Michigan's recruiting push into Georgia
Since Jim Harbaugh took over, Michigan has made a big recruiting push in Georgia. That focus has Sims and other top Peach State prospects suddenly wondering about the Wolverines.
“When you see big-name players from here going to Michigan, everyone says, ‘Wait, we need to see what’s up and see what Michigan is about,’” Sims said.
Forgive the feeling-out process, this is all relatively new for both the Georgia prospects and the Wolverines. Harbaugh has three commitments from the state since taking over in Ann Arbor, and the first ones from there for the school since 2006.
And it’s easy to see that Georgia will be a big part of the strategy moving forward. Harbaugh and his staff have offered 27 Georgia recruits in the class of 2018.
Four-star defensive tackle Aubrey Solomon, No. 63 in the 2017 ESPN 300, has been the biggest prize so far.
http://www.espn.com/blog/ncfrecruiting/on-the-trail/insider/post?id=799…
Was thinking the same thing. Georgia the next NJ.
Hey, we do a good job keeping our in-state talent, add in a pipeline to NJ and Georgia and add in the additonal pickup throughout the nation and Michigan will have the talent to step up their game.
Getting great talent out of Georgia is starting to happen; but I don't think it will ever compare to the NJ situation. We absolutely dominated the in-state "power" in NJ. Georgia <> Rutgers.
The state has an insane amount of talent year in and year out. Good move.
I'd like your username more if it were
The Oxford, Wolverine
The, Oxford, and Wolverine*
March 30th, 2017 at 10:42 AM ^
This is an example where an Oxford comma or roman numerals would be helpful.
March 30th, 2017 at 11:44 AM ^
Roman numerals?
March 30th, 2017 at 11:53 AM ^
a bit surprised Nelson Mandela lived so long. I am more surprised he was a demi-god who collected dildos.
March 30th, 2017 at 12:00 PM ^
I dedicate this post to my parents, Jim Harbaugh and Mother Teresa.
All this time I had no idea the Oxford comma existed or how important it is to society.
March 30th, 2017 at 10:40 AM ^
So, if "I just had orange juice and toast," that means that I had toast soaked in orange juice? Frankly, that's just silly. Also, let's suppose that orange-juice-toast was a thing. Would you say "I had eggs, orange-juice-toast"? No. You'd say "I had eggs and orange-juice-toast."
Yeah, but that's not an Oxford comma. That's just proper comma usage. The debate is over the Oxford, Harvard or serial comma. To be clear, the debate is over the Oxford, Harvard, or serial comma.
I used to dip my toast in Nestle's Quick when I was a kid.
March 30th, 2017 at 10:59 AM ^
I think that helps recruiting. Having 7-8 major programs near Georgia as opposed to like 3 in Ohio means that kids are more willing to think about leaving the state. And once a kid is thinking about leaving home, it's just recruiting from there. Nobody leaves Ohio if Ohio State wants them.
March 30th, 2017 at 10:23 PM ^
Ohio St is beating our ass. That's why no one wants to leave Ohio. If we start beating them again, their players I'll want to go to Michigan again.
the next 2 recruiting cycles. Loaded with excellent prospects. That's why M wants to be a major player there.
From football players to Zombie killers, Georgia has some tough hombres. Michigan needs more Ricks and Daryls.
Every time I hear "Goody's headache powder", I think of Richard Petty''s hat and mustache.
March 30th, 2017 at 10:01 AM ^
Yep, me too. Goody's and NASCAR are synomous, they remind me of my previous life as a big NASCAR fan. Looking back, the redneckedness that is NASCAR remains astonishing. Not that it's bad - they're having fun and that counts. But hooo-weeee....
March 30th, 2017 at 10:13 AM ^
NASCAR was pretty damn popular among a significant number of northerners for a few years. I'll let you decide whether they're rednecks or not.
March 30th, 2017 at 10:48 AM ^
could be slighly improved with a figure 8 track.
1) Drivers would actually have to turn left and right (what a concept)
2) You get a little over pass (sweet for high speed crashes and flying objects)
3) Navigating the space where transition from clockwise to counterclockwise driving would be ripe for passing and crashes.
March 30th, 2017 at 12:43 PM ^
Wrong to think of NASCAR as strictly a southern thing. NASCAR is huge all over rural America. I don't find it particularly interesting, but I'm glad that it brings joy to a lot of people. People who are smugly dismissive of it sound like, and likely are, elitist dicks.
March 30th, 2017 at 11:50 AM ^
Bill France Jr. (Chairman of NASCAR for many years) was a family friend and I was never south of the Mason Dixon line until my late 20s.
It wasn't all deep-south, although that's where it got its roots (and IMO, strayed too far from those roots and diluted the regional passion to try to appeal to everybody . . . like when college football tries too hard to emulate the NFL.)
So will Gus Mazahn.
When Harbaugh started his satellite camps, he said that Harbaugh's recrutitng down south may hurt programs like South Alabama and Louisana Tech, but he would never be able to get an elite recruit that a top SEC power actually wanted.
Aubrey Solomon says Hi.
And Nico. Right out of his own backyard.
March 30th, 2017 at 10:00 AM ^
March 30th, 2017 at 10:37 AM ^
March 31st, 2017 at 12:36 AM ^
“When you see big-name players from here going to Michigan, everyone says, ‘Wait, we need to see what’s up and see what Michigan is about,’” Sims said.
I love that quote from a recruit. Success begets success.
There is no program in the country with more recruiting buzz right now than Michigan.
Just wait until after draft day.
Yikes.
Alabama, Auburn, and Clemson, have been poaching a lot of Georgia's top talent for a long time now and they still get enough pieces to put together solid teams. There's enough to go around, especially as the state continues to grow.
One big upside is that there is a lot of the Michigan diaspora down here, whether it is family of alumni or just former midwesterners that moved down in the last 20 years. I think this is where the Michigan "brand" helps a lot, that and being outside of the SEC which has a lot of appeal to some of these kids who want something different for college.