will hagerup

Update 8/11: Linked to video on PA DT Sharrif Floyd, articles on CT LB Khairi Fortt (#2, #3), MI CB Dior Mathis, CA CB Joshua Shaw (#2, #3, #4), FL CB Tony Grimes, CA S Dietrich Riley, WI P Will Hagerup, PA CB Cullen Christian, MI WR Commit Jeremy Jackson, TX RB Commit Stephen Hopkins, MD LB Josh Furman. FL RB Eduardo Clements.

Added NY DE Dominique Easley. Rejected from committing to Florida, Michigan is on his 5-school (plus Florida) list. Added FL DE David Perry, at whom Michigan is taking aim ($, info in header).

Local content on commits Devin Gardner and Austin White, along with 2011 WR DeAnthony Arnett.

Josh Helmholdt discusses recent visitors Talbott(s) and Ifill. Moved Terrence Talbott to offered.

Editorial Opinion: Recruiting Board lives here. Slow week.

Inside The Fortt

On top of taking home MVP honors at the Top Gun camp, CT LB Khairi Fortt has pared his list to a top 6, and Michigan is in, along with Penn State (the presumed leader), Georgia (the stated leader), USC, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Fortt has only planned  officials to Penn State and Georgia, and plans to finish his recruitment by the end of September. He does however, say Michigan will be receiving an official visit ($, info in header). He plans to enroll early at his college destination.

Also, need some tips for recruiting him? Have I got the article for you! Fortt prefers laid back coaches and meeting his position coach in person, but not coaches who bother him on Facebook. As noted above, Michigan must have taken good enough notes to get him to commit to an official visit. No public word on the date yet.

All Your Good-Not-Great Running Back Are Belong to Us

FL RB Eduardo Clements has long had Michigan in a top group along with the Miami Hurricanes and Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia may be sliding out of favor with a commitment from GA RB Kendrun Malcome, but Miami was perceived to be the favorite… until now?

Eduardo Clements, a Rivals250 running back from Miami, named Michigan as his leader after a visit to Miami.

Typically, a visit to School X, then naming a leader immediately thereafter means school X is going to be the on top for a recruit. It’s highly encouraging that Clements visited a school that many thought he was favoring and then proclaimed Michigan as his leader. As Ace points out, there’s a still a long way until Clements makes a decision, but it’s better to be in the driver’s seat than anywhere else.

That brings us to RB recruiting, where Michigan already has commitments from Stephen Hopkins, Austin White, and Tony Drake (if he’s not a slot receiver). With lots of needs on defense, can they justify taking a 3rd/4th RB? With a top recruit like Clements, you take the kids and figure out to work out the numbers later, I guess.

I Shot the Sharrif

Yes, Tuesday Recruitin' now features HORRIBLE PUN HEADERS! [Editor's Note: You have to take the bad with the good. Sorry.] Anyway, Rivals AMP talks to PA DT Sharrif Floyd:

Contrary to last week's update, he says he will not officially visit Penn State. HOWEVA, that doesn't imply a lack of interest in PSU, just that they're close enough to not waste one of his five slots. Michigan and Ohio State are two schools he definitely wants to see, at least unofficially. The Wolverines still have a puncher's chance in this one. In this interview it even sounds like he has particular interest in Michigan, which is a major upgrade from last week's pessimism.

Whither the Secondary?

At one point, Michigan was the favorite for MI CB Dior Mathis, but now he's got two other schools on top:

Cass Tech star Dior Mathis deciding between MSU, Oregon

That headline is terrible, because it directly contradicts the body of the article, but Mathis does favor those two schools. He rounds out his top four with Michigan and Miami of Florida, and even says "I know I can go to Michigan anytime I want." Mathis's decision timeframe is flexible, as he wants to fit in as many official visits as possible before schools start filling all their spots.

Recent board addition CA CB Joshua Shaw is hearing plenty from Michigan about a potential official visit this fall. He currently has visits planned to Ohio State and Notre Dame for their games against USC, in addition to a midwest swing last weekend (though maybe that was just to Columbus?). He has now named Ohio State his leader ($, info obvious from header).

