Monday Recruitin' Mounts Up
Today's recruiting roundup covers the latest on Michigan's remaining 2013 targets, a surprise move in the 2014 class, and more.
Weekend Visit Recap: One Decision Down, Three To Go
TX TE Durham Smythe is back on the market and looking at Michigan
As signing day rapidly approaches, Michigan's path to closing out the 2013 class becomes more clear. Over the weekend, the Wolverines picked up IN OL Dan Samuelson, who told Scout's Allen Trieu that his decision came down to distance ($):
"It came down mostly to distance," he explained. "I shouldn't say mostly, it was completely distance. It is only about a three hour drive, Nebraska being an 11 1/2 hour drive."
With Samuelson in the fold, Michigan now has six offensive lineman committed; does that leave room for CA OL Cameron Hunt, who was also on campus over the weekend? According to Hunt, per an interview with Scout's Greg Biggins, the answer is 'yes' ($):
“The coaches told me they still had room for me,” Hunt said. “I know six offensive linemen is a lot but I’m not afraid to compete. After taking all my trips, if I feel Michigan is the best spot for me, I’ll still go there and be ready to win a job. There is going to be competition anywhere you go so that doesn’t bother me.”
Hunt went straight from his Michigan official to one at Ohio State, and also has trips lined up to Oregon and Cal (where he's still a very soft commit) before he makes his decision.
OH CB Reon Dawson, an Illinois commit, also took a Michigan official over the weekend; he told ESPN's Jared Shanker that a decision is coming soon ($):
A final decision will come Wednesday after talking with his family and his girlfriend’s mother, with whom he has a very close relationship.
“I’ve been thinking about it ... and first off, education will be big. You can get hurt on any given play and you need something to fall back on,” Dawson said. “I’ll talk to my family, and by Wednesday it’ll be done. I need a couple of days to think about this decision.”
Dawson will choose between Michigan and Illinois; given that he'll be just a few days removed from checking out Ann Arbor when he makes his choice, there's definitely reason for optimism.
That won't be the only decision coming down this week, as in-state kicker JJ McGrath tells The Big House Report that he'll choose between Michigan, LSU, and Southern Miss on Friday. McGrath doesn't hold a scholarship offer—he'd come on as a preferred walk-on—but says that he'd have the opportunity to earn one when Brendan Gibbons graduates. The Wolverines are in a strong position to land McGrath, who also was on campus last weekend.
[Hit THE JUMP for the latest on Derrick Green and Durham Smythe, a surprise commitment to Ohio State's 2014 class, and more.]
Green Decision Set
VA RB Derrick Green announced his decision date on Twitter yesterday—he'll reveal his choice on January 26th at 4:00 pm.
Green told Mike Farrell($) that he's down to three schools—Michigan, Auburn, and Tennessee—and he'll host all three for in-home visits this week as well as Florida State, which had been on the schedule before he eliminated them.
Michigan holds a decided edge heading into the home stretch—they are, of course, the stated leader, while Green is still getting familiar with the new coaching staffs at Auburn and Tennessee (this week's in-home will be his first time meeting the new Auburn coaches).
Four-star TX TE Durham Smythe considered Michigan earlier in the cycle before committing to Texas. Smythe decommitted last month, however, and is now considering the Wolverines with a visit on the horizon, per ESPN's Damon Sayles ($):
Smythe said [last weekend's Stanford] visit received a high score from him, but he still has two visits -- and a possible third -- before he makes a final decision. Smythe, who decommitted from Texas last month, said he will visit Oregon this weekend and Michigan the weekend of Jan. 25. Stanford, Oregon and Michigan are his top three schools, but Nebraska and Notre Dame also are in the mix.
We'll see if Michigan still has a spot in the class left by the time Smythe gets around to making a decision; if they do, he'd be a nice addition to the class. At 6'5", 230, he's a guy who could play with his hand in the dirt.
2014 News: Webb To OSU
In a commitment that came out of the blue, 2014 Cass Tech cornerback Damon Webb pledged to Ohio State yesterday. In an interview with Eleven Warriors, Webb stated that—contrary to popular belief—Michigan was never his leader; he also said he's done with recruiting:
Is your recruitment 100% over?
