Monday Recruitin' Drops Flex Bombs
Young Geezy
This is a recruiting post, so I should start off by mentioning that top-ranked 2015 WDE Jashon Cornell told 247's Steve Wiltfong he plans to announce his decision on August 28th ($). I should also tell you that Cornell mentioned his strong relationships with coaches at Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Northwestern, and Notre Dame, and that he's planning to swing by a few West Coast schools during the summer.
The long-overdue return of Swag Mattison |
But really, all I want to do is blockquote the hell out of this:
“Coach Mattison is a really nice person,” Cornell said. “He’s not what you expect, I can say that. You expect that old guy who listens to country music. He put on hip hop in his office. He turned on his radio and the first thing that came out was hip hop.”
Mattison’s taste in music isn’t the only thing Cornell likes about Michigan.
“Largest stadium in America,” he said. “The Michigan alumni. This is Michigan.”
If you ever wanted to know why Mattison has the reputation of an elite recruiter, look at the picture on the right, imagine sitting in that guy's office while he flips the radio to Hot 97, and... yup, you just committed to Michigan in your daydream.
OFFSEASON INTERLUDE: TOP FIVE SONGS I'D MOST LIKE TO IMAGINE GREG MATTISON PLAYS IN HIS OFFICE
- Young Jeezy, "Soul Survivor"
- Dr. Dre, "What's The Difference?"
- Kanye West, "Drive Slow"
- Freddie Gibbs, "National Anthem"
- Three 6 Mafia, "Stay Fly"
#5 could easily be an x-way tie between every Three 6 Mafia/Juicy J song ever made.
/INTERLUDE
[Hit THE JUMP for a potential commit watch, Michigan impressing a big-time visitor, an in-state back running a laser-timed 4.26 40, and more.]
Commit Watch?
According to 247's Steve Lorenz, 2016 Orchard Lake St. Mary's LB Daelin Hayes will announce his decision on April 27th ($). Hayes holds offers from Michigan, Michigan State, and Tennessee; the Wolverines extended their offer most recently, and Hayes has been a consistent presence on campus.
It should come down to the two in-state schools, and it looks like Michigan has the edge—it doesn't hurt that he watched his cousin, U-M running back Justice Hayes, get first-team snaps on his visit for the spring game.
Meanwhile, 2015 CT TE Chris Clark is also one to watch after he announced his decommitment from North Carolina on Saturday. Clark had Michigan among his top schools before pledging to the Tar Heels, and while Mike Farrell thinks he'll ultimately end up at Notre Dame, the Wolverines will have the chance to make a big impression this weekend:
Recently de-committed TE Chris Clark takes visits to #Michigan and #OhioState this weekend. Huge trips. @MarcGivlerBG @TimS_Wolverine
— Mike Farrell (@rivalsmike) April 13, 2014
Michigan isn't in the driver's seat here, but Clark's recruitment has been unpredictable; a solid visit could put the Wolverines at the forefront.
U-M Makes Move With McMillon
Michigan hosted a big-time visitor last weekend in 2015 four-star TN OLB Joshua McMillon, and after giving GBW's Josh Newkirk a glowing review of the visit—saying "it was just wonderful"—he doubled down on his newly increased interest in the Wolverines ($):
As far as Michigan is concerned, McMillon said he will “definitely” make it back again sometime soon.
“I would love to come up there and visit Michigan again,” McMillon said. “If it wasn’t so far away then I would comeback [sic] all the time. Most definitely will try to make it back for an official visit.”
McMillon said he would like to make his final decision by the end of the summer.
The official visit mention and decision timeline don't exactly match, but it's possible McMillon could take another unofficial and still make a summer decision, or he could delay his choice until after taking officials. Either way, it looks like Michigan is now a contender, along with Alabama, Ole Miss, and others.
Remember The Name: Joshuwa Holloman
I be like dang (via 247's Steve Wiltfong):
Perhaps the BCS schools won't ignore Auburn Hills (Mich.) Avondale running back Joshuwa Holloman any longer.
At the Nike Sparq competition in Chicago on Friday he posted a 4.26 40-yard dash, 41.1-inch vertical and 4.09 shuttle en route to a ridiculous 136.11 Sparq rating.
That is a zero-FAKEs-out-of-five laser-timed 40, the fasted recorded by a high school prospect at a Nike combine this year. Holloman's SPARQ rating is the second-best in the country—he finished in the 99th percentile in all but one category, the power ball toss, in which he finished in the lowly 97th percentile. He's got solid size, too, at 5'10", 185 pounds, which makes that speed even more tantalizing.
