Wednesday Recruitin'
Short Update this week, as the recruiting class is getting wrapped up in short order. All updates can be found on the Michigan Football Recruiting Board. Next week's update will probably be of the "class overview" variety. After that, the focus is very likely to shift to the 2011 class.
One Of The Best Defense... Plays
For those who live under a rock, the heading references the gentlelady from Florida.
MD LB Josh Furman will announce his decision this Saturday at the Maryland Crab Bowl. He went on the local television sets to talk about the bowl itself, as well as his college decision and the extraordinary season he had at Old Mill this year. Furman's decision, between UM and Virginia Tech, is expected to go in favor of the Wolverines. He announces on the 19th.
Although FL DT Richard Ash committed to West Virginia just a couple weeks ago, he visited Michigan the weekend of the 4th, and now Sam Webb has said on WTKA that he has a "strong gut feeling" that Ash will switch that commitment to the Wolverines. For those who don't regularly listen to the Recruiting Roundup (and I know it's become a lot more difficult since the WTKA website has been having technical issues for a couple weeks now), that means Sam has been told that this will happen, and it's not merely a guess.
Michigan will receive a visit from FL CB/S Rashad Knight later this winter ($, info in header). Knight was originally slated to visit for the Ohio State game, but missed his flight.
[editor jump-in]
A commitment from Ash coupled with the presumed silent commitments from Grimes, Murphy, and Furman would bring Michigan to 27 members of the class, leaving one slot open for any of the various players listing Michigan—CA S Sean Parker, CA LB Tony Jefferson, MI DT Jonathan Hankins, TX DT "Big Tex" Beachum, etc—unless there's a decommitment or a kid who is far enough away from qualifying that Michigan pulls a scholarship offer. Of those players, Hankins has seems the most likely but is currently rotating like a pulsar, having declared Florida his leader and then suggesting that commitments to Michigan and then Ohio State were imminent.
Jefferson is supposed to be a package deal with CA WR Kenny Stills and has dropped Florida, leaving both players considering Oklahoma and Michigan, with Oklahoma the favorite. No one really knows what Parker's up to.
[/editor]
Safetytown
For those worried about losing the commitment of LA S Carvin Johnson should an offer come from LSU, mgoblog recruiting guru TomVH provides a little peace of mind:
#Michigan commit Carvin Johnson told me LSU has not offered, and an offer from them would not change his commitment to Michigan.
Though Carvin's Rummel team failed to take home the State Championship this weekend, he was still named the game's MVP.
In other "committed safety championship game" news, Ray Vinopal comes in for some high praise from the coach of Columbus St. Francis DeSales, which dropped the Ohio State Championship to Vinopal's Cardinal Mooney team:
"Playing for Mooney, you know you're going to see kids that are disciplined, smart and technically sound, but you add in this kid's abilities and you really have something special," said Wiggins, who coached U-M's Patrick Omameh.
"You want to talk about a kid that can flat out run, though - Vinopal was probably the fastest kid we played against all season, and we had a very competitive schedule.
This goes right along with everything we've heard about Vinopal: well-coached, mentally ready to play the game. However, it also touts something that isn't usually praised, which is Vinopal's physical ability. Braylon Heard, Cardinal Mooney's feature back, is a West Virginia commit oft-praised for his speed, and DeSales also played a number of other guys with HIGHLY ACCURATE and not at all FAKE 40 times in the 4.4 range on Rivals. Very interesting point there, if it's not just lip service from Wiggins (which it may very well be). So far in this article we are seriously lacking white guy adjectives, though, right?
"He's tough and gritty - just a tremendous player."
Ah, that's more like it.
2011
NC LB Kris Frost, a likely 4-star prospect in the 2011 class, is hearing from Michigan already.
"He's an energy ball," Butler quarterback Christian LeMay said. "He's always ready to play, ready to practice. I can't say enough about him. He's a piece of the heart of this team. He leads our defense."
I've added Frost to the 2011 Michigan Football Recruiting Board. (He's pictured at right, courtesy the Charlotte Observer's David T. Foster).
NY QB Ashton Broyld is getting attention from some schools as a linebacker, but he wants to play QB in college. Michigan is one of the schools that's talking to him (he was a 2009 summer camper), and he might be a good prospect for Michigan, if they can't get a top-top guy (i.e. Frost's teammate Lemay). That would give them a QB in the 2001 class, but leave open the door for an elite 2012 guy. For a little more on Broyld, check out his junior highlight film.
Etc.
Is Michigan back in the game for OH S Latwan Anderson? I'll believe it when he visits. Michigan is showing interest in FL LB Darrin Kitchens. If that interest continues, I'll add him to the board next week. AnnArbor.com fluff on WI P Commit Will Hagerup. More talking about early enrollees. The list is no different than last time we talked about it. Everyone at the Shrine Bowl seems to think SC QB commit Conelius Jones is destined for wideout in college.
