EJ Levenberry Jr. possible de-commitment

Submitted by robbyt003 on

Per Tremendous - 

Add another name into the bag. Per a couple tweets by Mike Farrell at Rivals, it sounds like LB EJ Levenberry Jr. wants to re-open his recruitment. I don't think he's officially de-committed from FSU, but it sounds like he is having second thoughts for sure and plans to visit Michigan. We had a good rapport with EJ during his recruitment, so I may be able to get to the bottom of what's going on.

Well this should be interesting....

edit - Here's the link to Rivals regarding the situation.

http://michigan.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=338&tid=156707047&mid=156707047&sid=883&style=2

Right now I have to say my son made the right decision in choosing Jimbo
and FSU but that Michigan degree and Greg Mattison's relationship with 
my son are hard to resist.

edit 2 - 

 Mike Farrell ‏@rivalsmike

And just like that #Michigan pulls out of the Levenberry race unless they lose a commit per levenberry's father

FrankMurphy

August 1st, 2012 at 5:27 PM ^

Would the coaches even accept a commitment from him at this point, given that Treadwell and Green are the primary targets for the final two spots in the class?

MichiganMan2424

August 1st, 2012 at 5:24 PM ^

Was about to post this. Apparently his dad has said he's going to take an official to Michigan this fall. Not sure if we'll end up having the spots, but if it does open up, it sounds like it will be between Michigan, FSU, and Oklahoma.

TexanGOBLUE

August 1st, 2012 at 5:25 PM ^

Didn't the coaches say they would hold  a spot for him until the end? Doesn't that spot disapear if you commit to another school? Someone help. I am excited and confused at the same time.

ChiBlueBoy

August 1st, 2012 at 5:26 PM ^

Even if he de-commits, do we still have room? I would think we would hold a place for a 4-star or higher WR (LT), and I don't think we'd turn away Green. I know those two are not locked in, but is LB a position of need at this point? If we get neither, absolutely we take him, but I'm not sure how the coaches would handle this.

BlockM

August 1st, 2012 at 5:27 PM ^

My quesition is whether we have the ability to back-date any of these recruits if they can enroll early... Aren't we still under the 85 total scholarship limit, or am I taking crazy pills?

If we can't count any towards our 2012 class, and there aren't any decommits, I just can't see us taking another LB, but signing day is a long way off.

BlockM

August 1st, 2012 at 5:33 PM ^

Got it. For some reason I thought we were still sitting at 82-83, but that makes perfect sense. 

I'd rather keep our commitments we have now, not piss anyone off by turning them down after decision, and avoid hoping some kids leave. Not worth getting one player if that's the price.

turd ferguson

August 1st, 2012 at 5:41 PM ^

I don't think that's true. Let's say we don't offer any of our to-be-5th-year guys that last scholarship year. (Obviously, we'll invite some back, but stick with me.) We'd be well below 85 then, right, even with a 25-player class? I think the question about whether we can include any early enrolling 2013 guys with the 2012 class is a good one. I don't think we can, but does anyone know for sure?

Mr Miggle

August 1st, 2012 at 5:51 PM ^

Yes, we can backdate three players from the next class. We had 25 in 2012, but three of them were backdated, so officially that class is three under the limit. 85 is no problem if we don't invite anyone back for their fifth year, but since that would be completely insane, the 85 limit may come into play. At this point no one knows how much attrition we'll have. Some of it is predictable, but it seems like we always get some surprises too.

WolvinLA2

August 1st, 2012 at 5:51 PM ^

We're at a 21 man class right now, with no more attrition.  There are 4 to-be fifth year guys - Mike Jones, Brendan Gibbons, Cam Gordon and Quinton Washington.  If all 4 weren't given fifth years, we'd be up to 25 (without other attrition).  That's highly doubtful, since Cam is a good player who backs up the SAM, and no one else is proven there, Gibbons was our starting PK last year and Q is one of only a few DTs with experience once BWC leaves.  It's possible more than just Jones gets the handshake, but probably not more than one. 

Now, if a couple other guys leave, we could get into that territory, but we already need Mike Jones plus-3 to get to 25.   

woodfeld

August 1st, 2012 at 6:10 PM ^

As long as Lewan keeps doing what he's doing, he'll be a projected 1st round pick and thus a likely candidate to leave early.  If Fitz puts out per carry averages like last year with a heavier workload, it's also likely he'd leave early (RB's having short careers and all).

Not sure if there are any other possible early entries, but those 2 definitely come to mind.

fishdaddy

August 1st, 2012 at 5:59 PM ^

have 77/85 scholarships allocated right now.  Leaving 8.  There are 13 RS SR and SR.  Leaving 21 open spots for the 2013 class and putting us up against the 85 limit (back dating wont help).  We currently have 23 commits in 2013 so we already have to plan on 2 of 9 RS JRs not getting a 5th year or some other attrition.

Hagen

August 1st, 2012 at 5:28 PM ^

IIRC, EJ all but made it clear it was us vs. FSU, with the Criminal Justice major available at FSU as being the deciding factor (something I fully respected).  I'm interested to hear why he's re-opening up, but with the class we have right now and the positions of need, I'd rather wait it out on Tread and Green then have him take a spot.  Obviously attrition caveats apply.  But something seems fishy here.  Maybe Jimbo's ban on using Twitter is going to drive away some recruits.  I know, sounds absolutely ridiculous, but that's what them kids are doing these days, loving that Twitter.  That said, if a third available spot were to open up, he'd be a great grab.

BlockM

August 1st, 2012 at 5:39 PM ^

Again, total rumor, no idea who these guys are, all of the disclaimers, but: 

 

 What's up with all this Levenberry stuff?

 

 The staff hasn't been in touch with Levenberry since he committed.

 
 

FrankMurphy

August 1st, 2012 at 5:34 PM ^

Brian just sent this cryptic Tweet:

 

EJ Levenberry. If you can read that, read it. Normally I wouldn't give much credence to it given M's class but EJ's dad is... blunt.

I assume he's referring to the paywalled Rivals article about this, which apparently contains some eye-opening quotes from Levenberry's dad about his situation and Michigan's class.

MGoClimb

August 1st, 2012 at 5:32 PM ^

If his Dad says that he is going to take an official this fall, it probably means they have maintained some form of contact with the coaches, no?  If the coaches weren't interested in him any longer, I think they would tell him.

FrankMurphy

August 1st, 2012 at 5:56 PM ^

We could definitely use an every-down RB like Green in this class. If we can't address that need until the 2014 class, then Fitz's replacement would come in as a true freshman. If we get Green, he'll at least have a year under his belt before being put into full-time service. Wyatt Shallman and Justice Hayes may or may not evolve into every-down backs, but Green is tailor-made. 

Levenberry would be a pure luxury at this point.