Thomas Rawls Eligible?

Submitted by mgorecruit on

Thomas Rawls will announce his decision on the 31st of January, it's between UM and CMU, although he doesn't have a Michigan offer yet.

That might change next weekend when he takes his official visit to Ann Arbor. Rawls has refused to reveal his new ACT score, because he wants to surprise people on the 31st. I think he'll inform the coaches next weekend that he has qualified, and then he'll get the offer that Fred Jackson has been DYING to give him.

Then of course he'll accept and become part of our class, and I for one would be thrilled. If you haven't seen his senior highlights, shame on you. Link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoMqyUufmmI

Maize and Blue…

January 22nd, 2011 at 5:58 AM ^

5'8" 180 versus 5'10' 215.  Not to mention that Rawls has legitimate track speed.  Throw in the fact that Hart played in an area of NY not knowing to produce much football talent against the SVL which has produced its share of D1 players and I can almost understand the comparison.  With you posting at 4:07 am I'll blame it on the alcohol.

Magnus

January 22nd, 2011 at 7:14 AM ^

He said they were close.  He didn't say they were exact replicas.

And actually, they do have very similar running styles.  Yes, they're different sizes.  And maybe Rawls is a bit faster.  That doesn't mean they can't have similar skills.

cbuswolverine

January 22nd, 2011 at 11:56 AM ^

Seriously

I'm pretty sure that at this point we know more about Mike hart than how big he was at 16 and what competition he played against in high school.  I'm comparing Rawls to the Mike Hart we all know now.  When he was a senior at Michigan, he was 5'9" 200 and yes, they have the same running style, imo. 

Cam57

January 22nd, 2011 at 1:18 AM ^

Thomas Rawls is an absolute beast of a running back. I played against Mark Ingram in high school, as well as Rawls. The similarities are crazy. Not to mention Rawls has broken some of Mark's city records. All of us in the Flint Area are having flashbacks from Ingram's career. We couldn't keep Ingram home, so it would be awesome to get Rawls in Maize and Blue.

Magnus

January 22nd, 2011 at 7:11 AM ^

Well, if Ingram's last high school season was 2007 and Rawls played varsity as a sophomore in 2008, then it's very possible that the OP could have been a junior in '07 and a senior in '08.

Logic.  It's an amazing thing.

Cam57

January 22nd, 2011 at 12:59 PM ^

I got moved up for playoffs my freshman year. I caught a glimpse of Rawls in a scrimmage we played in . I was a 3 year starter. I played Mark Ingram my sophomore year, in our home opener, when he was at Grand Blanc. Then again my junior year when he was at Southwestern at the same scrimmage. Rawls was a young guy playing with varsity at that point. He played a lot of linebacker, and got spot carries at RB, but he definitely showed out.

Cam57

January 22nd, 2011 at 1:33 AM ^

If he could have got his test score in sooner, you would have been surprised at the offers he would have pulled. He had high level interest, grades were always the issue. This would be an absolute steal.

LSA Superstar

January 22nd, 2011 at 10:56 AM ^

While I normally am skeptical of the rave reviews people give middling prospects just because they're going to Michigan (which is not to say that they disappoint me; any kid COULD be a star and any kid can represent our university well), Rawls is a big exception.

I've said this before, but there's a high school coach in the state who I'm friends with who thinks that Rawls is the best player in the state - counting Arnett, counting Beyer, counting everyone. This dude is a human weapon and I pray he is part of our class.

Captain Obvious

January 22nd, 2011 at 1:55 AM ^

remember that one time we pulled some strings and got a top 10 overall player at corner last year, the position of greatest need?

What's that?  Oh yeah, he met NCAA eligibility standards and then we dinged him.  If we aren't willing to "get around" grades as you say for a 5 star, we sure as hell won't now.  Also, there's no way to "get around" the NCAA eligibility hurdle.  Something tells me you have no idea what the fuck you are talking about.

coldnjl

January 22nd, 2011 at 9:16 AM ^

The problem with Dorsey was that he made huge strides to be eligible in a short time with a shady program. IT wasn't that he wasn't eligible, but the way he got there through Lifeskills raised alot of red flags. He also had a record which compounded the situation. Here is a link

http://mgoblog.com/content/its-over-demar-dorsey-and-michigan

Rawls as far as we know doesnt have these red flags and raised his GPA  and test score the rights way and to assume otherwise is foolish. So in conclusion, you don't know what the fuck you are talking about my man.

SWFLWolverine

January 22nd, 2011 at 10:35 AM ^

The program Demar went through might be something similar that we have at our school for credit retrieval in a drop-out prevention program. While the kids do earn credits towards graduation, the NCAA was not accepting the credits because the program was not rigorous enough. Our district have since gone to a different platform for our program, but our athletes cannot be in that program because if the NCAA clearinghouse won't accept the program, we do not want to put our athletes that earn a schollie on the field not qualify in the classroom because they did not work hard enough in a rigorous program. I think the NCAA rulings caught many Florida counties off guard. I don't know if this is the case with Demar, but I do know it has been an issue in Florida.