FL CB Tony Grimes has mentioned Michigan as a favorite in the past, and now he has set up an official visit to Ann Arbor, though he doesn’t mention a date. Also of (relatively minor) note, he says two of his teammates are interested in Michigan. Keep the names Clarence Murphy and Caleb Vincent in mind, though they won’t be added to the board until we see that Michigan is returning their interest.

At safety, California prospect Dietrich Riley has Michigan in his top group, and it sounds like the Wolverines may be in line for an official visit. Though the article is premium, context clues (written by an author from The Wolverine) indicate there's a pretty good chance Riley plans to visit Ann Arbor.

Puntin'

MI P Mike Sadler, who had been not-so-secretly campaigning for a Michigan offer, never received one, and committed to State last Monday. So why did Michigan, in need of a punter for 2010, never give Sadler that honor? It's because of this guy:

Presented above in excessively large fashion is WI P Will Hagerup, who has plenty of other offers, but is assumed to favor Michigan and Ohio State:

“Michigan is definitely one of the schools I am looking really hard at,” Hagerup said. “(Rodriguez) said that with the combination of academics and what the football team is going to accomplish in the next few years, it’s going to be a good place for me.”

Hagerup plans to decide in September, and if his choice is not Michigan, Rich Rodriguez may hit panic mode for a 2010 punter. For now, Hagerup is the #1 and only priority, but Sadler or another option could come back into the picture.

Etc.:

Michigan maintains its lead for PA CB Cullen Christian ($, info in header). MI WR commit Jeremy Jackson is changing HS positions. BUT TO WHAT, JEREMY? [Editor's note: just about has to be TE, no?] (HT: mgoboard member hailtothevictors08). TX RB commit Stephen Hopkins may be the best player in the north DFW area. Josh Furman's official visit will be for the ND game. Talbotts and Brandon Ifill enjoy respective visits, Talbott the CB has now been offered.

Update 7/14: Linked to video of FL CB Tony Grimes, OH S Latwan Anderson.

Articles on PA CB Cullen Christian, OH S Bobby Swigert, MD OL Arie Kouandjio, OH S Kurtis Drummond, OH DE Marcus Rush, WI P Will Hagerup, TX RB Stephen Hopkins.

Removed FL CB Nickell Robey (UGA), MD OL Robbie Havenstein, CA LB Tony Jefferson (UCLA), IL WR Kyle Prater (dropped M), TX DE Holmes Onwukaife (FSU), FL LB Jeff Luc (dropped M).

Added FL CB Eric Mitchell($).

Rivals revamp.

Elite 11 stuff: ESPN. RCMB. More ESPN. Freep Roundup. Awards. Barry Every over the moon.

Some links from Bleed Scarlet.

Editorial Opinion: Sort of a light week outside of the Elite 11. There was a Rivals revamp, I guess.

Happy Trails

About the departed:

• IL WR Kyle Prater took a visit in the spring and mentioned Michigan high up immediately afterwards but once that faded it became clear he wasn't feeling it. Cramming him into this class would have been difficult in any case.
• FL LB Jeff Luc was a major longshot.
• MD OL Robbie Havenstein mentioned M like once and then went radio silent; I'm not sure how much mutual interest there was in the first place.
• FL CB Nickell Robey said he'd visit, but will not. Minor ding there but CB still looks strong.
• CA LB Tony Jefferson's sudden commit to UCLA robs Michigan of a touted prospect at an area of need; even if they weren't in the driver's seat a 20-ish percent chance of landing him is better than none.

And then there's TX DE Holmes Onwukaife, who tried to commit to Michigan earlier and was told by the coaches that Ken Wilkins and Jordan Paskorz had taken his spot. He was offered the chance to come in as a middle linebacker and turned it down, went to Florida State's camp as an outside linebacker, got offered, and committed. Swing and a miss by the coaching staff here; if Onwukaife pans out it's going to be painful.

Here's a direct example of Michigan's eagerness to accept commitments probably costing them a better class. I mean no offense to Antonio Kinard or Jordan Paskorz, but if I had to pick one guy from the three just based on offers, recruiting buzz, and whatnot, it would be Onwukaife. I know, I know: Rodriguez forges two-stars into firey death machines and so forth and so on. It'll be interesting to see how Kinard, Paskorz, and Onwukaife end up panning out.

