Friday Recruiting Is Watching Colorado Tonight Comment Count

Brian

Apparently the Pac-12 championship is tonight. Is this new? Have I never watched the Pac-12 championship before? I'm very confused. I thought I'd tell you in case you are unprepared for a Friday game.

Anyway:

Woods re-affirms

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AL S J'Marick Woods, a wobbler, ceases wobbling:

"It was really hard to make my final decision because I like Arkansas a lot, but I am picking Michigan," said Woods.  "I just prayed about it and the Lord showed me signs.  I feel good about my future as a Wolverine."

He's an early enrollee so this should be a definitive end to his recruitment. There are two visit weekends before the dead period and afterwards he'll be in Ann Arbor. Kind of get the feeling the Arkansas/Mississippi State dalliances were manufactured to provide his school with an excuse to do some hat stuff.

Keeping Woods is important with Michigan's need at safety and the lack of other names on the board at the spot; Scout makes him sound a lot like Jeremy Clark:

Woods is a defensive back with great length. He is lean and will need to add weight to his frame when he gets to the next level. He could get a look at cornerback, but he is likely a free safety in college. His length is an asset in coverage and recovery.

I'll take another Clark.

All hands to the tweet decryption stations

Michigan's coaches are on the road this week, visiting anyone and everyone they're still recruiting. CA OL Aaron Banks lives in El Cerrito, California, and this may or may not mean anything.

image

I have an emoji for this.

1f914

Possibilities:

  1. Harbaugh finally got his latte after like 15 minutes
  2. Clash of Royale Strike level up
  3. Banks is announcing for Michigan on the 9th.
  4. Harbaugh's making telescopes? And selling them for profit? I guess?

It's times like these I wish Michigan had a TOOT TOOT ALL IN FOR THE GOVERNOR wink wink commit thing, like many schools do. Just a few hours prior to the above tweet, Lorenz reported that Michigan had little idea what Banks would do. Reports that Banks was not a take appear to be incorrect.

FWIW, Brice Marich hears that the in-home with Banks "went excellent and was very informative too."

Dominate the hyphens

Michigan's quest to dominate the state of Hyphen continues unabated after their setback with Brelin Faison-Walden. Next up might be MI DE Deron Irving-Bey, who is set to announce at the Army game. With just two visit weekends left before the dead period and one official visit in the books, some tea-leaf reading is possible:

  • His list of six is really a list of four. He's visited Tennessee, plans to visit Maryland this weekend, and has been on the MSU and UM campuses many times for unofficials. Syracuse and Cincinnati are window dressing.
  • Webb reports that he'll take an official to Michigan for their huge December 9th weekend. That should be his last in person recruiting contact before his commitment, since the dead period starts the 12th. In a dead period you can only interact on the phone or by text.

While you can't entirely rule MSU out since he's familiar with the program, Michigan is perceived to lead and gets the last crack. Also he has a hyphen in his last name.

Linebacker board static

Sorry for leaving FL LB Jordan Anthony off the recruiting overview post on Wednesday. That was an oversight only; Michigan is still expected to get him. That does rather complicate things in the projected class, which had MS LB Willie Gay on it and then did not when I inserted Anthony.

Despite that omission, Gay remains very high on Michigan. Per Lorenz, Partridge stopped in on Tuesday and Gay said it went "better than I would have ever thought," which is kind of a weird statement and also very encouraging. This is still in "believe it when I see it" territory. If Gay schedules an unofficial back to Ann Arbor, then I will start thinking it's happening. I remember Fletcher Cox and will not discount Mississippi State for an instate kid, ever.

Meanwhile, MI LB Antjuan Simmons decommitted from Ohio State, making that one guy's article about Meyer's recruiting coup look a bit silly. Do not expect Michigan to get involved. Simmons still appears salty about Michigan's lack of enthusiasm early in the process. Even after he started looking around and must have had an inkling that he was not going to end up in Columbus, his twitter feed was... uh... aggressive about Michigan.

This is mostly disappointing because I wanted this screenshot to be a wall of block Ms:

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Seven out of eight wouldn't be bad. Webb's hearing Arizona may be Simmons's landing spot, which would be something. Notre Dame is also a strong contender.

NJ LB Drew Singleton will be at The Big Recruiting Weekend.

Rutger is fine, it's just the S that makes it a problem

Webb reports that the parents of TN DT Rutger Reitmaier are in Michigan's corner, and with Oregon in flux they will have a great shot to flip him. Reitmaier's dad has been on campus more than some committed recruits:

The elder Reitmaier made his way to campus for a game weeks before his son came up for an official visit.  It gave dad an opportunity to spend some quality one-on-one time with Harbaugh.  They built on that when the entire Reitmaier family came up for Rutger's official visit a few weeks ago.

