Not good news re: Trey DePriest

Submitted by Erik_in_Dayton on

Sam Webb said both today and yesterday that DePriest *may* move his commitment up to sometime before his senior season. This would be bad news for U of M, since DePriest has said that he wanted to see how they did on the field this year. OSU and Alabama are his leaders right now. It will be very important if Michigan can get him in for the spring game...Below is Webb's explanation yesterday (starts around the 5:20 mark):

http://www.wtka.com/index.php?fuseaction=home.podcasts_sel&id=4516

I'm posting this b/c it's news and to maybe soften the blow if Michigan is cut from his list in the near future. I don't mean to be a doom-and-gloomer, and I leave you with the following:

Kent Brockman: Professor, without knowing precisely what the danger is, would you say it's time for our viewers to crack each other's heads open and feast on the goo inside?

Professor: Yes I would, Kent.

mrider

April 6th, 2010 at 11:04 AM ^

Depriest was an unlikely target from the start, especially when his coach says the Alabama and OSU came and told him he was their number 1. If we are trying to pull blue chip recruits, we better go balls out like we did with Dorsey, Garnder etc... Anyway hopefully we get him for the Spring Game in Ann Arbor, if he comes I think we will be right back in it. If not I think we know where we stand we Trey.

mrider

April 6th, 2010 at 11:16 AM ^

Dorsey was also committed elsewhere. Completely different situation, plus Depriest with all his offers will cut down his list soon according to Sam Webb. You think if Michigan doesn't show him a lot of love he will keep them around on his list? I doubt it, and judging by his coaches comments, I doubt his coach thinks he will keep Michigan on his list much longer unless they make a change.

My point is simply, if the guy has winning program high on his list, and factoring his location OSU, and Alabama seem like they would have an advantage in that over Michigan. Plus add that to the fact Alabama and OSU are recruiting him harder then Michigan that's not a good sign.

mrider

April 6th, 2010 at 11:55 AM ^

I think they have him very high on their list, but maybe the schools are just giving him a lot more attention. It's possible, I mean maybe Beyer, and Zettel, Dee are taking priority as trying to get in them in the fold soon. I don't doubt Michigan is recruiting him hard, but the other schools might just being going harder.

Dr. Doom

April 6th, 2010 at 12:57 PM ^

If you're going to use a quote from his coach you should frame it in it's proper context.

"He likes Michigan. Michigan has not just shown up with the M on his chest and said here is your scholarship will wait on you"

The rest of it goes thusly:

"...They did not take that approach. That’s how some schools have taken it. Michigan is more involved. Ohio State, Alabama, Michigan and Notre Dame are the four schools that are actively recruiting him."

I don't like posting Scout $$$ content but it seemed necessary in this case.

mrider

April 6th, 2010 at 11:53 AM ^

I'm not making shit up for my purpose. I am saying this after reading his comments from his coach. He basically said that Michigan until very recently hasn't really been in as hard as Bama and OSU.

Hoken's Heroes

April 6th, 2010 at 11:13 AM ^

As we all know, Michigan's ability to recruit top talent will depend on how the team plays. The sooner UM starts to win and play well, the sooner more top talent will seriously consider playing for Michigan. Until then, get use to Michigan being an afterthought for most top level talent. And sure, there will be exceptions.

* And also keep in mind that UM will be out of the running for some players who have "advisers" who tell their recruits to "expect" certain things from the school.

jg2112

April 6th, 2010 at 11:06 AM ^

I know DePriest is a very, very good player.

But if he doesn't commit to Michigan, big deal. There are thousands of available football recruits every year, and Rich Rod has shown that he not only can secure the commitments of high level defensive players (Marvin, Cullen, Justin Turner), but he can also find and get commitments from players who may not be guru-approved but play the game well (Jake Ryan, Vinopal, Carvin Johnson), and he also can pull the Signing Day surprise (Barnum, Roundtree, Stokes, Q, Denard, Demar Dorsey).

I am concerned 0.0% if DePriest goes elsewhere.

Magnus

April 6th, 2010 at 12:19 PM ^

You're choosing to miss the point.

You're right that high school accomplishments don't guarantee anything, but the point is that Vinopal being the best player on a state championship team is irrelevant.

And that also shows nothing about Rodriguez's ability to recruit. If anyone on this board watched a state championship team for a game or two, we'd be able to identify the best player. That doesn't mean that the best player deserves a major FBS scholarship offer.

UMaD

April 6th, 2010 at 11:27 AM ^

is a roster filled with impressive High School resumes.

My point, obviously, is that RR doesn't deserve a pat on the back (yet) for unearthing college players that fall beneath the radar and standards of the gurus. At least at Michigan, where he has the option of going with higher rated players.

Magnus

April 6th, 2010 at 11:25 AM ^

"...he can also find and get commitments from players who may not be guru-approved but play the game well (Jake Ryan, Vinopal, Carvin Johnson), and he also can pull the Signing Day surprise (Barnum, Roundtree, Stokes, Q, Denard, Demar Dorsey)."

This all sounds well and good, but you have no idea if Ryan, Vinopal, Johnson, etc. can "play the game well." That's pure speculation.

And other than Roundtree and perhaps Denard, those signing day surprises haven't helped Michigan in any significant way on the game field.

Rodriguez's recruiting is still a big question mark until these guys start producing on the field.

jg2112

April 6th, 2010 at 12:12 PM ^

I have no idea if Ryan, Vinopal or Johnson play the game well, other than the comments of their coaches, their opponents' coaches, etc. Absolutely right.

So, really, those three are in the exact same boat as Demar Dorsey, Cullen Christian and Marvin Robinson.

