Laquon Treadwell: I have no favorites
The other day, Aquaman commented that Michigan fans should not assume Laquon Treadwell is in the bag. Rather, his recruitment will be a long, hard slog. Over at Eleven Warriors, they have an interview (LINK:) catching up with Laquon Treadwell. Here is how Laquon responded th their question about Michigan:
Some people say Michigan is the leader for you. Is that true and if not who is your leader or top schools right now?
That is not true about Michigan. I did like it up there but I have no favorites right now. I really liked all of the schools I visited already, but I still have a lot of schools to see before I narrow down my choices at all.
Of course, when you know you're talking to an Ohio blog, and are asked a leading question, it is easy to give the answer you know they want to hear. Regardless of where Treadwell ends up, it is clear that Michigan and Ohio will be duking it out for a number of recruits. We will win some (Kalis,) Ohio will win some (Dunn.) We will win others (Dymonte Thomas,) Ohio will win others (Armani Reeves.)
I'm absolutely thrilled that Michigan has done so well on the Offensive Line for both 2012 & 2013. The big uglies make a huge difference, and too often go unnoticed. But the recruiting battles are far from over, and getting in first or having a lead doesn't guarantee anything.
I will say, I really want to see Michigan stomp Ohio in head to head recruiting battles. Right now, I see the following as being critical direct competition for recruits:
- WR Laquon Treadwell
- WR Robert Foster
- RB Ty Isaac
- LB Ben Gedeon
- CB Kendall Fuller
- CB Vernon Hargreaves
- S Sua Cravens
- DE Joey Bosa
- DT Henry Poggi
If we get 4 - 5 of these guys, 2 - 3 go to Ohio, and 2 - 3 go elsewhere, that would be awesome, and would be what I'd consider a victory. Given Hoke & Mattison, and the offense we'll be running and the defense Mattison will be leading, I think that Isaac, Gedeon, Cravens, and Poggi would fit better at Michigan. But what do I know?
In the above list, while I would love all of them, I'd particularly like Gedeon, Cravens, Poggi, Isaac, and either of the two wide receivers. But it is clear that this is a battle, and neither Hoke nor Meyer will yield.
Urban is going to get some top recruits, and that doesn't worry me. In fact, I want ohio to get some great players. The Game means a lot more if we're beating a good ohio team than if we aren't.
With so many top recruits interested in Michigan, we'll land at least a few more. If we got ONE of Cravens, Isaac, or Treadwell, we would be in fantastic shape. If we got two of those guys, and just kept everyone we have now from getting flipped, we'd have a top 10 class locked-up. It's not like missing on a few 5* recruits means we're going to fill the rest of the class with 2* players.
Well, if I were being interviewed by someone, I wouldn't tell them that my first choice was their biggest rival. Just saying. I've got faith in Hoke and his staff. We'll get who we need.
I don't think there is a leveragable situation with treadwell. Unlike the offensive line where one commit causes a snowball, I tend to find skill position players to be harder to leverage. They have a better chance of starting out of high school and they have a prime time mentality. You can't really appeal to their logic (admittedly that is true of kids in high school in general).
I think we will get a supreme vertical threat at wr and a top flight rb. I think those things will not close immediately. I also think that for a skill player Urban Meyer has a lot of pull.
Great point about skill position players often having more of a prime time attitude. I also think OL, DL and LB's have a stronger affinity to our program and coaching staff.
The skilled position guys we landed last year almost all seem to be exceptions to the prime time mentality, which is probably part of the reason we landed them.
Grammar nazi alert - Some of you, get your "there, their and they're" and "your and you're" straight please. Stop learning grammar playing World of Warcraft. This is UM fergodsakes.
This is also an internet blog. This is not intro lit or a course that satisfies the upper level writing requirement currently being held in Mason Hall. Chill out
I wonder if the coaches will go harder after him now or will they continue to wait on Treadwell. We really need an elite reciever in this class.
