lolillini

And now we wait. Visitors are still trickling through but Michigan got most of their top targets up for official visits, and those targets got to see some other schools, and some have commitment dates that are more or less exciting than others. Touch the Banner made a list of last weekend’s visitors. Will Johnson said he thinks July will be a big month($, title) for commitment. Let’s run the Board.

Quarterback

MSU flipped that Boise State commit; I still think Michigan should kick the tires. They had AL 3* Conner Harrell ⬇⬇⬇ up here last week($, info in title) but the Denegal commitment probably ends that.

Running Back

The only change here is confirmation from most parties that Michigan’s not getting top-100 VA 4* George Pettaway ⬇⬇⬇ over North Carolina because commit CJ Stokes and an impending commit($, title) from TX 3* Dillon Bell ➡ is a class.

Receiver

The board is frighteningly open here after the two commits. The Wolverines made a final five for TX 3* slot Che Nwabuko ⬆, who’s looking to take his official this fall($), said Holland. IL 3* Jacob Bostick ⬇ was one of their recent visitors, but was crystal balled to Iowa($) a few days after.

Harbaugh has been on the phone with($, info in title) WA 3* Tobias Merriweather ⬆ and EJ Holland learned there’s a very strong Michigan connection($), though the recruitment is in its infancy. Notre Dame has been in there a long time and picked up a few homer crystal balls two weeks ago however.

Michigan was also supposed to host AL 3* slot squirrel Marquarius White ⬇ from Nico’s high school, and lanky speedster FL 4* Chandler C.J. Smith ⬇, but it seems the former visited Tennessee instead($, title) and the latter committed to Florida instead.

Tight End

GA 4* Oscar Delp ⬆, probably the nation’s #1 TE, went home from his visit and Dad said regardless of how the recruitment goes, Delp is going to be a better player as a senior because of Jay Harbaugh($, title)—they spent hours breaking down film. Sam and crew are adamant that this is a Michigan-Georgia battle($) while national pundits name South Carolina and Clemson as the non-Georgia suitors. I believe them that Michigan is in this($), and if it was up to the parents maybe in the lead, but I still have a hard time believing Georgia lets Delp out of the state. He’ll escape at least once more—to see a Michigan game in person—so we get to still have some months to find our maid of honor dress. Weirdly he moved down on Rivals after he was the #3 finisher at their camp.

ID 3* Colston Loveland ⬆⬆⬆ came up for a visit and is getting ready to pull the trigger($, title) via all the sites, despite lots of other big-name programs, including Bama, jumping into this one. I’ve got the hello tabs open and…uh…dang…this is not a 3-star you guys.

Sam also made it clear Michigan can take three tight ends this cycle and I wholeheartedly agree, especially since they like to play two and keep going 1/2. Commit Marlin Klein is a Eubanks who needs some development time, and while Loveland has the size to play immediately it’s a big leap from Idaho football to playing in the potato capital of the college football world. Delp would be more like getting Thomas Fidone a year late, or Theo Johnson two years late, or Luke Ford four years late, or Isaac Nauta six years late, or…why does this happen so much?

[After THE JUMP: Buckle up this afternoon]

In case the Big Ten Tournament isn't entertaining you right now…

The question:

Lovie Smith is the best Illinois football hire since…

Brian: I have no idea. I don't know who Illinois hires or does not hire.

Seth: /giphy zook

all orange and blue teams are the same.
/giphy thatsracist

BiSB: Maybe just "Did Illinois do a good or bad?"

Seth: Did giphy do a good or bad?

Brian: I'm assuming a bad because Illinois.

BiSB: Giphy did a zook.

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Brian: But on the other hand, it seems kind of good?

I mean, Bill Cubit had a two year deal. He was already a lame duck. Maybe better to just pull the ripcord right now and get a head start on the Whoever's Next era. And, I mean, Lovie Smith was an NFL head coach for almost a decade. I'm not sure he'll do great, but amongst football coaches who would take the Illinois job in March he's got to be at the top of the list.

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Adam: Probably can't be worse than this:

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[After the JUMP we take Illinois seriously.]

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Ace:

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[Or not]

Roquan Smith, trend-setter?

"Don't sign an NLI" spreads. Kevin Trahan details the reasons at SB Nation; Andy Staples has an article in SI:

Though most players don’t realize it, they do not have to sign the NLI to receive a scholarship. They need only sign a financial aid agreement at their chosen school. The financial aid paperwork provides (almost) the same guarantee of a scholarship as the NLI, but unlike the NLI, it doesn’t strip the player of the only leverage he’ll have until he graduates from college.