A recent OSU offer may be the main competition if Reitmaier follows through with a visit.

Why the Herbert wobble is a thing

This is why:

“I want to play right away," he said when asked what he's looking for in a school.

“Miami says I can come in and play right away, Florida says that I can come in and play, and Michigan says that I have to come in and compete with [junior tackle Juwann Bushell-Beatty] and probably another tackle [current Michigan commit Joel Honigford].”

It is unrealistic that Miami and Florida don't have guys at least on JBB's level. If Herbert's takeaway from those two competitors is "I should go to another school," that sounds like the kind of reason that's not the real reason. He's the only guy in the class I think is a serious threat to voluntarily decommit.

Edges of the board still active

Marich also reports that CT CB Brandon Sebastian plans a mid-January official and that AZ S Isaiah Pola-Mao has tentative plans to official at some point during that month as well. That's good timing for Michigan, as a lot of questions about who will and will not be in the class will be resolved by the time either guy gets around to making a decision.

Meanwhile, chaos at Oregon has seen a number of their top prospects decommit or Explore Their Options; delightfully named OL/DL Popo Aumavae is one of them. He's setting up a suite of visits and he'd like Michigan to be one of them.

Obligatory Najee Section

Tom Van Haaren puts a not-at-all-completely-arbitrary chance on CA RB Najee Harris flipping:

Committed to: Alabama
Chance he flips: 50 percent
Toughest competition: Michigan

!!!

I like that number. It is a high number. Lorenz reports Harris will follow through on his plan to visit Michigan for The Big Recruiting Weekend. Like Irving-Bey, that should be the last in-person crack anyone gets at him before he enrolls early. (Or commits, in Irving-Bey's case.)

Etc.

Matt Wenzel interviews MA RB commit AJ Dillon, who missed a chunk of his senior season with a broken leg. He's taking some visits but it doesn't seem like a serious situation:

Dillon, who said he would have considered enrolling early at Michigan but his school doesn't allow it, will take his first of five allotted official visits to Boston College this weekend and then go to Ann Arbor the following week. He's also considering visits to Nebraska and Iowa, but nothing is arranged yet and he's still firmly committed to Michigan, which he's been watching from afar all season.

"I was really impressed with them, they're still doing great."

A Notre Dame visit would be something to watch out for given Dillon's family ties; I doubt that Nebraska, BC, or Iowa have the recruiting mojo to flip Dillon without an external bombshell named Najee.

Happy trails to TX LB Baron Browning, who committed to OSU. GA WR Jeremiah Holloman isn't really a happy trails since Michigan hasn't been on his list since shortly after his decommit almost a year ago, but if you're curious he just committed to Georgia.

Keep an eye on the FAU job. Bruce Feldman reports that Mario Cristobal is a candidate; if he gets it that would greatly aid Michigan's chances with Alex Leatherwood.

Brandon Brown lists the various guys who plan to enroll early. I was not aware of a couple of these names. For the record: JaRaymond Hall, Donovan Jeter, Corey Malone-Hatcher, Ben Mason, Benjamin St-Juste, Jaylen Kelly-Powell, J'Marick Woods, Donovan-Peoples Jones, Ambry Thomas, Tarik Black, Cesar Ruiz, and Najee Harris all plan to enroll early. Michigan should have room since they'll have a ton of guys who want to get done with school this semester so they can prep for the NFL draft.

FWIW, Brown has also dropped a couple hints that Rivals will give Solomon a fifth star when their next re-rank comes out. That would be a second; Scout gave him one after the first few games this year, and reports that CT WR Tarik Black denied that he ever named Alabama his top school.

Jedd Fisch visited FL WR Mike Harley in-home. Harley is a WVU commit who's probably flipping somewhere; Michigan was involved just before he went off the board.

Comments

michgoblue

December 2nd, 2016 at 2:30 PM ^

I am usually really into these 'crootin posts.  After the travesty of last weekend, and now with our playoff hopes apparently still somewhat alive, I am just less interested.  I am actually scouring the nets for good previews of tonight's Colordo / Washington game. 

Go Buffs.

Blue Sharpie

December 2nd, 2016 at 11:57 PM ^

If a kid knows he's going to commit to a school but keeps it to his inner circle and doesn't tell the public, that is not meaningless. Why does 247 rate kids with warmer, warm, cold ratings? Is that meaningless? If it is I would argue all verbal commits are meaningless until they actually sign In February and therefore it is meaningless to follow recruiting at all. Lets just tune out until February since it is all meaningless.

Har Bro

December 2nd, 2016 at 4:15 PM ^

I'm headed out tonight in my #4 jumpman jersey to root on the Buffs.  

