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February 2010

Preview: Ohio State

By Tim — February 27th, 2010 at 9:21 AM — 5 comments
Filed under:
  • basketball
  • game previews
  • ohio state

The EssentialsPSUlogo.gif

WHAT Michigan v. Ohio State
WHERE Columbus, OH
WHEN 12:00PM EST
Feb 27th, 2010
THE LINE Michigan +12.5*
TELEVISION ESPN

*Line provided by online sports betting site Sportsbetting.com.

When Last We Met

The Wolverines rebounded from a tough loss at Indiana to stun the #15 Buckeyes 73-64 in Crisler Arena. Ohio State was without Evan Turner, but the Wolverines' victory still stands as one of their (few) statement wins on the year.

The Buckeyes came out hot, with Jon Diebler bombing from long range and David Lighty getting to the basket in the first half. After they shot 59.6% eFG% from the floor in the first frame, however, MIchigan put on the clamps, holding them below 34.6% eFG% shooting after the break. Offensively, Michigan was led by DeShawn Sims, who scored 28 points on just 18 shots, and added 9 rebounds. Manny Harris finished with 24 points on 16 shot attempts.

Since Last We Met

The Buckeyes payed at a high level for most of the time they were without Turner, but since he's returned, they've been a top-notch team. Turner is making a serious case for National Player of the Year, so Michigan was lucky to face the Buckeyes without him last time. Ohio State has gone 12-3 since the MIchigan game, with one of those losses coming on the road against a tough West Virginia team.

Michigan, on the other hand... wel you know what's happened. They have been switching back and forth between encouraging wins (and even some encouraging losses) and soul-crushing defeats. With back-to-back losses against Penn State and Illinois, both of which were winnable, it remains to be seen whether this Wolverine team has just packed it in for next year, or if they're willing to show some fight in the last three games of the regular season.

Tempo-Free Breakdown

If you need an explanation of the stats, check out Ken Pomeroy.

Michigan v. Ohio State: National Ranks
Category Michigan Rank Penn State Rank Advantage
Mich eFG% v. OSU Def eFG% 249 102 OO
Mich Def eFG% v. OSU eFG% 206 3 OOO
Mich TO% v. OSU Def TO% 9 66 M
Mich Def TO% v. OSU TO% 45 30 O
Mich OReb% v. OSU DReb% 276 41 OOO
Mich DReb% v. OSU OReb% 235 283 M
Mich FTR v. OSU Opp FTR 340 12 OOOO
Mich Opp FTR v. OSU FTR 11 211 MMM
Mich AdjO v. OSU AdjD 126 20 OO
Mich AdjD v. OSU AdjO 45 14 O

Difference of more than 10 places in the national rankings get a 1-letter advantage, more than 100 gets a 2-letter advantage, more than 200 gets a 3-letter advantage, etc.

I'll keep the comments brief, because I predict some serious pain in this game.

Michigan's ratings have been oscillating wildly all year. Currently, the offense looks as bad per game as it has in a while, but the defense has improved over the last couple games, despite losses to Illinois and Penn State. Ohio State, on the other hand, is excellent at just about everything. Michigan will have to play one of their best games of the year in order to come away with an upset.

Unfortunately, I just don't see that happening. Vegas likes the Buckeyes by 12.5 points, and Ken Pomeroy says they'll win by 12. Those numbers sound about right to me. The final margin could be a little closer than that (and certainly a lot further apart), but I don't see enough in this game to see a Michigan win being possible.

  • 5 comments

Michigan Lacrosse Preview

By Tim — February 27th, 2010 at 12:53 AM — 36 comments
Filed under:
  • lacrosse
  • season previews

helmet-logo.gifThe Michigan lacrosse team finally hits the field for the 2010 season on Saturday, as they head to Tucson, Arizona to take on the Arizona Wildcats in the first game of their 3-game road trip over spring break. They'll also take on Arizona State in Tempe and BYU in Provo.

The Wolverines compete in the MCLA, the country's top organization for club teams. They are the two-time defending National Champions, and look to extend their 40-game winning streak into the new campaign. Michigan hasn't lost since May 16, 2007 - more than 1,000 days.

Team

Attack

Key Losses: Riley Kearns, Wes McGowan

Key Returners: Kevin Zorovich, Trevor Yealy, Clark McIntyre, Josh Ein

Newcomers: Zach Dauch, Thomas Paras

Trevor Yealy is the star of the Michigan attack, racking up outstanding goal totals each of the past two years. Last year, he led the MCLA with 4.5 goals per game, including a program-record 11 against Minnesota-Duluth, on his way to All-American and team offensive MVP honors. He's just a junior, so his best days may even be ahead of him. Kevin Zorovich, Michigan's second-leading scorer from last year and a 3rd-Team All-American, missed the pre-season with an injury, but is expected to be back in the lineup by regular season play. He was last year's team MVP. Freshman Thomas Paras only participated in the East-West scrimmage and the final pre-season game, but he impressed in each, totaling five total preseason goals.

Midfield

Key Losses: Aaron Hodari, Peter Vasher

Key Returners: Jamison Goldberg, Matt Asperheim (LSM), Anthony Hrusovsky, Michael Bartomioli, David Rogers, Svet Tintchev

Newcomers: Max Greenspan (LSM), Matt Joseph, Matthew Levy (RS), Brian Greiner (RPI transfer), Willie Steenland, Sean Sutton, Joey Hrusovsky, Brian O'Callaghan (LSM), Harrison Silver, Lee Boshes (LSM), Nick Asher

Though the Wolverines bring in a huge class of midfielders, the majority of their production from the middies returns from last year. Perhaps the most important three are Michigan's senior captains, Michael Bartomioli, David Rogers, and Svet Tintchev. Long Stick Midfielder Matt Asperheim collected 42 ground balls last year. A bunch of newcomers will join the team as well, including Anthony Hrusovsky's younger brother Joey.

Defense

Key Losses: Zach Elyachar, James Payer, Jim Petoskey

Key Returners: Zach Mueller, Jordan Bargas, Harry Freid, Bob Diehl, Justin Burgin

Newcomers: Theo Lederfine Paskal, Matt Rizzo, JD Johnson, Pat Grogan, Forest Cox

Zach Elyachar was a 2nd-Team All-American and the squad's defensive MVP, so he will be a big loss, along with Jim Petoskey. However, the Wolverines have younger players ready to step up. Harry Freid was a 1st-Team All-American last year, and Bob Diehl was named last year's most improved player (all the while notching the team's highest Grade Point Average). Theo Lederfine Paskal and JD Johnson are just freshmen, but got some good minutes in the preseason.

Goal

Key Losses: None

Key Returners: Andrew Fowler, Mark Stone

Newcomers: Conor McGee, Cy Abdelnour

Andrew Fowler and Mark Stone split time in the net last year, with Fowler having the slight edge as the #1 guy (he played the entire National Championship game, despite a rough first half). Fowler missed a few games last year with a foot injury, but bother guys have been healthy through the preseason. Conor McGee and Cy Abdelnour bolster an already-strong unit.

Faceoffs

Key Losses: None

Key Returners: David Reinhard, Edward Ernst

Newcomers: None

Senior David Reinhard was one of the best faceoff men in the MCLA last year, and was named a 1st-Team All-American specialist. He won 68.4% of his draws. Unsurprisingly, he also collected the most ground balls on the team, amassing 180 GBs. His backup, sophomore Edward Ernst, won over 60% of his faceoffs last year as well.

Schedule breakdown after the jump.

Read more »
  • 36 comments

Unverified Voracity Discusses Breakfast With Barwis

By Brian — February 26th, 2010 at 4:30 PM — 55 comments
Filed under:
  • big ten expansion
  • brandon graham
  • eeee i'm a little girl for mike barwis
  • free press jihad
  • hockey
  • recruiting
  • shawn hunwick
  • stalk me my friend
  • unverified voracity
  • zoltan mesko

Training day. AnnArbor.com talks with Brandon Graham about his prep for the NFL combine. Includes interview segments with Graham and a look inside what Barwis's program is like. Graham also makes a huge array of pained faces:

Graham's running 4.58 40s and doing linebacker drills. I feel a RBUAS piece referencing this video in the future.

