Thompson to Ann Arbor for a camp in June.

Establishing pipelines obviously helps the players find a comfort level with Michigan, and the staff obviously realizes this. By the way, Tennessee is among De’Joshua Johnson’s tentative list of three finalists, but good luck getting into Pahokee High to talk to him, Kiffykins. I hope hope hope a now-standard Lane Kiffin moment of Social Norm Non-Awareness takes place if he does indeed apologize to the Pahokee community. And, while we’re on the topic, let’s get some SoFlaFootball love from some of the guys who are new-ish to Michigan fans:

Merrill Noel 2010 CB 5′8″ 160: While Noel is being recruited as a cornerback, look for him to be used a lot inside the box this fall for Pahokee. Noel has great speed and is a physical defender. Noel has a host of offers, the latest being Michigan, but the school to keep a close eye on is Wake Forest.

Richard Ash 2010 DT 6′3″ 265: Ash has moved himself into being the top prospect coming out of Pahokee this season. His body is a work in progress and very easily can be around 280-pounds before he leaves high school. Ash’s agility is impressive and is quick off the ball. Today in practice he did a nice job of shooting the guard-tackle gap and getting into the back field. A lot of talk going around that Florida is the school to beat for Ash as of now.

Zach Allen 2010 LB/DE/TE 6′2″ 180: Allen lines up as a defensive end during the 11-on-11 portion of the practice, where he was fairly active. Allen is lean right now, but in the future should be able to add the weight needed to play at a high level. The Alphonso Smith affect seems to be flowing through Pahokee, as Wake Forest is a school to watch for Allen.

Famliarize yourselves, yo.

I know I promised not to spout Army Game nominations just for the sake of doing it, but here’s the list of players from the state of Michigan who are being considered:

Huron wide receiver Jeremy Jackson, Chelsea tailback Nick Hill and Saline quarterback Joe Boisture are three of 10 players from Michigan on the list released this week. The game will be played Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010, in San Antonio’s Alamodome and broadcast live by NBC…

Other in-state finalists include University of Michigan commit Devin Gardner (QB, Inkster) and MSU commit Max Bullough (LB, Traverse City St. Francis), along with Williams Gholston (DL, Detroit Southeastern), Dior Mathis (DB, Detroit Cass Tech), Austin White (RB, Livonia Stevenson), Robert Bolden (QB, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s) and Jordan Sanders (DL, Rochester Adams).

So, let’s tally ’em up: 2 Michigan commits, 1 State commit, 1 BC commit, and 6 uncommitted, at least one of whom will land at each of the in-state schools, per conventional wisdom. Speaking of Austin White, he was part of a 1:30.95 4×200 relay team. It’s not quite Denard Robinson fast, but it’s nothing to sneeze at. Dedicated article for his Army nomination.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Don’t forget, you can always visit the 2010 Recruiting Board here, or by clicking the link on the left sidebar.

Moved to Committed:
FL S Marvin Robinson. And there was much rejoicing. Also, there was a weird “OMG Half Shirtlessz” picture.

SC RB Marcus Lattimore has named Auburn his favorite after visiting for the Tigers’ spring game. I would be surprised if this lead holds up after he visits other schools, including Michigan, which he’s currently scheduled for the OSU game. His top 10 remains unchanged, but Auburn has shuffled their way to the front.

Has Michigan offered FL RB Darion Hall? Yes, according to Phil Kornblut:

Clemson has an offer out to running back Darion Hall (6-0, 200) of Naples, Fla. He has also been offered by Arkansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, SMU, Vanderbilt, West Virginia and Michigan. He also is hearing from Miami and Florida.

I’ve added him to the board as offered.

Sam Webb Detroit News fluff on MN OL Seantrel Henderson, the consensus #1 overall recruit. Both Michigan and MIchigan State are in his current top 10. He also won’t announce a decision until one of the All-star games (he hasn’t decided whether he’ll participate in the Army or ESPNU game). I wouldn’t be surprised if Michigan tries to get Eastern to land MN Ath JD Pride, so Henderson could be close to his good friend.

PA OL Seth Betancourt is currently looking at the SEC. Distance from home apparently matter to him, though he’s currently considering every school that extends him a scholarship offer. Michigan is not yet among those schools, but such programs as Pen State, Boston College, and West Virginia are.

Seems as though there’s a bit of a controversy surrounding NC DT Gabe King and several other athletes who were looking to transfer to Northern Guilford High School next year. Northern’s principal has already resigned over the ordeal, and it should be interesting to see if King’s eligbility at that school is threatened.