Yes, it's completely over. I'm not taking visits to any schools other than Ohio State.
There's no way to sugarcoat this one: losing Webb, one of the top two in-state prospects in the 2014 class, to the hated Buckeyes is a big blow to Michigan. There is a long way to go until he signs, of course, but for now Ohio State has won a major battle for one of the most talented recruits in the Midwest.
Per The M Block, Michigan has offered 2014 GA WR Demarre Kitt, who already boasts an impressive slew of offers from the nation's top programs. Getting Kitt on campus, let alone committed, would be an accomplishment.
Wolverine247 has added Steve Lorenz (aka Tremendous/Aquaman) to their full-time staff, and a hearty congratulations goes out to Steve for earning the gig—247 needed a dedicated Michigan guy and he's the man for the job. He caught up with John Harris—the high school defensive coordinator of top-ranked 2014 DE Da'Shawn Hand—after Brady Hoke, Greg Mattison, and Jerry Montgomery stopped by for a visit; it looks like Hand could be a regular fixture in Ann Arbor in the coming year ($):
In previous talks with both Harris and Hand, the plan was for Michigan to get two visits: one unofficial and an official, which will likely be the night game against Notre Dame on September 7th. However, a third trip could possibly be in order.
"We talked about setting up three visits for him. We'd like to get up there to take one unofficial for a spring practice and then come back and camp in the summer (Harris has been asked to coach at the camp). After that we would take the official visit in September for the game against Notre Dame."
Hand previously placed Michigan in his top five, and while there's likely work to be done to catch up with Virginia Tech, getting three visits would be a strong indication that the Wolverines are under very serious consideration.
The late, great Nate Dogg's son, 2014 cornerback prospect Naijiel Hale, is getting significant interest from Oregon, UCLA, and... Northwestern. Keep it G-Funk, Evanston.
January 14th, 2013 at 2:19 PM ^
Any reference to Nate Dogg is rife with win. Holy damn, you could write whole freaking book on the awesomeness of the video for Regulate....
January 14th, 2013 at 2:30 PM ^
January 14th, 2013 at 2:52 PM ^
January 14th, 2013 at 3:10 PM ^
January 14th, 2013 at 3:32 PM ^
I always loved the part where they drive by a car full of women on the side of the road, pick them up under the veiled story of "fixing" their car, then take them to an hourly motel for sexual congress. And nobody bats an eye at that. Gotta love the 90's rap scene.
January 14th, 2013 at 5:52 PM ^
16 in the clip and one in the hole, Natedogg is about to make some bodies turn cold
January 14th, 2013 at 2:27 PM ^
Do we know the reason that Smythe decommitted from Texas? Not that it matters . . . just curious.
January 14th, 2013 at 2:35 PM ^
I think he was wavering and then his primary recruiter (Bryan Harsin) left to take the job at Arkansas State.
January 14th, 2013 at 2:48 PM ^
What happened to UT recruiting? Every year they had a class of 20-25 kids lined up a year in advance, and now it's mid January and they only have 13 kids on board. They can take at least 18 this year, and I know signing day could bring a top target or two in, but they're falling way behind their old standard.
January 14th, 2013 at 2:55 PM ^
I think Mack Brown is losing his edge in Texas. They will still get their share of top end prospects, but now they have to deal with Texas A&M taking some top in-state guys.
January 14th, 2013 at 4:32 PM ^
They have had three guys decommit. Add those back and they are at 16 with 2 spots left for signing day. The three that left went to: TCU, Texas A&M, and now this TE.
TCU joining the Big 12 has really helped their recruiting. Baylor is also getting better players because of their success. Texas A&M is getting better recruits because of Kevin Sumlin and their move to the SEC.
Additionally, Texas has had some pretty big turn over on their staff as well as below average performance on the field the last couple years.
Add it all up and you see a Texas team that is not as dominant as it used to be but still pretty darn good. Yes Mack is getting older, but he's still getting it done, just not quite as well as his normal high standard.
January 14th, 2013 at 2:29 PM ^
I believe that Newton's 4th law was that Cass Tech CB's must go to Michigan. Physics will win out in the end.