In other NFL draft news, Zoltan Mesko is interviewed by the Boston Herald and references a name from the past you might be surprised is hanging around the program again:

“I thought he [Pats special teams coach Scott O'Brien] was very knowledgeable in the special teams game,” Mesko continued. “I know we have our own Michigan guy that takes special teams really seriously, Pierre Woods, and basically, I never knew… When Pierre came back this past month, he’s training up at Michigan again to stay in shape, the amount of knowledge he’s picked up from the special teams coach there is unbelievable. You can really make or break yourself as a linebacker… you’re going to play special teams at that level.”

Woods got in some trouble after a breakout sophomore year and barely hung on with the program after that; many people believe that's where Michigan's rift with the Glenville program that pumps out players year after year started.

Hunwick! After last night's hockey game I bet my friend a dollar that Shawn Hunwick would get the first star despite not facing much in the way of scoring chances, or even shots, from Notre Dame. Lo, it was so. That capped what was probably the best game at Yost all year, a 4-0 win over Notre Dame that saw loveable tiny walk-on get (split) a shutout and two of the four seniors score. Carl Hagelin even added the sort of pretty goals that have been sorely lacking all year when he danced around an ND defenseman and set up Matt Rust for a slam-dunk on a two on one.

The downer:

Hogan, who has made 41 straight starts in net, is listed as doubtful for Saturday's regular-season finale at Notre Dame.

I know I've been pretty down on Hogan of late—so has Red—but Hunwick's a 5'7" walk-on. That's a major blow.

Michigan is now sixth in the league. Four and five are done with conference play and Michigan can pass them with a win Saturday. If Northern gets five points or more out of their weekend (ie: win both nights and win one in regulation) against Lake State, they'll pass Michigan. Anything less and M will sneak into the fourth spot and grab the first-round bye that comes with it.

Will it matter? Eh… probably not. Unless MSU or Ferris State is upset, Michigan would reach the Joe as the lowest remaining seed and have to take out #1 Miami, a team that's lost all of two conference games this year. Doing that full strength is difficult enough, and now with Hogan questionable it's even more doubtful.

Side note: excellent work by whoever slid this game to Thursday night. I assume it was to make sure the students were present for senior day, something that's been exceedingly rare for a long time. Usually the students are on break and senior night is a flat affair.

Recruiting cavalcade. This didn't get mentioned in Thursday Recruitin'—which we promise will return to Wednesday when things are less insane—but this weekend Michigan is hosting a massive "Showcase" for high school recruits at Oosterbaan and Newsterbaan. They're not officially involved because they can't be, but having what seems like half of the Midwest's big recruits take an unofficial visit to Michigan's shiny new practice facility can't hurt.

Scout has a couple lists of all the folk coming in. Prepare for the begats. Notable names include MI RB Justice Hayes, MI WR DeAnthony Arnett, commit Shawn Conway, OH WR AJ Jordan, MI LB Lawrence Thomas, OH LB Antonio Poole, 2012 MI LB James Ross, commit Greg Brown, commit Delonte Hollowell, MI WR Valdez Showers, MI OL Anthony Zettel, OH OL Chris Carter, OH OL Aundrey Walker, IL OL Chris Bryant, and many others. It's like a super-massive junior day on Michigan's campus, the equivalent of getting a NIKE camp. The difference: NIKE camps are rare appearances and this is going to happen every year.

I'll be most interested to see how the current Michigan commits do. Zettel's already torn up a lineman camp and seems like he'll be an easy four-star, but Hollowell, Brown, and Conway haven't been to a senior camp yet IIRC and this will be a first read on where they'll end up in the rankings.

Expansion dampening? Yes, another Big Ten expansion article. This one has a couple of interesting quotes about the issue of buying into the Big Ten Network. New members are probably going to have to operate at a lower revenue level to start:

"You just don't jump into the league and get a full share of what everyone else in this league has established over time," Alvarez said. "I think someone has to buy their way into the league."  …

"We've created such an asset in the Big Ten channel," Outgoing Michigan athletic director Bill Martin said, echoing Alvarez. "I cannot see our 11 institutions simply saying we're going to divide our pie up into more pieces from Day 1."

That will dampen enthusiasm from potential additions, but it might not matter. This is the first time I've seen these numbers for the BTN's second year and holy crap:

But according to tax forms the nonprofit conference is required to make public, it generated $217.7 million and paid each school about $18.8 million in 2007, the most recent year for which tax forms are available.

The next year, according to the Sports Business Journal, the new TV network added another $66 million to the pot. That pushed the per-team payout to about $22 million each, a figure officials from several Big Ten schools confirm remains accurate.

The next most prosperous conference, the SEC, paid its member schools about $11 million each in 2007, according to tax documents.

I'm pretty sure that latter distribution is way up since the SEC's blockbuster ESPN contract kicked in, FWIW, but I also think the SEC is going to have a static amount of money for the next 15 years; the Big Ten is half-owner of its network and will see increasing revenue shares over the course of that time.

(HT: Get The Picture.)

Yes that again. The WLA has a piece similar to the one I just posted, but when I said "I cannot emphasize enough" I was not kidding. Money grafs:

They certainly didn’t know their statements were true either. Is strongly asserting something you know could theoretically be true but might also be false a lie? If you don’t offer up any qualifications to your assertions (I didn’t see any), then I say yes, especially in the case of Rosenberg.

I suppose the best we could say about Snyder is he was totally ignorant of the subject on which he was writing and he didn’t know he was uttering falsehoods. So yay for being a dumbass, Mr. Snyder. But with Rosenberg, we know from his opinion column that he disapproves of the job Rodriguez is doing. For him to write falsehoods that also denigrate someone he disapproves of is just a bit too much of a coincidence for me to believe. Rosenberg knew what he was doing, IMO.

They lied. In the days and months to come regarding the story about “Michigan Players Practice A Lot,” let us not forget the fact that Rosenberg and Snyder lied to their readers.

In the diaries, MaizeandBlueWahoo does a 100% fisk of the article that echoes the points already made. Even Ohio State bloggers are sympathetic.

To aid you in your stalking. People tend to like the occasional mentions of my personal life, so they'll love this: my fiancée's food blog. In it you will find out what I have been eating, what food-related conventional wisdom has recently been enraging in my presence, and various other bizarre things that don't have anything to do with me.

Etc.: Delany has our back, I guess.

  • 55 comments

Jihad The Second: Tentative Results

By Brian — February 26th, 2010 at 2:23 PM — 137 comments
Filed under:
  • free press jihad
  • lolmsm
  • ncaa: the scandals

jihad-2006-2007-tercera-guerra-mundial-01lg barwis

don't call it a comeback, jihad's been here for years

So.

After Tuesday's press conference we have all been apprised of what Michigan stands accused of and can go back to the original article and this site's response to that article and evaluate those claims for accuracy. One thing leaps out at me about my response: having little experience with "major violations" that didn't involve hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash changing hands, I didn't comprehend where the line between "secondary" and "major" lies. It turns out that everything down to a few TRENCH WARRIOR hats is major, so this paragraph that wraps up my deconstruction of the journalism-type substance turns out to be wrong:

The Free Press systematically overstated their case by omitting contextual information and misrepresenting quotes about voluntary workout programs. They have repeatedly raised the specter of major, program-crippling sanctions. They took a side, and if that side turns out to be wrong the people responsible for the story should be held responsible for their errors in judgment.

They won't, of course. If and when Michigan releases the results of its internal probe and announces they've come up with either nothing or a pu-pu platter of secondary violations, people will laugh at NCAA enforcement, cite the Jerry Tarkanian quote, and laud the journalistic effort that went into proving football players play a lot of football.

