Unverified Voracity And Such And Such

He's #1? Jake Long is the #1 overall prospect for the '08 draft at NFL Draft Countdown.

Meanwhile, ESPN's initial list($) has Jake Long the #4 overall prospect and Chad Henne #9. Mike Hart is the #3 RB, Adam Kraus the #4 OG, and Jamar Adams the #3 safety. (Only seniors are listed.) Next year is going to be a weird one for the team: they should have a tremendous amount of experience but over half of the nine scholarship seniors they lose are rated amongst the best at their position in college.

The Houston Chronicle also has a list out, one that features Mike Hart as a first round pick. This is something I've seen a few different places, but as much as I love Mike Hart (lots), I don't think there's any way he goes higher than the second or third round. Dude just isn't fast enough.

Help possibly not coming? Given incoming goalie recruit Bryan Hogan's weak year in the USHL I don't know if anyone is looking at him as a surefire Sauer replacement, but Chris Heisenberg notes that, weirdly, he went relatively early in the OHL draft:

One other point of interest is Erie's selection of Lincoln USHL goalie Bryan Hogan in the fifth round. What makes it interesting is that he is an '88 in a '90 and '91 draft. Those picks mean the team has a special reason for taking the unique pick. Last year Matt Martello was a similar pick, and while he stuck out his commitment to LSSU, there was smoke, and later he ended up in Kitchener.

That is early to take a flyer on a player you can only have for a year or two, especially when he wasn't exactly tearing up the OHL. But would it make any sense for a marginal NHL prospect like Hogan to pass up the opportunity to start at Michigan for a brief (one year, I believe, since 20 is the age limit) OHL term followed by... um... what exactly do they do with old OHL players? Is there a furnace somewhere?

Yerk. I am not sure if this news is newsy enough to mention given the hideous pun in the headline, but former Penn State head coach Jerry Dunn has accepted an offer to be Beilein's lead assistant. Dunn held the position under Beilein at West Virginia. Mark Synder at the Free Press chooses to report this like so: "Beilein's staff nearly 'Dunn'." Aaaaargh, my brain.

This completes Beilein's staff. Mike Jackson was rehired shortly after Beilein took the job; WVU director of basketball operations John Mahoney moves over to fill the third spot.

Nate Fenno has an interview with Beilein.

Nein nacht. The Free Press also notes that Michigan is increasingly left out of night game mania. They've never played one at home and with a road schedule featuring NW, Illinois, and Michigan State there are few appealing options for road games. (Michigan's contest in November against Wisconsin looks like an appealing option, but let's review: Wisconsin. November. No thank you.) This causes grumbles from TV execs and may hamper Michigan's PR efforts. So... why not have a night game every once in a while? I understand the desire to maintain Michigan's midday tradition, but when night has fallen on Michigan Stadium in recent years the results have been spectacular: Michigan's 27-24 win over Penn State in their first OT game ever, the epic Braylonfest against Michigan State, and Mario Manningham's literally last second touchdown that provided the only bright spot during the Year of Infinite Pain. All of these events have been enhanced by the unusual spectacle of the lights and the dusk.

So, a proposal: play Penn State and only Penn State at night when they visit. TV executives are happier. The Penn State game acquires a bit of extra shine. And I think fans would enjoy the occasional change of pace. Yesno?

Etc.: Eric Lacy provides more on Trapani; sounds like the visit went well. (Someone tell him not to cut and paste articles from Word if he wants to get rid of the weird characters.) WCH on the CHL versus NCAA (yes, it's that time of year again).