recruiting roundup
2014 recruiting
malik mcdowell
jabrill peppers
2015 recruiting
shaun crawford
grant newsome
jarrett stidham
ryan bates
josh barajas
greg little

Monday Recruitin' Checks The Fax Machine Comment Count

Ace

McDowell's: Still Open For Business

Malik McDowell committed to Michigan State last Wednesday, so why is he leading off another recruiting roundup? Well, his mother still refuses to sign a LOI that will send him to East Lansing, leaving his recruitment at an impasse. Now it appears McDowell may not end up a Spartan after all; 247's Steve Wiltfong has the latest ($):

The elder McDowell says all four schools remain in play and that they are in the process of scheduling unofficial visits back to the Buckeyes, Seminoles and Wolverines campuses. He added a return trip to Michigan State is not necessary for the family.

“He wants Michigan State, he wants that,” Greg McDowell said. “I know he wants that.”

Greg McDowell says he’s fine with his son attending Michigan State if that’s what he truly wants, while McDowell’s mother Joya Crowe has yet to come around on the Spartans.

In case matters weren't complicated enough, the News' Tom Markowski caught up with McDowell's high school coach, who said the visits are "something his dad is wishing for, but Malik hasn’t said anything but MSU."

It still looks like Michigan is on the outside looking in, but it also looks a lot less likely McDowell will end up at Michigan State than it did just a few days ago.

New 2015 and 2016 Offers

A couple more offers went out in recent days as Michigan continues to go after more and more underclassmen targets.

Four-star 2015 IN ILB Josh Barajas (junior highlights) told Wiltfong he was "still in shock" shortly after receiving his Michigan offer ($). UPDATE: Brandon spoke to him. The Wolverines appear to have timed this offer well; despite fielding recent interest from Michigan State and Notre Dame, only Illinois and Purdue offered Barajas before Michigan. He's got visits scheduled to U-M, MSU, and ND in the next month.

Michigan also offered 2016 TX OL Greg Little, who's quickly transition from tight end to burgeoning tackle prospect, per Steve Lorenz ($). His offer list—which includes the likes of Arizona State, Baylor, Clemson, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech—suggests he's one of the top tackle prospects in his class; while Little says he will try to visit Michigan, he could be a very tough pull.

PSA: Phones Can (And Should) Film Horizontally

Jabrill Peppers released the first of an unspecified number of YouTube videos documenting his visit to Michigan and why he chose the Wolverines. I haven't had the chance to go through the 15-minute episode above, but a quick scan reveals that arrrrrgghhh vertical video whyyyyyyyyy. Aside from that poor choice, however, this should be a very interesting watch.

In other commit news, here's a fun quote from 2015 CB Shaun Crawford:

On Wednesday, during an interview with Cleveland.com, Crawford was once again asked about his Buckeye offer and what it meant to him.

Without much hesitation, Crawford reached for a Michigan hat, put it atop his head and fully declared where his heart resides at the moment.

"I'm Michigan all the way," Crawford said. "Picking up the Ohio State offer was great.

"But they were a little too late."

Ali-esque rhyming dig right there. I like it.

Etc.

Recently offered four-star NJ OT Grant Newsome told Sam Webb he will "definitely" visit Michigan and placed the Wolverines among the top schools he plans to visit ($):

Sam Webb:  Aside from Michigan, do you know off the top of your head some of the other schools that you for sure are going to visit? 

Grant Newsome:  “I haven’t really set the list yet.  I will probably be taking a visit to Penn State and Northwestern, maybe South Carolina.  I think those are four I will probably take visits to but I really haven’t set the list.” 

Newsome wants to make a decision before his senior year; with his recruitment picking up steam, Michigan looks to be a strong contender.

Another recent OL offer, 2015 PA four-star Ryan Bates, told Webb that new offers from Michigan and Michigan State will be compared to his current favorites, Penn State and South Carolina; that should happen soon, as he plans to decide in the spring or early summer ($).

Michigan made the top ten for four-star TX dual-threat QB Jarrett Stidham, though Texas Tech is still regarded as his early leader.

Scout updated their top 300 for the 2015 class. Shaun Crawford comes in at #65 (#8 CB), Tyree Kinnel at #220 (#27 CB), and Jon Runyan Jr. at #294 (#20 OG).

Comments

707oxford

February 10th, 2014 at 2:57 PM ^

Skip the first 7 minutes of Jabrill's video.  Unless watching someone walk through the airport and pick up a rental car is your thing...and in that case, DEFINITELY WATCH THE FIRST 7 MINUTES.

Joined: 02/13/2012

MGoPoints: 10993

The Geek

February 10th, 2014 at 3:31 PM ^

 these are the best women Queens has to offer. Pick one... Ohio or FSU.

 

Jerome Baker with a blue jacket and maize tie in the interview with Shaun Crawford... A sign?

Joined: 09/08/2009

MGoPoints: 24821

Minus The Houma

February 10th, 2014 at 3:49 PM ^

I sure hope McDowel goes to MSU and stays out of trouble, gets good grades, and earns that degree. Can't say I know everything that is going on but from what I see I think he has to do his thing.

Joined: 09/04/2011

MGoPoints: 3413

Everyone Murders

February 10th, 2014 at 4:33 PM ^

I like the spirit of your comment.  But I look at things differently.

I hope McDowell goes to a good school (but not MSU) and stays out of trouble, gets good grades, and earns a degree.  My official reason is his mother may have very good reasons for him not going to MSU.  My real reason is I want to see the reaction from MSU's fanbase if McDowell doesn't end up going there.