Weekly Semi-Creepy Devin Gardner Update

No, it's not this week that sees the recruiting roundup go without mention of Devin Gardner, but I've got a good reason: Gardner just participated in the Elite 11 camp, where he won awards for Best Feet—no doy—and Best In The Classroom. From there it gets schizophrenic. Gardner did not finish in the top five in the "Overall MVP" voting, but did cause Rivals analysts Greg Biggins and Barry Every to swoon:

Rivals.com national analyst Barry Every ranked Gardner as the top overall quarterback at the camp based on long-term potential and the ability to win football games.

“I don’t think there’s any question, after having seen him for four days, how hard he competes and how hard he wants to be the best,” Every said.

Every and Biggins agreed Gardner compares favorably at the same stage of his career to players like Vince Young, Tim Tebow, Juice Williams and Dennis Dixon, all Elite 11 alumni.

!!!

Yow. That's a huge disagreement between the camp counselor voting—current college QBs—and the scouting professionals. I'm naturally inclined to take the word of the professionals. According to Every, Gardner is a lock to shoot into the top 100 when Rivals revamps its rankings again. (Odd that Rivals would re-do their rankings before the most important quarterback camp of the year, no?)

Every's other favorite QB there, by the way, was PSU commit and OLSM QB Robert Bolden; MSU commit Joe Boisture finished last. MSU's resident Guy Who Knows Guy Involved With Elite 11 was not pleased with what he heard from his guy.

Other opinions also exist, though they're necessarily less star-struck. Scout's Scott Kennedy:

"Gardner is a superior athlete who is handcuffed a bit by a passing camp that doesn't showcase his playmaking ability with his legs. However, as one might expect, Gardner was solid in the bootleg drills, and while struggling hitting the deep-out to live receivers, Gardner picked up his game in the target practice segment, showing off better accuracy than many of his Elite 11 teammates."

ESPN's evaluation intertwines Bolden and Gardner:

Robert Bolden (Orchard Lake, Mich./Saint Mary's) and Devin Gardner (Inkster, Mich.) could almost be considered identical. They are the same in height, weight, frame, athleticism, arm strength, dual-threat capabilities -- you name it and they are probably alike in it. It is hard to tell the two apart. Bolden surprised a bit with how compact, quick and capable he was of getting rid of the ball. At times, the ball jumps off his hand with tremendous zip and power. Gardner is mechanically more like Vince Young with a bit of a three-quarter release, but he has the same "pop" out of his arm as Bolden. As the week wears on, these two will likely see a big jump in overall, consistent accuracy. Bolden, a Penn State commit, and Gardner, a Michigan commit, are terrific fits for their respective programs from a scheme standpoint.

Aaand JC Shurburtt:

Michigan commit Devin Gardner (Inkster, Mich./Inkster) has also surprised many. His hustle, leadership and athleticism add up to a tremendous maturity that will help him compete early for playing time in Ann Arbor. He was a notch behind Bolden throwing it, but still has a strong arm and excellent size.

All told, a highly positive camp for Gardner and Michigan.

Rivals Revamp

Rivals did rejigger its rankings. Plenty of folks moved around but only a few items seem worth mentioning:

• PA DE Ken Wilkins got a fourth star.
• OH OL Christian Pace did not, which is somewhat surprising given Mike Farrell's almost rapturous praise for his film. I don't care; I think he's perfect for Michigan, and so does Rick Trickett.
• MI RB Austin White dropped a decimal point and is now actually behind MSU commit Nick Hill, which makes no the sense given that Hill's BCS offers were Stanford and State and White was clearly preferred by both instate schools, Wisconsin, Illinois, and LSU. But whatever.
• PA CB Cullen Christian flew up from a three star to the #60 player.
• Various stragglers at the mysterious end of Michigan's class all got their requisite three stars.

Grimes, We Talk To You

Rivals AMP with FL CB Tony Grimes:

Elsewhere in secondary prospects, OH S Bobby Swigert has a Michigan offer, has visited, and says Michigan is in his top group:

“Michigan was amazing. I was impressed with everything I saw, like the facilities and the new indoor building … it was just amazing. Coach Rodriguez is one of the coolest coaches I’ve met. And the academic advisor (Shari Acho) explained everything really well.”

