ESPN Rumors: Burbridge More Comfortable with UM Coaches
What I found interesting was that he said this to SpartanMag's Paul Day:
Right now I feel kind of more comfortable with the [UM] coaches than I do at State.
Maybe not breaking news, but I think it goes back to what every recruit's been saying about the coaching staff, and the feeling of family in AA. They note that he still considers himself a Spartan fan, but it's clear that the coaches have made a great impression that could (hopefully) translate into a committment. After all, you can be a Spartan fan every other week of the year.
Well, let's hope he can take care of things academically so that Michigan admissions is comfortable with him. I'd love to see this kid in maize and blue.
He really is a good receiver and the kind of outside vertical threat we need, howeva until I hear he is eligible, it will be hard to get too excited.
Even if he goes blue, I'd be worried every semester for him. Yes, he will have tutors and help at UofM, but many times those who struggle in high school struggle in college. His will need to remain focused for his entire career, not just the next few months.
But for most that stuggle in high school, especially males, mature and do much better in college, especially when offered the kind of support the players get..
I will get excited even if you don't hear.
Let the sparty blogosphere meltdown continue...
Even though I am a fan of all Michigan sports, until we put MSU back in their rightful place, i will only be rooting for their complete destruction on the football field for some time to come.
I root for MSU to lose at everything at all times. I'd struggle to root for them to get a government grant to conduct manure research. OK State would be a much better choice.
Why would someone bestow a grant to a Michigan State football analyst?
when they play Ohio.
Muah ha ha ha.
I would play this close to the vest until the grades are in. Ideally he'll end up blue, but that offer isn't a sure thing yet.
If he's making these comments, then he must be pretty sure he'll qualify academically. Because if he weren't, turning off a school with lower academic standards would not be wise.
Our academic standards for athletes are the same as MSU's: the NCAA minimum.
But we are more likely to decline a border line student, for fear of his ability to handle the class load and expectations of a Michigan student.
Stop making things up please.
Are you prepared to tell me The University of Michigan wouldn't decline certain athletes, based upon their fears of their academic capabilities?
For the most part, no. We took Jeremy Gallon and Thomas Rawls in back to back classes. Those two barely satisfied the NCAA minimums. And that's why we surround our athletes with a multi-million dollar academic support center.
As Demar Dorsey showed us however, Michigan officials can decline a student if they are worried about their academic capabilities. This is not to say Burbridge is in that category, because I believe that he'll qualify.
They were worried about more than his capabilities. They were also worried about him being qualified at all (or, at least, how he tried to get qualified):
http://mgoblog.com/content/dorsey-qualification-status-scare-quotes
I'm sure there have been other cases where we have rejected athletes because of academic concerns. We have the luxury of the internet these days, 20 years agom who's to say how many got rejected?
Dorsey didn't make the NCAA minimum (or did in a very strange, as in most likely not qualifying way). That's why neither us nor Louisville took him.
I don't think that story is correct about him qualifying, because I can't imagine that Louisville and FSU would have rejected him if he were.
He was basically at a School of Bright Promise kind of thing and no one seemed to want to accept the validity of the grades he got there. By no one, I mean the NCAA.
This article was written prematurely, in fairness. Read Brian's summary of things written a little later after things came to light:
http://mgoblog.com/content/dorsey-qualification-status-scare-quotes
I don't think that's right.
Sincerely,
Demar Dorsey
Dorsey went to community college. I don't think he cleared the NCAA clearinghouse. The UM admissions people just saw it coming.
But at the time he was rejected, he was academically qualified and met all NCAA standards for a young man hoping to play football.
http://oversigning.com/testing/index.php/tag/edsall/
http://www.annarbor.com/sports/um-football/michigan-wrong-to-deny-demar-dorseys-admittance/
His case was a bit different that run of the mill qualifying. Recall, he went to a (how should I say it) unorthodox school to finish HS. I remember at the time there was a good deal of suspicion about that and about his academic "turnaround" there.
