Simply Beautiful

In a little over two seasons of Michigan baseball coverage, I've seen highs and I've seen lows. In 2008, Michigan had an outstanding class of upperclassmen, perhaps their best since the 1980s. When they left, some to graduation, others who left early to the draft, Michigan was left with a huge void. In one year, Michigan went from a first place team in the Big Ten to one of the worst teams in the conference.

The 2010 season was supposed to be the first step to rebuilding. Michigan had two powerful senior captains. They had Ryan LaMarre, a guy now looking at being drafted in the first two rounds of the MLB draft. The pitching depth was there. They may have lacked the big star on the mound, but they were going to be good.

On Saturday, Michigan faced Iowa in a chance to make the Big Ten Tournament Championship. The game went much like the rest of the season. Michigan opened with a bang. The offense exploded. After it went quiet, the pitching held strong. But when the pitching left, so did much of Michigan's hopes for the NCAA.

Recap, and a look back at the big picture… or excel graph. However you want to look at it…, and a look forward after the jump.

Desimon Green, out of Clairton High School in Pennsylvania, recently got some exciting news from the Michigan coaching staff. Coach Gibson and Coach Robinson told Green that he would have an offer once Rich Rodriguez gives the thumbs up after the holiday weekend. Desimon is calling the Michigan coaches back tomorrow, and is expecting the offer to be extended. 

Green is a 6-foot-5, 215-pound athlete, that plays defensive end, quarterback, wide receiver, and even linebacker. "Whatever the team needs me at, that's what I play. You don't usually see a teams quarterback turn around and line up at the defensive end spot, but I can do it all," said Desimon. The Wolverines are recruiting Green for either the defensive end spot, or the hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker position. "That's kind of what I play now, for our team, so that fits me pretty well," Green said.

Desimon told me he was a fan of Michigan growing up, but being a fan and a recruit are two different things. "They're not my favorite just because I was a fan. Those are two different things. They have a good chance, but they're not my leader," said Desimon. Michigan isn't the leader, but they are among his top five. "Texas Tech, Michigan State, West Virginia, Cincinnati, and Michigan are the top schools so far," he told me. 

For what it's worth, Michigan State is recruiting him for tight end, which is ok with him. Desimon is hoping to have a decision made by September, and November at the latest. He's looking for a certain comfort level, and the opportunity to play early. He doesn't plan on camping at Michigan, because he doesn't want to camp anywhere he already has an offer with.

The 2010 Michigan Defense will be quite young and inexperienced. But how do they compare to the rest of the Big Ten? Finding depth charts was more difficult that I imagined and I was not able to find all of them. [The only one I could not find was for Minnesota.  If someone finds a link I"ll add the Gophers in.]

Obviously depth charts change constantly but these are all finalized after the team's respective spring game, so its the best we got. I did a simple breakdown between upperclassman (Jr. - Rs Sr.) and underclassman.

Teams are listed from weakest to strongest based on 2009 Total Defense.

 

Indiana

(courtesy of Scout)

Starters

Upperclassman: 8

Underclassman: 3

Two-Deep

Upperclassman: 14

Underclassman: 8

 

Illinois

(courtesy of Rivals)

Starters

Upperclassman: 7

Underclassman: 4

Two-Deep

Upperclassman: 12

Underclassman: 10

 

Michigan State

(courtesy of The Only Colors)

Starters

Upperclassman: 5

Underclassman: 6

Two-Deep

Upperclassman: 8

Underclassman: 14

 

Northwestern

(courtesy of Northwestern Football Blog)

Starters

Upperclassman: 10

Underclassman: 1

Two-Deep

Upperclassman: 15

Underclassman: 7

 

Purdue

(courtesy of Bing)

Starters

Upperclassman: 7

Underclassman: 4

Two-Deep

Upperclassman: 8

Underclassman: 14

 

Wisconsin

(courtesy of Rivals)

Starters

Upperclassman: 10

Underclassman: 1

Two-Deep

Upperclassman: 12

Underclassman: 10

 

Penn State

(courtesy of The Penn State Examiner)