OH DE Darryl Baldwin has come out with a final four that includes Michigan (along with MSU, OSU, and ND). The article was crafted by a Sparty author, so be mindful of bias and incapability of forming a complete sentence. I keep forgetting whether it’s Baldwin or Derrick Bryant that is a supposed lock to OSU, so remain mindful that one of them is.

There was a weird situation early Sunday, in which Bob Lichtenfels of Scout.com said DC LB Javarie Johnson had committed to the Wolverines. GBW (on Lichtenfels’s own network, oddly enough) quickly pulled out their best Mike Gundy and said “THAT AIN’T TRUE.” Over the course of the day, they posted several articles (or “blogs” as they idiotically call message board posts) that ultimately showed they were correct, though he’s still listed as a commit on Scout. Still, Johnson did visit Ann Arbor this weekend and leave with an offer, so Michigan is interested in him. Additionally, commitment rumors don’t really crop up without some form of reciprocated interest. I’ve added Johnson to the board, and he might be a prospect to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.

TX LB Caleb Lavey committed to Oklahoma State. This is weird, because Michigan had previously been considered the heavy favorite for him. After a brief visit to Oklahoma State, the lifelong Michigan fan immediately committed to the Cowboys. I’m not going to take him off the board quite yet, because, well, WTF? Oklahoma State? Seriously?

IN DE/LB Blake Lueders has a top 6 that does not include Michigan. It does include BC, Stanford, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Wake Forest, and UNC. However, somebody instruct LTP that “Top 6” != “Final 6.”

SC S Bashaud Breeland has named a top 3 of Clemson, South Carolina, and Virginia Tech. He is still considering the rest of the schools that have offered him (including the Wolverines), but those three stand out for now.

FL CB Nickell Robey is pretty good at track, fyi. Despite a hamstring injury, he managed to win the long jump and triple jump, and finish fourth in the high jump.

Florida’s Spring Game may have gotten the Gators some recruiting returns of their own. Of note to Michigan fans:

Lithonia, Ga., Martin Luther King running back Mack Brown, who some have labeled as the No. 1 target on the Gators’ board this season, said that Florida has officially taken over as his top school.

One guy who had a major slip on how he feels about Florida was Delray Beach, Atlantic wide receiver James Louis. In an interview with Scout.com after Saturday’s game, Louis actually said he’ll be a Gator soon. He didn’t commit, but he said it looks like he will.

Both are downgraded from “longshot” to “extreme longshot” at this point. I’m not sure exactly how interested the Wolverines were in Louis anyway, but it looks like he’ll be off the board soon enough. By the way, the author of the article estimates that there were over 1,000 recruits and parents of recruits at the game. Something for Michigan to aim for in future years, no?

Removals:
LA DT Risean Broussard. Committed to Tennessee.
FL LB BJ Butler. Committed to Georgia.
TX LB/S Luke Muncie. Committed to LSU.
OH CB Mike Dorsey. Committed to West Virginia.

Robey Photo by Ernst Peters of The Ledger.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

GBW is reporting that Michigan has gained the commitment of Florida safety Marvin Robinson. The rising junior won’t enroll until the fall of 2010, but is already Michigan’s ninth verbal in the class. Robinson, from Lake Region High School, measures 6-2, 190, with a 40-yard dash in the 4.5 range.

Posted under Recruiting

As time goes by, it seems more and more inevitable that SC QB Cornelius Jones might pick Michigan. He’s going to visit this summer.

Removed VA QB Phillip Sims. He committed to Alabama, relieving me of my responsibility of looking for excuses to drop him. I’m comin’ for you next, Heaps.

ESPN recruiting fluff on GA RB Mack Brown. From the article it appears as though he’s more of a speed back than a big back, which I had previously pegged him as. Still, with 2 backs in the class, I wouldn’t be surprised if the coaching staff holds out for Marcus Lattimore or bust (“bust” here meaning “Austin White/Nick Hill“). Additional Brown mini-fluff from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

MD RB Marcus Coker, who was part of the mass offering of DeMatha players last week, has now confirmed that he’s received an offer from the Wolverines (info in header). Still no definitive word on any of the other four guys.

I’d kinda pegged IL TE CJ Fiedorowicz as a Notre Dame lock, but it appears as though he’s favoring Iowa and Ohio State at this point. Michigan doesn’t seem to be in the thick of his recruitment, but he’d be an awesome weapon in the spread offense.

OH DE Darryl Baldwin was scheduled to visit Ann Arbor on Monday, though there haven’t been any (free) reports on whether said visit was positive or not.

