TomVH: Weekly Update: Royce Jenkins-Stone, Jordan Payton, Adam Bisnowaty and More Comment Count

TomVH

Michigan is almost to the start of the season and ahead of schedule recruiting wise. There are a few more big events coming up like the BBQ at the Big House on July 31st. I outlined some confirmed visitors for the BBQ in last week's Weekly Update, which you can see here. Now here's a look at what happened this week and what's in the near future. As always you can follow me on Twitter @TomVH and email me with any tips or questions at [email protected]

Royce Jenkins-StoneRoyce Jenkins-Stone

6'2", 215 lbs.

Linebacker

Detroit, Michigan


There was a lot of noise this week about Royce and his teammate Terry Richardson potentially taking visits in the near future. I mentioned and figured that the visits probably wouldn't happen and them saying they would continue to visit schools wasn't a big deal. Since then, Royce has said he will no longer be taking visits and is happy with that decision.

What changed my mind was talking to Coach Wilcher and how he was saying I shouldn't go chasing schools. If I do it might seem like I'm trying to change my mind on my school. That's basically what the [Michigan] coaching staff said too. So yeah I'm good on visits.

This is the outcome that I expected. I don't believe the Michigan coaches will allow visits to happen for any commits. Nothing to worry about.

Jordan PaytonJordan Payton

6'2", 199 lbs.

Wide Receiver

Westlake Village, California


I reported awhile ago that Payton had decided to decommit from USC and was very interested in Michigan. He told me that they would be a school he wants to visit and that he has a lot of interest. Since then he has scheduled his visit out to Ann Arbor.

I'm visiting on September 10th for the game against Notre Dame. I'm just excited to see the atmosphere and really experience everything Michigan has to offer.

Jordan also mentioned that he doesn't expect his recruitment to drag out much longer. He will potentially make a decision sometime shortly after those visits. I think Michigan has a chance, but I'm not sure where they rank out yet for him.

Adam BisnowatyAdam Bisnowaty

6'6", 275 lbs.

Offensive Lineman

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania


Bisnowaty is a lineman that not many people talk about, partially because he doesn't say much publicly. The Michigan coaches are still very much interested in him, and he took a visit to Ann Arbor a few weeks back. He was recently in Oregon for the Nike event The Opening. I caught up with him to talk about his experience and where he's at in his recruitment.

The Opening was awesome. The coaches were unbelievable and the competition was great. I talked to some of the Michigan commits and asked them why they chose them. I talked to everyone that was committed somewhere really. It was basically to figure out what they liked about each school because it's hard to see what stands out sometimes.

As you've seen numerous times the Michigan commitments love recruiting other prospects and they did a good amount of it at The Opening.

I know I talked to Erik [Magnuson] and he told me that Michigan was just the place for him, he just likes it a lot up there. 

Adam's trip to Michigan was his first time on campus and he talked a little about what he saw.

We didn't get the full tour, because we didn't have a lot of time, we mostly talked to the coaches. The school itself is unbelievable, I'd like to see more of the school and meet a couple more players to see how comfortable I am with them. The main thing is that they're short on tackles. They were saying people can come in and potentially be on the second team just by walking in the door. Other than that they were telling me that people want to be at Michigan, they have a recruiting class now of like 20 kids.

He enjoyed his time up there, and said that playing time will definitely be a factor in his ultimate decision. He is also aware of Michigan's numbers recruiting wise but says that won't affect his timeline.

Playing time definitely factors in. Everyone's goal is to make it to the pros and you have to play to get there. I'm looking at the players, the coaches, how I feel on campus. I always ask myself If I could go to this school if I didn't play football. If Michigan's class fills up then it fills up. I want to go there for the right reasons not just because I need to hurry up and decide. If it's still available when I decide then I will definitely consider them. 

Bisnowaty considers himself a finisher on the field, big on pancakes, and thinks he plays tough but not dirty. As he mentioned he didn't feel he had enough time in Ann Arbor so he would like to potentially take an official visit to Michigan to get a better feel for his comfort level. He's looking to make his decision relatively soon, he won't be waiting until after the season to decide. He'll potentially take a few official visits then make his decision.