It is driving me crazy not to be able to listen...I live in FL, and the Podcast is all I got.
I noticed the website problems. What's up with that? I could see it for a day or two but a couple of weeks shouldn't happen in this day and age, especially in a geeky town like AA. Does anyone know what the issue is? I will guarantee you it is fixable...fast. Sam Webb and crew deserve better.
It's particularly absurd given that their audience is multiplied by about 100x when the podcasts are working. If I was a sponsor, I would be none too happy about the podcasts being down for 2 weeks.
If we get one more defensive tackle as our last guy I will be very happy.
Has Sam Webb actually said that his gut feeling means he's been told? I know he's never wrong, but I feel like it would be wrong to say that this is how it works, unless he says so himself.
Are you saying he might actually get these feeling from his gut? That's pretty much the only alternative.
You can hate on me all you want to, but what can you possibly say to somebody that looks like Rambo, pretty much, with his shirt off?
I have no direct evidence as to where he gets his gut feelings. That's the point. I certainly think it's likely that he's been told, but if he says it's just a feeling, I think you need to qualify and say "we think this means he's been told." Again, I don't know, maybe he has admitted that that's what it means; I'm just saying that if he hasn't, I think it's unfair to unilaterally attribute a different meaning to his words.
If you're going to link to the Freep, warn us. I just inadvertently ruined my vow to never give them another page view.
While I know we can only enroll 28, I think the assumption that we can only sign 28 may be proven false.
You can hate on me all you want to, but what can you possibly say to somebody that looks like Rambo, pretty much, with his shirt off?
The point remains that we'll have to drop someone, sooner or later...
The academic statuses of Kinard, Drake and Ash are supposedly in jeopardy. We don't know how serious these situations might be, but if the coaches know one or more won't qualify, this would definitely help.
You can hate on me all you want to, but what can you possibly say to somebody that looks like Rambo, pretty much, with his shirt off?
for all we know, RichRod is already aware that some kids are definitely not going to qualify. I just don't understand this late surge in recruiting in light of the fact that he basically already filled our class up. The only explanation is that some commits will soon be decommits.
Pulsars are highly magnetized, rotating neutron stars that emit a beam of electromagnetic radiation. The observed periods of their pulses range from 1.4 milliseconds to 8.5 seconds.[1] The radiation can only be observed when the beam of emission is pointing towards the Earth. This is called the lighthouse effect and gives rise to the pulsed nature that gives pulsars their name.
not this:
http://www.google.com/url?source=imgres&ct=tbn&q=http://www.carlustblog....
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Man, I still want a second DT - Hankins or Big Tex.
I also want Parker, obviously, and also Jefferson (who is probably a package with Stills).
Finally, why did this post omit Torrian Wilson? He's still visiting, right?
So basically I want five more recruits, and we have probably only have one spot (so Jefferson can't even bring his buddy Stills along). That's kind of depressing.
We might be able to open some more spots using a greyshirt, though I just don't see that happening. First, I don't think any recruit will want to pay his own way, and second, it means that we'll even less schollies for next year.
Quite frankly, I'm hoping we see some ethical-decommits. I won't be rude and call out recruits, so I'll just stop right here.
I'd like to have Wilson for that last spot. That way we have two quality OL this class. Not positive on the position breakdowns but with being so young this past season, the recruits last year, and getting Ash, etc. we've got some good d-line prospects already even though Bix Tex or Hankins would be nice.
I feel like we have decent OL depth. I don't want to create a new hole on the OL by ignoring the position in the 2010 recruiting class, though I feel like we should be fine if we can pick up a few OL in 2011.
Jefferson and Parker both studs, but our DL depth is still weak, IMO. So I'm turn between adding the best remaining players (Jefferson/Parker) and adding DL depth.
Finally, Jefferson and Stills being a package deal also complicates the issue. I'd definitely want Stills, if he is interested, but that just means we need to find another schollie.
My B, my b...
Any reason why TX DT "Big Tex" Beachum is not on the board? I think we have a decent shot at him...
That man has a spectacular name.
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The All Greater Rochester football team will be coming out shortly (one of my players said the newspaper already took the pictures for the article). I'm assuming Broyld will be on it; plus, he's a good basketball player. While I'll be the first to admit that high school sports are relatively weak up here, compared to the rest of the country, I'd love to see Michigan give Ashton a look at QB.
Just my two cents. long-time reader, first time poster
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Tim, small correction:
I think you mean the 2011 class.
Oh, you think?
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I hate 40 times, they all have some fake in em. I like facts like D. Robinson and DJ Willimason won their states 100yd dash. That tells me yeah they must be pretty fast. Vinopal was on the Stats Champion relay team so it's not winning it by himself, but it tells us he's probably not slow.
but Denard did not win it in Florida he finished second to a kid who broke the Florida state record in the race!
