Tuesday Recruitin' Plays The Woodson Card Comment Count

Ace

Today's recruiting roundup recaps last weekend's visits, attempts to figure out the plans of Su'a Cravens, talks new 2014 offers, and more.

Hey Kid, Come Be Charles Woodson

FL CB/S Leon McQuay III was a relatively surprising visitor last weekend, as Michigan hasn't been mentioned much as a player in his recruitment. That may have changed over the course of his trip to Ann Arbor, however, as the four-star defensive back told GBW's Sam Webb that the Wolverines "definitely jumped up," likely into his top five schools ($). Vanderbilt, USC, Florida, Notre Dame, and Stanford are all in the mix as well. McQuay's visit also revealed the potential recruiting impact of Michigan's "Legends" jerseys:

[Leon McQuay Jr., the recruit's father:] "The one thing that hits me is him possibly wearing Charles Woodson’s jersey. I didn’t know that coming in and the way that they do that with the jersey’s and with the players, that’s major, man, when you can decide what kid is going to have the chance to try to fill those shoes.”

When asked about the idea of wearing Charles Woodson’s #2 jersey, McQuay III was at a loss for words, but managed to eek out a few.

“Definitely the love that the coaching staff showed and the campus is amazing and the Big House is amazing, it’s crazy,” said McQuay III.

While McQuay plays safety in high school, Michigan is recruiting him as a cornerback, which is his preferred college position ($). He will graduate from high school in December and enroll early at his school of choice, though there's no concrete timetable for a decision.

Another big-time defensive back considering the Wolverines is CA S Su'a Cravens, who's been the subject of some confusion this week. HuskerOnline reported earlier this week that Cravens was down to three schools($)—Michigan, Nebraska, and USC—and would visit Michigan and Nebraska later this month, but Cravens took to Twitter to refute that report. Cravens's father told Scout's Brandon Huffman yesterday that UCLA, USC, Ohio State, and Michigan are Su'a's actual leaders($), and Rivals's Adam Gorney tweeted today that Cravens will visit Michigan and Ohio State this week, and he may visit Nebraska after if he's so inclined. He'll also visit USC and UCLA once more before deciding on June 6th. The sense is still that Cravens will end up with the Trojans, but we'll see where things stand after his Midwest trip.

While pulling in McQuay or Cravens would be a coup, the Wolverines appear to have a much better shot at MA DT Maurice Hurst Jr., who has now named a top two of Michigan and Virginia ($, info in header). Hurst has set his visit to Ann Arbor for June 2nd, and he plans to decide after his trip—the signs are very positive here. Still, the Wolverines aren't taking any chances at DT, offering TX prospect Hardreck Walker over the weekend, according to Tremendous. Walker stands at 6'2", 280 lbs., and is a four-star on Scout and a three-star to Rivals and 247.

The other big position of need in this class is still wide receiver, and Michigan isn't banking on a commitment from Laquon Treadwell, or, at least, not putting all of their eggs in that basket. MD WR Paul Harris will visit Ann Arbor this summer, and has Michigan in his top four($) along with USC, Tennessee, and Penn State. Tim Sullivan reports that IN WR Mike Rogers will camp at Michigan this summer in the hopes of earning an offer ($). AZ WR Devon Allen has long maintained that he'll see Michigan as part of a Midwest trip, and while Allen states that the Wolverines are still among his favorites, due to his extremely busy track schedule those plans are up in the air ($).

Quickly: VA DE Wyatt Teller now includes Michigan in his top three with Virginia and Virginia Tech, according to Tremendous. TN RB Jordan Wilkins is looking to narrow his list and tweets that the Wolverines are "up there" with Auburn, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, and Ole Miss. IN DE Elijah Daniel names a top 15 that does not include Michigan ($). Happy trails to VA DE Jonathan Allen, who committed to Alabama yesterday.