Extra:

As I reported Thursday night, Cincinnati WR Monty Madaris was offered and is planning on visiting for the BBQ at the Big House on July 31st.

Ohio RB Bri'onte Dunn's father said they should know soon if they will be attending the BBQ. I'll keep you posted. 

If you missed it I had an interview with Taft teammates Dwayne Stanford and Adolphus Washington's head coach. He said they are not likely to take any more visits in the near future because of AAU basketball.

A lot of people have been asking where Michigan's class could end up ranking overall on signing day. I broke everything down in this diary and gave you a decent look at where the class might end up being ranked. i said probably in the 7-13 range at the end of the day, if nothing changes [There is potential for the class to be ranked higher, this is just a conservative guess/projection based on the info we have right now].

Comments

WolvinLA2

July 18th, 2011 at 12:28 PM ^

Yeah, he's good.  He has an offer form every good Pac-12 school save USC, but they're hurting on schollies so I'm OK with that.  That's Oregon, Stanford, Cal, UCLA, Washington, Utah, Colorado, Arizona plus Nebraska.  That's a very good offer list. 

Mr Mackey

July 17th, 2011 at 7:16 PM ^

The timeline shouldn't be too big of a factor. Of the OL we're after, Diamond is the only one who might decide sooner than him. Garnett and Banner want to take officials, so it seems like their decision might come after the season. If the coaches like him enough that they'd take him over a possible Diamond, Banner, or Garnett, then it's very possible he comes IMO.

john22

July 17th, 2011 at 7:26 PM ^

Jordan Payton is visiting when we play norte dame,sounds like we at least have a shot at landing him. Nice to hear that RJS is not taking any visits after all. Should we be worried about T-Rich since he hasn't said anything in the last few days? GO BLUE!!!

dennisblundon

July 17th, 2011 at 7:56 PM ^

My biggest question right now is Diamond still in for the final tackle spot? I am kind of glad to see things slowing down a bit in the near future. We have 6 spots left and the big fish are the hardest to catch.

turtleboy

July 17th, 2011 at 8:18 PM ^

to a top 5 over 2 months ago. Michigan, Auburn, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Ohio. Now his relations are giving out some mixed messages about his timeline. He could decide sooner, but last word was him potentially deciding after this season. We've talked about him as a Michigan lean a long time but his mom giving statements for him recently it sounds like he's more undecided now.

althegreat23

July 17th, 2011 at 8:58 PM ^

If it was up to Jordan's mom, he'd commit and get it over with. However, we know that's not the case.

I'm sure that E.J. Fatu or fullback will be great Wolverines, but I hate that we're forced to use a scholarship on a fullback and possibly miss out on the Washington duo of Banner and Garnett.

Crazy Canuck

July 17th, 2011 at 8:02 PM ^

Do we take one or two wr? Can you rank the wr who we've offered by who you think has the most potential or most ready to contribute right away? Also, can you rank them by the chance of them commiting to us?

Crazy Canuck

July 18th, 2011 at 7:58 PM ^

I heard some people only have one down when they are talking about our projected class. I really hope Burbridge gets his grades up. I just think this kid is going to be something special. Other than that I'd take any of the other wr we have offered. Payton seems to be the best of the rest though.

turtleboy

July 17th, 2011 at 8:21 PM ^

but Wormley has the soonest announced timeline. He's supposed to be a summer decision in the next few weeks. Other than him the heat is on for the DTackles. Could be a mix of Pipkins, OBrien, and Day as the last D commits and all 3 could possibly attend. If Glenn Fry also attends the BBQ then I'd expect a Hello post in the near future.

turtleboy

July 18th, 2011 at 4:17 PM ^

sound like they are in no hurry to decide any time soon. Diamond with talk about a potential post season decision, and Bisnowaty says if we still have a spot left when he's ready to decide we'll still be in it for him. Garnett and Banner seem to be just as close to deciding. Honestly the 1 OL and 1 DL talk was probably put out there to slow the rush of commitments down. We've only got 7 spots left, and some immediate and future depth needs to address, and the coaches have yet to see any kids on the team actually play in the new systems. They also have yet to see what the 2011 freshmen look like in practice. I think the coaches will wait on the last 5 or so commits until they really know where the remaining needs are.

