Sam Webb: Hankins shaped up, but Florida now leads

Submitted by Seth on
http://www.detnews.com/article/20091203/OPINION03/912030375/1004/SPORTS…
"Michigan was like my dream school -- my favorite school," Hankins admitted. "When I hadn't heard from them for a while, that kind of drew me away from them a little bit. I finally got the offer and I felt good. I feel good right now. I'm just going to see how the visit goes and if it goes well, I will probably take it from there."
The article explains the reticence to offer him from the in-state schools.
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MWW6T7

December 3rd, 2009 at 8:37 AM ^

Impressive offer list. Sounds like according to Scout he is an underated player. It would be great to get some added depth on the defensive line from a 300+ lb tackle. I just hope we didn't miss the boat on him. This stretch run to close the recruiting out is going to be very interesting. We have a lot of really good players considering us. I believ e T. Wilson, S. Parker, and R. Knight are also visiting this weekend and now according to Tom Derek Bryant is looking at us again. It is a good situation to be in. Would be so much better though if we had some more open scholarship spots.

Joined: 09/15/2009

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Hoken's Heroes

December 3rd, 2009 at 9:53 AM ^

It's a proven fact... as for Hankins, the kid knew his senior season (how he played and how he conditioned himself) was vital to getting that UM offer. The fact he didn't hear from UM for a while "should" have been a non mystery to him. The fact he took UM's advice and probably the advice from other teams is a good sign. Hopefully he'll feel the love this weekend and realize UM is the place for him. This team needs to build depth on the D. UM does not want to walk down the same road that ND walked down with all O and no D. GO Redacted.

Joined: 04/14/2009

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wolverine1987

December 3rd, 2009 at 8:54 AM ^

On the one hand, we need d-line, just like every other defensive position. We REALLY need guys. On the other hand, clearly this article shows that both we and MSU didn't offer the guy because of questions about his work ethic. That scares me because we cannot afford any recruiting busts on defense. And I'm not reassured by his losing weight and working hard this year--of course he or anyone will do that, when big time schollys are a possibility.

Joined: 07/07/2008

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Beavis

December 3rd, 2009 at 1:39 PM ^

We cannot afford any recruiting busts on defense? Come on... Yeah I get the point - our defense depth is very weak. But if you take a look at the last 10 recruiting classes, I can probably show you 40 defensive players who never started on D, and another 20 who sucked compared to their star rating.

Joined: 07/28/2009

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Don

December 3rd, 2009 at 9:07 AM ^

I could understand holding off on offering him until after his season was over, but given our thinness on the DL, I think our staff may have screwed up bigtime on Hankins. There's no reason they couldn't have offered him early on while telling him straight out that the offer could be yanked if he doesn't improve his conditioning. I hate it when guys who are lifelong fans of the program with talent get ignored, but I know that happens at every school.

Joined: 06/30/2008

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bouje

December 3rd, 2009 at 9:52 AM ^

Frankly I do not think that it is too much to ask a recruit to be able to play more than 1 play before he is gassed. I don't hate Hankins but I think that it is stupid to say "he really liked Michigan why didn't we get this kid an offer" is a stupid philosophy and shows exactly why a lot of people don't "get" recruiting. Honestly I'm indifferent of Hankins but I'm worried that he'll be another Watson/Branch and at least they had guru approval and didn't work hard Hankins doesn't even have guru approval and didn't work hard. If he did what the coaching staff asked and now got his offer then great but he should realize that "hey they asked me to do something I didn't, now I did and they want me" should be seen as a positive IMO.

Joined: 09/30/2008

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Lutha

December 3rd, 2009 at 10:10 AM ^

Although Watson was a bit of a disappointment, I would have no problem if Hankins turned into the second coming of Alan Branch and crushed another PSU quarterback.

Joined: 09/21/2009

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Double Nickel BG

December 3rd, 2009 at 11:31 AM ^

you don't offer a D1 scholarship to someone that can only be a effective 1 down player. If we didnt' offer when the coaching staff wasn't sure he wanted to put the work in, I can't blame them. They took a look at his film, liked what they saw and offered.

Joined: 02/04/2009

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bouje

December 3rd, 2009 at 11:49 AM ^

At DT but can you honestly say that Hankins is that caliber of a player? No he's a middling 3* whereas Gabe Watson 5* 3 position RR N/A (I would guess 5.9/6) Alan Branch 4* 20 position (OL) RR 5.8 compare that to: Hankins 3* Not ranked at position RR 5.5 Now he MAY turn into an NFLer but Watson and Branch were both studs coming out of HS and they both had all of the measurables and were freaks of nature the same cannot be said of Hankins. But with that said both Watson and Branch did not have the college careers that their pedigree coming out of high school suggested and under-achieved to expectations and it was because of their work ethic. They got to the NFL because of their freak athletic ability.