…but only the word "secondary." Michigan will get hit with a major violation after all. They will take some largely symbolic punishment. This is not victory for the University. But it's closer to a win for them (and it's not very close) than it is for the Free Press.

--------------------

A series of quotes. The Free Press:

Players spent at least nine hours on football activities on Sundays after games last fall. NCAA rules mandate a daily 4-hour limit. The Wolverines also exceeded the weekly limit of 20 hours, the athletes said.

Toney Clemons:

"The allegations are true," Clemons said. "Nothing is fabricated or exaggerated in that story. I was there on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. or 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. depending on if guys needed treatment. You were there daylight to nighttime."

Yrs truly:

I am willing to wager many amounts of money that the Sunday lifting was of the variety that fits the NCAA's definition of voluntary, as was the film. The rehab/examinations/dinner and any downtime in between practice and film and other activities definitely don't count. At no point has anyone in the media even broached this possibility. It has not occurred to them. Some of them specifically omit it because it conflicts with their aims; some are just professional parrots.

When Michigan releases its compliance information, Michigan will check in at four hours of countable activity on Sunday. If they're over at all it will be by a small amount. I bet a dollar.

The NCAA:

Between August 31 and October 26, 2008, football student-athletes were required to participate in as many as five hours of countable athletically related activities per day, which exceeded the maximum of four hours a day, on several occasions, including, but not limited to, August 31; September 7, 14 and 28; and October 5, 12, 19 and 26. Additionally, during the week beginning October 19, 2008, the student-athletes were required to participate in approximately 20 hours and 20 minutes of countable athletically related activities, which exceeded the maximum of 20 hours per week. [NCAA Bylaw 17.1.6.1]

Someone owes me a dollar.

There is another allegation accusing the program of even slighter overages (a half-hour at most) during the early parts of the 2009 season, after the article came out. We will see why Michigan went over when the details come out, but it's safe to say given David Brandon's statements that Michigan will argue they were erroneously lumping stretching in with various explicitly non-countable activities. Michigan's violations were borne of incompetence, sloppiness, and misinterpretation.

That's not why the Free Press story was major news last year. No one picks up the story "Michigan could be slightly over their daily allotted maximum in countable hours." The lurid allegations that Michigan was not just exceeding but totally ignoring NCAA limits on football-related activities are the entire crux of the Free Press article. With one brief assertion that the players interpreted the technically voluntary activities as mandatory, the Free Press dismisses the idea that a non-countable hour exists. In this they were not only totally wrong but dishonest. Honesty requires framing the facts in a responsible way. No effort was made at this.

They omitted useful context like this statement from NCAA president Myles Brand:

"Once you get past 40 hours, you're really pushing it, I think."

It took two seconds to Google that. It came from an article in an obscure paper called "USA Today" that featured a survey that found D-I football players spent 45 hours a week on football-related activities.

They kept every player who spoke anonymous, even those who had left the program, except for the freshmen whose words they twisted badly. They ignored a raft of articles with quotes that provide context relative to other Division I programs:

To combat any complacency, Meyer has ordered strength coach Mickey Marotti to design the most difficult offseason that Florida's ever had.

"If there's any resistance," Meyer said, "that guy's not going to play."

And they didn't put the word "countable" in their story once. This was not ignorance: when I asked Mike Rosenberg if he knew what a "countable hour" was, he said yes. Mark Snyder, ironically, refused to answer.

They did all this in service of making Michigan's marginal rules violations—violations that college football coaches attest to SportsCenter anchors would befall 90% of Division I—seem utterly lawless. A newspaper that cared about journalism would fire everyone involved with the story now that the NCAA's worst-case scenario has definitively proven that the truth was a secondary objective in the Free Press story, if it was considered at all.

-------------

As for the program: we don't know the details of what went on yet so I can't say whether or not this has a major impact on my opinion of Rodriguez. The NCAA allegations fall in a gray area where it's not immediately clear how bad the violations actually are or are not.

The in-season overages are laughable, consisting of some days that were slightly too long and exactly twenty minutes of actual extra time beyond the 20-hour weekly limit. If the out-of-season overages are entirely encompassed by extra conditioning for kids who missed class, they're stupid on the part of someone in the department but basically honorable. I think there will be other things, though, as there are overages for both "voluntary" conditioning and summer countable hours. What those things are will matter.

The situation with the quality control staffers—obvious here from day one as the most damaging section of the allegations—is potentially worse. I've heard plenty of potential mitigating factors and some of the charges, like "QC staffer helps players stretch," are self-evidently TRENCH WARRIOR-type violations. Others seem like organized efforts to avoid NCAA rules. If they are that's at the very least stupid.  If Michigan has a reasonable explanation for this that the NCAA accepts, fine. I've heard they will, but that remains the quintessential rumor you want to believe.

I'll withhold judgment on the program until then. My guess is that it will be sloppy on Rodriguez's part and worse for certain members of the compliance staff. After some heads roll and Michigan gives back some practice time, it will be over. Dave Brandon has quite a job to do reorganizing the department into something competent.

This is a softball strike against Rodriguez. Another NCAA investigation that turns up anything major and he's gone. Does it affect how much he needs to win next year? Not for me personally, and I don't think for anyone important.

What would change that? Sanctions, self-imposed or not, that seem to seriously impinge on the program's ability to compete the next two years. Scholarship reductions that last past 2010. (IE: are anything other than symbolic.)

---------------

A final note: I can't emphasize enough how much of a hit job this was. Until such time as Drew Sharp, Michael Rosenberg, and Mark Snyder are no longer at the paper, if you are a Michigan fan with a Free Press subscription you should terminate it immediately. If you link to a Free Press article it should be the print page and it should be nofollowed. If you visit the Free Press website, you should have adblock on. If you write for Michigan's Rivals site you should not write for the Free Press. It's not because they took a swing at Michigan's program. It's because they were blatantly dishonest in doing so.

  • 137 comments

Thursday Recruitin'

By Tim — February 25th, 2010 at 6:06 PM — 37 comments
Filed under:
  • 2012 recruiting
  • andrew buie
  • anthony zettel
  • armstead williams
  • brendan riddick
  • brennen beyer
  • cardale jones
  • charles burks
  • cheatem norrils
  • curtis grant
  • dallas crawford
  • david andrews
  • demar dorsey
  • devin smith
  • dondi kirby
  • doran grant
  • hasean clinton-dix
  • james ross
  • jarrell oliver
  • joey kerridge
  • karlos williams
  • kent turene
  • Kevin Williams
  • kristian mateus
  • marquise williams
  • nick waisome
  • ray hamilton
  • shawn conway
  • tony springmann
  • walk-ons
  • 2011 recruiting

The 2011 Recruiting Board lives here.

Shawn Conway Goes Blue

conwaydunk.jpg

Setting off an mgofirestorm of sorts, MI WR Shawn Conway committed to the Wolverines at Junior Day on Saturday. Conway is the third commitment in the 2011 class.

According to Scout, his junior stats were 79 receptions for 800 yards and 10 TDs, 500 yards in kick/punt returns, and two interception returns. His stats are not, as reported incorrectly here earlier, 11 receptions for a couple hundred yards or so (makes sense, as there are 12 receptions for exactly 300 yards in his highlight video):

Since the commitment (and resulting uproar), news has come out that Conway was drawing interest from schools like Florida prior to his commitment, sure to please Michigan fans. Local commit article.

New Offers

FL RB Andrew Buie should be one of the top running backs nationally, and the Wolverines have offered, along with the likes of Ole Miss, and North Carolina, while Florida ha shown some interest. He sounds like a great fit for Michigan's offense:

"Andrew is more shifty. He is better in space and more versatile..."

Scott believes that a versatile player like Buie is of high value, given the versatile nature of offensive schemes in college football.

