devin butler

Today's recruiting roundup is the last one you'll get from me for a little while, as I'm taking next week off to recharge. Inevitably, there will be a deluge of recruiting news that I'll miss and the next Tuesday Recruitin' will be so long that it undoes all the rest I'll get on my vacation, but this is life in the Hoke regime. Hoke uber alles.

Updates on Massington, Treadwell, Isaac, and More

Tremendous caught up with Mesquite (TX) four-star WR Eldridge Massington, who told Aquaman that Michigan is currently his leader. He also said that his standard McDonald's order is eight(!) cheeseburgers. This immediately brought to mind a classic Belushi-era SNL skit, but since SNL is the Major League Baseball of television shows when it comes to allowing classic moments to be uploaded to YouTube, this is the best I could do:

Massington also plans to visit Ann Arbor for the first time this summer, but a date hasn't been set yet. One receiver who has finalized a visit date, however, is Laquon Treadwell; he'll be on campus on April 7th before visiting Ohio State and Oklahoma over his spring break ($). When you feel envious of big-time college prospects, remember that they sometimes sacrifice trips to Cancun for chaperoned visits to Norman.

Scout's Sam Webb posted a two-part interview with Tyrone Isaac, father of Ty. The first part is mostly a rehashing of Isaac's USC visit, but in part two the elder Isaac reveals what he knows about his son's current timeline ($):

If I had to guess, I would say before his senior season starts he will have made a decision as to where he’s going. He has made mention of it a few times that he didn’t want to go into his senior season with this hanging over his head heavy. He wanted to finally breathe again… take a deep breath, let it out, and start his senior year.

Ty has been under a lot of pressure during the recruiting process, and a summer decision—or even a spring choice—is quite possibly in the cards.

A decision date was set this week by Washington (DC) Gonzaga CB Devin Butler, who tweeted that he'll announce his choice on May 12th. Butler recently visited Michigan and has also taken trips to Wisconsin and Notre Dame over the past week. He'll be back in Ann Arbor for the spring game and is also looking to visit Madison again ($). He also enjoyed his trip to South Bend, too, so this recruitment appears pretty wide open.

Quickly: 2013 Grand Blanc DE Daniel Davis was on campus Tuesday, and while he had a positive reaction to the trip, he left without an offer ($). Peoria (IL) DE Josh Augusta, who holds an offer, will visit campus sometime this week while on his spring break ($, info in header). Also, I did a Q&A with Cari Greene of Black Shoe Diaries about the state of Michigan recruiting, and you're encouraged to check it out.

A Note on Rod Crayton

There's been talk coming from both TomVH and Sam Webb about Dadeville (AL) DT Rod Crayton, who holds an offer and has visited campus, and his current status as a Michigan recruit. Tom and Sam have recently maintained that Crayton, likely due to a childhood foot injury, won't be a part of the class. While I assume Tom and Sam have good reason to say that, I spoke with a source close to the situation yesterday, and here's what he told me:

• Crayton spoke with the Michigan coaches on Wednesday, and they're telling Rod that he's their top nose tackle on the board right now.
• The coaches were aware of Crayton's foot injury—as a fourth-grader, he lost part of his foot in a lawnmower accident—before he ever visited campus. He plays with a custom-made brace and the injury hasn't hampered his impressive production and athleticism in high school.
• Crayton wants to head out of state for school. In fact, he's the one who first contacted Michigan, instead of the other way around. The Wolverines are up there among his favorites, as is LSU. The source expects an Auburn offer to come soon, but said that he still doesn't think Crayton will stay in Alabama.

Given the fact that the coaches have been very forthright with players about whether or not they're being actively recruited—Alex Anzalone and Shane Jones stand out as strong examples—I'd be surprised if Crayton wasn't still being pursued, at least based on what I'm hearing. We'll see how this one plays itself out.

2014 News

Scout posted a free article on Detroit Loyola sophomore DE Malik McDowell, another player who's visited Michigan recently. McDowell is already 6'6", 260 lbs. at the age of 15, and his coach, John Callahan, is seeing him improve up close:

"He's 15 and he's 6'6, 260, and he plays basketball, so he does a lot of running, so his conditioning is good, but also, he's not your typical lineman where he'll eat two or three pork chops and go to bed and be 290-300-lbs. He's slim. You look at his body, he's not skinny, but he can carry 35-40-lbs. He's 260, but he's a slim 260. I'll tell you what, he's deceivingly strong. The thing about Malik where I've seen the biggest improvement is in the weight room. Last year, I'd bring him in the weight room and keep an eye on him and he'd be missing some reps and some sets. He goes in now and we have a pretty structured weight program and he makes sure every single rep, every single exercise is done and sometimes we'll go back and repeat a few things if he feels he hasn't gotten enough out of it, so his mindset in the weight room has improved 100%."

