Alex Bars getting "close" to a decision per 247

Submitted by MichiganMan2424 on

Alex Bars, a 4 star OT out of TN and younger brother of current Michigan OL Blake Bars, is getting close to a decision per a Steve Wiltfong tweet:

Steve Wiltfong @SWiltfong247 11m

Top247 offensive tackle Alex Bars getting 'close' to decision #Michigan #NotreDame #PennState #Vols http://tennessee.247sports.com/Article/Top247-offensive-tackle-Alex-Bars-getting-close-to-decision-128976  via @247Sports

He's the 107 overall composite player according to 247. The article is paywalled and posted on the Tennessee 247 site, but 247 also lists his top 5 as Florida, Floridat St., Michigan, Notre Dame, and OSU with the only 3 crystal ball predictions all having him going to Michigan. If he does indeed pull the trigger soon it may be good news for Hoke and co.

SMJenkins3

May 1st, 2013 at 2:40 PM ^

Yeah where is the ND lean idea coming from?  Based on everything I've read, it seems like he is a very slight UM lean.  Earlier in the prcoess it seemed like he was a stronger UM lean, but that things have tightened up.  Still people seem to be indicating that UM is probably #1 with ND just behind at #2. 

MichiganMan2424

May 1st, 2013 at 3:14 PM ^

What's the source? No one in this thread has given any sources for saying that he's an ND lean. I don't have any subscriptions, so I don't know myself, but based on 247 alone, he seems to be a Michigan lean.

In reply to by MichiganMan2424

WolvinLA2

May 1st, 2013 at 3:32 PM ^

Look, I'm not saying you need to take my word as gospel, it's just what I heard. Not every bit of info in the world has links involved, and I don't keep links from everything I've read. The preponderance of what I've read lately leads me to think he's an ND lean, and you can take that however you'd like.

I do have a good friend who played football at MBA and he thinks M has the inside track, FWIW.

WolvinLA2

May 1st, 2013 at 8:59 PM ^

It has probably made it to the internet somewhere, but if I didn't get it from the internet, I can't really link to it, can I?  Should I hyperlink every conversation I have with friends or coworkers?  

This who obsession with links has gone way overboard.  Yes, if someone is posting actual news, a link is handy, if not necessary.  But sometimes there are rumors or impressions or opinions that people have that are still worth reading that aren't from a specific article on the internet.  

Jon06

May 2nd, 2013 at 2:23 AM ^

Is your impression from the preponderance of what you've read (which, if it wasn't on the internet, was probably from some collection of sources, at least some of which you could presumably list) or from conversations with friends or coworkers? What's the point of being cagey? I don't get why anyone would claim to have heard something and then pretend to be unable to give an idea of their sources unless they were just looking to be treated as though they were important. Feel free to enlighten me here, though.

htm11

May 1st, 2013 at 2:43 PM ^

his dad played at ND and the family wanted both older brothers to get ND offers (but didn't). hope i'm wrong but i have a hard time seeing him not going to ND if he decides soon.

FreddieMercuryHayes

May 1st, 2013 at 3:08 PM ^

I fee like this ND lean is one of the self pepetuation things.  Someone posted that he's an ND lean, and then it kind of spread, and now everybody is saying it so it becomes the "truth".  However, I've not read from an actual insider that he's an ND lean (caveat is that I don't have subs to all the services so I don't know what everybody is saying).  The person we all trust the most on this issue is not sure what he's thinking.  The impression was that he was very high on UM earlier, but now it is not certain.  He was entertaining the southern schools seriously.  At this point, I don't think anybody except Alex really knows what he's doing.

Bo_Knows

May 1st, 2013 at 3:11 PM ^

in the fold, what are the projections for OL with a smaller number of scholarships next year?

Currently we have 8 commits:

OL - 2

QB - 1

WR - 2

TE - 1

DT - 1

LB - 1

 

I've know we're done at TE/QB.  I hear we are taking 1 more LB and 1 more WR, which brings us to 10.

I see us taking up to 2 DBs, 2 DEs, and 1 RB  which would bring us to 15.

Anyone have a better idea on the numbers or how many we're targetting for the OL? If we *hypothetically* (*knocks on wood*) got Bars, would that close out the o-line for us this class?