Why is the NLI the worst contract in American sports? It requires players to sign away their right to be recruited by other schools. If they don’t enroll at the school with which they signed, they forfeit a year of eligibility. Not a redshirt year, but one of their four years to play. In return, the NLI guarantees the player nothing.

That's right: nothing. If you don't get in, which certain massively oversigned teams will massage from time to time, you can be forced out. And even if you do and have been on campus for summer semester, you can still get the boot. The NLI gives you nothing. If you're big time, there's no reason to sign it.

Get The Picture has the view from the Georgia side of things.

More on Gwendolyn Bush. Staples also has an excellent anecdote on Bush's qualifications for her new job:

…if anyone is qualified for this job, it’s Bush. At most large programs, player development personnel work in a mentoring role for current players and serve as contact points for recruits and their parents when they seek info about the program and school.

Bush is perfect for this job because she knows exactly what parents will ask. When Lyons was being recruited the first time around, she asked pretty much every question. It was Bush who designed the in-depth questionnaire Lyons sent to every school that offered him a scholarship. The 50 questions covered everything from insurance coverage to graduation rates to the distance to the nearest department store.

Jim Harbaugh's Stanford was the winner in that recruitment. Bush evidently impressed Harbaugh sufficiently to circle back around to her when he needed a liaison between departments and parents.

A parent who managed her kid's recruitment methodically has a deep knowledge of the relevant issues. The fact that her kid might transfer to Michigan for one year when Michigan returns three starters in the secondary plus Jabrill Peppers plays little to no role in her hire.

Another hire. Michigan's hired Matt Doherty from Miami. Doherty was "director of player personnel" at Miami, and the guy at 247 reporting his hire says he's in a similar role at Michigan. It's not the same role, as Chris Singletary has that title.

Doherty's title is "Recruiting Coordinator" on the directory, FWIW, so this kind of seems like not even a lateral move for him. Michigan's getting serious about support staff.

Illinois: still Illinois. I know the prequels were confusing, but the Stormtroopers were the bad guys.

the stormtroopers lost RT @CoachCubit: The OSKEE EMPIRE is rising. Join the Illini side. pic.twitter.com/L2bdUsMu2B

— SPENCER HALL (@edsbs) February 9, 2015

YOU'RE NEXT… time to get shot in massive numbers by our story's heroes. Points for honesty, at least. No points for football. Just for honesty.

This one is totally random and not at all my fault. A few weeks after implying that Caris LeVert's foot issue was the result of working too hard, Izzo is down one weird guy:

The problem that will be tougher to solve is the fact freshman Javon Bess might out for the rest of the season with an injured right foot.

"Javon might be done for the year," Izzo said Monday at his weekly news conference. "I don't like where it's headed, but he'll definitely be out for a couple of weeks."

Maybe he should have just had his team practice free throws.

Cord cutting continues apace. It was kind of a big deal when Dish offered a 20 dollar monthly package with ESPN and ESPN2 on it, but now they've announced there's an add-on sports pack with yet more coverage:

Sports Extra ($5/mo):
ESPN News, ESPN U, SEC ESPN Network, ESPN Buzzer Beater, Universal Sports, Bein Sports

That just about covers anything an SEC fan would need. If that package somehow added BTN, the only Michigan basketball and football games that wouldn't be on the service would be the occasional road game (or preseason tournament) against a team in the Pac-12 or Mountain West that would end up on the Fox networks.

It's just a matter of time. That amount of time: however long it takes Google to inflict real competition on enough prime markets to hit the cheap gigabit tipping point. That's maybe ten years off; we'll be stuck with Rutgers forever. At least going to a game that far away is more plausible when you can sleep overnight in your self-driving car?

It's going to be okay man. Michigan is 21st in the Power Rank's four-year recruiting rankings, and 17th via SB Nation's methodology. That includes Michigan's extremely weak Hoke-Rodriguez transition class and generally doesn't account for Michigan's extremely low attrition. A big time class like everyone expects would replace the transition guys in the stats, leaving Michigan with a talent base you can do lots of stuff with—kind of like that year when that awful APR fell off the stats and Michigan shot up.

Etc.: Hyman third in the Hobey Watch. Going to be tough to catch Jack Eichel. Dan Dakich twitter fight? Don't mind if I do. Oregon state senator mad that Oregon didn't take any Oregonians in their most recent recruiting class. Lax kicks off the season with a win.