Wednesday Recruitin' Won't Spill The Beans

Keep track of Michigan's offers on the 2012 Offer Board.

In the World of Poorly-Kept Secrets...

OH LB Kaleb Ringer has made it pretty darn obvious for a couple weeks now that he plans to commit to Michigan on Friday. HOWEVA, reporter from the Dayton Daily News, that does not mean it's OK to publicly out the kid against his wishes. Epic douche move, bro.

Hello: Kaleb Ringer post will be ready to go at 6 PM Friday, when Kaleb announces his decision at a local restaurant.

In other potential commitment news, it seems like MI TE/Ath Ron Thompson's on-again, off-again announcement this week is off again as he hunts for more offers. Things change almost daily, so keep an eye on this one.

SPRING FOOTBALL

Visits galore, as is expected with the spring game:

• MI TE Ron Thompson
• MI TE Devin Funchess
• IN TE Pierre Aka
• OH OL Commit Caleb Stacey
• IL OL Jordan Diamond
• IL DT Vontrell Williams
• MI LB Royce Jenkins-Stone
• MI LB James Ross

There are also several "maybe"s out there, including OH DE Chris Wormley and OH OL Benny McGowan. Tom will update that post as he gets more confirmations are removals, so keep checking it out.

PA OL JJ Denman is visiting soon ($, info in header). He's a "maybe" for the spring game.

Tom's Interviews

MGoHero TomVH was busy over the past week or so, interviewing a number of top prospects or their coaches.

A brief interview with IA WR Amara Darboh, who has been a little under-the-radar despite offers from Florida and Notre Dame.

Tom spoke with CO TE Evan Baylis, who recently visited Ann Arbor.

I was there for two days and got some good time with the coaches. We missed practice, but we got to see everything else. We met with all the coaches, saw campus, and talked to the academic advisors. The next day we went on some more tours and more personal meetings with the coaches.

Evan talked about his game:

I'm kind of intense, and I really like to get after it. I play hard for pretty much the entire game. I think I have good footwork and good speed. I like getting passed to a lot, but I also like blocking a lot too.

He says he'd like to make a decision by the end of the summer.

Here's what the head coach of WA OL Zach Banner had to say:

"He's a very good student, I see him as a business man or sports reporter. He's very charismatic, he's the student body president and he could be the President of the United States someday, he's that type of kid."

We'll hold off on discussion of how awesome it would be to have a president nearing 7 feet tall to get into the substance:

"I think he's really interested in Michigan, they'll definitely factor in. I think he's interested in them because his style of play as an offensive tackle is similar to some of the tackles that Michigan has had before. He's familiar with their history and tradition... I've encouraged him to look around, and I'd be surprised, I'd be real surprised, if he didn't take one of his official visits out to Michigan."

He plans to narrow to a top 8 by August, and announce a decision at the Army Game or on Signing Day.

PA DE Noah Spence told Tom he'll visit this summer.

I've always liked Michigan since I was younger, it definitely interests me. I like them a lot, the coaching staff seems real down to earth. We talk about everything, grades, football, and how everything's going. Not everything is football with them.

He wants to major in Kinesiology, so Michigan's excellent programs in that Division will be a plus.

Michigan is tied at the top with Rutgers for NY CB Wayne Morgan.

Etc.

OH LB Joe Bolden is a Michigan lean, according to what he told ESPN:

"I'm probably a Michigan lean right now, I really like everything Michigan has to offer," Bolden said. "I like the coaches, and the academics are tremendous there. Coach Mattison is installing a new defense; it's a lot of the stuff that he did with Florida and the Baltimore Ravens. It's a good fit for me as a [middle] linebacker. Coach looked at me and said I had a pretty good chance of playing my freshman year if I worked my butt off."

He visited for practice yesterday (photo by yours truly on the practice field). He told Tom that Michigan commit Caleb Stacey is in his ear about the Wolverines.

IN TE Pierre Aka visited over the weekend, and still hasn't been offered. He may camp this summer to try to earn that offer.

CA DT Aziz Shittu has interest in Michigan ($, info in header), and performed well enough at a Nike Camp at USC to get an offer from the Trojans. Stanford leads for his services at this time.

Speaking of that camp, CA OL Jordan Simmons (who you may remember is mentored by a former Wolverine) came out of it on a wave of fluff:

"The first thing that stood out to me about Simmons was his skinny ankles,'' said Tom Luginbill, ESPN.com's national director of scouting. "He is nimble-footed and very athletic, given his size. But he is not a tackle, strictly a guard. For a 300-pounder, he moves around nicely and showed a bit of a competitive streak as well.''

"Jordan is physically gifted. He's the total package," Crespi coach Jon Mack said. "I'm just glad he's on our side and we don't have to play against him on a weekly basis. He's a tremendous drive blocker, gets off the ball great in pass protection, he can do it all.

He'll cut to a top 10 in September.

IL DT Vontrell Williams will visit this weekend for the spring game ($, info in header). Don't be surprised if the Wolverines are that "second Big Ten offer" he's nearing.

NC RB Keith Marshall has cut his list to a top 12, and Michigan has made the cut.

Michigan – Great Tradition and good school

(He's not kidding about "great school" - he apparently holds a 4.25 GPA). Also on the list are Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, North Carolina, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Stanford, and USC. Having a good season would be a big help in landing this kid, though Georgia sounds like a heavy favorite.

The offer train has slowed to a reasonable pace, but that didn't stop GA CB Geno Smith from receiving one on Monday. Alabama leads now (with Tennessee hot on their heels), but he won't even cut to a top 10 for a couple months.

The recruiting world jumped all over KY QB Zeke Pike after he was ejected from a 7-on-7 Tournament over the weekend, but Tom talked to him for some clarification. It doesn't sounds like as big a deal as it was made out to be.

NJ QB Brandon Napoleon will visit Michigan soon ($, info in header). OH RB Alden Hill will visit Michigan ($, info in header). Michigan is recruiting MI DE Mario Ojemudia the hardest ($, info in header). FL S Deon Bush will decide at the Army game ($, info in header). MI CB Terry Richardson will have a top 7 in July ($, info in header).

2013

I'll keep 2013 updates brief until the 2012 class is a little more filled-out, but MI QB Shane Morris was the subject of Sam Webb's recruiting column in last week's Detroit News:

"Shane, for a young kid, has a really great arm," said Scout.com Midwest regional manager Allen Trieu. "I saw him as a freshman and that ball came out of his hand with great spin and velocity then. He's started since that first season, so now he has the experience too... He'll be a kid that gets attention from all over, not just the schools within a close proximity."

With national interest bound to come in, it's good for Michigan to get on him early. He plans to commit before his senior season (which, I should note, is like 16 months away).

Elsewhere in 2013 news, keep an eye on Craig Roh's little brother, a standout WR/TE Jake Roh.