"With the way the game is going as far as the spread offenses go, it's good for a player not to get locked into only being able to do just one thing," he said. "It's good to not just say he's a single-back guy or a spread-type guy. You need to be able to do it all."

Buie, who attends the same high school as 2010 Michigan target and Rutgers signee Rashad Knight, was named 1st-team All-State in Florida's Class 1A at running back.

Michigan has offered OH WR Devin Smith. He hails from Massillon Washington High School, the alma mater of Shawn Crable and Justin Turner. According to Cincinnati.com (which confirms the offer), the 6-2, 175-pounder runs a 4.4-second 40-yard dash, and also holds offers from the likes of Cincinnati and West Virginia. Michigan and Michigan State are Smith's current top two.

Michigan offered IN OL Tony Springmann a while back, but I forgot to mention it. The Rivals story entitled "Rodriguez offers junior offensive lineman" redirects to Springmann's profile. He took a junior day visit and is a decent possibility.

Though we already knew about the offer to his teammate, WR Dondi Kirby, it looks as though PA LB Armstead Williams from Monroeville Gateway has also received an offer from the Wolverines. Both are participating in the ESPN Rise Nike football combine at Pitt.

Michigan has offered VA LB Curtis Grant, and he plans to visit Ann Arbor during the recruiting process ($, info in header). Tom posted junior highlights of Grant and his teammate Brendan Riddick on mgoboard.

Per the Twitter of TomVH, FL DB Dallas Crawford has received a Michigan offer.

Visit News

Cardale-Jones-Glenville.jpg

OH QB Cardale Jones (pictured at right) plans to head up to Michigan for the next junior day, which I believe is the Night of Champions on March 13th ($, info in header). He hails from Cleveland Glenville, so it will be tough for the Wolverines to land him, but if Ohio State is focused on Braxton Miller there's a chance. Tom also reported on Twitter that Jones has his own website, though it's a little bare right now. It will be interesting to see if some content goes up on it over the course of his recruitment. 

NC QB Marquise Williams "like[s] coach Rich Rodriguez" and intends to visit Michigan at some point in the recruiting process ($, info in header).

OH TE Ray Hamilton was at the junior day last weekend, as ($ info in header). Though I brought this up last week, I should give this article its fair due in this space:

“Michigan is very well known, not in the past couple years but the program itself and how dominant they are. I think Coach Rodriguez is doing a good job on getting them back to where they need to be. It was definitely a special offer."

Rodriguez played at West Virginia with Hamilton's father, and was one of the prospects tat was getting the most attention from the coaches (to my eye at least) at Junior Day, which he enjoyed ($, info in header). Hamilton will take his time making a decision.

In other news out of Michigan's Junior Day last weekend, OH DT Kevin Williams told Tom that Michigan still leads, despite Spartanmag.com reports to the contrary.  Williams's coach thinks he's kind of good:

"Being a former college coach and NFL coach, I knew he was going to blow up when I put his film out there and started making the calls," Marrow said. "My belief is that Kevin Williams is not just the top D-tackle in the Midwest, he is one of the top D-tackles in the country. I'm talking top five."

That's from Sam Webb in the News and contains many more quotes like that.

CA DE Charles Burks plans to visit Ann Arbor this spring.

Burks was among the top pass-rushers in the state last year. He had 52 tackles and 14 sacks during the regular season but broke his leg in the Chargers' first-round game and had to sit out the rest of the playoffs.

He doesn't have any offers yet, but the Night of Champions might be a good opportunity for him to land one from Michigan. Despite growing up a Buckeye fan, Michigan is one of his favorite schools.

OH CB/WR Cheatem Norrils was in attendance for Michigan's Junior Day (Scout freebie). His only scholarship offer to this point is from Toledo, but he is very interested in Michigan. If the Wolverines decide they want him, his relationship with Kevin Koger could help land him.

Other 2011 Recruiting

Sam Webb talks to TX RB Jarrell Oliver (who holds a Michigan offer), about whether the Wolverines are at the top of his list ($, info in header). The question about whether UM is the team to beat is the type that is always answered with some version of "yes."

TomVH reports that MI FB/LB Joey Kerridge enjoyed Michigan's junior day, and may get news of an offer sometime this week. The link has a highlight video embed, as well.

Though GA OL David Andrews received a Michigan offer last week ($, info in header), he has already committed to Georgia.

Landing Demar Dorsey in the class of 2010 has gotten Michigan's foot in the door at Boyd Anderson High School, which boasts a hell of a lot of Division-1 talent each year, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Aside from LB Kent Turene from the class of 2011, there are a few guys in this class that might get onto the radar later, and even more underclassmen.

Removed FL S Karlos Williams, who has committed to Florida State. This was probably a long time coming, as he was always a Florida State lean, and his brother is a 'Nole.

Fluff on FL S Ha'Sean Clinton-Dix and FL CB Nick Waisome.

dorangrant.jpg

OH CB Doran Grant should be one of the top prospects in the state of Ohio for the 2011 class, and Sam Webb profiled him in the Detroit News last week. He has a lot of connections to Michigan State, but that won't prevent him from considering the Wolverines:

"(Last week) I talked to (Rich Rodriguez) and he said he was really excited now that he got the 2010 class signed," Grant recalled. Now he was going to start on 2011 and he said I was one of the main targets. I'm going to go up there for junior day, talk to him in the office, sit down and learn more about the school, and just check out the facilities and maybe some players."

I'm not sure if Grant made it in for Junior Day, but it sounds like, at the very least, he'll give the Wolverines a fair shake.

Michigan fans were hoping for commitments from MI OL Anthony Zettel and/or MI DE Brennen Beyer at Junior Day, but that didn't happen. Both probably going to take another couple visits (such as Zettel's upcoming Notre Dame trip) before making decisions, but the Wolverines still seem to lead for both. According to Tom, Beyer wants to return to Ann Arbor later this week, which is certainly a good sign.

2010 Walkon Update

MI OL Kristian Mateus, from Forest Hills Central (alma mater of yours truly) will be a preferred walkon this fall, according to the Grand Rapids Press, which apparently has copy editors who approve ledes like this:

Kristian Mateus, a standout football player at Forest Hills Central, has joined the list of University of Michigan football recruits even if his name isn’t on a list just yet.

FAIL. Anyway, Mateus is huge (6-8, 285), and cites the opportunity presented by Michigan's walkon program in particular, as Rodriguez was a walkon himself and likes to see them emerge as contributors.

[Editor's note: the Press might not have copy editors anymore and by criticizing like so we are doomed to make a similarly dumb mistake in the near future.]

The Distant Future. The Year 2012

2012 MI LB James Ross from Orchard Lake Saint Mary's has received a Michigan offer ($, info in header) to go along with his scholarship from Michigan State. Coach Schuman from the National Underclassmen Combine Blog says Ross took home a numbers of honors from the combine this year:

James was the Top LB of the Class of 2012 and was U100 MVP at LB and Top Prospect Camp LB MVP. Expect 20 plus offers from James when all said and done.

More on the 2012 class as news comes out, but I won't cover it in any depth until the 2011 class is closer to completion.

  • 37 comments

An Interview with Andre Yruretagoyena

By TomVH — February 25th, 2010 at 2:49 PM — 23 comments
Filed under:
  • andre yruretagoyena
  • recruit interviews
  • 2011 recruiting

AZ OL Andre Yruretagoyena is a 2011 offensive tackle prospect from Chaparral High, the home of current Wolverines Taylor Lewan and Craig Roh. Andre is very similar to Taylor, having already drawn some comparisons to his former teammate. Michigan has offered Andre a scholarship and currently sit in his top two with Arizona. Here's what he had to say about his recruitment.

TOM: Where does Michigan stand with you right now?

ANDRE: I can't really narrow my list as of now, but I've always liked Michigan. The fan base is really supportive, the people up north are extremely nice, it’s a beautiful area, and it’s a great team with damn good history. I’ve only talked to them a little bit, but the coaches are really cool. Obviously the academics are top notch, as well.

