Best of the Midwest Recruiting Summarized
How the Best works (along with all time high school leaders…not missing much by skipping this, but for the curious):
http://www.freep.com/article/20100129/HSS/1290308/About-the-Best-of-the-...
Seantrel Henderson was obviously the best…the article about a guy we’re not getting, if anyone cares:
http://www.freep.com/article/20100129/HSS/1290309/1319/Giant-offensive-l...
The Meat-
Top20, with Bios:
http://www.freep.com/article/20100129/HSS/100128081/1319/Giant-offensive...
1. SEANTREL HENDERSON
St. Paul (Minn.) Cretin-Derham Hall, OL, 6-feet-8, 340 pounds
2. JORDAN HICKS
West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West, LB, 6-2, 220
3. KYLE PRATER
Hillside (Ill.) Proviso West, WR, 6-5, 205
4. WILLIAM GHOLSTON
Detroit Southeastern, LB, 6-7, 255
5. DEVIN GARDNER
Inkster, QB, 6-4, 195
Highlights: Completed 123 of 226 passes for 2,061 yards, 17 TDs, eight INTs, was sacked 13 times. Rushed 136 times for 1,113 yards and 15 TDs. Under Armour All-America. Led team to state championship game.
Coach Greg Carter: “He’s so talented that he can do a variety of things. He can throw the football, run the football; he’s a student of the game and a kid that’s going to pick up the offense fast at Michigan. He’s a workout nut and won’t shy away from anything. He has all the attributes to be a great player.”
Enrolled: Michigan
6. JAMES HURST
Indianapolis Plainfield, OL, 6-5, 284
7. C.J. FIEDOROWICZ
Johnsburg (Ill.), TE, 6-7, 240
8. A.J. DERBY
Iowa City, ATH, 6-4, 218
9. RODERICK SMITH
Ft. Wayne (Ind.) Harding, RB, 6-3, 220
10. SPENCER WARE
Cincinnati Princeton, QB/ATH, 5-11, 230
11. ANDREW NORWELL
Cincinnati Anderson, OL, 6-7, 275
12. MATT JAMES
Cincinnati Xavier, OL, 6-8, 290
13. DARRYL BALDWIN
Solon (Ohio), DE, 6-5, 255
14. LATWAN ANDERSON
Cleveland Glenville, ATH, 5-11, 185
15. BRUCE GASTON
Chicago St. Rita, DT, 6-2, 290
16. ISAIAH LEWIS
Indianapolis Ben Davis, S, 5-11, 190
17. BLAKE LUEDERS
Zionsville (Ind.) Community, DE, 6-5, 250
18. CHRISTIAN BRYANT
Cleveland Glenville, DB, 5-10, 173
19. BRAYLON HEARD
Youngstown (Ohio) Cardinal Mooney, RB/DB, 5-11, 180
20. C.J. OLANIYAN
Warren Mott, DE, 6-5, 230
Obviously, the recruiters in the Midwest liked Devin better than certain Linebackers going to MSU….
Gholston overview if anyone care:
http://www.freep.com/article/20100129/HSS1201/1290313/1319/Giant-offensi...
What past #1’s are doing, which I always find interesting:
http://www.freep.com/article/20100129/HSS/100128080/0/HSS1201/Past-No.-1...?
2009: CHRIS WATT, OL, Notre Dame, Glen Ellyn (Ill.) Glenbard West: Redshirted.
2008: MIKE ADAMS, OL, Ohio State, Dublin (Ohio) Coffman: Played five games, started four.
2007: MARTEZ WILSON, DE, Illinois, Chicago Simeon: Made nine tackles in one game before a season-ending injury.
2006: CHRIS WELLS, RB, Ohio State, Akron (Ohio) Garfield: Rushed 176 times for 793 yards and seven touchdowns for the Arizona Cardinals.
2005: DAN DOERING, OL, Iowa, Barrington (Ill.): Played five games, started one.
2004: TED GINN JR., WR/CB, Ohio State, Cleveland Glenville: Had 38 catches for 454 yards and one receiving touchdown for the Miami Dolphins. Returned 52 kickoffs for 1,296 yards and two TDs.
2003: LaMARR WOODLEY, LB, Michigan, Saginaw: Had 62 tackles, 13 1/2 sacks, one forced fumble for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Picked for Pro Bowl.
2002: GABE WATSON, DT, U-M, Southfield: Had 28 tackles in 16 games for the Arizona Cardinals.
2001: JOE MAUER, QB, St. Paul (Minn.) Cretin-Derham Hall: Hit .365 with 28 home runs and 96 RBIs in 138 games for Minnesota Twins. Won his third batting title and first slugging title. A near-unanimous selection as the American League’s Most Valuable Player.
2000: CHARLES ROGERS, WR, Michigan State, Saginaw: Jailed for violating probation in March. Arrested for DUI in September. Went to jail this month after being found passed out from drinking, violating court order.
1999: T.J. DUCKETT, RB, MSU, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix: Cut by Seattle Seahawks in 2009 preseason.
1998: JOSH THORNHILL, LB, MSU, Lansing Eastern: Physician’s assistant, Emergency Department, Sparrow Hospital in Lansing.
1997: JASON BROOKS, OT, West Virginia (transferred from U-M), Cleveland St. Ignatius: Teaching at Groveport (Ohio) Middle School North. Coaching Groveport Madison high school track and field team.
1996: ANDY KATZENMOYER, LB, Ohio State, Westerville (Ohio) South: Owns and runs a LIFT personal training in Westerville. Taking classes at Otterbein College to complete his degree. Spent three years as the defensive coordinator for the Westerville South football team.
