Joe Mathis favors Michigan
... this the way it should be FERGODSAKESSSSS
...FERGODSAKESSSSS
There should be no limit placed on how many times one can say "this is Meeechigan fergodsakes"
If Mathis ends up committing, this weekend was obviously critical. Not only did he get to visit Michigan, he got to develop relationships with current commits at the invitational, and it was clear they were going out of their way to befriend him.... Dawson requesting to take him on one and one... Morris tracking him down... Bosch dropping by even though he wasn't even playing.
It's always hard to read recruits comments, but to tell the media you "almost committed," and to say that you liked Michigan better than USC and UCLA as a California native are both pretty huge, and I think more telling than simply saying the school you just visited in now your number one. He obviously came away with a really strong gut feeling which makes it sound like Michigan may now be the school to beat.
People feel that Nebraska is another top possibility for him, and he plans on visiting there, but, with only two current commits, he will not find that same camaraderie that gives this Michigan class that special edge.
And to think he almost didn't make it out this weekend at all...
(sorry, I just posted this in another thread before I saw this one... this is like the 4th thread in 24 hours to discuss Joe Mathis, although most of the others have rotated off the front page)
Agree. If I were a top recruit (yeah that is pretty funny) I would not want to go to a school where other recruits were guaranteed to start without having to earn it. That's the way it should be.
Edit: My response was to alphablue's post above.
Joubert smiles.
Please come to michigan. And please bring your cousin Charles Woo...I mean Su'a Cravens.
is that Hoke and Co. have established this no guarantee mantra, and have been able to recruit so successfully right away. It's good to stick to your guns l ike he has, but you don't typically see success so soon. Really this success is coming from the fact that Hoke is legitimately breathing and bleeding MICHIGAN and it is REAL.
Unfortunately, Mathis may have some grade issues. I'm just passing along some info (not sure how solid) that I read on 24/7.
http://michigan.247sports.com/Board/59424/RE-Mathis-8886671/1
The article is in the Michigan section but it appears to be from a USC fan. I remember last year we wouldn't take Aaron Burbridge because of questionable grades and I think Anthony Standifer was misssing a requirement so I know how strict our requirements are. I hope these reports are false, but they should be looked into before we pencil Mathis into our rotation.
They were recruiting him hard even after he committed to MSU, so that idea needs to go out the window. Burbridge seems to be a player that felt better at MSU, and that's fine if that's what he feels is best for him. Sometimes you lose a recruit, even to MSU, we all know they've lost a lot more to Michigan, so it's alright to lose 1 out of ever 10+ recruits. I do think their may have been academic questions about Burbridge that Michigan wanted answered first, but I don't think they ever stopped him from committing to Michigan and it's still a really different situation than Standifer, who they knew wouldn't get in.
The whole, "Michigan has higher requirements" is very misleading. The minimum requirements at Michigan are pretty much the minimum for the Big Ten (with Northwestern maybe being the exception). The difference is (particularly now after RR isn't here), is how many risks and how many borderline recruits are permitted. That is the different standard between Michigan and maybe some of the other Big Ten schools, not the actual grades of the kids, but the amount of those kids they are willing to take risks on.
Mathis is a kid Michigan will take a risk on if this has any basis behind it, because the rest of their class seems to be in pretty good shape academically. Unless he is just flat out missing something where they know he won't get in, you will continue to see Michigan recruit him hard
EDIT: Not saying what you're linking isn't valuble knowledge to know. I just don't expect the Michigan coaches to back off so quickly when it seems like there is a good chance he will make the grades.
Trying to flip him, that's why you heard a lot of chatter about him flipping all the time, because the Michigan coaches were still on him. I think the "he tried to commit but Michigan turned him away" thing is heresay more than anything. I'm guessing it was more "what do I need to commit" and the coaches telling him what he would need to do academically. I don't think he ever actually tried to commit, just inquired about it. The coaches were probably very clear about the academic needs as well. I think most fans just misinterpreted the scenario and then it grew into "common knowledge" among Michigan fans when it probably wasn't the case.
Recruits we don't get are ones that the coaches didn't really want anyway.
HOKE SAW SOMETHING HE DIDN'T LIKE. HE PROBABLY WANTED MONEY.