So far, Holloman holds only MAC offers, but given those numbers I'd expect that'll change in the near future
Etc.
2015 four-star NC WR Juval Mollette narrowed his choices to five schools—North Carolina, Clemson, Michigan, Virginia Tech, and Ohio State—with the Tar Heels and Tigers currently standing above the other three, per 247's Ross Martin ($). Mollette doesn't have a specific timeline in mind, which could open the door for U-M should he make it to campus, which he says he intends to do.
2015 four-star VA DE Clelin Ferrell named Michigan to his top 11—along with Clemson, LSU, Miami, Michigan State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia Tech—and told Rivals's Adam Friedman what he likes about the Wolverines ($):
Michigan: "It's the winningest program in college football," he said. "I like their stadium and I love their coaching staff. I like coach Hoke, coach Mattison and coach Manning."
Ferrell plans to take visits to Michigan and MSU during his spring break. Roy Manning's recruiting efforts in Virginia have been very impressive, and they've already paid off once this cycle with the commitment of Garrett Taylor.
Per Steve Lorenz, 2015 four-star UT LB Osa Masina is eyeing a visit to Ann Arbor for July's BBQ at the Big House, which would be his first campus visit since last year's BBQ ($).
If you missed it, Brandon has the details on Michigan's lastest offer, which went out to 2015 three-star TX S Khalil Haughton:
I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make a visit. I know I’m going to be really busy during the summer but I’ll be making plans later on some places that I’m going to try and stop by. Still not sure which schools though.
Given that quote and Haughton's Texas roots, I'm with Brandon here—unless Haughton visits, Michigan probably won't be in the picture for very long.
Every MGoBlog post should come with a recommended playlist.
Not if this is a sample.
Yeah no doubt, Ace should just stop with the hip hop. That selection is terrible, and really, every Triple Shit Mafia song. LOL. I am a hip hop afficianado and I wouldn't include any of those "artists" in my top anything. Maybe a Freddie Gibbs song from the Madlib collab, but nothing else from his catalogue.
All lists of songs written as an offhand joke should be taken VERY SERIOUSLY, and definitely as an indication of my favorite songs ever, as opposed to a few tracks I thought of off the top of my head that would make me laugh if I heard them emanating from Greg Mattison's office.
Also, you're just dead wrong on Freddie Gibbs. This is not a subjective argument.
Dudes MGoBlog name is GMoney...I can't help but see the irony in that, or the sarcasm. Not sure which.
You don't have to be an expert to enjoy music. Ace was talking about something he would enjoy, and I happen to agree with him. If you mean you wouldn't enjoy walking into G-Mat listening to those songs, then I feel for you.
for dr. dre? if youre an afficianado i would think he probably makes some list of "artist"
Holloman is really, really fast. Don't pay too much attention to the time, as conditions (temperature, wind) are typically less than ideal at state championship meets (plus he was running it for the third time that day). Any kid who wins the Division 1 state championship in the 100m as a sophomore is very, very fast.
When you see a guy consistently outrunning DBs who have the angle on him, you've got something dangerous.
Offer this kid already!
He's got great measurables, don't get me wrong, but calling for Michigan to offer Holloman at this juncture is premature. It's a small class, they've got bigger fish to fry at running back—Damien Harris and Mike Weber are both much more polished runners, and Michigan's at or near the top for both—and Holloman's film doesn't scream "can't miss" to me.
The straight-line speed he shows on tape is great, but he doesn't make many sharp cuts and given the competition he doesn't show a whole lot of power. Unless he improves in those areas, I think he's more of a guy Michigan would take at the end of the cycle and see if they can find a role for him, as opposed to taking him as their top option at running back. Since Michigan didn't take a back in the 2014 class, they really can't afford to take a gamble there in this class.
That said, if they fill their needs and have room for a guy like this, I'm all for putting an offer out there and seeing if he can develop; there's obviously a lot of potential here.
Still, with a Sparq score and speed like that, he's someone to really stay in close contact with I'd think for the staff. If he were open to other positions, that would make it a lot easier, since as you have correctly pointed out, we're already squarely in the mix with two other top prospects at RB.
I had assumed he was 2016. Agree that Harris or Weber are higher priorities.
Norfleet looks shiftier in space, but Holloman looks markedly faster.
"So Fresh So Clean" by Outkast to that list
some of our recurits.
Conspiracy theory???
it doesn't hurt that he watched his cousin, U-M running back Justice Hayes, get first-team snaps on his visit for the spring game.