I want what's best for McDowell - but I hope what's best for McDowell is going somewhere other than MSU, because I like a good show.

Joined: 12/14/2010

MGoPoints: 65552

M-Dog

February 10th, 2014 at 5:44 PM ^

As long as he does not go to MSU or OSU, I'm happy.

If you made a deal with me that siad he would not go to MSU or OSU, but in return for that Michigan is totally out of the picture . . . I would take it in an instant.

Farewell and good day to you, sir.

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 257515

dragonchild

February 11th, 2014 at 7:16 AM ^

U.S. News ranks Michigan the #28 university in the country (according to the lists I Googled).  It's #30 on Forbes.  The rankings aren't perfect and change from year to year, but U of M is generally between #20 and #30 on any list going back decades.  There is no question about it:  U of Michigan is one of the best schools in the country for academics.

Michigan State is ranked #73 by US. News and #154 by Forbes.  Needless to say, parents who care about their kids read up on this stuff.

Mind you, you can do worse than go to Michigan State, and if Malik was my kid I'd let him go to Michigan State if he had a good reason.  However, "I wanna play football", "I want to party" and "I want to be with my friends" ain't cuttin' it.  If he can't explain to his parents why it's best for him to go to the #154 school in the country over #30 with a Michigan offer in hand, and odds are he can't, well, this is the most predictable impasse in the world.

Kids don't always want what's best for them; that's why they have these things called parents.

Joined: 10/13/2011

MGoPoints: 60912

Sarasota13

February 10th, 2014 at 6:59 PM ^

Received this email today from some Florida fans.



Interesting….


Odd Story,but 11:57:58 AM
Subject: Meyer-Vrabel


Interesting….


Odd Story,but intriguing,,courtesy
11:57:58 AM
Subject: Meyer-Vrabel

Via Bucknuts…..

*Days Of Our Buckeyes … We had been waiting until after signing day to tell you this story for two reasons: One, our source asked us to hold the information until the 2014 recruiting class was all signed up. And two, even if he didn’t make that request, we wouldn’t have wanted to rock the OSU recruiting boat so close to signing day.
Well, leave it to a Bucknuts subscriber to spill the beans. Front Row message board member “tOSUHook” posted yesterday that there was a serious altercation between Mike Vrabel and Urban Meyer. Some fans questioned the validity of the post. You shouldn’t. It happened and we’re about to tell you all about it.
The incident occurred in early December -- the week before the contest against Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship game. Ohio State had just given up 603 yards and 41 points to a porous Michigan offense and barely escaped with a one-point victory.
Well, strength coach Mickey Marotti – who is absolutely Meyer’s right-hand man, was ribbing Luke Fickell about “not getting his guys juiced up enough” before games. No, he wasn’t making a Jose Canseco reference. Marotti was suggesting that Fickell didn’t get his guys fired up enough.
Then Meyer walked in and joined in on the banter. And while we’re told Marotti’s criticism of Fickell was somewhat light-hearted, Meyer was a bit more serious. He told Fickell that he needs to do a better job of getting the defensive players emotionally ready to go before kickoff.
Well, just then Mike Vrabel walks in and hears this conversation. According to an impeccable source, Vrabel went off. He felt that Marotti and Meyer were going after Fickell unfairly and Vrabel screamed at both of them. The shouting match escalated and it got to the point where Vrabel actually put his hands on Meyer. Didn’t punch him, but did put his hands on him. (We’ve heard varying stories from two different sources: One says Vrabel put his hand around Meyer’s neck and pinned him up against a wall; the other source says Vrabel grabbed the shirt collar and it wasn’t quite as violent as the other source is making it seem.)
We’re told it didn’t happen right away since OSU was still undefeated at the time and very much in the national championship race, but eventually Vrabel was told he needed to find a new job. They decided they were going to try and keep everything in-house and make it look like an amicable split.
One major difference in what we’ve been told by sources regarding the incident and the post from “tOSUHook” is that the altercation between Meyer and Vrabel did not happen just days before Vrabel left for the Houston Texans. In fact, it happened over a month before Vrabel joined Bill O’Brien’s staff. Like we said, the incident happened the week between the Michigan and Michigan State games. Vrabel didn’t leave for the Texans’ gig until Jan. 9.
So, there you go. We would apologize to you for not telling you about this earlier, but we can’t burn sources. Especially really good ones. We were asked to hold the information until after signing day and that’s what we did.






Joined: 06/22/2011

MGoPoints: 415

Prince Lover

February 10th, 2014 at 7:54 PM ^

Why doesn't Dantonio pull his offer? And I don't mean that as he should be mad at MM and punish him. What I mean is wouldn't it be an honorable act to have a sit down with MM and tell him, football is no reason to come between family and MD just wouldn't feel right causing such a rift. Maybe then MM's mom would see MSU has MM'S best interest at heart, and maybe relent. If not, at least MSU comes away looking rosy. Has that ever happened before? Just a thought.....

Joined: 07/01/2013

MGoPoints: 13070

Princetonwolverine

February 10th, 2014 at 9:07 PM ^

Why in the world would Dantonio pull his offer? MM has said he wants to go there. 

If anything M, OSU and FSU should pull theirs (not saying we wouldn't want him).

Doesn't Hoke pull offers when recruits commit elsewhere?

I wonder if coaches and their staffs feel like they are wasting their time giving official visits to 

kids that have committed elsewhere. Part of the game, I suppose.

Joined: 10/10/2010

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