Thursday Recruitin' Moves Feet
(Don't Don't Don't) Don't Stop The Beat
Everybody, a-move your feet and feel united. Oh oh oh.
Michigan four-day technique camp concludes today, and while coverage is still trickling in, there are already offers to report for both the 2014 and 2015 classes.
Let's start with the 2014 class, which had offers go out to a pair of high school teammates in WR Freddy Canteen and CB Brandon Watson. Both prospects attend Elkton (MD) Eastern Christian Academy, which is essentially this sport's answer to hoops factory Oak Hill Academy—the academy itself is built entirely around the football program and attendees take their coursework through a larger online program. Their quarterback is David Sills, whom you may remember as the (then-)13-year-old who committed to USC, and now you exactly why USC offered such a player so early: his father, David Sills IV, is the founder of ECA. The program only played three games in 2012, as five opponents cancelled planned matchups, so what you see above—serious technique work (that's Canteen talking at the start of the video)—is what largely constituted their season, and now they're hitting the camp circuit very hard.
It's of little surprise, then, that Canteen and Watson were flying a bit under the radar heading into camp. It's also of little surprise that Canteen is really, really good at running routes. Here's 247 on Canteen from earlier this spring [emphasis mine]:
11) WR Freddy Canteen – Elkton (Md.) Eastern Christian Sills and Canteen connected often during this weekend. The 6-foot-0, 175-pound receiver was very difficult to defend and his routes were some of the best out of the entire camp. Canteen did plenty of talking on both days, but he backed it up every time.
GBW's Kyle Bogenschutz on Canteen's performance on Day 3 of Michigan's camp ($):
Catching GoBlueWolverine’s eye in the morning 1-on-1’s and 7-on-7, Canteen is extremely quick and very difficult to slow down off the line. Still developing from a technique standpoint with his hands, something that can be said for all high school wide outs, Canteen took some coaching and implemented it right away in the top group for the afternoon 1-on-1’s, blowing by corners attempting to press, sprinting across the field on quick slants. Canteen is around 6-0 and has the frame to add some muscle but maintain that speed of his, undoubtedly earning his Michigan offer and one of the true highlights on day three at camp.
One of the top corners in the 2015 class said Canteen is the toughest receiver he's covered. Canteen's coach, meanwhile, went as far to say that he's "perhaps the best route-runner in the country," in an interview with Sam Webb ($).
The big question to arise from Canteen's offer, of course, is how this affects the current scholarship situation; while we previously thought Michigan would take one more receiver—Artavis Scott, hopefully—it appears that's not the case:
"Rutgers is still high with me," said Canteen, who was told the Wolverines would be taking two additional receivers in the class of 2014. "I don't know why people don't think that. You could still say Rutgers is my favorite school. There are a lot of mixed emotions when I really think about everything, but the top three are Rutgers, Michigan and Tennessee.
Watson's offer raises similar questions about defensive backfield recruiting—with Jabrill Peppers in the fold and Parrker Westphal a presumed commitment, space in the secondary appears tight, especially if Michigan is a serious player for CA DB Adoree' Jackson (and I believe they are). Westphal's recruitment has gone oddly quiet, so perhaps there's been some cooling off from one end or the other, which would explain why a longtime presumed lock has yet to pull the trigger—I'd compare it to the Tommy Doles situation, but Westphal's initial offer and fit with the team made a lot more sense in the first place.
Regardless, Watson has his offer, and he sounded quite excited about it when talking to 247's Steve Lorenz ($):
"Michigan is definitely right up there," Watson noted. "It's Michigan. They have top of the line facilities and academics and an amazing football program. They pretty much offer everything you're looking for. I am still going to take my time before deciding, however. I'll be up at USC pretty soon and then want to visit a few schools that I am considering most. I hope to decide before my season starts. Michigan will definitely be a return visit."
Watson missed a golden chance for a "fergodsakes," but maybe he'll learn about that on visit number two. Canteen also expressed a desire to return to Ann Arbor before making a pre-season decision; if both players make it back to campus, it sounds like the Wolverines have a good shot at adding to their class. Even if they don't, it looks like the coaches are making inroads with a program that's churning out D-I prospects.
