Recruiting Boards (2009 & 2010) can be found anytime in the left sidebar.

LA DT Commit DeQuinta Jones visited Arkansas last weekend, and seemingly enjoyed himself.

Jones is set to visit Michigan this weekend and plans to visit either Mississippi State or Ole Miss the following weekend. He said he isn’t certain when he’ll make a decision.

“I might wait until signing day and surprise a lot of people.” Jones said.

Given the conventional wisdom regarding his recruitment, a reaffirmation of his Michigan commitment might be the most surprising thing possible. I’m still super-leery of a guy who is (nominally) committed being unsure of when he’ll make a decision.

Michigan and Florida are likely to be the final 2 for FL QB Denard Robinson. Florida is out in the lead, but the Wolverines are making a strong push:

One interesting dynamic could be his teammate, defensive back Adrian Witty, who will visit Florida on the weekend of Jan. 23. Kansas State is offering the pair the chance to play together on the next level, and Michigan may follow suit. If that happens, especially in the case of the Wolverines, it will be interesting to se e if the temptation to play alongside his high school teammate proves too much for Robinson to pass up. That said, I still feel Florida is the team to beat here.

Michigan has indeed offered Witty (by far his biggest offer), so that could certainly help with Robinson. The two had (and enjoyed) their official visit to Ann Arbor last weekend. If Witty doesn’t get offered by Florida, that would be a very good thing for Michigan. There’s also a mini-scouting report on Denard:

One other quick note on Robinson: Photographer Tim Casey and I visited him at practice for the Dade-Broward All-Star Game this weekend, he certainly has a big-time arm. While his size isn’t the greatest (even 6-0 might be a little generous), Robinson is an incredible athlete and deserves every opportunity to play the position on the next level.

Speaking of Witty, Michigan has stopped recruiting 2009 FL CB Jayron Hosley. They apparently feel good enough about cornerback recruiting to take a pass on Hosley, which means they probably feel that they are likely to land Witty, or are likely to offer other prospects that they like their chances with.

Michigan’s last couple (realistic) offensive line recruits for the 2009 class are thick in their recruitments. NC OL Travis Bond visited ECU last weekend, and the author of that article strangely thinks it’s a foregone conclusion that Bond will eventually be committing to the Pirates. I don’t think that’s even close to the case. According to MGoBlog’s TomVH, Bond will announce next week. SC OL Quinton Washington has all sorts of visits going on, and Rich Rodriguez will visit his house next week.

2009 LA WR Travante Stallworth was an official visitor last weekend, and he offered a bit of reaction to Phil Kornblut:

“The Michigan trip went pretty well,” Stallworth said. “I liked the coaches and players. Everything was top of the line with the facilities. And the academics, I liked that, too.”

He enjoyed the visit enough that the Wolverines have pulled even with the schools at the forefront of his recruitment (info in header).

Miami of Florida is the favorite for 2009 TX CB Demontre Hurst. He’s apparently become a hot prospect of late, as several schools seem to have ratcheted up the intensity on him. I would be surprised if he ended up committing to Michigan.

2009 FL LB Mike Marry doesn’t sound like he’ll be visiting Michigan, and he is close to being crossed off the old list. He has visits to Ole Miss, USF, and Duke.

Added to the 2010 board: IL LB Rickey Simpson. He is “Hearing from several.” Hmm, that article was posted on the front page of the Michigan Scout affiliate. I wonder if the Wolverines are one of the teams in contact with him. Info, quite obviously, in header.

2010 FL WR Chris Dunkley has received an offer from Miami. Michigan offered in the fall, but the Canes at least have a hometown advantage.

2010 TX DT Jay Guy has reportedly been offered by Michigan (info in header).

Despite apparently growing up a Michigan fan, 2010 OH RB Erick Howard (the state’s Mr. Football for the 2008 season) currently favors Ohio State (info in header). Obviously, Michigan has some time to make up the gap.

2010 FL CB Lorenza Wood has received his Michigan offer, and the Wolverines have long been his established favorite. Might he pick the maize-and-blue soon?

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Added:
AZ OL Taylor Lewan. Both premium sites have front-page headlines indicating he’s been offered. He’s a teammate of DE Commit Craig Roh.
FL CB Jarvis Byrd. Michigan is showing interest in the Pahokee-an (Pahokeeite?).

New Information:
VA DE Will Hill. Enjoys a Tennessee visit, still plans to visit Michigan before deciding.
SC DE Chris Bonds. The perpetually-injured one now says he’s probably not going to visit Michigan.
FL LB Commit Brandin Hawthorne. He’s still taking other visits. I wonder if the Michigan coaches might discourage that at his official visit this weekend.
FL LB Mike Marry. Michigan is in what appears to be a Top 7 for him. How about a little video?:

MI S Thomas Gordon. Back to deciding this weekend (info in header, the answer is almost always “yes”).
FL CB Mywan Jackson. North Carolina now leads (info in header).

Official Visits this Week:
TX QB Commit Shavodrick Beaver (though that is apparently not the case)
FL LB Soft Commit Brandin Hawthorne
MD RB Tavon Austin
SC OL Quinton Washington

Analysis:
Chris Bonds might be a casualty of 2 DE commits. Michigan’s continued pursuit of o-linemen definitely indicates that they see Anthony LaLota staying on the DL. Michigan definitely still seems to want another CB (in addition to another LB), as their increased interest in Jarvis Byrd seems to indicate. That would fill a need and keep a pipeline open.

Etc.:
MSU picks up a TE transfer. This probably hurts them with Dion Sims. I personally think he wants to go to OSU if he picks football, but the Buckeyes’ class might fill up before he gets a chance to commit there.

Posted under Recruiting

As always, the board.

Moved to Committed:
NJ DE Anthony LaLota. Woo! A defensive end!

Added:
FL LB Mike Marry. Michigan shall make his next cut (info in header).

New Information:
OK RB David Oku. Never mind about deciding this week: he has delayed his announcement yet again.
FL QB Denard Robinson. Still feelin’ Michigan (info in header) despite the multiple QB commits.
SC OL Quinton Washington. Official visit for Wisconsin game, and Michigan looks surprisingly strong in his recruitiment (Sam Webb audio).
AZ DE Craig Roh. Sam Webb thinks he’ll end up at Michigan, unless Rick Neuheisel is particularly slimy (audio).
SC DE Sam Montgomery. Has decided which 5 schools to visit, including Michigan.
MI S Thomas Gordon. Announcing in a couple weeks, and MIchigan looks good (audio same as above).

Etc.:
2008 MI DE Nick Perry qualified on time, and is now at USC. It was thought that if he failed t qualify, Michigan might be back in the picture for him.
2008 NJ LB Marcus Witherspoon ended up at Rutgers, where he will be eligible to play this year.
FL DB Corey Addison. He is thinking about an official visit to Michigan. His commitment to SoCar will leave him off the board for now, but keep him in mind.

Analysis:
Michigan finally grabs a defensive end. If they can grab Craig Roh, a huge weakness will be accounted for at the position.

As of now, I expect to see Roh, Will Campbell, Thomas Gordon, and maybe another guy or two to finish out the class.

Posted under Recruiting