Being a "slim 260" at 15 is pretty mind-boggling. McDowell appears in line to be one of the top prospects in the class of 2014, and Michigan should be in good position to land him. He's got freakish potential as a defensive end.

Sam Webb profiled Beaver Falls (PA) Blackhawk QB Chandler Kincade, who made a (very) early commitment to Pitt but is now reconsidering his options after the departure of coach Todd Graham. He visited both Michigan and MSU recently and came away impressed. Kincade fits the mold of a pro-style gunner:

"[Former MSU QB Jeff] Smoker I considered more of an athletic guy that could throw the ball," said Scout.com East regional manager Bob Lichtenfels. "He was more an athlete that could get out of the pocket and hurt you in other ways. Chandler is what you expect when people say pro-style pocket quarterback. He's a 6-5, 200-pound kid standing back there slinging the rock. Chad Henne played that way, but didn't have that kind of size."

Whatever they're feeding kids these days, I'm pretty mad I missed out on it.

Quickly: TomVH on '14 Toledo (OH) Central Catholic QB DeShone Kizer, who has early offers from Bowling Green, Syracuse, and Toledo, and has early interest in Michigan ($, info in header). Tremendous gets a visit recap from Indianapolis (IN) Pike WR Dominique Booth, who made a quick trip to campus yesterday and had a very positive reaction.

Today's recruiting roundup recaps Shane Morris's Elite11 regional camp appearance, talks Ty Isaac (what else is new?), and goes over past and future visits.

Shane's Bad Day > Your Bad Day

Shane Morris attended the Dallas Elite11 regional camp last weekend, getting tips from guys like Trent Dilfer and Tony Romo while hoping to lock up one of the coveted invitations to the Elite11 finals. Review of Morris were mixed but mostly positive, and this clearly wasn't good enough for Michigan's quarterback commit, who told ESPN he needs to work on "everything" (also, any idea why Morris is randomly wearing stunner shades for the second throw in this clip?):

While Morris was disappointed to not earn the finals invitation (more quotes in a free ESPN article here), he'll get another crack in Columbus on May 4th, and he still flashed the ability that has made him a potential five-star. Rivals.com's Brian Perroni listed Morris at #5 among his top performers, noting arm strength as his biggest positive ($):

The Michigan pledge made his presence known early by coming in decked out in Wolverine gear. There was a lot of anticipation as people wanted to see the nation's No. 16 overall prospect in person after he traveled a long way to compete. A lefty, the 6-foot-3, 185-pound Morris had the best velocity on his ball of any quarterback in attendance and made some very good deep throws as well. His accuracy was a bit off at times but nothing too concerning.

Scout's Greg Powers had a similar take, saying Morris had some great throws and not-so-great throws but "definitely [had] his wow moments," in turning in a "very solid showing" ($). Morris was disappointed, yes, but he also has very high standards for himself. That's by no means a bad thing.

Morris didn't provide the only recruiting action of the weekend, as Michigan hosted several prospects for unofficial visits. The top 2013 target on campus was Washington (DC) Gonzaga CB Devin Butler, who's in the midst of a long string of Midwest visits but took the time to tell 247 that Michigan "seemed like a great place to be as a football player, as a student and a young man" ($). Several Cass Tech targets spanning three classes also made the trip. '13 DT Kenton Gibbs caught up with Will Campbell and also said that Michigan's coaches want to see him at their summer camp before extending an offer ($). '14 LB William White was impressed by what he saw from the linebackers in spring drills ($), while '14 RB/DB Johnny Miggins and '15 QB Jayru Campbell also enjoyed the visit ($). '14 WR Damon Webb was also on campus along with several other Cass Tech players.

Isaac Watch, Future Visits, Etc.

Ty Isaac has returned from his trip to USC, the school that poses perhaps the biggest threat to Michigan in his recruitment, so it's time to read far too much into some post-trip quotes. They are... meh ($):

"There were really no set expectations, it was just a good visit," Isaac said. "It was nothing that I wasn't expecting. I got to see things and talk to coaches."

"I got to see things," is my new favorite non-answer from a recruit. It certainly doesn't sound like Isaac, who was accompanied by his father, was blown away by the trip. He says he's now going to "chill for awhile" before making any kind of decision about his future, and he's not tipping his hand, though he said his top schools "know who they are."

Phoenix (AZ) Brophy Prep WR Devon Allen is one of the top receivers on the board for Michigan, and his recent athletic exploits reveal a major reason why that is the case: Allen just broke a 32-year-old Arizona state record in the 110-meter hurdles, running a 13.62 to edge out the old mark by .07 seconds. He was also just three-hundreths of a second from breaking the 300-meter hurdles state record, as well. Allen starts his spring break next week, and he plans on taking a trip to the Midwest, where Michigan is one of several schools in the running for a visit ($).