With such a glowing recollection, it’s no wonder the Wolverines are in such a strong standing with Swigert, even though he hasn’t officially narrowed down his list.

“If I was to narrow down my list, Michigan would be in there. They are definitely one of the top contenders.”

On the other hand, OH S Kurtis Drummond now has Michigan State in the lead ahead of Michigan. OH S Latwan Anderson has bumped around his list a ton, with the latest update omitting Michigan. We'll see if that sticks; some recent scuttlebutt says Michigan is still in the running but needs a real visit to stay there.

You are large, but hopefully not too large

With defensive tackles thin on the ground—or too fat and on the ground—Michigan needs to make OH DT Terry Talbott a priority. So hurrah: Tom VanHaaren reports that Talbott will come up for a visit tomorrow. He also snags a quote from his coach:

"As for Terry, his strength is his ability to use his explosiveness to get off the ball and change direction.  He is very strong upper body and his core is strong. He, like a lot of High School players need to better define his technique. He has good technique now, but to play at the next level and be successful his technique must be great. He uses his hands well now, but needs to always work on using them better." - Jay Minton

Terry's brother Terrance, a cornerback, is also coming in.

Punters are punting in code

WI P Will Hagerup is apparently the #1 guy on Michigan's board—he's the only guy out there with an offer—and a decision is coming soon. Two schools are seemingly in prime position:

Hagerup mentioned that a commitment could come in the near future, "I will decide within another month for sure."

Before he announces, Hagerup would like the further investigate Ohio State and Michigan, "I'm going to visit Ohio State and Michigan for sure within a couple weeks. I'm going to see practices at both places and take another tour at each school."

If it comes down to playing time, Michigan should win. Hagerup would be able to start at Michigan immediately with Zoltan the Inconceivable scheduled to transubstantiate into pure energy after the season. At Ohio State, AJ Trapasso has just graduated. Redshirt junior John Thoma is atop the depth chart; scholarship incoming freshman Ben Buchanan, Rivals' #3 kicker last year, is listed second.

Lightnin' Hopkins

User Mscharbo15 talked with TX RB commit Stephen Hopkins recently and put up a quick summary on the message board:

- He's graduating in December and will be enrolling early.
- His HS has OSU colors and he "wears them with shame."
- He's excited about the possibility of a home-and-home with Oklahoma State, since the 2010 game would be his first as a Wolverine and the 2011 contest would be the closest thing to a homecoming for him (he's from Texas).
- Although being the one power back in the 2010 class, he claims to be getting faster and quicker (can't hurt).
- Had he waited another month to commit, he likely would have received offers from Oklahoma (!!!), Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Sparty and Arkansas.
- He's heard from somebody in the know that if he has a good senior season he'll vault up to a 4-star.

Ooh: early entrant tidbit. That brings Michigan up to six commits with tentative plans to enroll early (Miller, J. Robinson, M. Robinson, Pace, and Gardner are the others).

Caveat: Though I can't confirm the poster isn't having us on, he signed up 28 weeks ago. Unless he was planning an incredibly long-term hoax in which the payoff is "you suckers thought I talked to a running back commit and posted innocuous things about it MOOOHAHA!" it's legit. The troll probability here approaches zero.

Etc.: ESPN evaluates SC QB commit Cornelius Jones and OH WR commit DJ Williamson, giving them three-star-ish ratings. Williamson sounds like the outside burner who will be stupidly wide open when safeties freak out about Gardner. OH DE Marcus Rush was supposed to visit Michigan Thursday but this apparently did not come off; I think this will be where M and Rush part ways. MD OL Arie Kouandjio has two officials, neither of which are M.

Update 6/27: Video of WI P Will Hagerup, MI QB Devin Gardner (HT: UMGoBlog).

Articles on CT LB Khari Fortt, OH CB commit Courtney Avery (second), OH DT Jibreel Black, PA QB Malik Stokes, CA RB Dietrich Riley, LA WR commit Drew Dileo, FL RB Eduardo Clements, OH RB Andre Givens, GA DE Henry Anderson, NY DE Dominique Easley.

