Monday Recruitin' Hits The Road

Today's recruiting roundup surveys the landscape as several coaches are fired and the rest prepare for in-home visits, recaps Michigan commits in their state playoffs, and more.

One Final Note From The Game

Massillon Washington DB/WR Gareon Conley was in Columbus for #THEGAME today, we are being told

— 11W Recruiting (@11WRecruiting) November 25, 2012

There's no official word on Conley's status, but don't expect him to be considered a commit for much longer. The question of whether or not he could find himself back in the class eventually is more difficult to answer; his situation isn't the same as David Dawson's or Pharaoh Brown's—Conley was up-front with the coaches about his desire to take visits. We'll have to wait and see if the coaches decide to treat his case differently.

And Now Let's Never Talk About The Game Again

Good? Good.

In-home visits with recruits begin this week, and some very interesting names have emerged as players who will host Michigan coaches, including one we haven't seen in a while:

How bout this for blast from the past? Hearing #Michigan will drop in on Joliet (IL) RB Ty Isaac this week

— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) November 26, 2012

Yes, that Ty Isaac, one-time top running back target and current USC commit. While there's no indication that he's wavering on his commitment, Lane Kiffin's job security has come under fire—especially in the wake of a derp-tacular finish to the Notre Dame game—and it's worth noting that recruits must approve of a visit before a coach can drop by; Isaac is at least willing to listen to Michigan's latest pitch.

Does that mean anything in regards to VA RB Derrick Green? I doubt it. Green's other presumed top choices, Auburn and Tennessee, have now both fired their head coaches—in Auburn's case, they just cleaned out the entire staff. That leaves Oregon, Miami, and Ole Miss as Michigan's top competition. Oregon doesn't fit Green's stated desire to play in a pro-style offense and Miami has the Nevin Shapiro cloud looming over their program. It's possible Green chooses Ole Miss out of a desire to play in the South, but that's a major step down in program quality compared to Michigan.

[For more planned in-home visits, a wrapup of last weekend's playoff action, and more, hit THE JUMP.]

New O-Line Names Emerge

Michigan is also targeting a couple of committed offensive linemen to fill the hole left by David Dawson. Tremendous caught up with UCLA commit Kenny Lacy, who will get an in-home visit and plans to take an official to Ann Arbor in December. Lacy, at 6'5", 270, could slot in at guard or right tackle—he's a four-star, top-250 type to Rivals and Scout and a three-star on ESPN and 247.

TomVH reported last night that Michigan was in contact with another lineman committed to a California school($), and a little poking around indicates that prospect is Cal pledge Cameron Hunt. Hunt will also get an in-home and, given that the Bears just fired coach Jeff Tedford, could be very open to looking around. He's more of a pure guard at 6'4", 267, and is rated as a four-star on every service save 247.

Cass Tech Goes Back-To-Back

For the second straight year, Cass Tech upended Detroit Catholic Central in the MHSAA Division I state title game; this time around, the Technicians won 36-21, and Jourdan Lewis opened the scoring with an 89-yard touchdown catch on CT's first play from scrimmage. Lewis would finish the game with two catches for 101 yards, while junior standout Damon Webb caught two passes for 53 yards, forced a fumble, recovered a fumble, and had an interception. Wyatt Shallman finished with five tackles and 0.5 TFLs for Catholic Central and was limited to just six yards on three carries.

In the OHSAA Division II state semifinals, Mike McCray recorded a team-high 11 tackles and recovered a fumble to lead Trotwood-Madison to a 33-32 victory over New Albany. The Rams will take on Toledo Central Catholic, led by OSU commit Jayme Thompson and 2014 QB prospect DeShone Kizer, in the state title game on Friday.

Three other Michigan commits advanced in the playoffs: St. Clairsville's defense, led by Michael Ferns, held defending champs Norwayne—averaging over 50 points per game heading into the state semifinals—to 27 points, advancing to the Division IV title game and preserving an undefeated season. Channing Stribling's Matthews Butler squad will play for its third state championship in four years after taking down Mallard Creek in the semis, 27-0. Patrick Kulger and North Allegheny defeated Woodland Hills, 21-14, to become the first team to win three straight WPIAL Class AAAA titles; they're two games away from a second state title in three years.

Jake Butt and Pickerington North weren't so lucky, as Northwestern commit Godwin Igebuike fumbled just shy of the goal line on fourth down with 32 seconds left in a 26-21 state semifinal loss to powerhouse Cincinnati Moeller. Butt finished the season with single-season school records for receptions (68), receiving yards (907), and receiving TDs (12), as well as several career records.

Etc.

Senior-year highlights are now available for Ross Douglas (LINK) and Dymonte Thomas (LINK)—a lot of very impressive two-way play from both commits.

The #1 overall recruit in the class of 2014, VA DE Da'Shawn Hand, named Michigan to his early top ten.

2014 FL WR Artavis Scott told Sam Webb that he and HS teammate OL Mason Cole "know for a fact" that they'll attend the same college ($, info in header). That's good news for Michigan, which emerged among Cole's early leaders and has also offered Scott—both prospects were on hand for the Michigan State game.

Standout 2015 KY RB Damien Harris has Ohio State and Michigan essentially running even atop his leaderboard after visiting Columbus last weekend, according to Allen Trieu ($, info in header). Michigan may hold a narrow edge, but it's a close race at this point (obviously, with a very long way to go).