/s (kinda, maybe)
I don't like having too many "projects" or "reaches" on the team at any given time. I think you should almost always have one guy who's a flat-out speed guy, maybe a kick returner who might never be able to do anything more than that - someone like Trindon Holliday or the like. To me, Dennis Norfleet fills that role (not that he's blazingly fast, but he's a guy who probably can't do much else). By 2015 he'll be a senior. I wouldn't be totally opposed to the coaches going after someone like Holloman, but I just think you have to be careful.
Your blog just got blocked by my company. I am unhappy as I go there daily. No detail provided, just the message below:
Reason: |
Access to the requested website was denied by Mxxx’s Web Content Filtering Tool because of its content categorization. The requested web site is categorized as: "Suspicious" |
I've always thought of Magnus as "suspicious".
Well, that sucks. I don't know why it would be "suspicious." It's just a sports website, and I've purposely hidden all the pictures of girls behind the jump.
I don't get it either. Cracking down I guess - but their policies are very uneven. I'd think sites like Facebook and Reddit would get blocked - but no...let's ban Magnus!
This is how I see it we can take two running backs this year and Holloman can be the one player we can gamble on because of his talent. If we pick him up then we can continue to go after Harris and Weber and still have Holloman as a developement player. I think it is key that Michigan does not wait for other programs to offer him and try to be the first ot act on him. Joshuwa Holloman = Chris Johnson.
I wouldn't go as far as Chris Johnson just yet, but I agree that that speed and agility are hard to come by. Can he catch? I think he'd be a great fit as a slot receiver. Or you can just say he's a slot receiver/running back/returner type guy, and fit him it as needed, sort of like Norfleet now.
Do you mean other than the film in this post?
Is Hoke holding off so he can offer some random Texas or California kid who will never come here?
You realize our two more realistic RB commits are a kid from Michigan and a kid who has already been committed to us, right? So not all that random. And both of those guys are pretty unanimously regarded very highly. I wouldn't be pissed with offering Holloman as an all-purpose type athlete, but I don't think that offering him is a no-brainer by any stretch. Sure he's fast, but he hasn't exactly put up crazy stats and it's a small class. And we already have a couple very good RBs interested, as previously stated.
/dead
Well that explains why Hand went to Bama then. I wouldn't want to watch my DC try to mimic the ugliest, stupidest dance in human history more than once either.
Hand went to Bama because Saban did the Nae Nae.
#OutSwagged
Look I get what skeptics are saying, but how can this guy be considered any more of a flier than some of the other guys we will take. If those numbers are legit (and it seems like they are) he is a world class athlete. This should be a no-brainer.
Victory!
Randoms come out with their opinion.
This was a JOKE and all of the songs fit the ridiculous picture. It makes it even more funny because all of those songs are old and I could totally picture Mattison or any other old guy playing those songs thinking he's "up with the latest."
I don't think anyone was trying to make a "best of" playlist...
The only thing I'm shocked is that there aren't already 3-4 Wu-Tang or Tribe references in this thread. Blog lovers two "I know real hip hip more than you" favorite groups.
Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of illmatic.
*insert some guy telling me that this wasn't the best song on the cd*
*insert me explaining that I played the first song that came on youtube*
*insert it being ignored and someone providing a ranking of all of the songs on illmatic*
*insert someone else embedding One Time Time 4 Your Mind*
*insert a Raekwon or Wu-Tang reference*
*insert One Love embed*
*insert comment about Nas and Q-Tip on Fallon last week (or the week before)*
*insert a 50 Cent reference*
/crickets
April 14th, 2014 at 10:18 PM ^
Emb My mind is playing tricks on me by Geto Boys RIGHT NOW!!!!
I prefer Reasonable Doubt as well. The Black Album would be #3 in Jay-Z's catalog IMO.
April 14th, 2014 at 10:54 PM ^
Cornell has great size, speed and length, but i don't recall seeing a highlight tape from a five star high school product, much less the #1 overall, with so many arm tackles. He definitly has exceptional speed and a motor which you cannot teach. But appears he could add some weight. Reminds me of Mario Ojemdia's highlight tape. I'm not saying he isn't going to be a stud, but i'm guessing he drops in the rankings at some point.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL5F4q1qgyQ
If the conversation that Sam Webb had with Allen Trieu this morning is any indication, Cornell may have already added that weight—Trieu says he's now up to 270, which is starting to get into interior DL territory.
roundup yesterday. I guess he had no idea Brady and Woodson were Michigan grads. His family is very into academics. He met with the Aerospace Engineering department and was very impressed. He looks like a guy we may really have a shot to get.. I like our chances even better with Coach Manning involved with his recruitment.
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