Removed DC LB Javarie Johnson(Miami), FL CB Lo Wood (ND), FL RB Roy Finch (OK), OH LB Jordan Hicks (dropped M), OH DE Jibreel Black (IU!?), MI RB Nick Hill (MSU), FL WR OJ Ross (M outside of top 5), MD S Lamarcus Coker (dropped M), FL WR Chris Dunkley (dropped M).

Added GA DT Mike Thornton, FL WR Quinton Dunbar.

Hello 2011 OH CB Greg Brown? As per usual, some links from Varsity Blue. Leaners from Helmholdt.

Editorial Opinion: Recruiting board lives here. Not a whole lot of movement this week except in one direction: off the board.

Happy Trails

An interesting week in departures. FL WR OJ Ross listed a top five without Michigan in it; though I'd usually wait for a couple more articles that were more explicit, I'm being ruthless on the WR board given all the commits. He's gone. OH LB Jordan Hicks not including Michigan amongst his final six was no surprise, and FL CB Lo Wood's commitment to ND had been expected for a while. Michigan will pick up corners rated higher than Wood, whose early hype gave way to eh ratings and a lack of in-state interest. So yeah no surprises there. Four removals are of note, though:

FL RB Roy Finch committed to Oklahoma. If Michigan wasn't going to get Finch, and there wasn't any interest expressed there, that's the best spot for him to go as it might cause some wobble in the commitment of CA RB and former Forcier teammate Brennan Clay. Possibly-dubious rumors that Clay's commitment is not rock solid persist.

MI RB Nick Hill committed to Michigan State. Hill camped at Michigan and did not get an offer, at which point State swooped in for the rebound. More on Hill in the section on tailbacks.

OH DT/DE Jibreel Black committed to… Indiana? WTF? That one hurts. Black had sliced his list to Cinci, Kentucky, Indiana, State, and M, and unless there's an ulterior motive on a list like that, that usually presages a commitment to M. Black was a three-and-a-half star sort who would have been an excellent fit as the three-tech DT in Michigan's new defense; instead he's signed up to get his head caved in for four years. There's no accounting for taste.

Black's ulterior motive, by the way: his older brother currently plays for IU.

DC LB Javarie Johnson committed to Miami. That also hurts. Johnson showed well at camps and had high upside; he reacted so positively to his Michigan unofficial that one of his coaches told a Scout guy that he had committed. Instead he's off to Miami, depriving Michigan's recruiting board of a badly needed athletic strongside linebacker type.

Eeee eeee eeee

Yet more recruitin' video on MI QB Devin Gardner, seen here throwing some passes at the Sound Mind/Sound Body camp. More impressive are the clips of Gardner playing receiver; he looks like Braylon crossed with a bull.

You know how Ohio State got a fade touchdown in their bowl game last year by having Boeckman chuck it to Pryor? Yeah, I think we should teach Devin Gardner the fade route. Here's what I'd say if I was Tony Dews: "go over there and run to the corner of the endzone. Then be 6'5" and capable of leaping over most of Andorra."

(HT: UMGoBlog.)

Tailbacks

So Nick Hill goes off the board to State, and we're one step closer to completing the odd reversal from early expectations. MI RB Austin White committing to Michigan would be the final step. He remains a Michigan lean:

… U-M’s best chance is with White, who has been a slight Michigan lean since the spring.

Since it's White who's got the higher recruiting rankings and better offers I'm fine with that; also White's camp performance was considerably better than Hill's.

The other big fish Michigan is in the mix for is FL RB Eduardo Clements, who camped and now has a solid top three of Georgia, Michigan, and Miami. Clements on M:

“The whole coaching staff is a great group of guys. The things Coach Rich (Rodriguez) is trying to do with the offense this year, and the guys from Miami (area) who are there now look like they will play early. I just liked the whole campus and the whole atmosphere.”

That's not a final list above, however, and Clements currently plans on taking all his officials. Michigan will get a return visit. Since Clements was thought to be favoring Georgia before his camp swing, that's a win.

Meanwhile, OH RB Andre Givens is concentrating on the Big East($); his Michigan offer may not come with a lot of recruiting behind it as Michigan focuses on White and Clements.