Joined: 09/30/2008

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PhillipFulmersPants

December 3rd, 2009 at 11:54 AM ^

notion it's silly to offer someone because they favor your school. The staff has its criteria. Hankins hadn't met it a few months ago. Apparently now he has. Fair enough. I wouldn't lump Watson and Branch together, however. Branch played early and performed at a pretty high level, no? If if was getting it done without working hard, at least he was getting it done. Not that I'm condoning mimimal effort, but there are a lot of athletes like that. Michael Vick may be the best example. The book on him has always been he's never worked hard, and now he's even admitted as much. Still pretty successful athlete, minus the off-the-field nonsense. Anyhooz, I'd love a Branch-like peformer, regardless of the hours he puts in. Who knows if Hankins is that guy, though.

Joined: 01/06/2009

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bouje

December 3rd, 2009 at 12:14 PM ^

Anyone that thinks that Hankins is going to be Watson/Branch in terms of a football player is crazy. He COULD turn into them but right now I'm not so sure. As I said I'm worried that he has the same work ethic as them but less natural athletic ability (and Watson and Branch didn't even have to endure Barwis)

Joined: 09/30/2008

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Magnus

December 3rd, 2009 at 12:27 PM ^

"there is too much emotion involved in the recruiting process kids get there feelings just by not being offered" Despite the incomplete, run-on nature of this post, I think it says enough to disagree with it. So...there's too much emotion involved, huh? So it wouldn't be disappointing to grow up wanting to play for your hometown football team, have the ability to play FBS football, and yet not get offered by the hometown team? If a kid is okay with not being offered by his favorite team, then he probably doesn't give a shit about football. If I were Hankins, I'd have a bit of a chip on my shoulder, too. That doesn't mean I would preclude Michigan from getting my pledge, but I'd have to think long and hard about a team who took a wait-and-see, backup-plan approach to my services rather than a team like OSU or Florida, who threw their hats in the ring relatively early.

Joined: 07/17/2008

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Ntroy1

December 3rd, 2009 at 1:16 PM ^

Just because michigan did not offer does not mean they were not intrestead they were in contact with him for some time now and told him what he had to do for michigan to offer and he did that there is no reason to feel disrespected the fact that they were in contact with him the whole time should let him what they really think about him.

Joined: 12/03/2009

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Captain

December 3rd, 2009 at 6:49 PM ^

...and am still laughing, I love it. Ingenious morphing of the words interested and instead? Check. Inexplicable absence of key verbs? Check. No punctuation outside of the very first and last characters of the post? Big check. Best of all, though, are the unexpected twists and turns this epic sentence takes down the unintentional road to Hilarityville. Now please don't do it again. (SPOILER: Ready your smile muscles, you know it's coming.)

Joined: 06/12/2009

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Magnus

December 3rd, 2009 at 1:34 PM ^

I could be wrong, but I think he said Michigan fell completely off the radar for a while. Ohio State and Florida obviously thought he was talented enough to offer him, despite the conditioning issue. Michigan obviously didn't think his talent overrode his lack of conditioning. Will Campbell was 330 lbs. but Michigan's coaches clearly kept coming after him, so there's a certain threshold of talent that Hankins doesn't reach. In other words... Will Campbell @ 330 lbs = talented enough for a Michigan offer Johnathan Hankins @ 330 lbs = not talented enough for an offer I don't blame the kid for feeling like other schools respect his abilities a little bit more.

Joined: 07/17/2008

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Ntroy1

December 3rd, 2009 at 2:19 PM ^

Big Will consistently showed up at combine after combine and proved his worth to say that hankins is his equal just because he 330 lbs does not make sense the two have completely different frames will campbell wears it much better.

Joined: 12/03/2009

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Magnus

December 3rd, 2009 at 3:25 PM ^

Ah ha! You've proven my point. Do me a favor and try an experiment on your girlfriend. The next time she asks if you think she looks fat in that dress, say this: "Well...you don't necessarily look fat, but Christina wears it better. It just fits her better, so I think I'd prefer to go to the movies with her." See how that works. See if there's any "emotion" or "hurt feelings" involved.

Joined: 07/17/2008

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