Michigan is still showing interest in IL DE Louis Trinca-Pasat. Sun-Times fluff on Trinca and his teammate OL Laken Tomlinson. I’ve added Tomlinson to the board.

It’s almost difficult to NOT read the tea leaves, as each day brings further evidence (in header) that FL S Marvin Robinson is going to commit to the Wolverines, and do so sometime soon. That would (hopefully) open the floodgates a bit for some other defensive recruits to hop on board. Speaking of which, Josh Helmholdt goes over the spoils of the spring game in the Freep, including a tidbit on Marvin:

“I love the Michigan fans and I love the support they give their players,” Columbus (Ohio) Brookhaven defensive end Derrick Bryant remarked. “I was thinking some college stadiums don’t have that many people that come for a regular game and they had that many people for a scrimmage.”

“It was definitely a great environment to see all the people there supporting Michigan,” added Livonia Stevenson running back Austin White…

The recruiting results of Michigan’s spring game weekend could be immediately seen with the Saturday commitment of Flower Mound (Tex.) Marcus running back Stephen Hopkins. Several more players, however, elevated Michigan on their list of favorites following visits this past weekend.

[Torrian] Wilson, a 6-4, 315-pound offensive lineman ranked as the No. 131 player in the country by Rivals.com, named Michigan his leader after finishing up a five-day visit in Michigan. Eagle Lake (Fla.) Lake Region four-star safety Marvin Robinson, the No. 99 player in the country according to Rivals.com, also named the Wolverines as his top team and expects to make his commitment official in the next 2-3 weeks.

The Wolverines were already Robinson’s leader, though the imminent commitment thing is new this week. FL OL Torrian Wilson enjoyed the spring game as well, but it will still be tough to pull him from the Hurricanes. The other two gentlemen enjoying themselves can obviously be nothing other than a positive.

Information on a few different guys from Phil Kornblut:

USC has offered RB Roy Finch (5-8, 170) of Niceville, Fla. He also has offers from Oklahoma, Alabama, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Southern Miss, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Oregon, Michigan and Texas A&M.

DB Brashaud Breeland (6-2, 200) of Allendale-Fairfax also was at USC’s practice last Thursday night. He’s considering the Gamecocks and Clemson strongly along with Wake Forest, N.C. State, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Michigan and Tennessee.

So, Finch is now moved to “offered” on the board, and it appears as though Bashaud Breeland (first name sic in the quote, as I believe there’s no “r”) has Michigan in an unofficial top 8 of sorts. There was a bit more information in the article, but it was redundant from previous recruiting updates.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Moved to committed:
TX RB Stephen Hopkins. Commitment Post.

Sam Webb brings the fluff on MI QB Commit Devin Gardner in the Detroit News. Of course, the article wouldn’t be complete without this oft-quoted (in the past week or so) soundbite from Devin:

An Ohio State fan growing up, Gardner said he has had little problem flipping the loyalty switch.

“It’s off,” he said matter-of-factly. “They’re going to get it just like everybody else.”

So, huzzah for that. Speaking of Gardner, Matt Dorsey updates the in-state Top 10 in the Freep. Oddly enough, a Michigan State writer dropped Devin a spot in the rankings after he committed to Michigan. What are the odds?

At least one Rivals writer is pretty confident that TX QB Jeremy Johnson is going to commit to West Virginia after his visit this weekend. He was a “maybe” to visit Michigan this past weekend, but to the best of my knowledge, didn’t show. Stand by for removing him from the board.

Some USA Today fluff on CA RB Brennan Clay, focusing on his relationship with Tate Forcier. The USA Today is much more positive about Michigan’s chances to land Clay than conventional wisdom, for the record.

With the Wolverines in pretty serious need of defensive tackles in this class, but very few elite options out there, it seems as though they should be jumping all over PA DT Sharrif Floyd from Philadelphia. However, at this point, it doesn’t appear that there’s too much mutual interest.

Michigan may be among the favorites for SC RB Marcus Lattimore, but his teammate DT/DE Brandon Willis, does not have Michigan in his top 5.

PA DE Kyle Baublitz is reporting a Michigan offer.

Michigan is joined by 9 other schools in FL DE Lynden Trail‘s list of finalists. The others are Florida, Florida State, Miami, Southern California, Georgia, Alabama, South Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina.

Michigan has been FL S Marvin Robinson‘s leader for quite some time now (even if he hasn’t always articulated his favorites as such), but it appears that he might be almost ready to take the next step in his recruitment. He says he may commit to the Wolverines within a couple weeks or by the end of spring.