Oh and

That article cited above with an Austin White lean also has less salutary news on a couple of instate prospects:

[Dior] Mathis has recently expressed a strong affinity for Oregon, while [CJ] Olaniyan appears to be favoring Michigan State and Penn State.

FWIW. That would be a major change on Mathis; Olaniyan is supposed to be pretty wide open still; he's only moved to Michigan in the last few years and doesn't have any particular affinity for the local programs.

From the South But Not Married To It

Ah, so this is why Michigan's got a half-decent shot at GA DE Henry Anderson:

Both of Anderson's parents graduated from Wisconsin and he plans to head to Madison in the near future for an unofficial visit and then narrow his list further. Anderson is looking for the best school for him on an off the field. He plans to major in either business or political science and then head to law school once his playing days are over.

Michigan is in a leading group of eight.

Shirtlessness is contagious

We have our first OMG shirtless punter ever:

That's WI P Will Hagerup, who has a Michigan offer and appears to be the top punter in the country according to issued offers. He took a visit to campus recently, perhaps attempting to gather information on the program so he can decide whether he wants to commit before Michigan offers MI P Mike Sadler and other folks. I bet something shakes out soon here.

Ah so, hello, eventually

Here's a new cornerback on the radar who favors Michigan and will probably commit soon:

[Greg] Brown’s first scholarship offer came from Central Michigan. While he was camping in the state of Michigan, Brown came away with two new scholarship offers.

“Michigan State and Michigan, they both offered after camp,” Brown said. “Michigan is my favorite. I’m probably going to decide pretty soon.”

Hey, cool. Small catch: Brown is a member of the class of 2011. IE: a rising junior. So, yeah. Not of immediate help. But a couple Big Ten offers by the summer of your junior year presages a nice ranking when it comes time for that, and Brown is from Fremont Ross, the home of a slightly good cornerback named Woodson.

Etc.: Fluff on NY DE Dominique Easley; don't get your hopes up there. CT LB Khari Fortt speculated to Penn State. FL WR Quinton Dunbar plans an official visit, FWIW. Highly likely to stay in-state. Fluffs one and two on OH CB commit Courtney Avery. This article on LA WR commit Drew Dileo has the worst tile ever. CA RB/S Dietrich Riley smoked the USC Rising Stars camp.

Update 5/12: Video of FL S commit Marvin Robinson. Articles on FL RB Corvin Lamb, MI CB Mylan Hicks (w/ mention of FL OL Brent Benedict), CT LB Khari Fortt, PA DT Sharrif Floyd, MI QB commit Devin Gardner (second), TN QB Barry Brunetti, FL LB Christian Jones (second), OH DE Derrick Bryant, OH S Bobby Swigert, FL OL Torrian Wilson.

Removed MI QB Robert Bolden(dropped M), FL OL Chaz Green(ditto), GA RB Kendrum Malcome(dropped M).

Added IN RB Roderick Smith, WI P Will Hagerup, FL DE Corey Lemonier, OH S Kurtis Drummond.

Farrell drops a bomb. Lemming top 100. Uninformative Helmholdt article. Webb article covers Ash, Dunkley, Allen, Noel in article on Pahokee. Some linebacker profiles.

Editorial Opinion: Not a whole lot of movement this week except for some list-narrowing that unsurprisingly slices off Michigan. Next week should be more newsy, as Michigan hosts its major recruiting event between spring practice and summer camp season: the "BBQ at the Big House." A commit or two could shake loose then.

Recruiting board lives here.

Happy Trails

The departed:

• MI QB Robert Bolden narrowed his list to five, then replaced a couple teams when they took quarterback commitments. Michigan isn't on either list; he's off the board. Penn State or Michigan State, probably.
• OH TE Alex Welch committed to Notre Dame.
• GA RB Kendrum Malcome and FL OL Chaz Green have released shortlists that do not feature M.

No earth-shaking developments here: the Bolden writing was on the wall as soon as Gardner committed, and the other folk never seemed strong possibilities.