When you reach the end of your rope tie a knot and hold on...
It airs tonight on ESPN 3 - four guys pass around a single calculator until one team correctly quantifies the requested odds. I knew Vinopal was a heady player, but now I'm really excited about him.
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Where is this "Jones is destined for wideout in college" statement coming from? The linked article doesn't say it and I haven't heard anyone around here talking about that. Everything I've heard here says DB, not WR.
Note - Not meaning to be critical (or be a jerk), just surprised to hear this since I hadn't heard it before and the article doesn't discuss it. Just didn't want that taken the wrong way...
Well, he's playing WR at the Shrine Bowl. He could play either WR or DB. DB is obviously the most pressing need but the guy is a guaranteed redshirt so you'd hope by 2011 he could just play whatever spot he's best at. It does seem clear he's not a QB.
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With the assumption that height is correct, I figured he would end up at linebacker or safety. In photos it seems like he has the frame to put on some muscle.
He might be a little taller than 6'2", but I'm not positive on that. He definitely has the frame to put on a lot more muscle. He really could be quite a bit bigger if he wanted to be, which is great for potential reshaping through the S&C program. I would say that safety would be better fit than linebacker.
QB with the option to move to WR or DB, if it doesn't work out for Jones.
Is this another of your "you can't count recruits toward the previous years class" posts that we debated so much previously or do you actually know what RR's plans for Jones are?
You were one of the ones who were claiming that the rule against counting recruits to the previous years class was gospel and I have seen how that played out so I just want to be sure what I am getting when I read your posts.
My point still stand with not backcounting recruits toward the previous class. Witty is considered to be part of '10 class and is not considered to be part of '09 class. However, there's a conflicting reports on whether RR can sign 28 recruits for '10 class. Apparently, there's no big ten rule nor ncaa rule for class size restriction(25 in one class), but people who work for Michigan told RR that he can't recruit more than 25 people so we'll see.
I was told that RR will let Jones to start out at QB and if it doesn't work out, he'll move to at either WR or DB.
It has been made clear that recruits can be counted toward the previous years class if they are EE's and there is room in the previous class.
http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/early-enrollessclass-size-solved
I don't want to get into this with you again, just wanted to let you know that you had no evidence in that case (and have since been proved wrong), and you have no evidence in this case either.
I am just saying that you should stop posting things as if they are fact when it is something that you heard from an unreliable source with no evidence. You seem to take this at face value far too often IME (I say this because obviously you didn't hear this from RR).
I agree with you but in order to try and make this more clear, we need to stop talking about calendar year.
The NCAA looks at academic year. In other words, there isn't a 2009. There is a 2009-10, a 2010-11, etc. Therefore a recruit can count toward the year of their first football season, ie 2010-11 for this years early enrollments, or the year they enroll, which is 2009-10. At least that is the way I read it.
Yeah, I know that he's playing WR at the Shrine Bowl, but that fact (which is what the article said) is not the same thing as "Everyone at the Shrine Bowl seems to think SC QB commit Conelius Jones is destined for wideout in college." I was just wondering as to where that statement come from since it hasn't been reported in any of the coverage of the Shrine Bowl here or any of my other tracking of Jones here.
Like I said before this kid has a ton of physical ability and potential, so I definitely agree with your red-shirt assessment, except that I would argue that he could be a quarterback (but it would take a lot of work and time, which is possible given the likely time line).
I wasn't surprised at a position switch at the next level (I've been saying since I first saw him play that he has the skill set and frame to be a good DB), but rather that the position switch was to WR (something I hadn't heard anywhere before this statement today). Basically, what I'm saying, is that the fact that he's playing receiver at the Shrine Bowl doesn't have any bearing on what position he'll play in college. It is more likely that he was moved to WR for the Shrine Bowl because he an outstanding athlete and they needed WRs more than they needed DBs (and he wasn't going to play QB) and that Jones is already committed somewhere, while a lot of the other players at WR and DB aren't, and in a bunch of cases don't have impressive offer lists. In other words, Jones doesn't need this game to showcase his skills like other players do.
Screw it. It's not worth it...
It seems like the more information we get, the more it kinda, sorta, maybe looks like it might be a good thing to recruit a kid who was the best all-around player at a football factory school and spearheaded a state championship.
Gee, what a freaking shock.
Nice roundup as always, MGoTim
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Wow! Carvin Johnson's team lost 30-0 and he's still the game's MVP? He must be some player!
Supposedly WVU recruiting ace Doc Holiday (Who recruits the shit out of Florida) is on his way to Marshall. Come on down Richard Ash!
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If Furman picks UM, UM will further strengthen it's place as the #1 all dread team.
Witty and Ash will add to that as well my friend.
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