TOM: How did you get familiar with Michigan? Have you always been from Arizona?

ANDRE: I was born in California, and then we moved to Washington. After that we moved to Arizona in third grade. I started playing football in 8th grade, and that’s when I started to really pay attention. They were always on TV, and the Big House always intrigued me.

TOM: Being a former teammate of current Wolverines Taylor Lewan and Craig Roh, do you still talk to them a lot?

ANDRE: I don’t talk with Craig that much, but I definitely talk to Taylor a lot. We usually talk around once a week. I was a freshman when Craig was a junior, so we were always on different teams. I was a sophomore when Taylor transferred to our school. I wasn’t on varsity until this year. But right when he left he saw the potential I had and told me how I could play. He gave me a reality check, and we’ve been friends since.

TOM: What does Taylor tell you about Michigan?

ANDRE: Well, I’m already fine with it being cold. That seems to be everyone’s question, so that’s not a big deal. He said he loves it, the people, the coaches just everything really. We haven’t gotten specific, but he loves everything about it up there.

TOM: How would you describe yourself as a football player?

ANDRE: I’m a nasty player; I know that. I’m quick, strong, I finish my blocks, and I’m a team player. Taylor is a nasty mean player, too. I’ve watched him, and I want to be like that on the field. I don’t show emotions on the sideline, but that’s what I’m like on the field, too.

TOM: What schools have offered so far, and who’s been in contact with you?

ANDRE: I have offers from Michigan, Arizona, Arizona State, South Dakota State was the first one, Kansas, and Colorado. Oregon State will probably offer next week, they should be. My head coach said Nebraska should be offering soon, too. Oregon said they want to see me in person to offer. I usually go up there for spring break, because my dad lives there. So, I’ll probably go up there to get that.

TOM: When do you think you’ll be able to make it up to Michigan?

ANDRE: I’m already planning on taking an official. I don’t think I can take it until summer, so I’ll schedule it as soon as I can. Coach Dews is the one who called and gave me the offer. We talked on the phone in my coach’s office. They’re really down to earth, and they seem really welcoming, so I’m excited to meet them. They’re not pressuring at all, and I know they’re good coaches, too. I’m supposed to talk to coach Tall soon, so I’m looking forward to that.

TOM: What’s your timeline look like? When do you think you’ll decide?

ANDRE: I’m not going to commit until after the season. We have a good amount of people that could go to D1 schools, so I want the coaches that come through to see me to be able to see my teammates as well. Our defense is stacked and we have a really good wide receiver, so they deserve as much attention as me.

TOM: Every site says something different for how tall you are. What’s your height and weight right now?

ANDRE: Yeah, everyone says something different, which is weird. I’m 6’4 ½, and I’m at 260 pounds. I’m trying to get up to 270, or 275, and keep my speed. We have really good trainers, so I know I can do it.

TOM: From talking with Taylor’s dad, Dave, it seems like your coaches are a big part of the recruiting successes. How have they helped you?

ANDRE: Coach Ragle has completely changed me as a player. I wouldn’t be where I’m at if it wasn’t for our coaches or trainers. We came up with a work ethic for ourselves, just to work our hardest. They’re really supportive. My line coach is only like 21, but he’s a really good coach, and he’s really the reason I’m here today. They are all just really awesome coaches. 

  • 23 comments

Omens And Precedents

By Brian — February 25th, 2010 at 1:58 PM — 41 comments
Filed under:
  • free press jihad
  • ncaa: the scandals
  • actual research

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA         raven

His blog is long defunct but a hat tip to ny1995, who did the legwork in the NCAA infractions database and unearthed these cases. Burgeoning Wolverine Star also highlighted the FIU case I'm about to and has a take on the similarities between the two cases.

UPDATE: I asked Compliance Guy to sanity-check this and have added his comments in below.

The accusations the NCAA has levied against Michigan are not unprecedented, so a look at a couple similar cases over the past decade might prove illuminating. But first, here's an example of what qualifies as a "major violation" these days. One of the things San Diego State got nailed for:

During the 1998-99 through 2001-02 academic years, the assistant coach provided impermissible apparel to the student-athletes who played the position of offensive line.  Specifically, at the commencement of training camp each year, the assistant  coach distributed  “flexi-fit” hats  embroidered with  the offensive  line’s theme for the particular year.  Themes have included “Big Block Boys,” “O-Line Finish the Block” and “Trench Warriors.”  Further, at the conclusion of the 2002 spring practices, the assistant coach distributed shirts embroidered with the phrase “Tuff 15” to only those members of the offensive line who attended all 15-spring practice sessions.  The fair market value of the shirts was approximately $35 and the hats, approximately $25. 

The following section explains the committee's rationale for deeming TRENCH WARRIOR hats a major violation:

The enforcement staff and the institution agreed that the apparel items were provided with no intent to violate a rule and provided little, if any, competitive advantage.  However, the violations occurred over a period of four years, was not isolated or inadvertent and thus could not be considered a secondary violation.

Takeaways: the chance that Michigan does not get hit with a major violation in August is zero. The QC stuff isn't going to be deemed "isolated or inadvertent." But "major" has clearly ceased to mean much aside from providing big scary headlines.

Compliance Guy: The term "major violation" has this big scary connotation. In fact, the default for a violation is major. It's up to the university to prove that it met the two criteria to be classified secondary:

- Isolated or inadvertant; and

- Did not provide a significant competitive advantage or provide a significant benefit.

Being a major violation means you start with a set of presumed penalties that are then argued up or down (usually down overall, the list is extensive) based on the facts of the individual case. In the past, most secondary violations did not have prescribed penalties so you had much more flexibility if the violation was secondary. Now there are prescribed penalties for most secondary violations as well.

At this point the biggest difference between a major violation and a secondary violation is public reprimand and censure. If you have a secondary violation, the NCAA doesn't announce it, and it's stored in a private database without the school's name attached. A major violation is announced and stored in a public database with the school's name front and center.

IMHO, the NCAA ought to either find a bigger distinction or do away with the distinction all together. In fact, there's actually three types of violations: Level I secondary violations (so small they are only reported to the conference); Level II secondary violations (reported to the NCAA and involve student-athlete eligibility or rules the NCAA is focused on); and major violations. I say expand the Level I list a bit and just have two types of violations: Level I and Level II, where Level II might include an infractions hearings and major penalties.

Florida International

Report

What They Did

1. An assistant coach—we'll call him Captain Dumbass—conducted "skill and technique workouts" with offensive linemen during the summer over the course of three years. 30 impermissible workouts over three years gave them a "competitive advantage."

2. Over the same timespan, Captain Dumbass conducted "impermissible technique activity" in the same fashion as the summer sessions, for another 27 impermissible workouts.

3. Captain Dumbass then lied to the NCAA and attempted to call another student athlete, disclosing the content of his interview and telling the kid to lie to the NCAA as well. He did, then he recanted.

4. Failure to monitor. "The football coaching staff, including the head coach, and members of the S&C staff were aware in varying degrees" of the sessions. The administration was not. "The majority of the coaches" were aware the sessions were not kosher, but not one said anything. Note this failure to monitor was directed at the university only.

5. A secondary violation because the S&C coach took attendance at voluntary S&C activities and periodically reported the information to other coaches.

What They Did To Themselves

They fired Captain Dumbass and eliminated the OL coach position for the entire 2004 season and 2005 spring practice. They reduced preseason practices by four, and gave up 171 hours (twice the number of impermissible hours logged by the offensive line) of mandatory practice or conditioning over the course of three years.

They also took one assistant coach off the road for the spring evaluation period for two years, put notes in folks' permanent record, and hit people with some pay decreases/finger wagging.

What Got Done To Them

Three years of probation for the university and a three year show-cause penalty for Captain Dumbass.

