The Recruiting Board can be found here.

The Wolverines have offered MN OL Seantrel Henderson the chance to play basketball during the offseason, one of several schools offering him the chance to do so in order to lure him to their teams. While we’re discussing Henderson, take a look at this hilariously oblivious article on his recruitment. Money quote: “USC may be the dark horse.”

I won’t add him to the board quite yet, but keep an eye on FL OL Ed Christian. He is a Florida State commit, but of the super-soft variety. He’ll take visits during the season, and likes the South Carolina Schools along with Michigan and Tennessee.

Removed SC OL Eric Mack, who hadn’t seemed interested in Michigan for a while. He’s now committed to South Carolina.

Removed FL OL Chaz Green (seen at left), who has what amounts to a final 4 of Florida, USC, Georgia, and Ohio State. He had planned to make a summer commitment, but wants a chance to visit the Trojans and Buckeyes, which may delay his decision. Doesn’t sound like any other schools have a serious shot to get back into the mix for him.

NC DT/DE Gabe King has narrowed his list to an approximate top group, which does not include Michigan. I’ll leave him on the board a little longer until it’s a firm final list of schools.

Removed NC DE Prince Shembo. He’s down to a top 4 (info in header), and hasn’t been a major prospect of interest with Michigan so far this year. It think it’s fairly obvious that the Wolverines aren’t in that final list.

Removed LA DE Jordan Allen. He committed to LSU.

Removed SC DE Corey Miller, who committed to Florida State.

Removed OH DE Darryl Baldwin, now an Ohio State Buckeye.

Michigan is in the top 6 for CT LB Khairi Fortt. He’s soon to visit Georgia, and if they’re up to snuff, the Bulldogs will make the list. Otherwise, he’ll probably be down to a top 5. That leaves Michigan as one of the few schools he likes that, if I’m remembering correctly, he has not visited. He plans a summer Michigan visit, and only plans to take 3 official visits, likely to schools on his list that he hasn’t yet seen. Fortt plans to enroll early at his school of choice in January.

OH LB Jewone Snow is still waiting on a Michigan offer. Unless Michigan plans to fill out the defensive class with really highly-rated guys, it seems like he should be a shoo-in. He’s a middle linebacker (a major position of need), he’s a Michigan legacy (son of Garland Rivers), and has a younger teammate who may be the top prospect in Ohio (2011 DE Steve Miller). If the Wolverines were to eventually offer, it seems like they’d have a pretty good shot at Snow.

PA S Brandon Ifill is planning to visit Michigan by the end of the month (info in header). Despite not having visited Ann Arbor yet, Ifill lists Michigan in his top two, along with Maryland. Would a very good visit convince him that he’s ready to commit?

Sam Webb Detroit News fluff on FL CB Tony Grimes. An article entitled “Michigan will be ‘tough to beat'” probably bodes lots of good quotes for Wolverine fans:

“For me to already have a good connection with Coach Hopson is a big plus.”

“Man, there ain’t nothing like the Big House — let me say that right now,” Grimes said. “It was even bigger than I thought it would be.”

“Michigan is going to be tough to beat,” he said. “It’s a great program. The networking is on point at Michigan and the alumni system is amazing. The coaching staff is building something great over there.”

To date, Grimes has scheduled only one of his five official visits. He plans to return to Ann Arbor for the Sept. 12 matchup against Notre Dame. The remainder of his itinerary is a work in progress.

From the way he effusively speaks about Michigan, that Notre Dame official visit may be a pretty good time to look for a potential commitment from Grimes. Scouting report:

“He is considered by some to be (Florida’s) most physical corner,” said Scout.com Florida analyst Geoff Vogt. “He will beat receivers up mentally and physically, and he does not get beat one-on-one. He has the ability to mirror receivers all over the field and he will come up in the run game and make his presence felt. He doesn’t have lights-out speed, but he is physical, and his competitiveness just can’t be taught.”

He also has decent height for a corner (which I guess is predictable for a guy whose physicality is his most praised attribute). The lack of elite speed may be a question mark, but Michigan already has super-speedy guys like Boubacar Cissoko and Courtney Avery, so a couple taller corners might be in order anyway. lance at UMGoBlog also rounds up a bunch of the available information on Grimes, including video:

Added FL CB Eric Mitchell. This Scout header is particularly revealing: he visited Michigan over the summer, and the Wolverines stand in his top 5 along with Ole Miss, South Florida, Vandy, and Louisville. To the best of my knowledge, he does not yet hold a Michigan offer.

Removed FL CB Travis Bell, who has committed to West Virginia.

Removed FL CB Spencer Boyd, who (as predicted) committed to Notre Dame over the weekend.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

2010 Recruiting Board. Big update today. Hopefully everything from the last week can get taken care of in the next update.

