Michigan Showcase
I was at the Michigan Showcase today because my younger brother was competing and it was quite a sight to behold.
First of all, the Fieldhouse (or whatever its called) was absolutely amazing. That has to be one of the nicest indoor facilities in the country. They opened up Oosterbaan for the 7-on-7 portion of the camp and walking in from the fieldhouse made me feel sorry for poor old building. The weight room, Schembechler Hall, Oosterbaan and the new fieldhouse are all connected.
Couple things I noticed:
-I missed the morning session so did not see any of the lineman.
-Larry Foote was there and gave a talk to all the participants.
-A rumor floating around was that originally the event was invite only and then they opened it up to everyone, which resulted in about 200 kids participating.
-There were a group of Ohio kids there who couldn't compete in the 7-on-7 for some reason, but they could play 4-on-4. I have no idea why, it was pretty strange.
-The whole thing was pretty unorganized, I have never been to one of these before but the whole day consisted of 1-on-1 drills and then 7-on-7.
-I saw a couple of recruits that Michigan had offered, Lawrence Thomas in particular was impressive.
Like I said before, I have never witnessed one of these things before, but it looked incredibly unorganized.
February 28th, 2010 at 11:20 PM ^
The crew at Scout said the Deanthoney Arnett was the best player.
They also said Shawn Conway was "Awesome"
I guess everyone who hated on his NR status can collectively exhale at any time...
February 28th, 2010 at 10:02 PM ^
Hopefully a few kids were there today that would of never visited and some interest is now sparked..
February 28th, 2010 at 10:07 PM ^
The "worst state ever" is very restrictive to off-season workouts. You are only allowed a certin number of days with football instruction. That may only apply to your own coaching staff but I wouldnt be surprised if it was part of the reason they couldnt do 7-7's. 4-4's may fall under a different category. THE WSE is semi mentally challenged when it comes to offseason activities.
February 28th, 2010 at 10:19 PM ^
I thought it was because they are juniors and they don't start counting to seven until senior year in Ohio.
February 28th, 2010 at 11:49 PM ^
I was hoping for this to be a TomVH post.
The Michigan coaches, or any coaches for that matter, weren't allowed to be there. There's nothing really substantial to report.
not allowed? I thought any coach can view 7 on 7 tournaments and such but they just can't have any contact with the players. Is that just the way this event worked out or is that how all similar events are, in the barring of coaches?
sorry I didn't live up to your expectations
I was hoping for this to be a The Other Brian comment.
said that our three commits all performed well. Justice Hayes was the best RB there. A sophomore kid at Cass Tech, Royce Jenkins-Stone, is supposedly one to watch going forward--6'2" 215 LB with safety speed. Sweet name, too. It'd look great on the back of a SAM's U-M jersey.
Rivals also said that Hollowell got beat all day long by Arnett and couldn't really stop him. They said he did as okay as any DB there against him, but that isn't very comforting knowing that he'll have trouble against talented WRs at the next level unless he greatly improves.
I'll probably get negged for this, but I think Delonte Hollowell being "not very impressive" is a theme Michigan fans are going to get used to. I don't see him getting a ton of playing time/performing well as a Wolverine, especially with guys like Justin Turner, Demar Dorsey, and Cullen Christian only a year ahead of him in eligibility.
sounded like he was much better in the 7on7 portion of the event compared to 1on1s. If the D looks to be going to the 3-3-5 he might not need to be good on an island, 3-3-5 is mostly zone isn't it?
to a 3-3-5
I think we can afford to take Hollowell as a depth player but I agree, I don't see him being anything more than a nickelback by the time he is a junior or senior.
I think he's a good fit though because he is a Cass Tech guy and we can't afford to lose that pipeline. One day there is going to be a five star, blue-chip guy (like a Will Campbell) come from that school again and we'll all be glad that we kept that pipeline coming along.
collectively exhale at any time... They can also go suck it.
Michigan will have a few big timers like LB Royce Jenkins-Stone, S Terry Richardson, and LB James Ross. All defensive players that are top-notch guys. Jenkins-Stone and Richardson hail from a Michigan's pipeline school Cass Tech too!
Okay, that explains it. We were at Applebees last night and there was a big table of kids who looked like football players, but they had no local gear on and they didn't seem quite big enough to be college players yet. They got into separate cars, including a big Denali tagged from Indiana. I was trying to figure out what was up, but I'll bet they were coming from the Showcase.
Apropos of nothing, one of them had some sweet dreads like Denard Robinson.
Anyone know how Adam Wendling did? (QB from Hemlock)
Good to see that Conway is proving the coaches know what they're doing...
I like Conway, but the only way the coaches are going to "prove they know what they're doing" is if these kids start turning in good performances on the field and winning games. Even if Conway gets offers from every BCS school in the country, those offers don't matter if he comes to Michigan and sits on the bench for four years.
Not that I expect that to happen, but I think we should reserve judgment on Rodriguez's recruiting ability/strategy until his recruits have matriculated through the system for a few years.
I was there watching too, it was definitely unorganized but I still saw some great talent. I watched the QBs (about 35-40 QBs there) and this is who stood out:
The top 4 QBs there (in no order) were definitely Alex Niznak of Ithaca, Josh Harris from Country Day, Mike Sullivan from Our Lady of the Lakes, and Ryan Morley of Grand Blanc.
-Niznak is a big kid who throws a pretty good ball. Footwork needs to improve though. I can see him landing at a Grand Valley, or SVSU. Possibly a FCS team. He has the size, but needs to improve his mechanics if he wants to be a d1 player.
-Harris stands around 6ft tall and probably about 180-185lbs. He possess a strong arm, but is not always the most accurate. Overall good QB though.
-Mike Sullivan had some real nice throws including his first throw of the day, a 45yard bomb in the air perfectly in stride. He proved to have a stronger arm than people thought of him and was very accurate throughout the day.
-Ryan Morley is about the same size as Sullivan and the two are similar. Morley throws a nice ball and is accurate. He showed good footwork and the ability to make any throw on the field. Expect him to have another successful season at GB.