---

Compliance Guy: This is probably a good starting point for the penalties Michigan might face. Unlike the SDSU violation, this violation covered just practice violations (aka only Bylaw 17, the playing and practice limits bylaw). Michigan's alleged violations cover Bylaw 17 plus another (Bylaw 11, personnel limits) but the penalty is accounted for here: eliminating a coaching staff position for at least a year.

The COI didn't do anything of substance to FIU. Three years probation is one over the minimum and makes sense considering the violations lasted three years. And the three-year show cause penalty is pretty fair considering Captain Dumbass not only was involved in the majority of the underlying violations AND lied to the NCAA about it, but also tried to get someone else to lie about it too.

San Diego State

Report

What They Did

1. Over the course of three years, the offensive line coach conducted mandatory offseason "deep sand training" for an hour once a week May through July. (What is it with OL coaches?) Captain Dumbass #2 then sold videos of this training as part of a three-video package featuring current student athletes. He also wrote newsletters praising attendance and listing people who had perfect attendance records.

2. Before spring practice one year, several assistant coaches met with players to discuss "academics," but each meeting had diagrammed plays and chalk-talk and whatnot. An assistant coach conducted drills at least eight times for about fifteen minutes. It's unclear if this was Captain Dumbass or not, but someone videotaped one of the drills. Football coaches also had members of the football undergo impermissible 11-on-11 activities, simulating plays with a "taped towel" instead of a football.

In the committee rationale area, there is the implication that the assistant coaches misrepresented the meetings to the NCAA by claiming the students were just so excited about the new plays that they initiated the "chalk talk"; students did not echo this. The head coach acknowledged the activities were "pushing it" and compliance should have been consulted about the workouts.

3. TRENCH WARRIOR hats.

4. Failure to monitor levied at the institution, citing the sand practices being common knowledge with everyone except the institution. The head coach "observed at least seven or eight of these workouts."

What They Did To Themselves

SDSU self-imposed six total years of scholarship penalties: three the first year, two the second, one the third. They eliminated 21 practice days over the course of three years, took one assistant coach off the road for four days, suspended Captain Dumbass, and put notes in the offenders' permanent records.

What Got Done To Them After

Two years of probation.

------

Compliance Guy: The major difference is that the Trench Warrior hats are an extra benefit in addition to a practice violation. Giving material items as prizes for performance is not allowed, even though giving them to the whole team might be OK. They're a practice violation as well because you cannot punish or reward student-athletes for voluntary workouts.

Also notice the COI did even less than they did to FIU. Two years probation is the minimum imposed in a major violation case. There will always be a penalty of two years probation, so this is basically rubber-stamping the penalties. Why this is two years probation and not three is a big confusing, but probation doesn't mean much competitively. It means more work for the compliance office. It doesn't even mean a longer period of repeat violator status, which is always five years no matter how long the probation is.

The extra benefit piece is a big deal because it explains the scholarship penalties. Penalties have to match the violations. If you violation recruiting rules, you get recruiting restrictions, if you violation practice rules, you get less practice, and if you give student-athletes too much financial aid or extra benefits, you reduce your financial aid.

Based on the difference between these two cases, I would say reduced scholarships are still on the table, but are most likely to be self-imposed. Michigan might give up scholarships if they believe scholarships are worth less than practice and they can reduce the practice penalties somewhat by giving up something else

Michigan Versus Those Guys

Notice of Allegations

Unfortunately, it's tough to tell exactly what bits of the previous cases caused the punishments levied. FIU's two-for-one hours penalty is pretty obvious, but what exactly was so much worse about the SDSU case that saw them dump six years of scholarships when FIU didn't have to ditch any? Both violations took place over three years. And involved an actual assistant coach. The head coaches knew in both cases. Captain Dumbass #1 seriously pissed off the NCAA, as did #2. I don't get the discrepancy.

Anyway, some guesses:

Braithwaite's hire implies that Michigan might lose a coach for some period of time. Michigan turned around the notice of allegations instantly and Brandon said there wasn't anything in there that was a surprise, so Michigan knew full well what the investigation would show. Here's betting one of the self-imposed penalties is removing a coach for spring and possibly fall, and Braithwaite will be that guy.

(Compliance Guy: Oddly enough, Braithwaite might end up doing what the QC guys were supposed to be doing.)

Michigan will probably give two for one on the practice overages. They come to 66 hours, so Michigan will probably try to spread 132 hours over a few years.

(Compliance Guy: That penalty can take many forms: a later fall start date, additional off days, a shorter spring, or fewer hours per week (or a combination of any or all of these).

Could Rodriguez's "failure to monitor" actually be a good thing? My research over the past couple days indicates that failure to monitor is a charge that the NCAA levies against programs when they believe people who should be in a position to know these things didn't know these things. In the cases above both head coaches knew there were shenanigans going on, so they did not get a failure to monitor charge. Only the universities did.

In Michigan's case, both coach and university got charged with failure to monitor. On the surface this is one of the FIVE MAJOR VIOLATIONS. Underneath, it actually seems like a mitigating factor. Having people violate NCAA regulations without your knowledge seems better being aware of it.

This may be a straw I'm grasping at.

(Compliance Guy: Rodriguez is not charged with "failure to monitor." Rodriguez is charged with "failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance." It's basically a catchall that includes something like "failure to monitor" and "lack of institutional control" on a program level. Basically its to make head coaches take responsibility for their program, whether they knew about something and ignored it, failed to control the assistants at all, or ordered assistants to commit violations (how John Calipari has escaped this is beyond me).

It's not a mitigating factor and it's not a "good thing." But it's not necessarily going to be a very bad thing. If it is a very bad thing, it might mean some penalty directed personally at Rodriguez, like prohibiting him from recruiting off-campus for a period of time. Michigan might attempt to head this off by self-imposing internal penalties like establishing meetings between Rodriguez and the compliance office, suspending him, or withholding pay, raises, or bonuses.)

Alex Herron lying probably doesn't matter. If FIU had its coach tell a kid to lie and get caught for it and didn't get scholarship reductions, having one GA get caught being deceitful reflects on the GA, not Michigan.

(Compliance Guy: Agreed. He'll get hit with a show-cause penalty, unlike the two similar noncoaching staff members in the Central Florida recruiting violation who were not hit with show-cause penalties because they were so forthcoming.)

Scholarship reductions don't seem assured. FIU conducted 57 actual practices supervised by an assistant coach that the head coach knew about and didn't get much more than the practice reductions. However, since Michigan is capped at 84 this year due to some foul-ups with walk-ons I'm betting Michigan takes a small hit for 2010 only since taking that hit has zero impact.

(Compliance Guy: Agreed. It's possible that Michigan will just get coaching staff and practice penalties. But the goal of penalties is to erase a competitive advantage, and Michigan might add in a seemingly unrelated penalty to avoid an even bigger practice reduction, or the COI might deem it appropriate to impose the scholarship limitations to erase that competitive advantage (less likely).)

Whatever Michigan self-imposes is probably going to be the end of it. In both cases above, the NCAA looked at the penalties, said "okay," and tacked on some probation.

The above scenario is a worst case. I'm not sure how much credence to put into the rumors flying around that once the full report comes out Michigan will have seriously mitigated many of the charges—that's a classic example of something you want to believe—but they are out there and I've heard from a couple good sources that the details here will be less than damning. We'll have to wait for the Michigan response and self-imposed penalties to find out.

Again, tons of thanks to Compliance Guy for the clarity. His blog is The Bylaw Blog.

  • 41 comments

Unverified Voracity About Other Things, Eventually

By Brian — February 25th, 2010 at 12:25 PM — 38 comments
Filed under:
  • dave brandon
  • free press jihad
  • justin turner
  • morgan trent
  • podcast
  • tempo-freeeeeeee
  • unverified voracity
  • walk-ons

Talkin'. I'd actually scheduled this podcast appearance at The Solid Verbal last week and the kids over there just happened to hit the news cycle jackpot. So, yeah, there's a podcast of me talking to Ty and Dan about the shoe that just dropped, Tate Forcier, the future of the program, and Admiral Ackbar.