Tomorrow my son and I are going to get a look at Dylan McCaffrey and Valor in the state title game.  We watched the same game last year.  I was skeptical of the hype before the game but he grew on me as the game went on.  Decent arm strength, good accuracy, good legs, playmaker when the game was on the line.   I hope tomorrow's performance will resolve all doubts.

maize-blue

December 2nd, 2016 at 4:19 PM ^

I held off until today to watch Najee Harris highlights. That was a mistake. Just once I'd like to see Alabama not get all the top guys. They have enough.

Rabbit21

December 2nd, 2016 at 4:37 PM ^

If you're a top recruit it is a perfectly rational decision to go to Alabama.  What sucks is that Alabama hoarding all of this top talent is making the sport worse and if Alabama and Ohio St. combine to sign up pretty much everyone, I think it makes the sport worse in the long term and may start to kill interest in the sport the way the NFL had some problems when the Patriots were so dominant.  

YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

December 2nd, 2016 at 8:02 PM ^

news about Brian Smith - however brief and cryptic.

While everyone focuses on Urban vs Jim as recruiters, so much of recruiting is the trust built by the Coords and Pos Coaches.  OSU assistants must be connecting extremely well with HS coaches and recruits after a few years of stability. 

Not sure if all the UM assistants are elite recruiters only because they receive little mention and not immersed in FBS recruiting. Partridge (at least NJ), Mattison and Wheatley are highly regarded.

Does anyone know if Brown, Smith, Zordich, Fisch and Drevno are rounding into elite recruiters or just excellent position coaches?

Mr. Yost

December 2nd, 2016 at 10:51 PM ^

 

  1. Simmons, lol...whatever. FWIW, his only positive tweets are about Arizona and ND, so it's easy to assume those are the 2 he's looking into
  2. DI-B and Rutger not Rutgers are blue if they're a take...hopefully both are.
  3. Shit attitude by Herbert if true.
  4. Love that we're getting the last crack at a couple of guys
  5. Bama needs to lose those assistants!

VinnieMac25

December 2nd, 2016 at 11:56 PM ^

The bright lights of Bama and OSU have since dominated recruiting. Somewhere I read both teams have 14 or 13 guys in top 100. Michigan 2. Bama and OSU not only have done well winning NC in recent years. They have success with recruits taking notice of the NFL Draft. A successful Day 1 and 2 could bode well for Michigan transforming this juggernaut. Could be 6 players selected in the first two days. Michigan lands Wilson Filiaga Ruiz would be quite the hulking O line. I want Banks in this class to replace Herbert if he leaves. Strange prediction Michigan has a successful weekend Dec 9 for recruits: DPJ Thomas JKP CMH Holmes and Harris this seals the deal for Harris or Holmes. All on board - Brian Smith.
Simmons is headed to ND this way he'll be able to play against Michigan.

You Only Live Twice

December 3rd, 2016 at 11:38 AM ^

on Meyer, not sure about Saban, and Dantonio's recruiting is going to take a while to recover from this year's decline.

Fans seem to have a'Natty or Bust expectation, while player expectations, while yeah they want a chance for the championship ring, are probably more influenced by the NFL pipeline. What is the probability of going pro - isn't it something like 3% of all college players?

Harbaugh is building an NFL pipeline that is on par with OSU and eventually 'Bama.

You Only Live Twice

December 3rd, 2016 at 11:38 AM ^

on Meyer, not sure about Saban, and Dantonio's recruiting is going to take a while to recover from this year's decline.

Fans seem to have a'Natty or Bust expectation, while player expectations, while yeah they want a chance for the championship ring, are probably more influenced by the NFL pipeline. What is the probability of going pro - isn't it something like 3% of all college players?

Harbaugh is building an NFL pipeline that is on par with OSU and eventually 'Bama.

SD Larry

December 3rd, 2016 at 6:44 PM ^

to make quite a class.  It seems like we have a great shot to finish out with a tremendous class.  Seems like DPJ and Brad Hawkins might be candidates can compete for early playing time at receiver as well.  

Trueblue94

December 4th, 2016 at 12:06 AM ^

Washington deserves to be in...and so does Penn State!!! They beat the Bucknuts AND they are the conference champs. I'm a Wolverine, but they deserve it! And if OSU gets in instead, it's a travesty of justice....

Losher

December 4th, 2016 at 6:10 PM ^

One thing that has really confused me is the thought that its too hard to get guys from Florida, Cali, Texas, and most of SEC land to come to michigan but schools like Notre Dame and OSU seem to have no problem. Especially right now it seems that OSU is going in to any school they want and getting every single guy they want. They are going to have a class that e ven with a small number of overal recruits could be one of the best. Just seems like its always a "oh well you cant get gusy to leave (insert state outside midwest) to come to Michigan" when it is happening at an alarming easy rate for the school we all love to hate.