You men will they go harder after another guy because some idiots on 11W posted that Treadwell doesn't favor Michigan?? Is that a trick question? And didn't Treadwell just say one or two weeks ago that in fact Michigan does lead for him? I thought he said that after his visit.
Yeah, I think he did. It was on twitter or something. I remembered something like that but thought I was the only one because I hadn't heard anyone else mention it.
The only way that I would be concerned is if he named a leader and it wasn't Michigan. Teams generally take three or more WRs so there's really no reason to slow things down and possibly have other schools lose interest. Sticking with a leader now could take some of the wind out of his recruitment. We sit in a good spot with him, we were in early and we'll have a QB that can get him the ball. Those aren't true for most other schools.
Yeah he has no favorites my ass. If he doesn't end up Blue I will jump off a bridge
Settle down there, champ.
that I have scouted out a low bridge with deep, debris free, and warm water. Never hurts to be prepared.
Just a bit of perspective… Michigan didn't get it's first commit until the third week of March last year. The thirteenth commit didn't join the class until June. Pee Wee, who seemed high on Michigan from the outset from everything I read, didn't decide to commit until August. And the two WRs who were leaning Michigan were among the last to commit (December). So everyone who's writing LT off as not a Michigan man, likening him to Diamond, or whatever else, get a grip. I would much prefer he make a decision he can live with when he's ready to make it. It's March 4th fergodsakes.
I pulled it up from the 247 boards, here it is:
Laquon Treadwell @Successful_Quon
I must admit Michigan is an leader in schools, first offer, great coaches, great stadium, great fans
Posted mid-February
Come on dude, if 11w said otherwise, it must be true.
Some people say Michigan is the leader for you. Is that true and if not who is your leader or top schools right now? That is not true about Michigan. I did like it up there but I have no favorites right now. I really liked all of the schools I visited already, but I still have a lot of schools to see before I narrow down my choices at all. IF HE WAITS TO LONG SHIP WILL BE GONE SOON, MAYBE BY NEXT WEEKEND. IM HEARING FOSTER AND THE OUTHER WR FROM OHIO ARE VISTING NEXT WEEKEND.AND WE ALL KNOW THE WR FROM OHIO IS A BIG MICHIGAN FAN . WE ARE ONLY TAKING 3WR THIS YEAR. HES GOING TO BE ANOUTHER POLIC, LOL. WAITING TO LONG
Dude, you're going to have to speak up, it's hard to hear you.
WR's are often a long and difficult recruit to land in recruiting.. While this doesn't apply to all of them, it holds true for most. Most kids who play the WR position, can be prima donna's, and have huge egos. Laquon may enjoy the process, and all of the attention, which good for him, this should be one of the best parts of his life. If you notice, out of the recruits still trying to decide on a school on signing day, a great majority of them are ususally WR's. Just something to keep in mind.
Which position group usually commits first? I would say OL, but that might be a skewed answer due to Michigan's recent success.
What group is second toughest to land after WR?
I would say DT, then CB. Everyone wants them, elite ones can pretty much pick and choose from all over.
Elite QBs, for some reason, seem to pick schools early, Gunner Kiel excluded of course.
One could say that Gunner actually committed early AND often. Terrelle Pryor may be a better example. He took for-ev-er.
A lot of kids have offers from both schools, but at this stage, it's hard to say that many of these are in direct competition.
Michigan and OSU have different priorities at WR and RB. Michigan is recruiting Treadwell and Isaac harder, whereas OSU is looking at Foster and Green.
Gedeon is probably a good example.
Hargreaves and Cravens are likely not coming to the midwest.
I would think Bosa is probably more likely to OSU if he leaves Florida and Poggi more likely to Michigan, but it's still too early to hype these up as OSU-Michigan battles.
Sal Sunseri was Poggi's recruiter at Alabama and also a former teammate of Henry's dad. They had/have a great relationship and this likely increased Henry's interest in Alabama. Since Sunseri left for Tennessee, Henry's interest in Tennessee has increased. Just saying that Henry may not be as high on Alabama now.
NSFW!!!!!