Monday Recruitin'

Update 6/30: Moved IN LB Jordan Barnes and TX WR Dewayne Peace to committed. Linked to articles on FL WR Rantavious Wooten, OK RB David Oku, FL RB Vincent Smith, VA QB Kevin Newsome (second)... and here's a big long one on Newsome.

Added TX CB Demontre Hurst.

Removed NC CB Terry Shankle (dropped us, via VB), PA CB Corey Brown(OSU), PA DE Tyrone Ezell (droppes us).

I'm not adding this OL yet but he does have offers from Iowa and Rutgers and says a Michigan offer equals a commit; might bear watching.

Editorial Opinion:  The big news of the week was covered in a midweek article the daya fter Peace and Barnes committed; what's left over is more Newsome worry:

He talked about his performance. He talked about
his transfer from Western Branch (Chesapeake, Va.) to prep-school
powerhouse Hargrave Military Academy this fall and how it will help him
develop as a quarterback and a man. But the one thing he didn't want to
talk about was his commitment to Michigan.

"No comment," Newsome said when he was asked about that commitment.

"No comment" seems like a hell of a comment in this instance. He bears watching. As mentioned earlier, the Hargrave move should help keep Newsome in the fold, as Hargrave's coach, Robert Prunty, knows where his bread is buttered and prohibits already-committed prospects from dealing with coaches while at school. Thus the steady stream of not-quite-qualfied guys that wander through a postgrad year at Hargrave relatively safe from the predations of other gentlemen.

Prunty's staying out of this one, though:

"The bottom line is, where the kid goes is his family's decision,"
said Prunty, who went to Chatham High School when Newsome's mother was
at Gretna. "I'm here to support the family. All I know is that the kid
is committed to Michigan. I have no part in the recruiting process with
this kid. We have not talked about it."

Developments will be relayed as they, uh, develop.

Don't want him get Forcier rabble rabble?

I copped out in last week's post about the QB situation, claiming that anyone and everyone would be fine, but if I was in a Rich Rodriguez version of Being John Malkovich and had to choose, I'd take Newsome. Former Tennessee QB Tee Martin has him down, IMO:

"When I got to college I learned more about being a total quarterback,
and it worked out for me. I kind of see that situation with [Newsome]
not having a QB coach [in high school]. … He's the kind of kid who will
get to college, gets coached up and gets into a system where he winds
up being really good."

Newsome is a state-champion hurdler and sprinter who started off the year as a top-20 player and five star because of his athleticism. Each rankings revision since has seen him drop as he performs erratically at passing camps and combines, reportedly because he's attempting to change the accurate-but-long release he showed at the Army Combine to a shorter one.

If he's lagging behind some other guys at the moment, there's good reason -- poor or even no coaching thus far. He retains the upside that got him so highly-rated to start and the Hargrave move indicates a seriousness about improving.

Forcier, on the other hand, comes from a wealthy family of quarterbacks and has received intensive QB training for a long time now. It's reasonable to assume he's further along in his potential and would not improve as quickly as Newsome once on campus.

Non-quarterbacks, and by "non-quarterbacks" we mean "5'8" guys":

Pahokee RB Vincent Smith -- from the same high school as Martavious Odoms and, yes, another one of those electron sorts -- says it's "a little devastating" the instate schools have little interest in him and plans a three-school swing pretty soon:

''[When I got] my first offer from Michigan,'' Smith said, ``I knew then I was going to be good.''

How
good? That's to be determined. Smith said he will visit Michigan,
Tennessee and Minnesota in one swing this summer, the first time he has
been to any of those campuses.

He hopes to pick one of those --
or another school -- soon after. Whichever his running back chooses,
Thompson said, it should be a good fit.

''If somebody puts him in the spread offense,'' Thompson said, ``he'll be successful.''

Smith is listed at 5'9" but that may be a couple inches generous. Michigan is still looking for one more slot/RB type; past that even I'm going to look askance on anyone shorter than 5'9" not named "Boubacar Cissoko."

Speaking of diminutive running backs, it appears OK RB David Oku's top five may be more of a top three with chasers: 

Oku planning officials: After previously saying he would likely take unofficial visits to Michigan, Illinois and several other schools this summer, Carl Albert running back David Oku has decided to skip the unofficials and take official visits this fall.

Oku said he will definitely take official visits to Tennessee, Florida State and Michigan during football season.

Nebraska and Illinois are the other schools in Oku's top five. USC and Ohio State have not offered Oku and have fallen out of his top five.

Oku was a childhood fan of Florida State and has repeatedly said that depth charts matter quite a bit to him; they are probably your tentative favorite.

Aaand how about one more? FL WR Rantavious Wooten has an awesome name and some impressive offers:

Wooten said he now favors LSU slightly over Miami, West Virginia, Michigan and Georgia. He's claiming all have offered as well as Auburn, Tennessee, UCF, South Florida and Rutgers, among others.

Michigan gets some mention after LSU and Miami; an official visit seems likely.

Brief notes: as suspected, the Michigan "lead" for PA CB Corey Brown was totally hypothetical: he committed to Ohio State. IL OL Chris Watt dropped Michigan, which is disappointing. FL S Mike Jones($, info in header) is visiting ND and M, his leaders, as we speak; AZ DE Craig Roh($, you know the drill) just got done visiting.