SO over at Tremendous they have an interview up with 2014 OL Denzel Ward. He is listed at 6'9" 285 with strong interest in Michigan. He was at the Illinois game and hung out the entire time with LTT. Tremendous seems to think that a commitment could come soon as he is coming back this weekend. The link is below and worth a look. I think Tremendous does a great job, so giving them some pub is something I dont mind doing.
http://www.michigantremendous.com/
At that size, maybe Beilein
Why? Just because he is 6-9?
Why? Just because he is 6-9? Or is he an actual Michigan caliber basketball player?
Greetings from Bolivia.
"It's special how the real true people hang together. And if you don't support the program you're not a true Michigan guy. It's that simple." - Gary Moeller
Allow me to explain...
He's just drawing attention to his size. "He's such a tall Tackle! How tall is he? He's so tall he could be playing basketball."
How many times have you been on the freeway and had someone fly by you at 100 mph then end up 2 cars ahead of you at the off ramp? What's the point? -Mark Harmon
I was only asking because I
I was only asking because I thought he knew something about Ward and his basketball abilities. I was curious to see if he was going to someone like Banner who had the ability to play both sports in college.
Greetings from Bolivia.
"It's special how the real true people hang together. And if you don't support the program you're not a true Michigan guy. It's that simple." - Gary Moeller
Actually it appears he is
Actually it appears he is putting Bball on the backburner to concentrate on football
This from Ace's October 1,
http://mgoblog.com/content/monday-recruitin-goes-full-carvin#comment-1735588
Ward is playing football for the first time this year after previously focusing on basketball, and at 6'9"(!!!), 295 pounds, he's quite an intriguing prospect.
Always a good sign when your
Always a good sign when your linemen are also good basketball players. It means they have good feet and good hands, and pretty good endurance. Maybe not to much for a guard, but certainly for a tackle prospect.
Perfect.
Perfect.
Mom, MGrad and life long fan living in So Cal
Link to other Thread
http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/2014-recruit-watch-out
Nice to see him visit back to back weekends
Yes but that post was SO
Yes but that post was SO Tuesday. This one is completely different and offers fresh, new insight and perspective you just didn't get in that stale old post from ancient history.
Either way it's nice to see him on campus. Especially since the recent OL defection.
Hmmm...
King Kong has nothing on this
King Kong has nothing on this Denzel...come on down Mr. Ward
"Slappin' the Bass" - Matt Vogrich (maybe)
Denzel and LTT
Would make quite the bookends.
For the record
Ward just tweeted this:
Denzel Ward @Diezel75_ Fun fact: The last time Michigan State beat a non-Rich Rodriguez coached team in Ann Arbor, Denard Robinson was 22 days old.
Good feelings!
Another fun fact: this is the
Another fun fact: this is the first time since Henne was here that Michigan has more experience at the quarterback position than MSU does.
Does anyone happen to know the last time a first-year starting QB for MSU came into the Big House and left with a win?
Every time an MGoBoard poster complains about a thread topic, God kills a baby panda.
One has to think
That if Ward had such strong feelings last week, he'll surely be feeling ready to go Blue if/when we take Sparty down at home.
Ferns and Ward would be quite a fun start to the 2014 class.
Hail To The Victors!
When
When I talked to him last night, I asked him what would be the catalyst that would allow him to pull the trigger this weekend.
His response: "Taylor Lewan telling me to do so! I'm kidding, it's about making my parents feel comfortable really".
I think it's only a matter of time, and for those wondering, he hasn't released any film yet but will be doing so soon.
Taylor Lewan
proceeds to tell his parents they are comfortable with Michigan.
Question for Aquaman
Aqua, did this kid jsut come out of nowhere?? Have not heard much of this kid in our 2014 line recruiting. With the way things have gone recruiting wise do you think that if Ward does drop this weekend or even in the next couple weeks that, that puts some pressure on Florida OL Mason Cole?? Cole is visiting this weekend as well, wants to make an early commit, and has favored UM from the start. Just curious to get your thought on Cole and his recruitment.
I can answer the first part.
I can answer the first part. Yes, he came out of nowhere because he hadn't played organized football at any point in his life until a few months ago.
Which is insane, obviously.
Cole
Cole is deciding after his season is over. It's pretty much down to Michigan and USC from what I understand. My belief is that he'll end up at Michigan though.
There are a ton of OL with high Michigan interest right now. It's far from a concern:
Offers: Alex Bars, Tommy Doles, Jay Hayes, Jamarco Jones,
Targets: Nathaniel Devers, Alec Stevens, Connor Hayes, James Hendren, Jon Baker
These are all guys Michigan is considering who have very strong interest. You could probably throw Jimmy Byrne, Orlando Brown, Braden Smith, Roderick Johnson and Damian Prince in there too.
It's one reason why Ward's offer is pretty meaningful; they must really see something in him.
EDIT: Yeah, Ward came somewhat out of nowhere. He's a name we had come across before but didn't pursue much because we weren't sure Michigan was interested.
I would be super pumped if
I would be super pumped if Ward committed this weekend. With that said I hope he has taken the time to really think this through and doesn't make a purely emotional decision. I can see this kid really blowing up over the next year and hearing from more big time programs. Seeing how quickly he has fallen in love with Michigan is great, but also makes one wonder whether he could be easily influenced when other big time schools come calling. I am not trying to be a debbie downer, I guess the Dawson decommit and Conley rumors have got me paranoid, especially since I can see Ward following a similar trajectory in terms of garnering more and more attention later in the process.
With that said, Go Blue Denzel!
Interesting point
I just think Dawson is in a point in his life right now, with all he has gone through, that he isn't sure of a lot of things right now. He seemed to go against Coach Wilcher's wishes about honoring a commitment, and that seems to be resonating the most. I wish him the best, but I think he'll come to regret this decision, sooner than he may think.
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking up at the stars. -Oscar Wilde
Yowzers
He's got an impressive early offer sheet.
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking up at the stars. -Oscar Wilde
All I see are Purdue and us.
All I see are Purdue and us.
"Us"
Any offer sheet including "us" is impressive. Case closed. Danny Hope's mustache just adds to the impressiveness.
Well
Rivals is reporting a USC offer.
Last two years Hoke and Co
Last two years Hoke and Co have been in early with some of the best prospects in the country. Not even the recruiting sites had some of these kids profiled before they were already committed to Michigan. If they accept a committment from Mr Ward I will be very excited. We can't even look to Rivals or Scout to find out who the "real" best prospects are. The best talent evaluators in the country coach at Michigan, and they've offered these few as standouts. Expect anywhere from 50-100 more offers to go out in time, but this is a great list of young talent in the country here:
http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/p/2014-offer-board.html
another good list of young talent from the midwest:
http://www.michigantremendous.com/p/the-tremendous-list.html
How many times have you been on the freeway and had someone fly by you at 100 mph then end up 2 cars ahead of you at the off ramp? What's the point? -Mark Harmon
At that size, maybe Beilein should pay him a visit too.