So, uh, we're not arguing about anything we can prove for years. Sounds worthwhile.

I'll wait for you to respond so you can "win" this "argument."

Magnus

April 6th, 2010 at 12:25 PM ^

It's clever how you end each comment with "I'll wait for you to respond so you can win this argument."

That almost makes up for the fact that your comments in this thread have no substance. It's basically saying, "You're so stupid that you're going to argue the same subject that I'm arguing vehemently as well."

Good times. So remind me again...if you don't care about recruiting, why are you reading these threads...?

burntorange wi…

April 6th, 2010 at 12:48 PM ^

u must not know a lot about recruiting if u dont care where DePriest and other big time recruits go. there are thousands of football recruits every year but how many are brandon graham? not a lot. its a lot better to take the big time, polished recruit who can give you solid time his freshman year rather than the 3* recruit with good potential from a physical standpoint but he needs to redshirt to learn the system or needs a year to bulk up. there arent a lot of DePriests out there, you should take one wen they come along.

u said that u are concerned 0.0% if depriest goes elsewhere. now ur saying that u dont care if he goes to ohio state. if he goes there, hes gonna be probably starting against you for at least 2 years. if u dont get a recruit u have to root against ur rival in terms of securing the recruit.

jg2112

April 6th, 2010 at 1:36 PM ^

And evidently, you must not know a lot about the shift key, apostrophes, or spelling.

Seriously, if DePriest goes to Ohio State, good for him. Why the hell should I worry about something that might tangentially affect my life for 3 hours every November, starting in about 3 years? DePriest is good, absolutely.

Devin Gardner will be better, at least, as a Michigan fan, that's what I'm banking on.

Ohio State always has good players. So does Alabama. That's the game. Michigan has to beat them, and will.

burntorange wi…

April 6th, 2010 at 7:03 PM ^

"ohio state always has good players" is the point of recruiting. theyre recruiting these good players, like DePriest, every year. michigan should be trying their best at getting these high level recruits that would otherwise go to schools like ohio state and alabama. last year, you did this in getting DD out of florida. if u dont recruit the big time recruits and let them go to ur rival without trying to stem the flow, then ur basically giving ohio state success. no one wants that, right?

as to devin gardner being better: i hope he does too but he wont have his chance for awhile due to tate and DROB being sophomores. DePriest, if he commits to Michigan, will probably have the opportunity to get PT as a freshman and POSSIBLY start(im not gonna pretend that i know enuf about ur depth at OLB to say that hes a surefire starter). and u cant really compare the success of a QB to a LB.

WolvinLA2

April 6th, 2010 at 8:11 PM ^

If you're not worried about something that will affect your life for 3 hours on a Saturday, why read the post? I think we're all worried about that. Sure, I know a lot of people that don't get worried about how Michigan football plays, or how their opponents play, but those people don't spend their time reading a college football blog. If you don't care, then don't care.

I don't go on a recycling blog and say shit like "why should I care if the ozone may or may not be slowly depleting?" or "why should I care whether or not I'm contributing to the overfilling of landfills?" No, I don't. I care what happens on when M plays football. All of the times they play it, in fact. So I care where Trey DePriest goes to college.

UMaD

April 6th, 2010 at 11:24 AM ^

Its good to know that I shouldn't get my hopes up with DePreist. Disappointing to hear that the "other" big LB recruit in the region probably won't end up at Michigan, though I think our need for LB recruits has been overblown quite a bit. Hopefully the 3-3-5 thing has people a little more calm about our LB situation.

West Texas Blue

April 6th, 2010 at 11:41 AM ^

What a surprise; a topflight recruit isn't totally crazy about a team that has gone 8-16 the last 2 seasons. Recruiting won't really pickup for us until toward the end of the season where hopefully we make a bowl game; otherwise it's all downhill. Pointless to get caught up in recruiting too much this year due to the upcoming season being extremely critical.

bronxblue

April 6th, 2010 at 11:50 AM ^

This is spot on. The recruiting will always be there somewhat because of the history and the overall profile of UM, but until this team starts to win on the field, I don't blame top kids from passing on UM. This is especially true considering all of the negative press the school has been receiving recently. Now, if RR and co. go out and win 8-9 games, then all will be forgotten and the top recruits will again come running.

Don

April 6th, 2010 at 11:50 AM ^

Among Webb's comments was that Depriest comes from a family of strong Buckeye fans. While family affiliations never guarantee that any recruit will go to a particular school, it obviously is not in Michigan's favor in this case. Saying that Michigan isn't recruiting him hard strikes me as a baseless assertion, but I also assume that they know what they're up against and have other irons in the LB fire.

WolvinLA2

April 6th, 2010 at 12:14 PM ^

I know this is going to sound crazy, but maybe RR and staff like our stable of young LB's and aren't putting a TON of emphasis on that group this recruiting season. I would argue that O linemen and a nose tackle or two are the highest priorities, and we have a small number of spots we have available. Combine that with the fact that RR knows that he needs to win THIS YEAR and maybe he's not spending the time with recruiting that he usually would.

With young guys like Demens and Bell getting good press at the LB spots, along with Mike Jones and the guys like Kinard and Jake Ryan that we brought in last year, it could be that LB isn't as giant of a need as we thought it was.

aaamichfan

April 6th, 2010 at 12:19 PM ^

There's still a lot of time between now and September. I'm sure DePriest is getting very sick of the recruiting process, and wants it to be over with. The coaches have been recruiting DePriest for a long time, and if he still truly wants to play for Michigan, I'm confident they can convince him to push back his commitment timeframe.