Fluff on LA QB Terrance Broadway. There’s no Michigan mention, and it appears as though Michigan probably isn’t pursuing him. Broadway is on the fringe of being removed from the board.

Removed OH QB Dwight Macon. He named a top 3 of Ball State, Toledo, and Bowling Green. It appears at this time that he’s probably a MAC-level talent, and of no further interest to Michigan fans.

Michigan is likely to make the next cut for FL RB Brandon Gainer (info in header).

Removed GA RB Kendrun Malcome, who committed to Georgia. Malcome wasn’t a great prospect of interest to Michigan fans, but the Wolverines may feel a ripple effect. Georgia has been the leader for FL RB Eduardo Clements for some time, with Michigan not far behind. Malcome joins 2009 commit Washaun Ealey in the Dawgs’ backfield, and the crowded situation may help the Wolverines look a little more attractive in comparison.

Removed OH RB Braylon Heard, who’s headed to West Virginia.

Removed PA RB Dom Timbers. He committed to Syracuse, and was likely not a Michigan-caliber recruit.

Removed FL WR James Louis. He’s narrowed down to a final 4 that does not include Michigan.

Removed PA WR Andrew Carswell. He committed to Pittsburgh.

Removed FL OL Chaz Green. He’s only focusing on 5 main schools. With a planned decision by the end of summer, that doesn’t give Michigan enough time to try to get back into this one.

OH DT Terry Talbott plans to take all 5 official visits before committing to any school. By the way, he and his (non-twin) brother Terrance happen to attend the same school as QB Braxton Miller, probably Ohio’s top prospect in the class of 2011.

Removed FL DT Richard Ash, who has now been offered by USC. Since USC and Florida were his dream offers, and he has them both now, look for one of those two schools to land the Pahokee product. His early commitment (August 28th) doesn’t give Michigan much time to get back into this one, either.

Sam Webb Detroit News fluff on MI DE CJ Olaniyan. Of note: He’s close to setting a top-5 list, and Michigan is one of the 5-6 schools he’s already visited. the Wolverines look to have a chance for his top list. However, with the way defensive end recruiting has gone so far this season, I’d be surprised if he ultimately ended up in blue.

Removed GA DE Henry Anderson, who picked Stanford.

Added OH LB Cameron Ontko, who is “hearing from Michigan” (info in header).

Removed FL LB Zachery Allen. The Pahokee product (probably Michigan’s last best hope for a Blue Devil in the class of 2010) picked Wake Forest.

The somewhat-odd saga of MI LB/DE Andy Phillips came to an end last week. Early in the week, he said “if I’m going to play MAC ball, I’m going to play at CMU” ($). He was still seeking out better offers, but by the weekend, he was ready to play MAC ball for CMU. I’ve removed him from the board.

Removed MI S Earnest Thomas, who committed to UCLA. He never received much attention from Michigan, but it seems as though he blossomed into a better prospect than many were expecting. In other Orchard Lake St. Mary’s news, QB Robert Bolden, who has already been removed from the recruiting board, is announcing a decision on Friday, likely for Penn State.

FL CB Tony Grimes has set up his official visit to Ann Arbor (info in header). Forthcoming: free news on when that visit actually is.

MI CB Dior Mathis now favors Oregon and Michigan State over the Wolverines. Since Michigan had long been considered the favorite, that’s a bad thing, but there’s plenty of time to get back in the forefront of this Cass Tech player’s radar. Mathis will decide after his senior season, and plans to enroll early at his school of choice.

Sparty fluff on MI P Mike Sadler, who is one of the three kicking specialists Michigan is looking at heavily for this class (WI P Will Hagerup is the only one who has been offered at this point). Also mentioned is OH LB Jewone Snow. Michigan has yet to offer, but does have a family connection in their favor, as he’s the son of Garland Rivers. I wouldn’t be upset if the Wolverines offered for two reasons 1) He’s at MLB, a position of need, and 2) It could only help in recruiting his 2011 teammate, DE Steve Miller.

…and that seems like a perfect transition to talk a little 2011 recruiting and Miller. Video interview (HT: UMGoBlog):

Miller has visited Ann Arbor, but he says that Ohio State was his dream school growing up. If this Michigan coaching staff wants to get truly serious about recruiting, they’ll have to start beating the Buckeyes for prospects from Ohio. Going hard after Miller might be a good way to start getting that going. Steve already holds a Michigan offer.

Since the 2010 recruiting class is already starting to take shape, the 2011 recruiting board should be ready to debut any time. I’ll unleash it on the publis whenever the Wolverines get their first verbal commit for the class of 2011 (which may be coming soon, according to some insiders).

