LSAClassOf2000

July 1st, 2013 at 7:46 PM ^

A little more information can be found here at SBNation regarding where some of the official visits are as well as other offers, although this was an article from the weekend (LINK).

"Smith has already set up three official visits -- to Alabama, Michigan, and Notre Dame -- and also has offers from Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Colorado, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Tennessee, UCLA, USC, Utah and Wisconsin."

 

Michiganfootball13

July 1st, 2013 at 7:48 PM ^

Honestly, it seems like from what I have heard/read that its more of a top 3 than 5 which Michigan is in both.

robmorren2

July 1st, 2013 at 7:52 PM ^

Realistically, Hand and Mcdowell are the last 2 big name recruits that we have a good/great chance of signing. Would that be a statement that most people could agree on? (And I'm not complaining; just trying to have rational expectations)

MGoStrength

July 1st, 2013 at 8:28 PM ^

According to TVH, he thinks JuJu will be a difficult pull from Cali, but thinks we have a good shot with Hand & McDowell.  When he says we have a good shot that means we get them more often than not.  But, at the same time Smith does say he's really interested in playing offense and the coaches have talked about him playing both sides, so that's a good sign too. Personally my only must have is Hand.  If we land Da'Shawn I'm pretty danged happy with this class regardless of how it finishes up.

Mr. Yost

July 2nd, 2013 at 6:19 AM ^

...until I read the article.

Michigan is clearly in the top 3. He doesn't list any west coast teams...so he's committed to leaving CA. He talks about Michigan more than any other school and listed them first of the teams he named. However, I can't remember if he was speaking to a Michigan recruiting analyst. So that last part might be a product of that.

He also says "a little bit" after 2 or 3 schools...but not Michigan. For example (and these are not the schools) "I'm definitely down to Michigan, looking at Ohio St. a little bit, Notre Dame, Michigan St. a little bit and Wisconsin made the cut."

When you put on the rosey glasses, Michigan and Notre Dame feel like the front runners from that statement.

edit: I can confirm it was NOT written by a Michigan blogger...so all of the talk about Michigan does not seem to come from the fact he was speaking to a "Sam Webb type." And it's 2 southern schools and 3 midwestern schools.

ILMichFan70

July 1st, 2013 at 7:54 PM ^

It will be interesting to see how many open spots we still have come the beginning of January or February. Hopefully there will be a few spots open for guys like this who will be announcing late.

Eastside Maize

July 1st, 2013 at 7:57 PM ^

I like the fact that we are in JuJu's top 5 and he hasn't seen the campus yet. Shows real interest. If I'm not mistaken JuJu will visit during osu week. The atmosphere and The Game could tip scales in our favor.

samsoccer7

July 1st, 2013 at 8:08 PM ^

George Campbell had the fastest 40 tome at The Opening. I hope we can get that guy. He still has braces though, makes me feel super old at 33.

mejunglechop

July 1st, 2013 at 8:35 PM ^

The big news is 2 of the 3 perceived frontrunners (USC and UCLA) have been eliminated. The third frontrunner according to 247s crystal ball is Notre Dame, so maybe now they're in the driver's seat with Michigan and Bama trailing.

ken725

July 1st, 2013 at 8:43 PM ^

Not sure if they have been eliminated.  Rivals had an article couple days again saying he has a top 8 (9 if you consider Wisconsin). 

I have a feeling that this article was for his 5 official vists, not his top 5.

This is the important part from the rivals article:

 

"Right now they're all the same," Smith said. "I have a top eight and I'm going to narrow it down. There's not really a No. 9 but (Wisconsin) is still there."

The local schools - USC, UCLA and even Washington - are by no means trailing the other teams in his recruitment. It's just a matter of Smith preferring to take his official trips to destinations not easily reached.

Heading to the Midwest multiple times and possibly the South if an Ole Miss trip is in the cards seems more reasonable to Smith than taking an official trip down the road to USC or UCLA.

"I would love to stay local," Smith said. "Those schools, I could just walk to. I can come to USC, UCLA any day. Washington is down the street, so flying there isn't a problem. It's that Alabama and those schools are really far."

gutnedawg

July 1st, 2013 at 11:26 PM ^

This isn't a top 5 it's the five schools that are going to get official visits. He said he doesn't need to visit West Coast schools because he lives close and can go to them on his own.