One player taking a visit this weekend is Solon (OH) CB Darian Hicks, who already holds 11 offers but is hoping to add Michigan to the list when he comes to campus on Friday ($). Brookfield (WI) Central DE Chikwe Obasih will swing by Ann Arbor between April 12th and 14th—he'll also visit MSU and Illinois during those days, and hasn't set the order yet ($).

Two players have stated their intention to take one of their official visits to Ann Arbor. Petaluma (CA) Casa Grande ATH Elijah Qualls—at 6'5", 265 lbs., likely a DT/SDE recruit for Michigan—is one, having built a strong relationship with coach Dan Ferrigno ($). The other is Dadeville (AL) DT Rod Crayton, whose coach says Michigan "might be recruiting Rod the hardest out of anyone" ($). Crayton plans to take a second unofficial visit for a game this fall, then use an official visit after his season.

Happy trails to two offensive linemen, Colin McGovern and Hunter Bivin, who both committed to Notre Dame over the weekend. Both held Michigan offers but were told, like all uncommitted OL, that the Wolverines are full along the O-line.

Quickly: Taco Charlton's Pickerington Central squad defeated Chris Wormley and Toledo Whitmer, 45-40, in the Ohio Division I basketball state title game. Chantel Jennings gives a progress report on the 2013 class, including quotes from current commits on what the coaches like about them ($).

Things are relatively quiet on the recruiting front at the moment, but here's an update on weekend visitors, players planning to attend the spring game, and more.

Weekend Visitors, Webb on Webb, Spring Game, Etc.

The list is short this week, with Washington (DC) Gonzaga CB Devin Butler the only uncommitted 2013 prospect slated to be on campus ($). Butler currently has Penn State as his leader, but the Wolverines are among a group of nine schools also in contention for his services.

Other visitors this weekend include 2013 commits Jake Butt and Jaron Dukes, and once again Cass Tech will be well represented—2014 WR Damon Webb, 2014 RB/DB Johnny Miggins, and 2015 QB Jayru Campbell will make the short trip to Ann Arbor.

Meanwhile, top receiver target Laquon Treadwell told Chantel Jennings that he'll visit for a spring practice in the first week of April ($, info in header). That will be Treadwell's fifth visit to Ann Arbor, but he still maintains that he won't make a decision until after his senior season.

The big visit weekend, however, will be when Michigan takes the field for the spring game on April 14th. One top-flight prospect who will be on campus is Erial (NJ) Timber Creek DT Greg Webb, who was the subject of Sam Webb's latest DetNews feature. Greg Webb's father earns major bonus points for saying Mike Martin and Iowa's Mike Daniels are two of his favorite D-linemen, because "they're undersized and they're badgers." The elder Webb also shed some light on the mindset of recruits who are witnessing a rather unprecedented rush to commit early:

"Michigan already (received verbal commitments from) 16 kids," Mr. Webb stated. "They're almost finished with their class. If you look at schools like Ohio State, they don't have as many scholarships (to offer). They're probably going to only take two or three D-tackles. You have to look at the numbers. If the schools you want to go to already have 16 or 17 commits, or they're only taking three more (players at your position), I don't think you can wait until signing day. A lot of the schools that he likes are a lot of the higher-profile schools. They're all going to fill up quick, so really I think we're going to have to look how things are going the next two or three months and see (if its best to make an early decision)."

With Michigan likely taking just two more defensive linemen—and also being in strong position with DT Henry Poggi—there could certainly be extra pressure on Webb to commit early if he wants a spot in the class.

Webb won't be the only elite D-lineman on campus for the spring game, either, as four-star SDE Joey Bosa will also be in attendance ($). Bosa currently has Michigan in his top six, but the competition—Florida State, Florida, Alabama, Wisconsin, and Ohio State—is stiff. Two other recruits who will be in that weekend are Cleveland Glenville S Christopher Worley (confusing, I know), who's currently holding offers from Arkansas, Bowling Green, and West Virginia ($), and 2014 Mequon (WI) Homestead DT Brandon Hines, who'll visit Ann Arbor on the 13th before checking out Iowa ($).

Quickly: Columbus (OH) Walnut Ridge WR Rob Wheelwright holds an offer, has Michigan in his top group, and is setting up a visit with coach Jerry Montgomery ($). Santa Monica (CA) WR Sebastian LaRue has "high interest" in the Wolverines and plans on taking a spring or summer visit ($). Grand Blanc (MI) DE Daniel Davis has been hearing from Michigan recently and plans to visit next week ($). TomVH on Michigan targeting several bigger cornerbacks in the 2013 class ($).