2014 Updates

While McQuay was the only 2013 visitor last weekend, Michigan also hosted a few sophomore prospects, including four-star in-state QB Chance Stewart. Stewart and OH QB Deshone Kizer appear to be the top two targets at quarterback for the 2014 class, and the coaches want to get a better look at each player before deciding who to offer. Stewart sat down with Al Borges on his visit, according to Tremendous, and Borges reiterated that Michigan would like to see Stewart in a camp setting before extending an offer.

Tremendous also caught up with OH OL Nathaniel Devers, who visited on Saturday and said "Michigan might be my school," though he'll have to earn an offer first—the coaches are still waiting on film. Devers comes from the powerhouse Massilon Washington program, which is the home of 2013 commit Gareon Conley (as well as the former school of ex-Wolverine Justin Turner). OH LB Dante Booker was also on campus over the weekend, and his father told GBW($) that Booker "enjoyed the visit," though he also offered the not-so-lofty praise "he is not ruling them out at this time."

Michigan offered three early Top247 prospects recently. TN WR Josh Malone also holds offers from Tennessee, Nebraska, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and others, and has interest from Alabama—he got his offer from Mark Smith last week ($). CB Nick Watkins plans to check out Ann Arbor this summer while visiting family in Detroit($)—he added Michigan to an impressive early offer list that includes Arkansas, Alabama, and Texas A&M. MO OL Roderick Johnson recently picked up his first offers($) from Michigan, Iowa, and Missouri—at 6'7", 310 lbs., he's got prototypical tackle size as a sophomore in high school.

Comments

RakeFight

May 22nd, 2012 at 12:16 PM ^

Does anyone else find Elijah Daniel's Top 15 peculiar?

 Indiana, Florida, Miami, Tennessee, Florida State, Missouri, Ole Miss, Clemson, Marshall, Kentucky, Arizona State, West Virginia, South Florida, Syracuse, and Georgia.

I found it an odd mix of schools... and looking at his offer list, he essentially named every non-Big Ten school that offered him (except Indiana!) in his Top 15 (excluding Michigan, ohio, Nebraska, etc.).  Weird.

Magnus

May 22nd, 2012 at 2:44 PM ^

Elijah Daniel grew up in Alabama, but without offers from Alabama/Auburn, he looks to be heading to another southern school.  His brother (Armonze) spurned Indiana's advances a couple years ago to sign with Marshall.  It doesn't really seem like the family has a strong interest in playing for a Big Ten program or in the midwest.  If Elijah has a chance to play for one of the big-time programs down south, I bet he takes it.

M-Wolverine

May 22nd, 2012 at 12:35 PM ^

Re: Hurst - MaizeAndBlueWahoo should be happy either way. (Maybe Teller too. Allen, not so much. Lots of talent in VA this year, eh?)

Feat of Clay

May 22nd, 2012 at 1:14 PM ^

Chance Stewart is an excellent quarterback name, and there's certainly potential to move on to a great NASCAR career after college.  But I am not sure I can stand to listen to 4 years of lame college game announcer puns.  I may have to root for him to find a school outside the B1G.  Maybe outside the country.

Moleskyn

May 22nd, 2012 at 1:27 PM ^

at 6'7", 310 lbs., he's got prototypical tackle size as a sophomore in high school

(Emphasis mine)

You have got to be kidding me! How does someone get that big as a sophomore in high school?? Wow.

MosherJordan

May 22nd, 2012 at 2:22 PM ^

If the lure of wearing the #2 brings in Cravens, Fuller, or McQuay, it'll be one more reason to love Charles Woodson.

Speaking of Woodson, maybe we can arrange to have him accidentally bump into Cravens on his visit.

/Kiffin'ed

Alex.Y

May 24th, 2012 at 4:36 AM ^

There are things that a lot of us do not realize when it comes to recruiting. People do not pay much attention to it other than die-hard fans. Thank you for taking the time to share.

 

It is important to know how the recruiting selection process takes place during a recession so that you will know why coaches do what they do in times like these.