[Hit THE JUMP for the latest on 2015 offers, including a legacy who could pull the trigger imminently, and much more.]
Get Ready To Feel Old
Joining Tyrone Wheatley Jr. among Michigan legacies with 2015 offers is Jon Runyan Jr., son of all-conference tackle, longtime NFL standout, and current New Jersey congressman Jon Runyan. The younger Runyan picked up a camp offer and told The M Block in no uncertain terms that the commit watch is on [emphasis theirs]:
"Around lunch Coach Hoke took me into his office and just told me that he wanted me. It felt great. I've been looking forward to this day for a while." Junior is a bit undersized right now at 6'4", 250 lbs., but with a solid legacy in place and the knowledge and love of the Michigan program, he told me, "It's most likely a guarantee that I'll commit. I've loved Michigan my entire life."
Runyan wants to talk with his parents before making a decision, which will likely come within the next week or two. Have I started drafting a "Hello" post? No, but only because of laziness.
Also picking up a camp offer was 2015 OH LB Justin Hilliard, one of the top Ohio prospects in his class and the younger brother of Iowa commit C.J. Hilliard. Holding over 20 offers already, including all the Midwest powers and the likes of Arkansas and Oklahoma, he's yet to narrow down a list but told The M Block that Michigan "definitely has a shot," of being named his leader whenever he decides to do so. Early guess is that this comes down to Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and maybe Iowa if Justin feels a strong pull to play with his brother.
While Runyan is the most likely candidate for first 2015 commit, he may have some competition if he doesn't pull the trigger soon. KY RB Damien Harris has been openly rooting on the Wolverines in various sporting events for the past several months, and his decision timeline bodes well for Michigan:
"@Damien_D1Harris: Can you see yourself committing by the end of the year or in your senior seas... — Probably the end of this season."
— Steve Lorenz (@TremendousUM) June 18, 2013
If not Harris or Runyan, then perhaps OH CB Shaun Crawford? (LINK, $)
"I love Michigan. I mean there's nothing more to say, it feels like home and all the coaches are like a second family," Crawford said. "Michigan is definitely one of my top schools, they are either first or second right now."
Michigan and Miami (YTM) form Crawford's top two, and he told 247 that he plans to take trips to Miami, Penn State, and Arkansas by the end of the summer before coming to a decision; I've got him pegged as a Wolverine sooner or later.
And, if not any of those guys, maybe Cass Tech RB Mike Weber will do the seemingly inevitable? His other visits aren't living up to Michigan's standard, if this quote to GBW's Josh Newkirk is any indication ($):
“I went to Notre Dame,” Weber said. “It was normal. I expected a lot things when I went up there. They didn’t shock me. It was just Ok.”
Weber then goes on to talk about wanting to take his parents along for his upcoming trip to the BBQ at the Big House, and he already sounds excited to be in Ann Arbor again:
“I’m just going to look around and go up there and fun,” Weber said. “I want to meet the people I haven’t met. You know, and see people I haven’t seen in a while. I want to see the coaches and the fans and stuff like that. It’s going to be pretty good.”
#JPTTA
Smart Kid
2015 Canton (OH) McKinley CB Eric Glover-Williams attended last week's Sound Mind Sound Body camp, and perhaps this taste of Pure Michigan elicited the following, via Sam Webb ($):
“I like Michigan because the coaches make me feel at home,” he said. “I want to go out there and check it out to learn and see how the players are, how practices go, and see if I can learn a lot of things I don’t know already.”
...
“I don’t know… I kind of want to get out of Ohio,” Glover-Williams responded. “They’re on the top five list. I’d have to say Ohio State, Tennessee, Michigan, Michigan State, West Virginia.”
Smart kid.