Posted under Football, Recruiting

For the second year in a row, the Michigan Wolverines will be hosting a “Barbecue at the Big House” recruiting event, of which the title is self-explanatory. For those of you who haven’t quite gotten the picture, Josh Helmholdt explains in the Free Press, and includes a couple expected visitors who aren’t on other free lists: FL CB Tony Grimes and OH OL Christian Pace (pictured at left). The guest list is rarely definite for recruiting events, but let’s take a look at some of the other expected visitors, courtesy of Rivals’s Mike Farrell:

Among those expected to attend include committed linebacker Antonio Kinard, defensive backs Latwan Anderson and Cullen Christian, linebacker Ken Wilkins, offensive linemen Skyler Schofner and Andrew Donnal, running backs Tony Jones and Andre Givens, defensive ends Jibreel Black and Marcus Rush and wide receivers Brandon Ifill and Andrew Carswell. This is, of course, in addition to the majority of the top prospects in the state of Michigan.

Others have mentioned possibly making it in to Ann Arbor for the event:

• NJ RB Tony Jones will be making it in (not to be confused with the MI WR by the same name).
• William Gholston will attend.
• OH LB Jewone Snow will be there, and may bring along a couple teammates – including star 2011 DE Steve Miller.
• Bill Kurelic shares that a couple more Ohio guys, including Pace’s teammate, TE Dan Schneider (who Michigan might even be looking at as an offensive tackle) and TE Brad Harrah, should be in attendance.

As Farrell mentioned, expect many of the top in-state players from Michigan and some from Ohio, especially those who are already committed to Michigan, or live in close proximity. Jeremy Jackson is a mortal lock to be there, Devin Gardner will likely show, etc.

The Wolverines also may be receiving a verbal commitment or two over the weekend. Cullen Christian, Marcus Rush, and Ken Wilkins have maintained Michigan as their favorites for some time. Some are surprised that none have dropped for Michigan yet, and Ken Wilkins told mgoblog’s Tom Van Haaren that he might commit to the Wolverines at the first opportunity.

Stay tuned.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

2010 Michigan Recruiting Board

Moved LA Slot/RB/Ath Drew Dileo to committed. Also, it is kinda a sad snapshot of SEC recruiting when the following sentence has to be included in the commit article in the local paper for a Louisiana player:

A Class of 2010 commitment who projects as an academic qualifier, Dileo committed to Michigan with offers from Stanford, Tulane and Rice.

Also: look at that offer list (Northwestern had offered as well). Of course he’s going to meet the minimum NCAA requirements. So, yay for upping the team GPA. Also: he plays baseball for the equally excellent Parkview baseball team, the reigning state champs. The current wisdom is that he’ll end up at slot. In the commitment post, I promised a more informative update, so here goes:

In his junior season, Dileo rushed 102 times for 760 yards (7.45 ypc) and caught 21 passes for 315 yards (15.00 ypc). However, it was in the return game that he excelled the most. He took four kicks back to the house, and was named 1st team all-district in that capacity. As I mentioned on Thursday, he was the team’s MVP in their state title game his sophomore year. The esteemed Brian of MGoBlog has found a more comprehensive highlight of that game for your viewing pleasure (Dileo is #3 for the blue guys, and can be seen mostly catching the ball):

Yay for the informative update.

Sam Webb recruiting fluff in the Detroit News regarding Michigan’s chances with FL QB Christian Green. He’s long been regarded as a Florida State semi-lock (to play WR):

“A lot of my family came through Florida State,” Green explained. “My mom graduated from Florida State. So did my cousin (former NFL wideout E.G. Green), my uncle, and a lot of people I know. So I grew up a Seminole fan. I feel real comfortable with the coaching staff. When I go up there I feel like it’s a down-to-earth environment. It is a family environment and I feel real comfortable with a lot of people. That’s one of the reasons I think it is No. 1 on my list so far.”

, but the Wolverines aren’t out of the race for him:

“My cousin Sam Sword played for Michigan back in ’96,” Green said, referring to the former standout linebacker. “He talks about Michigan every single time we have family together at a BBQ or reunion. He’s always saying something about Michigan and just gets Michigan Wolverines in my head.

“I’ve known about them for a little bit now,” Green added, laughing.

He also has a connection to the Michigan staff, as Calvin Magee is a coach emeritus there. There’s a ton more information in the article about his recent visit to Ann Arbor, so I’d say it’s definitely worth checking out.

A recruiting update on the gentlemen from Byrnes, SC, including RB Marcus Lattimore:

This much is clear for right now: Auburn still leads for his services… But really no school can be counted out. Not the Tigers or the Noles. Not Georgia, which Lattimore says he will definitely visit officially. Not North Carolina or South Carolina or Clemson. Even Penn State and Michigan still are in the mix along with others.

Under Armour All-American Corey Miller and fellow defensive lineman Brandon Willis, both from Byrnes, could end up in Garnet and Gold. In fact, the chances of that happening are more likely than not, at this point.