A few more names likely to find themselves wandering in the wildnerness, haunted by the ghost of Nefarious Eduardo:

• CT LB Khari Fortt is narrowing his list soon, and though Michigan has an offer out "schools expected to make the initial cut include Penn State, Boston College, Virginia, Florida and Southern Cal."
• SC RB Marcus Lattimore now has a solid top three of Auburn, Georgia, and Florida State with UNC and South Carolina following; that promised official visit now seems unlikely.
• FL CB Tony Grimes prefers to stay in state and an offer from Miami makes them the "team to beat."

Ready? Fight!

The three big-time quarterbacks in Michigan gathered at a camp in Wixom last weekend to battle to the death. The result… a tie. Or something. No one's willing to commit to a revised opinion of anyone. Helmholdt on MI QB commit Devin Gardner and friends:

The consensus was that Boisture, a pro-style quarterback, showed the best overall passing ability on the day, but all three quarterbacks had their moments. Bolden and Gardner are of the dual-threat variety, so a camp setting does not showcase all of their abilities. Both have great arm strength, but still need to continue to develop their mechanics.

Rivals is also wishy-washy, headlining their report on the camp "Take Your Pick." Farrell on Gardner:

"Gardner has a release similar to those of Vince Young and Terrelle Pryor. His accuracy on Saturday was above-average considering his mechanics, and he threw some ropes downfield that were dropped by receivers. His frame is impressive, and he has excellent quickness and throws with velocity on the run."

"A release similar to those of Vince Young and Terrelle Pryor" is a backhanded compliment, eh? And then it's followed by another backhanded compliment: accurate "considering his mechanics." As per his rep, Gardner needs work.

Holding steady

A "GolVolsXtra" article starts with the sentence "Tennessee and [FL OL] Torrian Wilson seem like a perfect match," says UT is "looking good" to land him without anything to back that up and then goes into the other schools recruiting him:

Michigan is an intriguing team to watch with Wilson, who said he grew up rooting for the Wolverines.

Wilson, who took an unofficial visit to Michigan for the Wolverines' spring game last month, said he likes Michigan's physical style of play.

"I liked (former Michigan tackle) Jake Long and liked watching the offensive line go after the defensive line every play," Wilson said.

I'm filing this under hilariously slanted and holding steady on Wilson optimism. GBW aids with an interview of teammate (and FL RB) Corvin Lamb (broke fibula; plans signing day decision; "high" interest in Michigan) that goes into Wilson:

Q: You know Torrian Wilson made a visit to Michigan; has he talked to you about it?
Lamb: “Yeah, he’s been wearing his Michigan gear every day.”

Linebacker Slippage

JC Shurburtt runs down a bunch of the nation's best linebackers, asserting that OH LB Jordan Hicks is a heavy Texas lean, FL LB Christian Jones is a heavy Florida State lean, FL LB Jeff Luc is highly likely to stay in Florida, and providing this on TX LB Corey Nelson:

Billy Tucker on Nelson: Nelson may be a bit undersized at outside linebackers but like a few of the elite Under Armour All-American linebackers that played before him, he is extremely explosive and plays much bigger. He finds the ball quickly, takes direct angles and displays great acceleration pursuing sideline-to-sideline. His striking closing speed/ burst to the football on outside run support may be his most impressive attribute. Nelson is a collision tackler who generates very impressive velocity in the short-area.

Recruiting Buzz: LSU, Texas A&M, Texas and others are strongly in the mix for Nelson.

That's not even a mention for Michigan, which briefly led in the aftermath of teammate Tony Drake's commitment. Whee! I'm sure Michigan will continue to pursue a visit, but until such point as he comes up I wouldn't get your hopes a-soarin'.

Jones is apparently considering a visit, for what that's worth:

“I haven’t really put together a list, but if I did, (Michigan) would definitely be up there. They have that stadium that I’m pretty sure every player would love to play in,” said Jones. “That just makes you play harder because you don’t want to mess up in front of 100,000 people. That’s something I’d love to do.”

Jones is undecided as to whether or not he will attend a Michigan-run camp this summer. He and his father, however, do plan on visiting the University sometime in the near future.

That's a GBW article working overtime to provide a sunny view on his recruitment and should be eyed skeptically until more neutral parties provide anyone other than Florida State a shot. Watch for that visit, though. There's fluff on Jones from ESPN if you're so inclined.

