Sammy Watkins Update
Floridia WR Sammy Watkins (Scout 5*, #3WR, Rival 4*, ESPNU 150 Watch List) is featured in this gatorsports.com article. Previously featured here, Watkins appears to have Michigan in his top 3 along with UF and The U.
With more colleges showing interest in Sammy, he said he will use his summer to visit schools rather than competing at camps. He realizes schools won’t get to see him showcase his skills, but he’s not concerned with that because he’ll have the season to show coaches what he can do.
“I don’t really care about (working out at camps) because I can work out with my coaches and my teammates or I can just train myself,” he said. “I don’t need anybody to motivate me so I don’t care about any camps.
Sammy said he and his coach will sit down next week and narrow his list of schools down to 10. As of now, the only schools he knows will make the cut are Florida, Miami and Michigan.
Convincing Watkins to leave the comfort of home and brave the cold of Michigan is quite a tall order for RichRod and his staff, especially given that...
...there are two schools that have stuck out for him since his recruitment began — Florida and Miami. Watkins said he grew up watching the Hurricanes and having them close to home has helped him learn more about the program.
“I like them,” Watkins said of Miami. “It’s close to home, good school with good academics. They are all right.”
But he’s got a special bond with Florida. His half-brother Jaylen is a true freshman cornerback for the Gators, and Sammy said reuniting with Jaylen would be nice, but he’s still got to make the right decision for himself.
“My brother is over there, but at the same time I have to choose the place where I want to go, but I like them,” he said. “I’ve visited there and it’s pretty close to home, so they’re looking pretty good.”
All that said, Watkins' Michigan Spring Game experience was clearly very positive and has put the Wolverines on his short list. Here's hoping he follows in the footsteps of the greatest Michigan WR of all time (and fellow Floridian).
getting a prospect away from the florida schools is always a tall order, but the fact that were even getting looks from a top prospect, let alone being the only out of state school specifically mentioned, is very positive.
Rich Rod regularly gets this done.
Denard Robinson, Demar Dorsey, Ricky Barnum, Martavious Odoms, Ricardo Miller, Marvin Robinson. Taylor Lewan
All these kids were wanted by one or all of the Big 3 Florida schools. Michigan has a shot with Watkins because of RR.
Throw in Craig Roh - kid had a USC offer and RR pulled him to AA.
This just in, USC is not in Florida.
Neither was Taylor Lewan
although, let it be known, i cant see us grabbing a top tier outside WR until we prove able to get the ones we have the ball. I feel like it would be very easy to negative recruit against Michigan at WR by pointing out that we already have serious talent at the position (hemingway and stonum), we just arent getting them the ball.
Not sure if this is just false hope...........but if Dorsey ends up playing for Michigan this year, I feel like it would greatly increase our chance of pulling top prospects out of South Florida in the future. Even the ones who would otherwise stay local.
both on the field and with recruiting!
We need to get that kid on campus, asap.
i have been on the edge of my seat about Dorsey. does anyone have any thought or insight about what his academic issues / difficulties may be? grades? standardized test scores? clearinghouse issues? other? if it is a grades thing would we maybe hear something about that soon (this month) since the school year is just about done? just been curious about this, but didn't want to start a whole new topic for it....
Rivals has been reporting that it would take a miracle to get him cleared FWIW. I am hopeful he makes it in this year, but most reports are saying he won't clear. His ultimate goal is to play for UM though and he won't forget that if he goes to JC for a year to make grades.
I agree that Dorsey could be key. He was a truly elite pickup out of Florida, and this along with other RR inroads into Florida like the Pahokee connection we can start to gather momentum (along with a better Win/Loss record).
The only thing that matters is winning. If we win, recruiting will follow suit and every bad thing in the last 2 years will go away. We just need to win. The fact that Rod has done as well as he has in recruiting up to this point is astounding. With his record, and all of the other bullshit he's had to deal with or brought upon himself, he must be extremely genuine when sitting down with these recruits and their parents. Just imagine if he goes into Columbus and wins, then wins a bowl game....holy shit, recruits will be lining up at the door no matter where they are from.
I've always felt that with the NCAA allegations and abysmal state of the team, RR's recruiting is nothing short of phenomenal. If we can start winning and escape the NCAA accusations with a slap on the wrist, there's no telling what kind of talent he'll start pulling in.
His school doesnt get out until June 9th, idk if sense he's a senior he gets out early or what. Just thought i would pass that along
Whose school?
Dorsey's
See 1:40 in the video. Sammy lays out Bieber wanna be