Michigan “is recruiting” FL CB Cody Riggs, though the Wolverines haven’t yet offered.

And how about a removal or six while I’m updating?
OH CB Courtney Avery gives a verbal to Stanford.
FL CB Jaylen Watkins committed to Florida.
FL CB Mark Deas committed to Georgia.
FL LB Gideon Ajagbe has committed to Florida.
NC OL Robert Crisp committed to… NC State?
FL RB Antwon Chisholm from Glades Central brandished a knife at a mall security guard, and it is now unlikely he’ll end up at a BCS school, assuming there’s anyone that wants to take him at all.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Josh Helmholdt was so kind as to post an initial list of Spring Game visitors in the Free Press from which we can make additions and changes to get a visitors list:

Michigan extended invitations to most, if not all of the prospects they have offered scholarships to in the 2010 class and several are planning to visit. A majority of their in-state targets, including Inkster’s Devin Gardner, Detroit Southeastern’s William Gholston, Detroit Renaissance’s Mylan Hicks and Detroit Cass Tech’s Dior Mathis, plan to be there Saturday.

The second largest contingent of recruiting visitors will be from Ohio. Avon Lake offensive lineman Christian Pace, Cincinnati Wyoming defensive lineman Jibreel Black [now with UM offer – ed.] and Columbus Brookhaven defensive end Derrick Bryant all hold offers from the Wolverines and plan to attend the spring game.

Other expected spring game visitors include Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward Latwan Anderson [Recently transferred to Ted Ginn Sr’s private school and will play football at Glenville – a bad thing for Michigan’s chances at him. – ed.]and Eagle Lake (Fla.) Lake Region Marvin Robinson, both top 100 safeties, according to Rivals.com. Another expected visitor, Flower Mound (Texas) Marcus running back Stephen Hopkins, said this trip is his most anticipated of the half dozen or more schools he’s already visited.

From Sam Webb’s recruiting roundups on WTKA (4-7-09)(4-8-09)(4-9-09):

Yes: 
FL/MI WR Commit Ricardo Miller
MI WR Commit Jeremy Jackson 
MI QB Robert Bolden
MI RB Austin White (recent LSU offeree)
MI RB Nick Hill
MI DE CJ Olaniyan (also at practice yesterday)  
MI DT Jonathan Hankins
MI LB Ishmael Thomas from Renaissance.

No: 
SC QB Cornelius Jones (rescheduled for summer camp)
OH OL Andrew Donnal
MD LB Josh Furman
OH DE Darryl Baldwin
FL CB Lorenza Wood

Maybe: 
TX QB Jeremy Johnson might show up. However, West Virginia sources are expecting a commit from him when he visits Morgantown next weekend.

Beacon Sports reports that OH LB Jewone Snow (son of former Michigan RB Garland Rivers) will be in attendance. No word on whether he’ll bring 2011 DE Steve Miller, also mentioned in that update, along with him to Ann Arbor. Miller is expected to be one of the top players in Ohio in the class of 2011. Snow plans to make an early decision, but I don’t think it will be for the Wolverines this weekend.

So, be on the lookout for all these guys at the spring game if you happen to have any interest.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Don’t forget to check out all the information over time on the 2010 Recruiting Board.

Moved to Committed:
MI QB Devin Gardner. WOOOOO! The somewhat complicated story seems to be that he’s committed to Michigan, but won’t officially tell the media until his basketball season ends. So, he is committed, but the reason Rivals doesn’t list him on the commit list is his reluctance to give them an interview prior to the end of his hoops season.
OH Ath/WR DJ Williamson. More WOOOO!
OH LB Antonio Kinard. WOOOO round 3!

Removed:
FL RB Tiger Powell. Committed to South Florida.
TX CB Adrian White. Committed to Texas.

TX DE Reggie Wilson has set a decision timeline for himself: He’ll commit to a school before the end of the month. His “Final 3” consists of Texas, Oklahoma, and TCU, but I’ll leave him on the board a little longer, until there’s confirmation from another source (not that I’m doubting the credibility of BON, but best to hear it from the horse’s mouth).

FL QB Stephen Morris, one of the stars of Michigan’s 2008 summer camp, is making a name for himself. At least, there’s definitely a PR firm pumping out releases about him. Morris has also started to draw the attention of a familiar face to Michigan fans:

“I just received a couple of letters from Coach Loeffler, who is the new QB coach at Florida, and he really wants me to come up and visit. It’s funny how things turn out, he was the coach who first convinced me to come up to the University of Michigan for their football camp a couple of years ago – and we had a great time there.”

