ramgod

The last couple days have been a weird rollercoaster for Michigan fans debased enough to get really into recruiting like yrs truly. Denard Robinson, Adrian Witty, and Je'Ron Stokes were supposed to be in the bag; the defensive tackle recruits were anyone's guess, Quinton Washington was probably staying home, and Sam Montgomery was a longshot.

Then yesterday Stokes and Robinson were thrown into considerable doubt, Montgomery cut us, the defensive tackle recruits seemed gone, and everyone wanted to slit their wrists—which is completely ridiculous, I know, but it's not like I was immune. It made me morose; I concentrated on other things, like who you should root for down the stretch in college hockey. Recruiting: it's like herpes for your brain.

Today, Washington overturns the conventional wisdom and picks Michigan, both defensive tackle recruits seemed likely to stay—until recently, about which more in a bit—and what tide you can pick out in the chaos of information on Stokes and Robinson now appears to be trending positive. I've scoured message boards of a half-dozen teams, assimilated all the conflicting information flying around, and if you put a gun to my head and made me predict what was going to happen tomorrow it would look like this:

• Pearlie Graves: Michigan
• Adrian Witty: Michigan
• Denard Robinson: Michigan
• DeQuinta Jones: Arkansas
• Je'Ron Stokes: Michigan

Awesome! Oh no… what's that? It's horrible! It's orange! It reminds me of a phallus!

Not so fast, my friend! My confidence level in all those predictions save the one on Adrian Witty, about whom there appears to be little controversy, is incredibly low. Each of the four-stars have, intentionally or not, created a perfect aura of uncertainty about them. At some point in the last couple days I would have predicted every one of them to Not Michigan. The god of recruiting is Loki, and these men are his perfect minions. Should be a fun day tomorrow.

Anyway:

DeQuinta Jones. Eh, not coming:

“I could change my mind, but I’m leaning towards Arkansas. I’ll make a final decision (Wednesday),” said Jones, who took an official visit to Auburn in addition to Arkansas, Tennessee and Michigan. “Basically, I like everything about Arkansas. I really like the coaching staff.”

If Jones has an 11th-hour change of heart, Tennessee would appear to have the inside track. “I want to play SEC ball,” Jones said. “That’s what I grew up watching.”

So, yeah, that's not good. Also, if you think Rueben Randle was close with Ramgod you have to check this out:

 

Mark of the beast! Mark of the beast!

Denard Robinson. Robinson saw a huge surge in Florida optimism that ended with Florida, apparently, getting the boot. Luke Stampini of soflafootball.com thinks it's M:

Denard Robinson Deerfield Beach: Looks to be down to Michigan, Florida, and Kansas State. I think he chooses the Wolverines, but the Gators’ odds seem to be improving as time goes by.

Given the massive Florida surge followed by the implosion that's not the latest and greatest info, but it's still pretty recent. Most indicators here have returned to good. (HT: VB.)

Je'Ron Stokes. Well… let's just say the impression I've got is that when Stokes hung out with Will Campbell at the AA game they swapped ideas on how to cause the most heart attacks amongst internet nerds. Mission accomplished, gentlemen.

Tank? Illinois commitment Tank Carradine, the OH DE with the most kickass nickname of anyone in this recruiting class, is now former Illinois commitment Tank Carradine. Academics are the issue:

"He's going to sign with somebody," Martin said. "We knew some of the these issues going in and I was told that there's a possibility they could hold a scholarship for him once everything got straightened out. Now, everything's changing."

Michigan, Cinci, Kentucky, and NC State now comprise Carradine's short list. If Illinois cut him loose because they didn't think he could make the grade it seems doubtful Michigan will leap on him*, but if he's sitting out there after signing day—which looks likely—and Michigan's sitting around with an unused scholarship or two—which also looks likely—Michigan could sign him in the hopes he makes it in. They could use another DE in the class.

*(No slight to Illinois intended; Big Ten minimums are Big Ten minimums, is all.)