1995: MIKE ROSENTHAL, OG, Notre Dame, Mishawaka (Ind.) Penn: Owns a children’s clothing store in Austin, Texas, called 1379 Kids.
1994: LEON MERRITT, FB/LB, Central State (signed with Colorado), Detroit Henry Ford: Was working for the Highland Park Schools.
1993: RANDY KINDER, TB, Notre Dame, East Lansing: Worked since February 2002 for AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust. A regional marketing director in Washington, D.C.
1992: DERRICK MAYES, WR, Notre Dame, Indianapolis North Central: CEO and director of ExecutiveAction Sports and Entertainment, a company that offers security and consulting on off-field issues.
1991: JOHN HORN, OT/DE, Illinois, Joliet (Ill.) Catholic: Director of Development at Joliet Catholic.
1990: RICKY POWERS, TB, U-M, Akron (Ohio) Buchtel: Head football coach at Buchtel.
1989: TONY McGEE, TE, U-M, Terre Haute (Ind.) South: Worked for Big Ten Network in 2009 as a football analyst.
But there’s still the slant…look at the title of their MSU recruiting article:
http://www.freep.com/article/20100129/SPORTS07/1290314/True-to-his-word-...
Of course, Bill Kurlic in the same article, doesn’t exactly agree with it:
"He's done pretty well in the state of Michigan and done well in Ohio, of course," said Bill Kurelic, a Midwest recruiting analyst for ESPN.com. "He's held serve with Rich Rodriguez, and both have won a few battles in the state."
Hanging tough, but not dominating....but don't let that get in the way of a bias headline.
Contrast this with the Michigan headline, negative even when positive:
http://www.freep.com/article/20100129/SPORTS06/1290316/Rich-Rods-efforts...
And the sub header- “Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez enjoying success on recruiting trail despite poor on-field record”
Highlights:
Apparently recruits don't live in this world, according to a few national recruiting experts who analyzed U-M's 2010 class.
"I think if you didn't know Michigan's record last year, you couldn't look at their recruiting class this year and tell they didn't make a bowl," Allen Trieu, Midwest recruiting analyst for Scout.com, wrote in an e-mail. "If anything, I think a lot of kids are seeing the chance to contribute immediately."
"Because it's Michigan, a school that has the most wins, the biggest stadium and great tradition," said national recruiting expert Tom Lemming, whose signing day show will air on CBS College Sports on Wednesday. "Rodriguez sells that and is getting better at selling it every year. Now he's got it and selling it all over the country. They've gotten to a lot of different states."
"They've definitely closed well, and in the last month turned this into a class from where there were a lot of question marks into a real solid class of players," Rivals.com Midwest analyst Greg Ladky said. "In the earliest part of the class were maybe guys Michigan didn't have to take. But in the last month, Josh Furman of Maryland, Davion Rogers, Jake Ryan, Jibreel Black, all three-star kids, help bolster that class."
THERE. You have the overview of the Best of the Midwest in Recruiting, and you don’t have to sully yourself by going to the Freep to find out about it. Unless you are a recruiting nut (and I say that in a nice way) and want every detail about players we’re not getting (or ones we are who just missed the cut).
...I have shown him...a man without hope...is a man without fear...
WOW!!
PUNCH EM IN THE MOUTH!!
Latwan at 14 is absurd.
I second that notion
Straight saucin like the Coner
uh.
way tl;dr.
...UGH, HOW COULD YOU MAKE ME CLICK ON A FREEP LINK!!!! COULDN'T YOU TELL ME WHAT IT SAID!?!?!?!
Most of it is a list, that doesn't take too long to read. And it is summarizing like 6 articles in one place. The "where are they now" section is probably excessive. But I like it.
...I have shown him...a man without hope...is a man without fear...
Just one man's opinion, but as far as the Michigan headline goes, I don't have a problem with it. The same sentiment has been uttered time and again on this board, uttered by Sam Webb, et al. That is the story, to me -- that despite the struggles the last couple of years, it's still a pretty good class. Seems difficult to characterize the relative strength or weaknesses of this class outside of the context of the program's recent performance (just as it would Texas's class or Florida's class, for example).
I guess it was the "not sullied by bowl-less seasons" that I thought was a bit harsh, and kind of a negative connotation compared to MSU ROCKS STATE (vs. what was actually said in the column). But yeah, it's not reason to go to the torch and pitchfork store either, I concur.
...I have shown him...a man without hope...is a man without fear...
Man, reading some of the comments in the Freep message boards reminds me why I haven't delved into that murky pool in recent months.
But overall, I think the articles were fairly well-written (outside of the Freep's standard-issue shots at RR/tongue bathing of Dantonio), and points out that MSU has made inroads in the state while UM is still drawing from across the country. The sense I get is that both of these classes will add depth and skill to the systems they are being brought in for, and that wins and losses on the field will be due to how these systems perform. Might be a cliche statement, but Dantonio brought in guys for his conservative style while RR brought in some more dynamic players for his system. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
The one interesting issue I noticed with the MSU class is how few WRs Dantonio has sought out over the years. Over the past 3 years (including this one so far), he has recruited a total of 6 WRs, and outside of Fred Smith none seemed to be particularly "in-demand." At the same time, MSU has seemed most dangerous when they go 3 wide and throw the ball to guys like Dell and White. Clearly Dantonio is moving more toward the "run the ball, don't turn it over, rely on defense" mantra shared by guys like Tressell, but he isn't even pulling in the type of WRs that OSU usually hauls in, to say nothing about the rest of his recruits. It will be interesting to see how the team performs as the last remnants of JLS's pass-friendly classes graduate and are replaced by less capable WRs.