Funny how things turn out, indeed. From the sounds of it, he was more interested in Michigan than in Loeffler after his visit to Ann Arbor, but a coach with whom he’s established a relationship should certainly be considered a threat. There’s also relevant recruiting information in the article:

His list of top schools includes: (in alphabetical order) Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

The Florida attention is likely to shake that list up a bit.

TX LB Caleb Lavey is the #5 linebacker in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for the class of 2010. His measurables aren’t what’s keeping him that low, however: It’s the fact that he plays in a lower division against lesser competition.

Scouting report on MI RB Austin White. The “unsubstantiated rumor” that he committed to Michigan on Junior Day doesn’t exist, even in unsubstantiated form, anywhere other than this site to my knowledge. Let me know if I’m mistaken.

It might be in the best interest of FL LB Jeff Luc to get out of Miami, according to his brother. For the record, said brother went to Florida State, so this isn’t exactly an advocate for going to a school like Michigan.

FL RB Corvin Lamb has said it in no uncertain terms: he wants to go to Florida. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gave the Gators a commitment before the spring is over.

Ohio State and Michigan State, in that order, lead for OH DE Darryl Baldwin. Michigan was on him early in the process, so expect them to turn up the heat if they really want him.

For those who fear that FL S Marvin Robinson is no longer likely to end up in Ann Arbor, take heart: he recently named the Wolverines his #1 school. An early commitment still doesn’t look likely, but at least the Wolverines aren’t playing catch-up.

Michigan has offered OH OL Skyler Schofner, and also FL DE BJ Butler.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Last week TheWolverine’s Josh Helmholdt had a recruiting chat on the Freep website, and I was aware of it but without anywhere to put it. So, I’ll dedicate a post to it, parsing out all the details I think are relevant.

Michigan definitely has a good shot at Inkster QB Devin Gardner. He dropped Ohio State this past week and that was the team he grew up following, so that increases Michigan’s chances that much more. Right now they have a better shot of landing Gardner than [Robert] Bolden. I personally like Gardner’s upside best. He truly does have some of the characteristics that made Terrelle Pryor the No. 1 recruit coming out of HS in the 2008 class. Gardner is also one of the QB prospects who Michigan has the best chance of landing.

I spoke with Austin [Gray] last night and Michigan is definitely high on his radar. Michigan State and Illinois look to be on the verge of offering and Indiana, Toledo, CMU and others already have. He is not listing an outright favorite right now

I was down in Florida with Marvin [Robinson] last week, and I still feel good Michigan is the team to beat. Several others in Florida agree with me on that.

William [Gholston] did favor MSU and really still does, but he has been adamant in the last couple weeks that he does not want to make an early commitment because he has not visited very many schools.

Gholston, Derrick Bryant and Darryl Baldwin from Solon, Ohio, [are the main targets] at defensive end. At DT, there is a kid in Georgia they are taking a look at, but all in all the talent nationally at that position is weak this year. Most of those offers will come later in the process.

[Regarding adding players to the 2009 class] They took a look at Carolina ATH Larry Raper, but have not offered. There are a few three and four-star guys still left uncommitted and if they can get in with one of them, then maybe they add one more. I keep in close contact with Raper, and he has not been offered yet by Michigan. As the days go on, there is less of a chance he does get that offer. The lack of available talent at the DT left in the 2009 class makes it unlikely they will add another one in the 2009 class.

I really believe [Nick Hill] will [end up in Michigan’s class] Joe, and likely even before Michigan’s summer camp. Hill is short (5-6), but he has such unique abilities and brings more to the table than most HS backs. I am really high on Hill and rank him as one of the top 5 players in the state for 2010.

Most of that falls in the range of “not at all surprising if you pay attention,” but it’s still worth noting when there’s good recruiting content for free.Michigan State has since offered Gray, and I’ll try to sleuth out who the Georgia DT is.

And while I’m catching up on old recruiting information that wasn’t likely to end up having a home, DocSat talked most successful recruiting schools over the past two classes, and it’s pretty encouraging for Michigan fans:

Bama has reeled in 40 players rated four or five-stars by Rivals over the last two Signing Days. By comparison, the only other schools with more than 30 are USC and Michigan, with 31.

The big difference for Michigan, of course, is the lack of 5-star guys. USC and Bama have 6 and 7, respectively, while the Wolverines have only 1. Hopefully, more success on the field will allow the coaching staff to continue and accelerate the super-positive recruiting momentum they’ve managed to gain despite a 3-9 year.

Posted under Coaching, Football, Recruiting