Steve Wiltfong of 247 just CB'd Ambry Thomas to Michigan
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Michigan could legitimately end up with the top 7 or 8 kids in the state for this class. Crazy.
Pipeline 7 or 8? Doesn't have the same ring to it ;)
JaRaymond Hall, Josh Ross, Phillip Paea, and Carter Dunaway are current verbal commits.
Michigan is strong crystal ball leaders for Jaylen Kelly-Powell & Corey Malone-Hatcher. And trending up with Donovan Peoples-Jones & Ambry Thomas.
If they pull one of KJ Hamler, Deron Irving-Bey, or Antjuan Simmons (and a possibly late offer to Donovan Johnson), Michigan could end up with 9 or more. I think the only thing that may keep it from happening is if Michigan cools on some of these prospects with a huge 2016 season.
so-many-hyphens-this-year
recruting KJ Hamler or Antjuan Simmons, they probably won't be in the class. KJ Hamler will be attending IMG next fall, and really wants Oregon.
They have offers so I don't think it is a case where Michigan is absolutely not recruiting them. Signing Day is a long time away. Those kids could blow up with a strong senior season or Michigan could change their mind & decide to recruit them harder. Michigan is not going to give up on prospects in their backyard if they want them.
Sorry, guys, but watching Florida HS football and then watching Michigan HS football is like watching a Michigan game and then watching USF play Generic Directional University.
I've got a lot of connections to OLSM and no one I've spoken to is saying that he's transferring, let alone out of state. He's a senior this year so unless next fall means he'd be taking a prep year, I have some doubts about wherever you heard that.
on the Lansing State Journal's annual list.
Will probably have Hunter Rison rated higher than DPJ.
Plus DPJ's father is a doctor and he's already showing that he's going to be distracted by his academic ambitions.
Don't know about his mother, but I assume that it would get mentioned if she also went to Michigan.
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Some years there is a lot more top talent in Michigan than other years. Harbaugh wants the best talent he can get wherever it may be. Of course, the good things about in-state guys is they already "get" the rivalry games, have a higher likelihood of committing to U-M being closer to home, and are almost always much more familiar with the program's history and traditions.
People are starting to talk about it like it is some gold mine for talent. The reason people recruit hard there is not just because there is talent there. It is also because the chance of recruiting success there is higher because everyone leaves New Jersey because Rutgers sucks. But I am not sure you can build a power program just off the talent in New Jersey.
Every state school says if we keep our in-state kids at home, we will be a national power. But it just isn't true for most of them. I don't think the talent in New Jersey is that different from Michigan or Illinois, and there is probably more talent in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland/DC (DMV).
I don't think anyone is saying it's Florida or Texas. Although NJ has produced occasional top-end studs like Peppers or Gary over the last few years, it's roughly comparable to Michigan overall if you look at the 247 composites over the last few years. For Michigan's purpose, only about the top 10 guys in each state matter, and the 10th-rated guy in both NJ and MI averages around a 0.87 or 0.88 on 247.
The key is that we're not building a power program just off the talent in New Jersey. We're also recruiting Michigan hard (obviously) and pulling guys from a bunch of other states. But as you said, the key is that there's no local program that is competitive for the top guys, so it's a "free" state. The 5th-best guy in NJ might only be as good as the 10th-best in OH or the 15th-best in FL, but we probably have a better chance at getting the NJ guy because he didn't grow up with a local power dominating the sports news. So maybe dominating NJ recruiting, adding 75% of the top recruits in MI, and pulling a few select players from OH, FL, TX, and CA, will result in a talent base equal to the programs located in big, football-crazy states.
If Michigan can add NJ to it's recruiting base, it gives them as large a hometown footprint as OSU has with the state of Ohio. Obviously not the same as having years of dominance and a state without any other major football powers, but getting a base of 20 top 400 players who enter the process looking favorably upon your program certainly helps level the playing field.
Over the past ten years New Jersey players account for about 40 Power 5 signees a year, Michigan accounts for about 30 Power five signees per year, whereas Illinois accounts for about 43 signees per year. So is New Jersey recruiting the be-all, end-all? Absolutely not, but it does have a decent base of talent with little in-state competition and is an important supplement if Michigan can develop a consistent presence there. Besides having a reliable recruiting base in a state similar to Michigan is an important advantage and can be a useful counter-weight to OSU's lockdown of Ohio.
There are a few way's to look at it but try this breakdown from 2015 list of top NFL producers by state for one. Only Rutgers, Maryland and OSU have no major comptetition from other state Big 5 programs. Many of these states have multiple power 5 schools as well as multiple non-P5 programs. Divide the talent by in state comp any way you like and New Jersey compares favorably to any state save Ohio.
http://usatodayhss.com/2015/which-state-city-and-high-school-has-the-most-current-nfl-players
Bama's last Heisman winner came from MI. Just sayin'.
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My bad... Mark Ingram Just using that as an example of a school which fills its needs first from home and then compliments from elsewhere. Sorry about the name mix up.
Hayden Fry built his 80's programs with numerous New Jersey kids.
It really isn't a new thing to hit New Jersey for talent. And yes I believe its overblown.
Sounds like Thomas and JKP had a great weekend. Add those two with Woods and the fast-rising St-Juste and the secondary class looks very, very good.
Was looking over the weekend, Woods is only one spot away from composite 4-star on 247. Just a few spots down from KJP.
Does anyone know what position we are recruiting him at? Looks like he might end up at corner to me.
From what I read, he went over X's and O's with Brown, Partridge, and Zordich, so it sounds like they see him at corner.
Yeah, he's a corner.
We played them in the finals...no doubt he was the most talented. Corley 2...Hill 3.
thomas is no doubt the best DB prospect of that group, at least in my opinion. and likely the best athlete as well though all 3 are nice prospects. im not big on comparisons and all that but hes got a chance to be pretty good