One clarification: I was just talking extemporaneously about a question I hadn't thought about before when I mentioned that I thought Rich Rodriguez probably had an idea of what was going on with the quality control assistants. After some more research, I think that's erroneous since one of the charges is a "failure to monitor" on Rodriguez's part. "Failure to monitor" appears to be something that precludes Rodriguez knowing about the violations.

Click for go:

icon for podpress  Michigan's Maze (2/24) [32:41m]: Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

The upshot. This is not changing until we know what happens in 2010:

At least no one will ask this until—aw, who am I kidding.

Obligatory item in which I offer an opinion about virtually everyone acting stupid. First, Brandon Graham:

Former Wolverine Brandon Graham said he didn't experience any of the alleged violations during his time at Michigan and that the NCAA report shouldn't sour anyone's view on Rodriguez.

"Coach Rod’s a good coach, and people are just trying to get him in trouble to me," Graham said.

The obvious contrast is with Morgan Trent, who sold out the program in a statement. One: now we have a pretty good explanation for why Trent is a successful NFL player but basically sucked at Michigan. He did not like the program change and didn't put in full effort. Two: while people going "lol Trent you suck" are not covering themselves in glory, you can dump Trent in with those guys in a barrel of people I don't want to get a beer with.

Trent is symptomatic of the problems resulting from the vast culture change Rodriguez brought with him, and each former Carr guy who just can't get over the change who goes out the door or transfers before their time is one more scholarship not being wasted. Trent doesn't know anything about the exact specifics of what GAs and QC assistants are allowed to do and didn't know that stretching time was CARA. He's just talking out of his ass because he dislikes RR, and I hereby excommunicate him.

Additional random takes. Some other takes I missed yesterday. ESPN's Adam Rittenberg:

Michigan will be hit with some penalties, and "major violations" are possible. But these allegations don't seem to be overly extreme, despite some harsh language in the report. Michigan could be hit with probation or scholarship losses, and it will need to be more careful on these issues going forward. I'll repeat what I've said all along: Rich Rodriguez's fate ultimately comes down to whether or not he wins games, not what the NCAA decides in August.

The Detroit News's John Niyo:

In the end, I'd guess a quality-control staffer probably will lose his job, and changes surely are in store for the compliance department. Beyond that, maybe not much more than institutional embarrassment, which is no small price to pay at Michigan.

But the real change better start with Rodriguez, who has to know the new athletic director, while offering his support privately and publicly, also is reserving final judgment.

The difference between the two papers is kind of amazing, isn't it?

Recent interviewee Compliance Guy also has a post at his home base. It's measured:

Many of Michigan’s violations involve slippery territory. Hire enough noncoaching staff members, give them enough coaching-like responsibilities, and leave them with student-athletes and these violations are bound to happen. It might sound incredulous that the coaches didn’t consider stretching and warm-up to be CARA, but other preventive measures like training room activities are not included. …

Michigan is likely not facing the same level of sanctions as USC. In addition to the absence of a lack of institutional control allegation, Michigan’s excess CARA was not the “two to three times” or “nine hour days” that the players originally alleged.

I would expect a hodgepodge of significant but not devastating penalties including reduced CARA limits (either through a shorter season or reduced hourly limits), reductions in coaching staff members, recruiting restrictions, and reductions in financial aid. That Michigan is a repeat violator might only mean a longer probation of three to four years rather than the minimum of two.

"Reductions in financial aid" means scholarship losses, but more on that in a bit.

Section With Nothing To Do With You-Know-What

So I've got all these tabs that have just… lingered since about Monday night when minor amounts of hell broke loose. Here they are.

Eeee Brandon? Dave Brandon gets a fairly massive profile in USA Today, complete with video. Random quote pulled out:

"This feels to me like just such an appropriate next step. It's leadership, but a different kind of leadership," said Brandon, 57, discussing the impending move during an interview at Domino's headquarters, a few miles from the university's main campus. "This has provided me with an opportunity to connect with a place that has been incredibly important to my life."

We might not win much, but by God we go to Kenpom. The amount of pride I find in this statement from the man formerly known as Big Ten Wonk is completely irrational:

Seems to me that this type of progressive thought would suit a fan base like Duke’s — intelligent fans with a successful program — really well. Are you aware of any fan bases that are particularly attuned to it?

Well, it’s more anecdotal, and it’s drawing a distinction between bloggers and actual fans who I hear from. But obviously, I hear a lot from Duke and North Carolina, both because those are great combinations of A. successful programs and B. smart fan bases. I definitely hear a lot from that region of North Carolina. I think the key might be smart and impassioned fan bases, even more than successful programs, because I would also point to a community like Michigan, which has had next to nothing in the way of recent success. I hear a lot from Michigan fans — however improbably, they definitely are hip to this stuff.

Excellent work, Michigan internets. Say anything you want about us, but by God we know when to divide.

Justin Turner doom mitigation. AnnArbor.com article on Justin Turner got lost in the shuffle. In it are some reasons Turner didn't play last year that mitgate your (read: my) panic that he might not live up to his massive recruiting reputation, which would be a disaster:

“He wasn’t here in the summer lifting and going to class and doing all those things, so it’s really a few months,” Gibson said.

Once Turner got settled, he showed why he was such a well-regarded recruit.

Gibson said Turner split time between the scout team and regular defense by midseason, and coaches salivated at the thought of getting him in the rotation.

“If we’d have got him in earlier last year with the NCAA stuff, I think he’d have played a little bit,” Gibson said. “He’s a good-looking kid. There’s a lot of guys I’m anxious to see back there, but he’s one that sticks out.”

If Turner and Devin Gardner are on the field at the same time during the spring game, I'm watching Turner. That's how important he is for the program. The article mentions a possibility that Turner could end up at safety if that's the thing that seems to make the most sense, FWIW.

There is also praise for JT Floyd, but I tend to file that under the Johnny Sears rule: you talk up whoever you've got in the vague hope confidence can carry them despite your lyin' eyes.

Walkin' on. Good article in the Grand Rapids Press on walk-ons, though it misidentifies what a grayshirt is*. It highlights a physically imposing offensive tackle from Forest Hills Central who joins Baquer Sayed as Michigan preferred walk-ons who picked M over MAC offers. Meet Kristian Mateus:

It’s not the same because of the scholarship, but everybody is treated as the same player at Michigan,” said the 6-foot-8, 285-pound offensive lineman. “I feel good about that.”It’s not the same because of the scholarship, but everybody is treated as the same player at Michigan,” said the 6-foot-8, 285-pound offensive lineman. “I feel good about that.”

“Coach (Rich) Rodriguez was a walk-on himself, so he has made a commitment to make a walk-on feel as comfortable as possible,” Mateus said. “I was recruited by Michigan, took a visit there, went to camp there last summer, and it’s the place I want to be.”

Mateus had a Central Michigan offer and interest from Western Michigan and… Notre Dame? Probably not that latter but in any case sometimes you get weird breakout offensive linemen and having a MAC prospect walk-on is a non-trivial chance at a contributor.

*(Article erroneously states that a grayshirt is an early enrollee a la Devin Gardner, Ricardo Miller, and company. Those folk are usually termed early enrollees. Grayshirts are the opposite: instead of accelerating and skipping their last semester of high school, a grayshirt (usually) signs a LOI and then waits an extra semester to join the team. Sometimes they enroll, sometimes they don't. They're not on scholarship if they do.)

Etc.: I plan on front-paging these when all hell is not breaking loose, but here's FA's recap of baseball's first weekend. There is a research-heavy argument about recruiting rankings going on in the diaries. Do they matter? Not really, definitely at Michigan, only when five stars are around.

