Monday Recruitin' Seriously Has A Trophy For That Game

Today's recruiting roundup welcomes Jack Wangler, previews Michigan's signing day (spoiler: there's not much to preview), covers the latest in the 2014 class, and more.

Hello: Jack Wangler

Over the weekend, Michigan picked up a preferred walk-on in Warren (MI) De La Salle WR Jack Wangler, son of former Wolverine QB John Wangler and high school teammate of Shane Morris. Wangler didn't have any major college offers but did hold interest from a handful of MAC and Ivy League schools—the lure of following in his father's footsteps won out in the end:

"I can't wait to carry on the Wangler name at Michigan," he said. "Before I made it public, I was sure to call my dad and let him know what I had decided to do. He was definitely excited. Being around Michigan my entire life and experiencing it so much the past couple seasons really made it an easy choice. My dad said my years at Michigan will end up being the best four or five years of my life. I know they were for him."

While Wangler isn't a high-profile recruit—he's only ranked on Scout, where he's a two-star—he's impressed on the camp scene. Scout's Allen Trieu named him one of the emerging prospects at last April's Adidas Invitational:

Wangler had a good showing, first running a 4.58 in the forty yard dash and then catching everything thrown at him for the rest of the day. He has good ball skills and went up over top of a couple defenders to grab some passes and he's a kid who knows how to create separation.

Rivals's Josh Helmholdt called him one of the sleepers of last June's Sound Mind Sound Body camp:

Wangler has put a lot of work in this off-season with his Maximum Exposure teams, going head-to-head against some of the top defensive backs in the country. Wangler is always going to be a possession receiver; but his speed is coming along, and he has been timed as low as the 4.5 range for the 40-yard dash. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Wangler is a physical receiver and a technician when it comes to route-running.

As a guy who won't take up a scholarship slot, Wangler has some upside—he's got decent size, route-running, and hands, not to mention strong familiarity with Michigan's quarterback of the future. If there's a position group where a walk-on with a niche—in this case, sure-handed possession receiver—could work their way onto the field in the next few years, it's at receiver.

[Hit THE JUMP for your very brief signing day primer, news on the 2014 QB situation, new offers, and more.]

Signing Day 2013: Like 2012, Minus The Part When Things Happened (Let's Hope)

With Derrick Green in the fold and Durham Smythe off to Notre Dame, there's little in the way of signing day intrigue for Michigan recruitniks; barring a last-minute offer, the Wolverines have the 2013 class wrapped up, and unlike last year there isn't an obvious Norfleet-type to snatch away from the Cincinnatis of the world. Michigan's best-case scenario is that Wednesday comes and goes with little more action than 27 successfully received faxes.*

I say that's the best-case because there's still some uncertainly surrounding Henry Poggi and Alabama. The signs still point to Michigan, in large part because the Tide don't have room for Poggi unless they get some late decommits; Mike Farrell posted on the Rivals board that he expects Poggi still ends up in Ann Arbor, with his only trepidation coming from the Poggi clan's complete silence on the matter ($). It seems like Poggi will stick with Michigan in the end, but if there's going to be a recruit who makes a late switch, it's him.

2014 QBs To Watch: Cornwell, O'Connor, Speight

Another indication that Michigan is done with the 2013 class: the coaches have turned Wednesday's focus squarely on their 2014 quarterback targets. The coaches reportedly have phone calls set up then with their three top QBs on the board—Oklahoma's David Cornwell, Florida-via-Canada's Michael O'Connor, and Virginia's Wilton Speight—and those should provide clarity (and perhaps an offer or offers) for the quarterback situation, per Tim Sullivan ($). Of those three, Speight's is the name that has emerged most recently; he received a visit from Coach Hecklinski last week, and Steve Lorenz reports it went very well ($):

"I threw about twenty balls overall. Coach Heck said he wanted to keep me fresh for my basketball game tonight," Speight said. "After he left, my coach told me after the first five that it was all he really needed to see. He told him he felt like I was one of the three best quarterbacks in the country. That's obviously a really humbling and amazing thing to hear."

Speight's junior highlights are embedded above—he's got a bit of a funky throwing motion and doesn't show off huge arm strength, but his accuracy is apparent.

The Wolverines continue to push offers out to underclassmen. In the last week, they've offered:

• 2014 four-star TX S Jamal Adams, who already had an impressive offer list and told ESPN's Damon Sayles that the legacy of Charles Woodson is "big" for him ($).
• 2014 CO ATH Kalen Ballage, a 6'2", 215-pound speedster who told Steve Lorenz, "Definitely. I mean, it's Michigan!" when asked if they stood out among his offers ($).
• 2015 Saginaw (MI) ATH Brian Cole, who learned from Fred Jackson that he has an offer waiting for him when he's a junior, per Tim Sullivan ($).
• 2015 UT RB/OLB Osa Masina, who added Michigan to offers from Wisconsin, BYU, and Utah (where his older brother will play next fall), per Steve Lorenz ($).

Most of the recent spate of 2014 offers are still to national-level prospects, but we're starting to see Michigan get in early on a few guys, as well—most of Ballage's interest has come from local schools.

Last Call For 2013 Rankings

Getting in just before the bell, Scout released their final 2013 Midwest 150 as well as state-by-state rankings for the region. Michigan commits in the Midwest 150 include:

• #6 Dymonte Thomas
• #7 Shane Morris
• #8 Kyle Bosch
• #10 DeVeon Smith
• #13 Jourdan Lewis
• #22 David Dawson
• #23 Jake Butt
• #26 Ben Gedeon
• #29 Taco Charlton
• #45 Delano Hill
• #49 Wyatt Shallman
• #52 Logan Tuley-Tillman
• #54 Dan Samuelson
• #57 Mike McCray
• #67 Khalid Hill
• #86 Da'Mario Jones
• #91 Reon Dawson
• #92 Ross Douglas
• #97 Csont'e York
• #112 Jaron Dukes

The Wolverines have nine of the top 30 prospects in the region, besting Notre Dame (5), Ohio State (4),  USC (2), Ole Miss (2), and Michigan State (1).

Going state-by-state, Michigan has six of the top nine prospects from their home turf, five of the top 11 Ohio recruits, and a pair of the top nine players in Illinois.

Bo Lived A Very Full Life

WolverineNation has been putting out a lot of interesting free content. Chantel Jennings penned an article on the rise of 7-on-7 football in recruiting that features a quote from Lloyd Carr:

"They'd all get a lot of work against the passing game, which I think was a great thing in terms of developing the skills of the athletes," Carr said. "It gave all the skilled athletes the opportunity to be evaluated by the college coaches. ... It became a great way for us to evaluate the kids that came to our camp."

Jennings and TomVH also put together a short test of Michigan football trivia that 24 of the commits participated in anonymously. The whole thing is an entertaining read, but this section in particular cracked me up:

4) What's the name of the trophy for the Michigan-Minnesota football rivalry?
A: The Little Brown Jug

Correct: 11
Incorrect: 13

Best answers: "Golden Bowl."

"Is it a bucket? I don't know what the name is."

"I was going to Google it, but I know that's cheating."

"They have a trophy for that game?"

Multiple recruits guessed that the Ten-Year War occurred in the 19th century, which... close enough, right?

Internet People

Still terrible.

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*yes, recruiting is pushing the limits of social media while still being stuck firmly in 1993