Radio Silence

OH DE Derrick Bryant said he was on the verge of committing to Michigan shortly after signing day, but then backed off that and said he'd wait. Now he's maintaining no leaders:

Bryant said he does not have a favorite at this point and plans to take most, if not all five of his official visits.

"I want to make sure I choose the right school," he said. "Each and every school has something to offer. My job is to find the school that is the best fit for me."

UCLA and Oregon, if the Ducks offer, are in line for some of those officials. I'm not sure if Bryant's coming up for the BBQ this weekend; it would be a bad sign if he didn't. Also from that article: PA DE Kyle Baublitz has 20 or so offers, no leaders, and plans an unofficial visit swing through the Midwest which will hit Michigan.

Speculation And Whatnot

Mike Farrell dropped a ton of stuff late last week; all of this is speculative but Farrell went from pariah to prophet amongst Michigan fans when Shavodrick Beaver did his Tulsa thing and at the very least these are data points. Welch's commitment to ND was predicted, FWIW. Categorized according to impact; Welch's commitment is omitted:

GOOD

• MI CB Dior Mathis is likely to pick up a UCLA offer soon, with Ohio State possibly hot on their heels. Despite this, Michigan "is the team to beat." Other rumblings have Mathis a silent commitment who just wants to announce at the Army game, which you take seriously at your peril.

BAD

• FL QB Jeffery Godfrey is mentioned along with five chasing schools, none of which are Michigan.
• Ditto for TN QB Barry Brunetti, who favors WVU, Mississippi State, and PSU. Michigan hasn't offered, though, and might change that if they did. (Brunetti fluff from ESPN.)
• Michigan isn't mentioned for MD OL Arie Kouandjio, which is fine because that's even tougher to spell than "Smotrycz."

STUFF WE PRETTY MUCH ALREADY KNEW

• FL CB Spencer Boyd is "a heavy Notre Dame lean."

WTF?

• LA QB Munchie Legaux just got an offer from… Baylor? And… Baylor(?) "could be the team to beat"? Why on earth would anyone from Louisiana with offers from a bunch of big programs go to the worst program in the Big 12 when that program currently has a dynamite starter who will play in front of Legaux his first two years. I do not believe this. It is not possible.
• This has nothing to do with Michigan, but later in the article Farrell says TX S Ahmad Dixon, who is in the Rivals 100 and is committed to Texas, which is Texas I repeat Texas is close to decommitting from the Longhorns in favor of…

  Baylor.

LOL WUT goes here.

If either of these things happen my brain will explode.

Anyway, there is also this list of kids expected to show at Michigan's next recruiting event, the "BBQ at the Big House" at the end of the month:

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

Rush, Wilkins and Christian are candidates to drop assuming their offers are, you know, committable. Christian's definitely is. Wilkins and Rush… maybe. Kinard, Wilkins, and Rush are all the same sort of player so Michigan might only take two of the set. Gholston is also scheduled to attend.

Eeee Lemming

As mentioned last week, Tom Lemming promised to drop a couple Michigan prospects in his top ten, and while one of them didn't quite make it the other did. Folk of relevance in his top 100:

9. Devin Gardner
12. Will Gholston
33. Sharrif Floyd
36. Marvin Robinson
55. Dietrich Riley
56. Sean Bailey
69. Corey Nelson
88. Jeff Luc
89. Marquis Flowers
90. Zach Zwinak
98. Munchie Legaux

There are more Michigan has offered, but they're even more distant longshots than a guy like Luc.

You Cannot Replace Zoltan, But You Can Try

Michigan's offered WI P Will Hagerup:

“Michigan offered me,” he reported, adding, “It definitely has a football tradition that is hard to beat and the school itself is in the top two or three in the Big Ten probably. It makes my decision harder.”

Hagerup is probably the country's top punter, if early offers are any indication. He's got a wide variety of Big Ten offers plus Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee.

Etc.: Michigan offered IN RB Roderick Smith; he remains an OSU lock so forget it. Many highlights of FL S commit Marvin Robinson (no embed, sorry). MI CB Mylan Hicks hasn't narrowed anything down. PA DT Sharrif Floyd picks up a Florida offer. Webb on Pahokee folk.