Starters

Upperclassman: 10

Underclassman: 1

Two-Deep

Upperclassman: 12

Underclassman: 10

 

Iowa

(courtesy of National Champs)

Starters

Upperclassman: 10

Underclassman: 1

 

Ohio State

(courtesy of Brutus Report)

Starters

Upperclassman: 9

Underclassman: 2

Two-Deep

Upperclassman: 11

Underclassman: 11

 

On first glance these breakdowns make sense.  Penn State, Iowa, and Ohio State usually field excellent defenses year after year.  These programs have (obviously) been able to build up depth allowing them to field experinced players.  Wisconsin and Northwestern also return mostly upperclassman and were ranked higher last year than I intially thought.

Michigan State and Purdue are more evenly split.  Both schools field relatively new coaches compared to these other schools.

 

Big Ten Averages

Starters

Upperclassman: 7.6

Underclassman: 3.4

Two-Deep

Upperclassman: 10.2

Underclassman: 11.8

Michigan

Starters

Upperclassman: 6

Underclassman: 5

Two-Deep

Upperclassman: 8

Underclassman: 14

 

Clearly the Wolverines are short on experience in the starting lineup, but they are not far off from the other B10 schools.  However these numbers could tip even younger if Obi Ezeh loses his spot and Will Campbell becomes a starter.

The two-deep is even more skewed toward younger players.  In a word: brutal.

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Not All B10 Defenses Are Created Equal

After looking at the B10 Total Defense rankings from 2009 there appeared to be 3 fairly seperate categories of defensive quailty.

Craptastic: 404.0 yds/game (Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, MSU, Minnesota)

Decent: 354.1 yds/game (Purdue & Northwestern)

Great: 295.3 yds/game (Wisconsin, PSU, Iowa, OSU)

 

Which category most closely matches one of the above?

Starters	Craptastic	Decent	Great	Michigan
Upperclassman	6.7	8.5	9.8	6
Underclassman	4.3	2.5	1.2	5
Two-Deep	Craptastic	Decent	Great	Michigan
Upperclassman	11.3	11.5	11.7	8
Underclassman	10.7	10.5	10.3	14

I don't think any further analysis is needed here.  Michigan is significantly inexperienced compared to their BIg Ten foes, especiallly when compared to the good and elite teams. The two-deep is just scary to look at and there is no surgarcoating that situation.  Michigan needs health as much (if not more) than any other B10 team this year. 

The silver lining here is Michigan matches up fairly closely to Purdue, ranked 5th in Total Big Ten Defense.  Hopefully our superior talent will also allow Michigan to finish as somewhat of an outliner in 2010.

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Michigan Defense: 2009 vs 2010

Starters	2009	2010
Upperclassman	6	6
Underclassman	5	5

 

Two-Deep	2009	2010
Upperclassman	8	8
Underclassman	14	14

 

What does this all mean?

Looking at the Michigan Two-Deep I am surprised that we field the same experience-level defense.  This gives me more hope that the 2010 Defense as an overall unit can be better than the one we saw in 2009.

 

GO BLUE!

Just a little bit of change since last week, but ESPN did tweak their ratings a bit. Action since last rankings:

5-25-10 Wisconsin gains commitment from Austin Maly.
5-26-10 Penn State gains commitment from Kyle Carter. Wisconsin gains commitment from Eric Steffes.
5-28-10 Michigan gains commitment from Chris Rock.

Big Ten Recruiting Class Rankings
Rank	School	# of Commits	Rivals 250	Scout Average	ESPN 150
1	Ohio State	11	2	3.64	6
2	Notre Dame	9	4	3.56	4
3	Michigan	5	2	3.20	2
4	Michigan State	5	1	3.20	1
5	Indiana	8	0	2.38	0
6	Wisconsin	4	1	2.00	0
7	Iowa	3	1	2.67	0
8	Minnesota	2	1	2.50	1
9	Northwestern	2	0	3.00	0
10	Illinois	2	0	3.00	0
11	Purdue	1	0	3.00	0
12	Penn State	1	0	1.00	0

I'll only make charts for the teams that currently have commits. Rivals 250 means that a given prospect is on the Rivals 250 to Watch, and ESPN 150 means that a prospect is on the Watch List for the ESPNU 150. Scout ratings are on the 5-star scale.