Farnn

May 1st, 2013 at 3:30 PM ^

Probably only 1 more OL with Cole and JBB already in the fold.  That brings them to 16 the current limit for the class.  At that point you take the best available if more scholarships open up, as there are no real holes in the depth chart anymore.  If you get some attrition at one position they probably target that position.

Indonacious

May 1st, 2013 at 3:19 PM ^

I don't know much about ND's OL situation, but since we just picked up a OL commit my maize and blue goggles want me to beleive that his commitment may have accelerated Bar's timeline. Pure Speculation though.

MichiganMan2424

May 1st, 2013 at 3:28 PM ^

Post by 247's Clint Brewster, one of the Michigan writers for the site, when asked what he feels about his pick of Bars to Michigan:

"Yeah I still feel confident but not quite as much as I did before. I know Barton Simmons has a great relationship with Bars and he still has him going to Michigan" 

All the people who are saying that Bars is an ND lean are basing it off the fact that ND fans have said supposedly the dad wants him to go to ND and the only reasons his brother's didn't is because they didn't get offered. That may be true, and Bars may go to ND, but I've yet to see anything from any expert or writer saying Bars to ND.

Mr. Rager

May 1st, 2013 at 3:48 PM ^

That kid who just committed to play RB at ND that also took a look at us... like 85% of 247 people had him going to UNC.  

Don't let 247's cool format and nice features trick you into thinking their guys have any real insight.  It's sort of like if ESPN was doing it right / was good at ranking kids.  

FreddieMercuryHayes

May 1st, 2013 at 3:57 PM ^

What the hell was everybody supposed to think?  Hood had been very up-front and vocal that ND was his favorite pretty much his entire recruitment.  Then he suddenly says "I need to stay closer to home", and listed UNC as his leader.  Were they supposed to think 'oh, gee, well even though you said UNC is your leader, we think that eventually your family is going to come around to you living in South Bend so you can attend your professed favorite school'?

ThWard

May 1st, 2013 at 7:18 PM ^

We should be breaking down horse recruits for UM's soccer team.



Kidding. I'm all for discussing recruiting, generally. Just hard to get worked up about "locks," "leans," predictions, and rival site nonsense.

MichiganMan2424

May 1st, 2013 at 4:02 PM ^

So because one they got one pick wrong means they have no "real insight" into any recruiting situation? That seems like a blatant over reaction to me.

Obviously I'm not going to live and die by their word. They will be wrong sometimes, like with Hood and Bunting, and Bars seems like the type of kid who they could potentially be wrong on. But to say they have no real insight is foolish. They obviously don't know 100% where any kid is going until the LOI is signed, but they definitely have a better idea than us as fans.

And Hood was also a very unexpected situation. He said ND was his #1 for the longest time, then said he wanted to stay close to home in NC, and then before giving any indication that that wasn't the case he committed to ND. Now obviously this could happen with Bars as well, where he does something the "experts" don't expect, but that seems to be the exception and not the rule.

Ali G Bomaye

May 1st, 2013 at 5:46 PM ^

Nobody has any real insight.  At this point, all the major services have access to every word a recruit has ever said.  After that it's just a guessing game, and dollars to donuts no one service is consistently any better at guessing than any other.

UMCoconut

May 1st, 2013 at 3:51 PM ^

...but more recently Sam Webb said that the numbers crunch has clarified some things, and it looks like he might be feeling Michigan a bit more than was originally thought.

I think if he decides soon, that's good news for Michigan, since we only have one spot left at OL (not sure what ND's situation is like).

colin

May 1st, 2013 at 4:03 PM ^

Obviously his brother being here helps make the decision to visit, but he's visited here twice as much as ND and we offered well before they did.  That doesn't really scream "slight ND lean".  Regardless of what the 247 guys say, visits are usually pretty telling.

Jack Daniels

May 1st, 2013 at 4:17 PM ^

Michigan lean the whole way....there was an anecdote from someone who met Bars and his family at the Outback bowl and he said Michigan and Tennessee were his top 2 IIRC. So Bars and Michigan have been closely linked together for a while