Joshua Garnett

Hey guys, I just talked to Josh Garnett. Did Coach Hoke go short sleeved in the Washington winter? Find out: LINK

Here it is. Unedited: Josh Garnett

It's an Insider article, but the thread title basically says it all.  And yes, we're in his top three, along with Stanford and Notre Dame.

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/colleges/michigan/post?id=1621

Joshua Garnett (2012 OL Football Recruit) recently did an interview with ESPN at the Under Armor All-America Game.  It's not paywalled and you can find it here:

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7408658

Overall, he is a really well-spoken young man and his intelligence and maturity were definitely on display. 

To show he is having some fun with the recruting process, he went to registration in a Michigan shirt (discussed ad naseum here) but conducted the interview in a Stanford shirt.  He didn't bring any Notre Dame gear.  Read into that what you will (preferably nothing).

The interview shows that Michigan is definitely still very much in contention and he even names us his (slight) leader. 

Some of the highlights as they pertain to Michigan and in general (emphasis mine):

Reporter: "What's the best and worst part of the recruiting process?"

Garnett: "The best part is meeting guys like Isaac and Eric Magnuson. Guys you would have never met before if you wouldn't have been a big time recruit... The worst part is telling the coaches that you aren't coming to the school and losing those bonds that you've built over the last year."

Reporter: "Your final three: Michigan, Stanford, Notre Dame?"

Garnett: "Yes."

Reporter: "Why those three?"

Garnett: "They all three have a legacy going for them.  Stanford with the academics, Michigan with the Big House, and Notre Dame with the tradition.  I think a lot of the schools, especially Michigan, I have a lot of pals who are there and going to be playing for Michigan.  So definitely all three are schools that I am going to be looking at very hard just because of the companionship that I've built with the players and the coaches and the football program right now."

Reporter: "There seems to be a perception, I don't know if it is right or wrong, that Michigan is the team to beat for you...at least among the reporters that are covering the process.  Is that a misconception or is Michigan maybe slightly ahead of the other guys?"

Garnett: "Yeah, it definitely wouldn't be a misconception. Yeah, it definitely woud be hard to say no to a big time school like that, especially when you have guys like Eric Magnuson, now in the Army game right now, Kyle Kalis is out there.  When you have three big time lineman that could come in there right now...could come in and compete with each other and build those friendships and compete with those defensive linemen coming in...and Ohio State is bringing in some guys... So, you definitely have a good match up in three or four years.  All those linemen that have come out of Michigan and really the legacy and going to the Big House with 115,000 people waving those pompoms and you're going 'Big Blue' and 'Go Blue' and so it's definitely hard to turn down especially with all those friendships you've built."

Some general comments:

On goals for the game: "Want to ball out for the game....Want to show some of those reporters...some of thos analysts that on ESPN and Scout that maybe they did some things wrong a little bit and look at those rankings a little bit...We're coming here to have fun and work on our skill sets a little bit."

Then, somewhat contradictorily on in regard to rankings, "They're really not important to me.  I don't care where I am ranked."  "I think it is funny to see what lists people are on.  I don't think rankings are as important to me because you still have to come out and perform."

A certain recruiting ninja that I trust (and you do to) says that

THIS: http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/joshua-garnett-update-not-good

is not true at all.

Out of respect to the paysite and the recruiting ninja, I won't say anymore. And I didn't want to post this in the other thread where it could be missed.

Do not write Garnett off just yet, we still have a good shot.

EDIT: The certain recruiting ninja also believes (in cryptic fashion) that it is between two schools: Michigan, and a school not named Michigan.  From a football standpoint, I really like our chances.  But Garnett has proved that he is putting a lot of wieght in other aspects of his choice.

From a post below, he plans on deciding around January 25 or 26.

I decided to compile a chart listing when all of our recruits plan on making their decisions. Here it is:

All dates reflect what the recruit has most recently stated, to the best of my knowledge.