#1 Ohio State - 11 Commits
Name	Position	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
Steve Miller	DE	250	5	150*
Kenny Hayes	DE	250	4	46
Brian Bobek	OL	NR	4	150*
Chase Farris	DE	NR	4	150*
Michael Bennett	DT	NR	4	150*
DerJuan Gambrell	CB	NR	4	45
Jeremy Cash	S	NR	3	150*
Jeff Heuerman	TE	NR	3	150*
Antonio Underwood	OL	NR	3	46
Chris Carter	OL	NR	3	46
Tommy Brown	OL	NR	3	46

No change.

#2 Notre Dame - 9 Commits
Name	Position	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
Ben Koyack	TE	250	5	150*
Conor Hanratty	OL	250	4	150*
Matt Hegarty	OL	250	4	150*
Jarrett Grace	LB	250	4	46
Jordan Prestwood	OL	NR	4	150*
Tony Springmann	OL	NR	4	46
Brad Carrico	OL	NR	3	46
Matthias Farley	CB	NR	3	46
Kyle Brindza	K	NR	1	45

Irish have been stagnating for quite some time now.

#3 Michigan - 5 Commits
Name	Position	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
Delonte Hollowell	CB	250	3	150*
Chris Rock	DE	250	3	46
Brennen Beyer	DE	NR	4	150*
Greg Brown	CB	NR	3	46
Shawn Conway	WR	NR	3	46

Michigan picks up Chris Rock, and a couple more commits may be on the way.

#4 Michigan State - 5 Commits
Name	Position	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
Lawrence Thomas	LB	250	5	150*
Onaje Miller	RB/Ath	NR	4	45
Taiwan Jones	Ath/LB	NR	3	45
Connor Cook	QB	NR	2	46
AJ Sims	CB	NR	2	46

No change for Sparty.

#5 Indiana - 8 Commits
Name	Position	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
Jake Reed	TE	NR	3	46
Ralston Evans	OL	NR	3	46
Max Pirman	LB	NR	3	45
Kyle Kennedy	LB	NR	2	46
Tre Roberson	QB	NR	2	46
Kirk Harris	OL	NR	2	46
Zack Shaw	LB	NR	2	46
Mike Replogle	LB	NR	2	45

Nothing new for the Hoosiers.

#6 Wisconsin - 4 Commits
Name	Position	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
Jake Keefer	LB	250	3	46
Sam Arneson	TE	NR	2	46
Austin Maly	TE	NR	2	45
Eric Steffes	TE	NR	1	45

Wisconsin is forming a recruiting class composed entirely of tight ends.

#7 Iowa - 3 Commits
Name	Position	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
Austin Blythe	OL	250	3	46
Marcus Grant	WR	NR	2	46
JaCorey Shepherd	WR	NR	3	46

Iowa passed by Wisconsin.

#8 Minnesota - 2 Commits
Name	Position	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
Tommy Olson	OL	250	2	150*
James Farrow	CB	NR	3	46

Still no change for the Gophers.

#9 Northwestern - 2 Commits
Name	Position	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
Sean Cotton	S	NR	3	46
Jarrell Williams	CB	NR	3	46

No change.

#10 Illinois - 2 Commits
Name	Position	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
Zeph Grimes	S	NR	3	46
Hunter Wells	OL	NR	3	45

Lol Zook.

#11 Purdue - 1 Commit
Name	Position	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
Robert Kugler	TE	NR	3	45

Nothing new for Purdue.

#12 Penn State - 1 Commit
Name	Position	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
Kyle Carter	TE	NR	1	46

Nittany Lions! Welcome to the show.

Women’s Rowing

The women's rowing team finished the 2010 NCAA Championships in 11th place out of 16 teams.  U-M's second varsity eight finished 6th, the first varsity eight finished 12th and the first varsity four finished 11th.  National champions were: Virginia (Overall), Yale (first varsity eight), Brown (second varsity eight), and Virginia (first varsity four). 