Michigan would have taken him in a second without the academic uncertainty. Kid is a player.
I don't know that the number of borderline recruits that Michigan is willing to take is much different from any other traditional power. The risks are such that a borderline academic recruit can't be average or even slightly above average compared to a school's typical player. For a school like Michigan, OSU, USC, etc, that probably means the recruit has to be a borderline five star type player, and there are only about 30-50 of those each year.
I didn't see anyone here suggest that Mathis' potential academic problems were unique to his Michigan recruitment. If you read the link, it sounds like both ASU and USC have raised academic concerns about Mathis. If ASU is concerned, that suggests he might have trouble meeting the minimum academic qualifications for any NCAA school. And I agree with other posters that even if the minimum qualifications are the same, Michigan has a track record of limiting the number of "academically risky" recruits compared to MSU, OSU, the entire SEC, etc.
This does kind of burst my weekend bubble about Mathis, but that's ok... the more top end national recruits that talk up Michigan, the better for Michigan regardless of whether or not they eventually commit or qualify.
of them
Seems that Mathis is in play for Michigan and things are going about as well as they can at this stage...but with a California kid with no local ties, it's always going to be an uphill battle. Being #1 in spring doesn't mean much, almost a year away from signing day. There has been similar excitement on kids like Banner, Garnett, Parker, etc. over the last few years and, after the post-visit glow wears off a bit, when it comes time to make a decision, these kids often stay in their own time zone. Same thing for kids down south, who often end up staying in their comfort zone. Every kid is different, but for every Magnuson there are 4 or 5 Garnetts. We do get a few 'national' kids every year, but the success rate is much lower on those kids. Cautious optimisim though... the way recruiting is going overall we can 'risk' going all-out for an elite recruit like Mathis.
Bryan Fischer does a really good job with these articles. I'd suggest following him on Twitter or keeping an eye out for articles of his following camps.
Great to hear that Mathis had a good time at the camp and on campus. Hope Michigan can stay on him hard despite being so far away.
I'm curious to hear Mathis' reaction to his and Cravens' visit to Nebraska's spring game next weekend. I think his response to that visit will tell us whether or not he's one of those recruits who is blown away everywhere he visits. I hope he isn't and that Michigan continues to sit in the driver's seat for his services!
Hoke's "no guarantees" policy should really appeal to competitors and kids that are willing to really work hard. He's basically saying that he's going to put the best players on the field, no matter what. So if you come here and bust you butt, you'll do well. If you come here expecting to be treated like a primadonna, well you'll get nowhere.
I think this is good. Any kid that doens't like that or won't come here without some promise of playing time probably isn't a good fit for the program anyway. I'm sure wi'll miss out on a few high-profille recruits because of that, but I'll take a 4-star guy who wants to be at Michigan and work hard over a 5-star guy that wants a promise of playing time. No one gets promises of playing time including upper-classmen. You have to earn your spot every day.
Do you really think that we will miss out on highly ranked recruits because they will have to compete to earn playing time. I can't believe that any high profile program offers kids guaranteed playing time right away. There is just no way they would be able to live up to that kind of promise. Hopefully, the vast majority of highly ranked recruits realize this reality and have a competitive nature anyway.
I'm sure he had a great time and we'll have a decent shot with him but take all of this with a grain of salt. USC, even after seeing his quotes here, still feels confident they'll get him. They don't feel that way with Ty Isaac though.
Well if he doesn't qualify at MSU, he sure won't at Michigan.
The kid is very quick off the edge and reminds me a lot of Brandon Graham. He's got a lot to work on though with techniques and skills but this would be a huge land for us. Still want Cravens BADLY as far as defensive recruits go.
Mathis would be a great luxury, but with the 14 defensive ends we took last year, he's not that high on my wish list. I also agree with a couple commenters here that there's still a long way to go. Michigan fans got excited about Zach Banner, Jordan Diamond, and various other kids last year before fading into the background. When you're #1 with eight months left, there's nowhere to go but down.
Tell that to the 16 players who committed with 8 or more months left...
Sure. And while I'm at it, I'll tell Pharaoh Brown, Caleb Stacey, and Anthony Standifer.