Sam Webb on Zeke Pike

Submitted by umhero on

Sam Webb and Allen Trieu spent the week traveling around Ohio with a dip into Kentucky to see Zeke Pike.  It sounds like he's hinting we are in a very good position with Zeke.

Highlights from the Recruiting Round Up:

Zeke Pike is very personable.  In that respect he's a lot like Ryan Mallett.  People might take that to be a negative in some respects but don't; the kid's very personable, a very gregarious young man and he has that charisma you want to see a quarterback have.  And you'll find out some things that Michigan really has going for it in the interviews we will have posted on GoBlueWolverine later today.  Very clear Michigan is in a good position with him and very, very clear there may be some positive things on the horizon with him.

I'm not a subscriber, but Scout has this in it's title and  tease for the interview:

Will Pike Lure UM Mega Class?

In part one of GoBlueWolverine's sit-down with the talented signal caller he discusses his game, his relationship with the Michigan coaching staff, the top schools on his list, where Michigan fits into that group, and more.

Sam continues to talk about several of the other players in Ohio and then he ends his Round Up with this message when asked if we are close with any of the players he visited:

Michigan is very close with a couple of young men that we stopped through to see on this visit.  A couple of young men that we will have video interviews with up today.  That's not a promise that they will commit, but pay close attention to the guys that we put up.

The three interviews they posted that day from their trip were with LB Joe Bolden, QB Zeke Pike, and S Allen Gant.

Magnus

April 2nd, 2011 at 7:08 PM ^

Bolden and Pike are both good players, but I just don't think Gant is very good.  He's a legacy kid AND visited Michigan recently . . . and he still doesn't have an offer.  That ought to tell us something.

Magnus

April 2nd, 2011 at 8:26 PM ^

Nah, just because Gant hasn't been offered doesn't mean that Gant isn't extremely interested in playing for Michigan.  Gant is probably interested, but I don't know if that level of interest is reciprocated.

mdoc

April 2nd, 2011 at 9:06 PM ^

I was really just playing the part of Crazy Optimist Fan Person and reading too deeply into the OP. I don't consider anyone a member of Michigan's class until LOIs are in, but it's still fun to rub your hands together and speculate wildly. I mean, "close" has to mean close to committing, right? And you can't commit without an offer (unless you're Kevin Hart), right?

Magnus

April 2nd, 2011 at 9:11 PM ^

There have been a couple guys in the last few years who "committed" to Michigan even though they didn't have offers - Holmes Onwukaife and Travis Williams, at least.

dRich

April 2nd, 2011 at 7:15 PM ^

See him wanting to come play for a team that he would only start for possibly two years, not counting if bellemy turns out to be better then I think he is..I'm all for him coming. Just don't want to get my hopes up

justingoblue

April 2nd, 2011 at 7:18 PM ^

We need to seriously consider that DG might not play four years here. If he's half of what people said he'd be out of high school he could be a legitimate candidate for an early round pick after his redshirt (please? please?) sophomore season.

UMICH1606

April 2nd, 2011 at 7:25 PM ^

Zeke likes the idea that in his mind at least, he would be the best fit at QB for what the coaches eventually want to do at the QB position, and feels that he could win the job himself.

He is probably underestimating Devin, and his ability to run the offense that Borges likes to run, but I like his confidence.

He will have to compete against quality players regardless of the school he chooses short of him staying home and playing at Kentucky or something.

ryebreadboy

April 2nd, 2011 at 9:22 PM ^

This is an extremely valid point.  Big-name universities generally have multiple highly-touted recruits on the roster at once (if they take one per year, which seems to be the general belief).  Kids like Pike generally come in expecting to compete and planning to work hard enough to start.  It'd be no different at Michigan, and hey, if Pike thinks he's better than DG and Bellomy, who are we to argue otherwise?

BrownJuggernaut

April 2nd, 2011 at 7:26 PM ^

I know that everyone loves DG, but why is everyone already penciling him in as a starter for his last two years. If all goes as planned, that might happen, but if Pike or any other younger player pushes him, I'm sure the coaching staff would reward him. I could see some split time as well (though I'm not sure what message that sends, I'm not a fan of splitting time). Just saying, we shouldn't assume that DG will start for both years after Denard graduates, especially if there is a great prospect providing competition for him. All Hoke has done since he arrived here is preach the need for more competition to help these young men get better. 

I really want Pike to commit. I think he's the real deal. To use the proverbial sports cliche, he has so many tools in his tool belt.

justingoblue

April 2nd, 2011 at 7:31 PM ^

I'd pencil him in now, for a couple of anecdotal reasons.

  1. 5* #5 ranked QB (Pike will be up there as well, granted).
  2. Rooming with Denard, it makes me think that he has a similar work ethic.
  3. His extra year and spring practice that he'd have over someone like Pike.

I just think when you combine skill, work ethic and experience, it'll be hard to overtake DG in 2013, though 2014 could be more open.

wesq

April 2nd, 2011 at 10:51 PM ^

The stories I read on DG was the winter semester he enrolled he busted his ass so much harder than either Robinson or Tate that he made them look lazy to the team.  Robinson got the message the message that summer and stepped his game up, Tate didn't and that's where the T-Wolf quote comes from.  I as comfortable saying Gardner will start his last 2 years as I would've been saying it for Drew Henson.  

wolverine1987

April 3rd, 2011 at 10:39 AM ^

He was recruited to come run an entirely different offense than the one we will have by the time it is his turn, one that puts a premium on different skill sets than he had to run either in HS or last year. I'm not saying he can't at all, just that the confidence level would justifiably be far higher for him taking over the spread from Denard than it should be IMO taking over a prostyle offense from Denard--and that offense, once Denard is gone, won't even resemble what we run this year. I like DG's chances because of the "want to" that everyone says he has, but it is far from a sure thing to me.

Magnus

April 3rd, 2011 at 2:41 PM ^

I actually think Gardner is better suited to a pro style offense than the spread.  He's a good runner, but not a dynamic one (in my opinion) like Vince Young or Denard Robinson.  You can obviously put the ball in Denard's hands, tell him to run it, and he's going to make a couple big plays a game (as long as he doesn't get hurt).  I don't think you could do the same thing with Gardner.

Both Denard and Devin have kinks in their mechanics that need to be fixed, but the ceiling is just as high for Gardner as it ever was.

chunkums

April 3rd, 2011 at 3:09 PM ^

Eh you must have not seen the spring game or heard any of the spring hype.  Denard worked his ass off leading up to that game last year... well that or he just magically got ten times better.

dRich

April 2nd, 2011 at 7:24 PM ^

An article somewhere that DG promised a family member he would graduate from college with a degree and went onto say now he has a chance to earn a degree from a prestigess college. Correct me if I'm wrong but it may have been the flint journal

mstudent

April 2nd, 2011 at 8:12 PM ^

thats because a college and a university are two different things. Colleges are specialized schools for higher learning and a university is a collective group of college. 

 

For example, u of m is a university consisting of college of lsa, college of engineering, etc.

mstudent

April 2nd, 2011 at 8:22 PM ^

williams college is a college because it is only a liberal arts college, kinda like LSA. And as for Dartmouth (also another reason for williams) they keep the college in their name because of historical reasons (people won't identify as much with the school if they changed to university of dartmouth or so)

 

 

justingoblue

April 2nd, 2011 at 8:45 PM ^

Traditionally, a college makes up segiments of a university (Harvard College, Michigan's College of Engineering) but there are plenty of prestigious schools that are known as colleges.

When I talk to people from the same school as me, I identify myself as a student of my particular college anyway.