2014 Updates: Dickerson Names Top Three
Four-star 2014 NJ DE/TE Garrett Dickerson named a top three, in order, of Stanford, Michigan, and Northwestern on Twitter this week — he eliminated Ohio State and Alabama, so this is a kid who's serious when he mentions academics as a key factor. While the other schools are recruiting him as an athlete, Michigan wants him as a defensive end—at least initially—though the coaches have some catching up to do in the communication department if they want to overtake Stanford, per Rivals' Adam Friedman ($):
"I'd probably say I talk to the Stanford and Northwestern coaches the most," he said. "Michigan is right there behind them. I speak with all the coaches and the head coaches very often. It's all very close.
"I guess my communication with the coaches is what will set the schools apart," Dickerson said. "All the schools tell me they want me. If they really want to talk to me, they'll get me on the phone. My communication and the way they express to me how they see me fitting in as part of their program will be the deciding factor."
Dickerson plans to take official visits to all three of his finalists before making his choice, so Michigan has time to cover the communication gap. Stanford is still the favorite until further notice.
Four-star Glenville safety Erick Smith told Scout's Bill Greene after attending SMSB that he'd like to visit Michigan, among other schools, for a game this fall ($). Smith is, of course, teammates with five-star athlete Marshon Lattimore; while Ohio State is the presumed destination for both—remember, Glenville is OSU's Cass Tech—the Michigan coaches are still going to take their best shot at landing both. Obviously, having them on campus would help that cause.
Good Job, Good Effort
Michigan State came to East Lake and didn't know who you were.... — Yeah that's absolutely true http://t.co/a6FRzg4pLo
— GΣΩRGΣ CΔMPβΣLL (@GeorgeCampbell0) June 18, 2013
Etc.
In case you ever had an inkling to take SpartanMag seriously, don't ever take SpartanMag seriously.
ESPN's Craig Haubert looks at which defense fits better for Da'Shawn Hand: Michigan's 4-3 under or Alabama's 3-4? At least initially, in his opinion, the Wolverines provide a more natural landing spot at weakside DE.
Leading 2015 NOTY candidate Equanimeous St. Brown has interest from Michigan and Ohio State after an outstanding performance at SMSB; the Midwest is a long way from home for the California prospect, but as it turns out a cross-country trip isn't a big deal to him, per GBW ($):
“My mom’s German and I speak both German and French,” said St. Brown. “I lived in Paris for like four months and I go to Germany every summer. I’m kind of used to traveling so it’s not an issue.”
Tri-lingual high-schooler fits the current Michigan character mold, methinks.
Top 2015 Georgia cornerback interviewed by Georgia blog says his dream school is... Michigan. RECRUITING IS GOING OKAY THESE DAYS. [EDIT: Brian alerts me that the recruit in question is LaMarr Woodley's nephew, so he may be saying this out of fear for life and limb.]
jungle beats
/watches feet video for fourth time
jungle beats
That ECA sounds like a terrible idea. If you read the article it says they don't have any facilities - it's a high school that is completely online aside from the football team. Definitely seems like an extension of the "WE AIN'T COME HERE TO PLAY SCHOOL" mindset.
Yeah, I don't know what to make of it. On one hand, it seems like more schools, especially private and charter schools, will probably be using more online and alternative instruction in the future. Then again, almost every single student is on the football team, a team full of all-stars, and they can't get enough cred to play a full slate of games.
and they only played 3 games last year. Why would anyone want to go to that school. All they seem to do is practice (but not play games).
"Michigan is definitely right up there," Watson noted. "It's Michigan. They have top of the line facilities
"Michigan is definitely right up there," Watson noted. "It's Michigan. They have facilities
Fixed it.
a problem getting through the admissions dept. at U-M assuming they commit. On the surface, that kind of academic program seems pretty weak.
Hoke wouldn't have offered them if he wasn't sure they would get through.
Besides, Admissions looks at the number of credits taken as opposed to the quality of credits (i.e., they don't care about difficulty of classes or course selection).
One year of Spanish 1 for a native spanish-speaker is worth as much one year of AP Latin.
At the end of the day, it's a check the box for the credits, and then a GPA and SAT/ACT composite. therefore, easier schools help you get better GPA's, etc. and you should be good to go.
Having worked for an admissions department for a BCS school, I experienced things differently.