 

NCAA Final Team Standings			Michigan Boat Results
1.	Virginia	87	First Varsity Eight
2.	California	82	12.	6:36.58	15
3.	Princeton	76	Second Varsity Eight
4.	Stanford	75	6.	6:40.34	22
5.	Brown	71	First Varsity Four
6.	Yale	64	11.	7:27.23	6
7.	Wisconsin	55
8.	Southern Cal	52
9.	Michigan State	51
10.	Washington	43
11.	MICHIGAN	43
12.	UCLA	31
13.	Washington State	29
14.	Ohio State	22
15.	Clemson	21
16.	Tennessee	12

Women’s Track & Field

Sisters Junior Emily Pendleton and freshman Erin Pendleton qualified for the NCAA Championships while earning third and eighth place respectively in the discus at the NCAA East Preliminary Round.  Emily Pendleton’s mark of 54.48 meters earned her her third consecutive NCAA Championships berth.  Big Ten Outdoor Freshman of the Year Erin Pendleton’s mark was 51.82 meters.  The Pendleton sisters will be Michigan's lone representatives at the NCAA Championships (June 9-12).  Emily Pendleton finished ninth in the discus in the 2009 Championships.

Emily & Erin Pendleton

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Men’s Track & Field

After completion of the NCAA East Preliminary Round, three Wolverines will move on to the NCAA Championships, which begin June 9 in Eugene, Ore.  At the East Preliminaries, Junior Carl Buchanon finished 10th (50.66) in the 400M hurdles and fifth-year senior Lex Williams finished ninth (29:57.88) in the 10,000M run.  Previously, Junior Frank Shotwell qualified for the decathlon based on his 2nd place finish and school record 7,379 point total at the Big Ten Championships. 

Carl Buchanon, Lex Williams & Frank Shotwell

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Women’s Tennis

Women’s Tennis completed the 2010 season with a 24-5 overall record, winning the Big Ten championship with a 10-0 conference record. U-M had NCAA singles and doubles qualifiers for the first time since 2004.

No. 19 ranked Junior Denise Muresan was eliminated in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Singles Championships by No. 54 Katrina Tsang of North Carolina 6-0, 7-6.  Muresan, the Big Ten Player of the Year finished her season with a 33-14 record.  Her 33 wins place her second on the Michigan women's tennis all-time single season wins list. 

Michigan’s No. 19 ranked doubles pair of juniors Whitney Taney and Rika Tatsuno lost 6-3, 6-4 to No. 5 Marrit Boonstra and Allie Will of Florida in the first round of the NCAA Doubles Championships.  Taney and Tatsuno concluded the season with a 30-7 overall record and a 24-3 dual-match mark.

Denise Muresan, Whitney Taney & Rika Tatsuno

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Men’s Tennis

Men’s Tennis completed the 2010 season with a 14-11 record, reaching the second round of the NCAA Championships. The Wolverines were 8-2 in conference play and finished third in the conference regular season.  Junior Jason Jung won 21 singles and 23 doubles matches and was All-Big Ten.  Freshman Evan King won 21 singles and 18 doubles matches and was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and ITA Midwest Region Rookie of the Year.  

Jung also was the national winner of the ITA Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship.  The Arthur Ashe Award goes to a player who has exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements.  Jung will be honored before the start of the U.S. Open in August.  He is the first Michigan player to receive the national award since its inception in 1983.  The team loses seniors George Navas and Mike Sroczynski but sports the third-ranked recruiting class in the country featuring Shaun Bernstein and Justin Rossi.

Jung lost in the first round of the singles draw at the NCAA Individual Championships to No. 11 Michael Shabaz (Virginia), 6-3, 6-2.  In doubles play, Jung and King (ranked No. 31) won their first round match in the doubles draw 7- 6, 7-6 over Texas Tech’s No. 17-ranked team of Raony Carvalho and Rafael Garcia.   In the round of 16, Jung and King lost to Stanford’s No. 4-ranked team of Bradley Klahn and Ryan Thatcher 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Jason Jung & Evan King

[Edit: Head coach Bruce Berque announced on May 30 that Jason Jung will be the 2010-11 team captain.]