Things don’t look rosy for any of them, and I hadn’t been previously aware of the strong Florida State lead for the two non-Lattimore players.

An oversight on my part: last Monday, Sam Webb talked a bunch about OH RB Andre Givens on the recruiting roundup. Givens has been offered, and has a friendly rivalry in football and track with 2009 Michigan signee Fitzgerald Toussaint (Fitz is allegedly a bit faster in the 100m). Toussaint is trying to convince Givens to commit to the Wolverines, as he’s apparently unaware of the plethora of RBs over the past couple classes.

IN RB Roderick Smith is still talkin’ Buckeye commitment. He says he probably won’t make an announcement until July, or maybe even after his football season, but Michigan doesn’t seem to be involved at all. Since the Wolverines have a big back (Stephen Hopkins) in the class already, Smith is not a likely Wolverines target, and I’ve removed him from the board.

Palm Beach Post columnist/blogger guy Ben Volin says:

Rumors are swirling that Atlantic WR James Louis is close to committing, as well as Treasure Coast LB Jeff Luc and Royal Palm Beach WR Chris Dunkley, three players that have had positive visits to Gainesville in the past month.

The Louis news has indeed been swirling for quite some time, and Dunkley has long been considered a near-lock to the Gators. However, the news on Luc is neither encouraging nor surprising. If those three do indeed commit to Florida, that would give the Gators on hell of a start to their 2010 recruiting class. Go Gator.

Removed MD WR Adrian Coxson, who committed to Penn State.

OH TE Alex Welch has received a Michigan offer (info in header).

Some fluff on IL TE CJ Fiedorowicz, primarily focused around the fact that he’ll be featured on a Sports Stars of Tomorrow episode in the fall. He has also expanded his favorites list to include Wisconsin and Notre Dame (previously, it had just been a top 2 of OSU and Iowa). The quote from CJ in the article indicates that he’s already feeling a bit burned out by the recruiting process, so might a decision come sooner than expected? I certainly wouldn’t be surprised.

The Wolverines sent a coach into the school of MN OL Seantrel Henderson. No word on the effect of the visit, but with the Evaluation Period underway, expect them to be making lots of high school visits (to coaches, not players) around this time of year. Regarding Henderson, there’s a pretty significant fluff piece on him in the Pioneer Press.

“At times it gets irritating, but I know this is something I have to go through,” Henderson said. “I won’t make my announcement until February.”

The first day football recruits in the 2010 class can sign a national letter of intent is Feb. 3, but players can give oral commitments before that date.

In the meantime, Henderson and his family have set up a tentative game plan to help manage the process. By the end of the summer, Henderson will settle on a top 10. After he takes his maximum five official visits in the fall, he will trim the number to three.

Michigan is fairly consistently listed among his top 10-ish, and he plans to make another visit to Ann Arbor this summer, so Michigan is looking pretty good for now.

Last Thursday, I speculated that PA DE/LB Jordan Paskorz had been favoring Michigan. In that day’s recruiting roundup, Sam Webb revealed something very interesting: Michigan is indeed near the top of his list, and the Wolverines have now offered Paskorz.

MD LB Josh Furman has Michigan near the top of his list, and he also does fast things, running a sub-11.0 100m dash. That is wicked fast for a linebacker. Here’s a bit of ESPN fluff on Furman. Sounds very good:

He posted a wind-aided 4.39 40-yard dash, a 42 inch vertical jump, a 4.12 short shuttle and a modest broad jump of 9 feet, 8 inches. His 16 reps of 185 pounds were also very impressive and a bit surprising given his longer, rangier frame (6-foot-2, 192 pounds). While he did look a bit lean, his great wingspan and overall body length suggest continued physical development. We believe he will eventually have a well-developed frame that will tip the scales in the 225-pound range while he’ll maintain the great quick-twitch burst and speed we saw Friday night.

Lacking technique, but a physical specimen that can develop into something wicked in college.

MD LB Troy Gloster has narrowed his list of schools to a top five that includes Michigan (info in header). Also included are BC, UNC, Stanford, and West Virginia.

The high school coach of OH LB Jewone Snow thinks he’s getting close to an offer:

“Michigan is looking at all three of those players,” Johnson said. “They haven’t offered Jewone yet, but I believe they’re getting close. Stevie is a formality on Sept. 1.”

“Stevie” is 2011 DE Steve Miller, who will probably be the top player in Ohio next year (likely battling OSU lock QB Braxton Miller). He visited Michigan earlier in the spring with Snow, and the Wolverines are expected to be in his early top 2, along with the Buckeyes.

Track times galore in spring recruiting updates! Denard Robinson, Adrian Witty, 2010 RB Cassius McDowell, and some other guy from their school are quite speedy indeed. Very speedy, sir.

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