Class difficulty was a major factor--students who took the most difficult classes offered scored highly compared to those who didn't. GPA didn't matter at all, because schools vary so much with GPA. Class rank (even private schools that don't rank will give you some way to figure out where the student falls relative to his/her class) is the metric most commonly used, not GPA.
Otherwise, what would admissions do for home school students if not for attempting to understand the rigor of classes? Oh, your GPA is a 5.6 because you took all APs and your Mom gave you all A's?
With athletes, so long as they meet NCAA Clearinghouse, admissons can accept them. However, schools like UM, although willing to accept some athletes who barely scrape by Clearinghouse, will not take a whole recruiting class full of them, and are wary of schools like this.
As to whether Hoke ran this all by admissions, I imagine he usually does and has a procedure, but it is always possible they offer to respect the best athletes (especially at a camp) and tell them it is pending being admitted. If the admissions dept. says no, it is not likely the recruits mention this publicly, as it gives other schools' admissions departments less ground to stand on to accept them, so it just turns out they find another school.
on your claim of working at an Ivy admissions office.
Having talked to multiple admissions officers at Ivy League schools, they (specifically those at the top few) mention they have enough quality applicants to fill three or four identical classes. Most create a metric "score" for a student to attempt to quantify the academics, but there are so many extra factors that students who go into Ivys have, like running their own software start-up, growing up in Kazakhstan and speaking six languages, etc., having Bruce Springsteen for a father, that make for a well-rounded incoming freshman class that it is impossible to quantify.
"Hmm, he gets six points because he speaks four languages, but we'll deduct .25 because he was born in Switzerland, where about everyone learns four languages." Not realistic. Top schools admissions offices also will not create a class of solely the top scores, as these classes would not be well rounded.
The metric scores, as I was told for Ivys and how they were used in our office, were used mainly such that, after we had put together a draft of our class, we could:
a) double check the students with really high academic scores, to make sure we didn't accidently wait-list or reject a seemingly strong academic candidate, and
b) double check the students we are accepting for really low academic scores, to make sure we know exactly what reason we are accepting the student.
It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine...
Booo double post.
The ECA Honey Badgers? I'm a fan already.
School at a football program? A honey badger don't give a shit about that.
Runyan wants to talk with his parents before making a decision . . .
Jon Jr: "Dad, Michgan just offered me!"
Jon: "Cool."
Jon Jr: "I'm going to commit."
Jon: "Of course you are."
Mom: "Dinner."
It's a shame I can't posbang this any more
"...where getting the hell out of Ohio, Is Pure Michigan. Your trip begins at michigan.org"
I have to imagine that with a southerly wind the smell from Ohio can waft into Michigan, I hope that just "getting out" of there is enough for him.
http://247sports.com/Player/Hjalte-Froholdt-32219
Hjalte Froholdt is now #59 in the nation.
This is what JC Shurburtt said:
I was extremely high on this kid's film- he was straight-up nasty. Then, I go to Columbus and see him in person- he doesn't even look like much of a football player eyeball-test wise so I thought perhaps the film didn't tell the whole story. Well, then I saw him in one-on-ones and the quickness plus tenacity plus weighing in bigger than what was once thought equals pretty dang good young defensive tackle prospect.
because a guy like Adoree' Jackson or Brandon Watson is a better complement to Jabrill Peppers? I mean, Peppers is destined to be the boundary corner, right? It would make sense to get a quicker cover corner to play opposite him as opposed to getting Westphal, who is big and physical.
It's possible. I'll say this: I've heard that the coaches are a lot more confident about Michigan's chances with Jackson than the experts are. Also, I think this class hits 20 without much issue (I've been saying this for a while), so there could be more room than initially expected.
Is the whole track thing being overblown by other analysts.
I know some analysts are surmising that he might not even play football couple years down the road to focus on the Olympics.
simple-minded, but isn't track just about running really fast? With football, it's a team sport, and so teammates and coaching is crucial, as well as level of competition if you want to be the best. To me, since track is about doing one particular thing very well, the school seems less important, as you can just find out the time you need to make the Olympics, or whatever your goal is, and work towards that individually.
With track the coaching is extremely important if you want to be a world class athlete. I think Adoree even mentioned that was a key concern.