"Jason sets the tone every day in practice with his work ethic and hunger to get better. He has also gone out of his way to help our younger players this season. It's these things -- along with his sportsmanship accolades -- that made it pretty clear to me that he would be the best candidate to be our official team captain for next season. I'm very proud of the growth he has made in the past year in terms of his leadership and I know he will do a great job for the team next year."  - Head Coach Bruce Berque

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Men’s Golf

The men's golf team posted a final-round 282 and an 848 total at the NCAA Central Regional finishing one shot shy of qualifying for the fifth and final spot in the NCAA Championships.  Sophomore Matt Thompson's two-under 208 score put him in a tie for sixth individually and in a playoff with Virginia Tech's Marshall Bailey for the final spot.  On the 10th green, Thompson’s bogey putt just missed the right edge and after Thompson tapped in for double bogey, Bailey drained an eight-foot bogey putt to advance. 

 

NCAA Central Regional Final Team Standings
1.	Stanford	277-279-274	830
2.	Florida State	283-276-275	834
3.	Florida	279-280-279	838
4.	Duke	292-277-270	839
5.	LSU	280-289-278	847
6.	MICHIGAN	285-281-282	848
6.	Northwestern	284-279-285	848
6.	Iowa	288-279-281	848
9.	Indiana	285-286-279	850
10.	Virginia Tech	284-288-283	855
11.	N.C. State	289-283-287	859
12.	Detroit Mercy	297-289-285	871
13.	Murray State	297-295-287	879
14.	St. Francis (Pa)	319-304-287	910

GBW is reporting a commitment from Andrews, South Carolina comedian Chris Rock.  Rock was not able to make the BBQ and this commitment is completely out of the blue.  He had no other offers at the time of his commitment.

INFORMATIVE PORTION

GURU RANKINGS

Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Comedians	EntertainmentRankings.com	faqs.org
#5 Stand-Up	#3 Stand-Up	#52 Stand-Up

 

EntertainmentRankings.com:

Chris Rock, to me, now that Carlin and Pryor have both passed, is the greatest living stand-up and the funniest comedian over the last 20 years.

Faqs.org, begins by talking about one of Rock's negatives:

...he's known predominantly for racial humor...

but then follows up with praise almost on par with EntertainmentRankings.com:

...funny is funny and Chris Rock is one of the funniest human beings on the planet.

And then finishes off with an assessment of one of his strengths:

Perhaps the greatest testament to his skill is how mainstream he's become: despite talking about controversial topics such as race and sex and working very "Blue" he's loved by inner city minorities, white suburban dads, and elderly WWII vets.

Rock is listed consistently at 5-11 and 45 years old.  He has appeared in several movies, such as Beverly Hills Cop II, Boomerang, and Dogma.  He also attended the Academy Awards in 2005 as the host, to mixed reviews.

OFFERS

Chris Rock has reported no other offers at this time.  Probably because he's a 45 year old comedian and not a football player.  Presumably Rodriguez and his staff intended to offer Columbus DeSales defensive end Chris Rock rather than the comedian and there was just a clerical error.

STATS

Chris Rock spent 3 years on Saturday Night Live and was on 60 different episodes.  He has also been the director, writer, actor, or producer on several movies.

FAKE 40 TIME

Comedians do not have 40 times, hence they can not be fake.

VIDEO

Highlights (NSFW audio):

You can also see a video of Chris Rock talking about drugs (more NSFW audio).

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Being a 45-year old comedian and not a football player, Chris Rock seems like a lock for a redshirt while they get him in shape for football.  After that, he may be moved to punter or holder, where the chance of him being injured will be minimized.

Following his redshirt season, Rock likely still will not see playing time, unless we're facing Delaware State again.  He will probably be used as a motivational tool for the team.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Chris Rock is the first comedian in the 2011 class and likely the last.  Unfortunately, this leaves one fewer scholarship spot for the 2011 class.  This offer seems like a reach, at best.  They really should have offered the defensive end from Columbus instead.