HouseThatYostBuilt

July 17th, 2011 at 9:02 PM ^

I'm glad to see that Payton is visiting for the Notre Dame game. That whole weekend should be a huge recruiting tool for Hoke & Co. If seeing Michigan play Notre Dame under the lights in front of 113,000 people doesn't convince a recruit to come here, then nothing will.

hart20

July 17th, 2011 at 10:53 PM ^

Per Rivals, the Cass Tech head coach said that neither Richardson nor Jenkins-Stone have plans for any visits. We knew about Jenkins-Stone before but not Richardson. So there you go, for anyone wondering.

hart20

July 17th, 2011 at 10:53 PM ^

Per Rivals, the Cass Tech head coach said that neither Richardson nor Jenkins-Stone have plans for any visits. We knew about Jenkins-Stone before but not Richardson. So there you go, for anyone wondering.

Don

July 18th, 2011 at 8:18 AM ^

FWIW, Sam Webb implied this morning that Richardson might still be wanting to take visits, even though the coaches have made it clear they're not happy about any commit doing that. I know this doesn't mesh with the comment upthread that Coach Wilcher has dealt with the issue.

Mr Mxyzptlk

July 18th, 2011 at 10:10 AM ^

Adam Bisnowaty sounds like a great kid and if we didn't already have a great 5 man O-line class, I would be hoping we snatch him up right now.  However, I think it would be a shame to miss out an Diamond, Peat, Banner or one of the other elite tackles that still have interest in Michigan.

Also, I was very surprised to hear Tom say that he projects our recruiting class to end up ranked between 7-13.  Geez, I thought our recruiting class ranked # 6 (or better) right now and could end up getting even better with the addition of some of the high caliber recruits we are in on.

turtleboy

July 18th, 2011 at 10:23 AM ^

recruit class, remaining prospects, and similar past classes from other schools he projects us to at least range 7-13. He took the average star rating of remaining players at each position and found we likely wont rank any lower than 13th. If he guessed us taking the best remaining likely prospect at each position we could end up staying with the #1 overall class.

 

TomVH

July 18th, 2011 at 10:34 AM ^

It was a conservative guess. I only put it in that range because I don't know how some prospects could get re-ranked or where some of the top recruits will commit to at other schools. I said in the article it was just for fun, it could eventually be higher than that I just have no way of predicting what happens where. It was just to give people that were asking about it a look at the potential.

Blue In NC

July 18th, 2011 at 10:44 AM ^

Remember, Tom's comment was based on conservative assumptions and recruits not earning extra stars.  He also said if things went the right way, UM could be top5.  I think it's relatively safe to assume that UM will squeak into the top 10 and could be near top 5 if everything goes well.

 

Edit: beaten to the punch by the man himself.

WolvinLA2

July 18th, 2011 at 11:02 AM ^

Based on the prediction of our remaining recruits, I think the class we most resemble on that list is 2011 Georgia who finished at #5.  I think as long as we get a good chunk of the guys we're after (Pipkins or O'Brien at DT, Wormley or Washington at DE, Bisno, Diamond, Garnett or Banner at OL, Stanford, Payton or Burbridge at WR) that would put us at 14 4-stars.  If we get both DTs or two of those WRs or a guy like Dunn, we're above that number and almost certainly a top-5 class.

Also, when Rivals does their rankings, they also take into account where the 3-stars rank, for example.  For us, almost all of our 3-stars are 5.7s which will help.  Also also, they'll likely count Jeremy Clark in our class, which won't add a ton of star power, but extra commits always help.