  • 38 comments

Reaction in two parts

By Brian — February 24th, 2010 at 4:00 PM — 65 comments
Filed under:
  • free press jihad
  • ncaa: the scandals

Player-TrackerVia the Hoover Street Rag 

There's a notable difference between third-party blog reaction and that from newspapers. Blogs first, with a focus on people who don't love or hate Michigan because of their team affiliations. Doctor Saturday:

Stare into the face of bureaucracy, Michigan, and quiver at its awesome power.

Know also that every program in the country -- and I'm pretty confident when I say every program -- would run afoul of at least one of those infractions (or similar ones; it's a big manual) on a somewhat regular basis, as the minimum cost of employing fallible human being while continuing to dead-lift with the Joneses. Other programs, however, weren't the target of an investigation by a major metropolitan newspaper that left no stone unturned in its efforts to make a splash against a high-profile program. Michigan was, which is why it was Michigan's coach, president and new athletic director (not even officially on the job for two more weeks) in front of the cameras today feigning contrition over barely spilt milk.

Team Speed Kills, which from its name you can probably deduct is an SEC blog:

That's it?
If this is all the NCAA could find after having a newspaper article for a road map, it leads to the conclusion that either (a) the Detroit Free-Press blew this way out of proportion or (b) the Association is even more incompetent than I thought. Since I'm not sure (b) is possible, we'll go with (a).

Get The Picture:

…when you look at what the NCAA is accusing Michigan of, there isn’t that much there.  So, yeah, the school is likely the victim of some journalistic hyperventilating by the Detroit Free-Press.

The Big Lead's Ty Duffy has a somewhat more negative take; he is a Michigan fan in the "kill him now" camp and not a neutral third party. I've scoured the RSS for other opinions, but the charges pass without notice most places. More locally, Black Shoe Diaries takes issue with DocSat's assertion that similar violations would be turned up everywhere:

We don't have any idea what's going on anywhere, I think that's the news.

Neither Yahoo blogger nor beat reporter and maybe not even football coach really are certain of anything; the rules are complex, all the source material is totally unattainable for most of us and we don't have an enforcement agency with the power to comfortably investigate.

Of course, like critics of the tax code often say, it's probably the complexity of the rules that make enforcement impossible and hopelessly selective. 

Other prominent Big Ten blogs like Black Heart Gold Pants and The Only Colors haven't even mentioned it. Eleven Warriors is fairly neutral:

…the allegations fall somewhere in between the minor and serious realms. The quality control staff is in position to take the blunt of the heat with Brandon reiterating Rodriquez’s job was not in imminent danger as a result of the findings — which I don’t think any of us ever doubted.

The yawning is everywhere.

Newspaper folk, on the other hand, tend towards the hysterical. The Wizard of Odds, which is a blog but is a blog written by a LAT refugee, demonstrates the overall tone:

Rich Rod Era at Michigan Reaches a New Low

Indeed. This guy in the "Niles Star" is about to get more hits than he's ever gotten in his life:

It’s time that the University of Michigan cuts its ties with coach Rich Rodriguez.
Tuesday was one of the lowest days in Michigan football history as the NCAA delivered its notice of allegations against the program.

I don't think this counts as a disinterested party, but the Orlando Sentinel's Andrea Adelson:

It is hard to figure out how Rich Rodriguez is going to survive this — no matter what incoming athletic director David Brandon says.

AnnArbor.com's Pete Bigelow unearths things like the Jonas Mouton Suspension Fiasco and the completely reasonable decision to negotiate the buyout in yet another This Hick Spit In Michigan's Vase (and that's "vaaahse,: not "vace") column:

At the time, Rodriguez dismissed the allegations as “unnecessary drama.”

Concerns can no longer be brushed aside. Not about the NCAA charges in particular nor the way Rodriguez conducts his program in general.

In too many instances, some large and some small, Rodriguez has written his own reality to the detriment of his program and the university.

Wojo's his usual reasonable self but even his column is a far cry from the "meh" you see above:

The NCAA didn't accuse Rodriguez's program of breaking the biggest rules, and Michigan said the violations weren't done in a malicious way. And Rodriguez won't lose his job over this, not now.

But for Michigan football, previously untainted by the NCAA, any violation is big. For Rodriguez, it doesn't help his cause, but it doesn't really change much either.

  • 65 comments

Illinois 51, Michigan 44

By Tim — February 24th, 2010 at 3:44 PM — 18 comments
Filed under:
  • basketball
  • game recaps
  • illinois
  • zack gibson
  • zack novak

ILLmanny.JPG

Michigan 13-14 (6-9 Big Ten)

OK, I swear I'm going to stop trying to come up with clever titles for the last couple games unless something really hits me (maybe "Euthanasia" for the Big Ten Tournament loss). Midway through the first half of this game, it was going just as expected: Michigan was getting absolutely killed even if the scoreboard didn't show it. My ongoing sense of basketball malaise had already set in. Then, early in the second half, something funny happened: they started fighting back. It's just like this Michigan basketball team to keep me emotionally invested before ripping my heart out. Predictably, after taking a brief lead they collapsed, allowing the Illini to cruise to a comfortable win.

This game was a microcosm of the season: ultimately disappointing, but with enough hope sprinkled in to make it actually hurt so the fans can't just stay numb. Another microcosm of the season? A sequence late in the second half. Michigan nearly forces a shot-clock violation. Brandon Paul blatantly travels (uncalled, of course), before getting the ball to DJ Richardson, who hoists a 30-footer that barely beats the 35-second buzzer. Win for the defense, right? The ball ricochets directly to Mike Tisdale, and the Illini get some easy second-chance points.

This had to be one of the worst shooting performances Michigan could have put forth (and no, idiot who sits behind press row, it's not on the coaches—like they can hear your whiny bellowing anyway). They were getting open shots from three-point range and mid-range, they were getting into the lane for easy layups—this was not a failure of offensive design. However, the final shooting numbers were ugly: 24.6% from the field, 29.2 eFG%.

There was nothing the coaches could do to get the team shooting better. Can't make an outside shot? Go inside to DeShawn (3-12 on two-pointers). DeShawn's not scoring? Let Manny drive the lane (4-12 on two-pointers). The only people that had anything resembling a spark for Michigan were Zack Novak and Zack Gibson. Gibby shot 50% (1/4 from three-point land) and Novak made four threes.

As the season winds down, and it's clear that nothing's going to change with this team, I start begging for a painless release. They've lost confidence, and rightfully so, and probably the only thing that's going to restore it at this point is to move on from the 2009-10 season.

BULLETS

  • Layups. Dude, layups. Michigan missed 15 of them. Nothing was working. If the Wolverines make half of those, this game is easily won.
  • As much as it was a horrible performance by the team at large in shooting the ball, DeShawn Sims probably had the worst performance in comparison to expectations. He's been beyond solid all year long, and Michigan needed him today, but he couldn't come through. Fortunately, he still managed to put in some solid work on the glass.
  • That said, somebody, anybody other than DeShawn Sims has to be able to put the ball in the hoop.
  • A few steps forward over the year for Darius Morris, but this was a step back. 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 1-7 shooting. However, he was relied on to shoot much more than usual this game, and once he can get a consistent stroke and form, he should be a real weapon.
  • For all those who were outraged at Stu Douglass for not going after an offensive rebound against Penn State, you got what was coming to you last night. He went after a loose ball, and it led to an easy Illinois dunk on the fast break.
  • Is it next year yet?

Photo Gallery

Up Next

The Wolverines head to Value City Arena to take on Ohio State on Saturday at noon. Though Michigan beat the Buckeyes at home on January 3rd, the bad guys were without Evan Turner, who is among the front runners for National Player of the Year. This should be an ugly contest for the Wolverines.

Up Next

The Wolverines head to Value City Arena to take on Ohio State on Saturday at noon. Though Michigan beat the Buckeyes at home on January 3rd, the bad guys were without Evan Turner, who is among the front runners for National Player of the Year. This should be an ugly contest for the Wolverines.

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