Travis Williams Commits....kind of.
Travis Williams recently took a visit up to Ann Arbor, and decided that would be the last place he needed to look. Williams is a cornerback/athlete from Florida, and saw nothing but good things at U of M. Here's what he had to say about his recent commitment.
TOM: So are you officially committed, or just high on Michigan?
TRAVIS: I'm committed. I talked to Coach Rodriguez today, and told him the news. They just told me to call him back after the Spring. He wants me to make sure that I made the right decision, and not make a bad move.
TOM: So what was the final aspect that made you make your choice?
TRAVIS: Just everything really. It was just incredible. The Big House, the locker room, and the practice facility. It was just amazing. Once I saw all that, it just put me over the edge.
TOM: Where did they say they see you playing? I recently saw on Scout that you run a 4.9 40, is that accurate?
TRAVIS: They want to use me as a cornerback. They like my stride, and my overall speed. I need to talk to those guys, because that is definitely not right. I ran a 4.49, a 4.56, and a 4.7 at all the combines. The 4.7 was when I was injured too. So, that's definitely not right.
TOM: What's the time table look like? When will this be officially official?
TRAVIS: I'm not really looking at any other schools. I'm just going to wait until after Spring, and then call Coach Rodriguez. They had three kids decommit last year, so they don't want that to happen again.
Diamond in a rough?
Maize & Blue...nothing better!
Penn State won the Big Ten title last year. Not Michigan. Not Ohio State. Penn freaking State! If you look at the numbers in recruiting, you'll want to smash your head through a brick wall.
Michigan beat the crap out of Penn State in embarrassing fashion 4 out of the last 5 years in recruiting on a national and conference basis.
From a recruiting standpoint, Penn State simply has no business winning the Big Ten title last year.
Here's Scout.com's rankings:
2004: PSU 12th, UM 5th
2005: PSU 28th, UM 2nd
2006: PSU 6th, UM 9th (once in 'blue' moon)
2007: PSU 19th, UM 10th
2008: PSU 41st, UM 6th
So what gives?
Michigan has always done a pretty fine job of recruiting nationally, but especially in the Big Ten. I don't expect that will change soon with the new program, stadium, great school, etc.
Ohio State has had UM's number on the field, in recruiting, OSU has done better than UM only 3 times: 2002, 2008 and 2009.
But translating the recruiting success to on-field success is very trying. We have yet to see whether RR actually "develops" his recruits into something more than just 3 and 4 star players. I trust that with 20 years of coaching experience Rodriguez recognizes "diamonds in the rough" and "shooting stars". I also think Barwis weeds out those that are not willing to work for the team.
What's interesting about UM's recruiting now is the new pipelines that appear to be opening up in the south (FL, TX) while maintaing some recruiting prowess in MI, OH, PA and even CA.
I'm optimistic even if more 3 star players commit in the coming months.
"Aw God it's so damn hot! Milk was a bad choice."
When Carcajous Attack!
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Penn State AND Ohio State won the Big Ten last year. Co-champs, my friend, co champs.
Particularly on the defensive side of the ball, it's safe to say that PSU's coaching staff is far, far, far, far, far, far better than ours has been for years.
I just can't help but think we are setteling for 2nd tier talent. This kid was offered by nobody. K-state, Cinci, and Miami Ohio recruits are not going to beat OSU. Did you see how many kids they had go in the first couple rounds of the draft? Drake is the same way. We have half our class, and only 4-5 of them were heavily recruited by top 10-20 schools. Just because these kids worked at West Virginia doesn't mean you have to settle. You are at MICHIGAN!
I'm not peeved by this, just a wait and see attitude, but I wonder if that is the real reason because Rich also said they are going to visit him to see him practice twice in the Spring. With 120 offers out there he might be making sure this is a good move for Michigan still like Brian talked about last week.
Bleeding Maize and Blue from the AZ
I know it's early in the offer process, but this guy's list isn't anything to get excited about. Did you see his picture on the front of Rivals last night? The guy is a twig.
I'm not peeved either, but at the same time, I hope the coaches convince this kid to wait. It just seems we have other options.
The Drake thing doesn't bother me as much because of the pipeline it could build and the fact he looks like a halfway decent player.
Still, we don't need to fill our class this early with players destined for special teams.
On the one hand, I'm thrilled that this kid seemed to love his trip so much.
On the other hand, something feels weird when a kid says "I want to accept your offer" and the coaching staff say "Well, maybe you should think it over first and then call us back later." It gives the impression that the staff isn't particularly high on him.
Maybe the coaches are worried about his follow-through and want to avoid another high profile de-commitment, but I'm just as worried about their follow-through. I don't want this to be another kid like Barnes or Peace that we end up pushing away for reasons unknown.
The whole thing just makes me feel kind of uncomfortable.
Dantonio did the same thing last year and was heaped with praise by the Spartan nation. it's a good move and makes the recruit more confident in the decision when they do make the decision bc it creates, whether false or not, the impression that the proper consideration has been made. while i'm sure RR is doing it for the right reasons, there's nothing bad in it if the kid is not taking any more visits etc
Invaluable. Really appreciate what you do around here.
If you have to ask twice it means that you didn't get it the first time.
Hmmmm, sounds about right.
Why should we be worried about his "kind of" status? He seems pretty committed to his commitment based on what he says now. But Beaver...
It could also mean that he is a fall back guy that they maybe don't want to take this early because it could maybe hurt their efforts to get Mathis Christian and Wood