Here is Brian's take on it all:
http://mgoblog.com/content/dorsey-qualification-status-scare-quotes
I'm just saying that while Michigan admissions certainly gives "40-time" a hell of a lot of weight when it comes to admissions, they don't just rubberstamp anyone who can make a Derrick Rose-style case for being academically eligible.
You need to find a better example than Dorsey, given that no school admitted him.
How about Witty? Good enough?
Along with the academic issues being raised, Dorsey's criminal history wasn't helping him much either. I think this had a lot to do with him not getting in here or elsewhere.
I'm looking forward to getting our first commit from somewhere other than Michigan or Ohio. Ya, I know that Michigan & Ohio are loaded with talent this year, need to be the foundation of our program, etc, etc... I'm just getting anxious.
My God.
Look at the calendar. You're getting anxious 8 months before Signing Day. Ridiculous.
Have you heard of Day, Pipkins, Kiel, Morgan, Magnuson, Banner, Garmon and about 20 others?
I'm all for getting the best talent we can get, no matter where it's from. This year, a lot of that talent is right here in MI and OH. Not to mention that it is helping repair our image, whether real or perceived.
Not to mention that us getting these MI/OH recruits means that MSU, OSU, and ND AREN'T getting them.
I don't believe that we will get many recruits from outside Ohio and Michigan until we prove it on the field. Recruits from our pipeline states are excited to help bring UM back, but kids nationally are still a little skeptical. Once Hoke and Co. put out a good product, we will have plenty of national recruits waiting to sign-up 2x2.
I think's that it premature to say that we're not going to get anyone or even a number of players from outside of Michigan and Ohio in this class just yet.
If you look at the guys that we're still after (Tom VH's breakdown of the Rivals Top 250 is a great resource), there are definitely guys that are MI/OH like Wormley and Burbridge, but there are guys from other Midwest states (e.g. Sheldon Day, Jaleel Johnson, Jordan Diamond), as well as guys from outside the Midwest (Noah Spence, Greg Garmond, Kyle Murphy, Zach Banner, Armani Reeves, Ondre Pipkins [although he grew up in MI] Jordan Simmons, Paul Thurston, Wayne Morgan, JJ Denman, etc).
So, I agree that Michigan and Ohio have and will make up the bulk of this class, but we're still in it for a number of guys all over the country. It'll get better when we win, but Hoke and Co. are still keeping a national profile.
You can write off Alaska if you want. Nothing but a bunch of 2 stars, waiting to be coached up by Dantonio.
I will never write off those bad ass polar bears
I just think that we saw all these early commits come from OH/MI because they are more familiar with the school. Hoke is growing on the recruits from around the country, but they are not ready to commit just yet. A winning product on the field would seal the deal for most of them.
Sometimes I sit in my hot tub and look around at the beautiful women surrounding me, and I can't help but notice all of supermodels with me are blonde. I know, blondes are the core of any group of supermodels, and that's great. But the lack of brunettes and redheads is really starting to worry me. I'm getting just anxious.
I approve.
It appears that Sparty's argument that "everything you used to love about Michigan now resides in East Lansing" was prematue.
Yeah. Like they didn't even try to move Blimpy's.
If Burbridge would come to Michigan. The one thing we are lacking in this class is skill players, so he'd be a nice get.
On another note, apparently Michigan State offered a 2012 class mate of mine a scholarship. He's the younger brother of former Penn ST DT and first round draft pick Jared Odrick, so he'll porbably go there, but next time I see him, I might drop a couple hints here and there for him to not go to MSU.
I dont care WHERE they come from... As long as they keep coming here! A 4* from Mich/Ohio is a good as a 4* anywhere else in my book. Plus its alot harder getting commits anywhere but the midwest this early in the stage. All these commits are coming from Mich/Ohio because they can drive with their fam on UNOFFICIAL visits. Once some of these out of state kids start taking their OFFICIAL visits I'm sure we'll see a change.
This. High school isn't out yet, so these kids don't have time for officials. We've already got some great players indicating they want to take officials over the summer to UM (Pipkins, Banner, Washington - I think, etc.), so we should see some out-of-state results come from that.