I think he could probably play safety, too. But this sort of feels like Treadwell. There's no reason for him not to commit, but he won't. SOMEONE CHECK HUGH FREEZE'S CHECK BOOK.
Totally different situations, IMO. If Michigan and Westphal are drifting apart, from what I'm hearing that would be because the coaches are backing off, not Westphal.
Thanks for that insight Ace. All I read on these boards is Westphal must be cooling since he hasnt committed (when 60% of the kids nationwide have not, we have an "early" class versus most). But takes two to tango and all of us peons on the board who don't talk to coaches or the kids themselves have zero idea of what is really going on in that specific relationship so your comments are appreciated. I imagine it is a tough situation for coaches too because you build a relationship with a kid, and the kid wants to commit but you have someone else higher on your 'draft board' if you will.
But these are first world problems.
p.s. I know Malik is very publicity shy on the recruitment comments but do you have a similar feel for his situation - he is the other guy I see a lot of "this is Treadwell again since he does not want to commit in May!"
and the coaches feel even better? That's some pleasant news
Garrett Dickerson named a top three, in order, of Stanford, Michigan, and Northwestern on Twitter this week — he eliminated Ohio State and Alabama, so this is a kid who's serious when he mentions academics as a key factor.
Finally. That's what it actually should look like when a kid says he's serious about academics. Not subsequent official visits to Florida State and LSU.
I just want to chime in that Myron Rolle went to FSU, and he's a Rhode's scholar, NCAA All-American, NFL Alumnus, and now in med school.
College is what you make of it, and it's a bit different for freak athletes.
EDIT: Not attacking you, just noting that you can be about academics and include one of those schools or something. I do agree that when an athlete says it's all about academics, then strikes ND, Mich, Stanford, Vandy in favor of Bama, LSU, Ole Miss, and Oregon, he's just saying stuff to say it.
What Rolle did was cool, no doubt.
and taking off a year for the Rhodes Scholar dropped him to a 6th round pick and an abridged NFL career. probably cost him a great deal of money in the long run.
that being said, the real mistake he made was choosing FSU over Michigan. if you all remember, Ron English was recruiting him as a safety and Rolle was a five star athlete and also #1 in his position and #1 in the state of NJ.
plus... Michigan's kinesiology program is better than FSU's exercise science program (i.e., Rolle's major).
Man, I thought we were done with this debate five years ago, but I guess it'll never die. As the story went, IIRC when Rolle went to FSU, their academic advisors had a plan set up to cater to Rolle's desire to become a Rhodes Scholar, specifically showing him what they had done to help other athletes become Rhodes Scholars. This contrasted greatly with other schools like Michigan, whose Rhodes Scholar plan consisted of the same academic support every athlete gets to maintain eligibility. So, when it came time to pick schools, he picked the school that took his Rhodes Scholar plans seriously. Seeing as he is now a Rhodes Scholar, that choice pretty clearly is the opposite of a mistake.
sorry, i've only been on the blog for 1 year :(
but Myron Rolle is literally a once-in-a-generation type guy. How many people are All-Americans and Rhodes Scholars? I mean, holy crap. Dudes gonna be President one day.
For every Myron Rolle, there's 99,999 other guys who say "Academics is important to me...I like how Ole Miss has staff to do my homework for me. That's how serious I take academics"
Not only is having Byran Bullough as the number three prospect in the state of Michigan ridiculous, in my mind, Bullough would probably be #3 or #4 from Michigan that is currently committed to MSU (fyi, there are currently 4 commits to MSU from Michigan). Both Deon Drake and Sokol are better prospects, not to mention at least Harris and Marshall (and according to 247, 16 Michigan prospects in total, quite the variance there).
for being least likely to decommit. He's not going to get burnt twice by this class.
Ace,
I think you mean Marshon Lattimore.
Indeed I do. Thanks.
I guess this Hoke guy is an ok recruiter.
I've never seen the kid play but the last name Woodley (and the pit bull blood lines that obviously come with it) makes me feel very comfortable in saying that I want him in a winged helmet as soon as possible
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