January 14th, 2013 at 4:57 PM ^
Then the universe will come apart as Dior Mathis already broke that went he went to Oregon.
January 14th, 2013 at 6:06 PM ^
with the law before threatening the very existance of the universe by going elsewhere in the end
January 14th, 2013 at 2:34 PM ^
The best way to get over Webb is Da'shawn Hand! I think it is safe to say Michigan might be 4th or 5th on the list. But making a top 5 without a visit is a big win. Hopefully M get Hand to soften the loss of Webb.
January 14th, 2013 at 3:00 PM ^
by grabbing at least 6 or 7 highly rated kids from the state of Ohio in the same class. Take more from them then they take from us. Dats how you dew dat.
And welcome to the blog...
January 14th, 2013 at 2:39 PM ^
January 14th, 2013 at 2:49 PM ^
The offers that have gone out have still mostly been to national-level prospects, so there are still only a couple of guys I think Michigan has a very good shot at landing who also hold offers: Parrker Westphal and Troy Vincent have serious interest while Jabrill Peppers has M in his top five. The other offerees seems like long-shots to me; we'll see how things shake out when the coaches start targeting more Midwest recruits. Landing any of the above guys would take a lot of the sting out of missing out on Webb.
January 14th, 2013 at 3:39 PM ^
I hate losing a Detroit kid at all, though especially to Ohio.
But assuming we land Westphal (or one of the others), we're probably only taking 2 corners next year. Given what they've taken the last few years, Ohio is likely in the same boat. Which probably means there's a top kid in Ohio that lost his offer to Webb. If we can get that commitment, we're probably going to have someone with near the skill level of Webb. Certainly elite.
I think the bummer of losing a local kid is going to outweigh the actual on-field impact (and that's not to diminish the skill level of Webb).
January 14th, 2013 at 5:20 PM ^
Ace, what are your thoughts on the 2014 CB's from the Detroit area, Jalen Embry, and Jalen Watts-Jackson? Do they eventually see a MI offer?
January 14th, 2013 at 2:40 PM ^
I suppose Webb going off to be a buckeye is news because he's good, and he went to Cass Tech, but I won't get worked up over it. Seems like his top 5 only ever included 1 school, and we're in with other top CB prospects like Parrker Westphal, Troy Vincent, and Jabrill Peppers.
January 14th, 2013 at 5:53 PM ^
I really doubt Peppers will come to Michigan, but I could be wrong.
January 14th, 2013 at 2:45 PM ^
If Damon Webb was going to commit to OSU him doing it this early is probably the least worst option. The staff can pursue others, and if he changes his mind and there's still a seat, so be it. Losing a hat ceremony right before NSD 2014 would've been completely different.
January 14th, 2013 at 3:18 PM ^
I call BS: you're definitely the real Jim Harbaugh.
January 14th, 2013 at 5:59 PM ^
Gotta love the date he joined.
January 14th, 2013 at 5:36 PM ^
January 14th, 2013 at 6:14 PM ^
Agree completely.
January 14th, 2013 at 2:50 PM ^
Does Derrick Green have a spot unofficially reserved for him or is there potential trouble if for some reason we get a zillion other committments between now and the 26th?
January 14th, 2013 at 2:51 PM ^
There's no way the staff doesn't leave room for Green; if they have to hold off on accepting other commitments until he makes his decision, they'll do so.
January 14th, 2013 at 6:02 PM ^
Hey Ace,
2 totally unrelated questions: My screen name McTreadqueen For President, while appropriately hilarious(to me) at the time of conception, obviously does not hold water to date(with ][V][ only having a legitimate shot at one third of my punny name). Can I change my screen name? and Why is the banner over my commenting Maize instead of Blue? Note: I fully realize that the answer to these questions will most likely be, no and you're an idiot, respectively. Had to ask though.
January 14th, 2013 at 6:04 PM ^
The account you're logged in under will be maize at the top - makes it easy for people to find their own posts.
January 14th, 2013 at 6:06 PM ^
The site highlights your posts by making the banner maize. It helps you pick out your posts instead of someone else's.
January 14th, 2013 at 6:45 PM ^
via email once to change my name and he told me he would do so. This was about a year and a half ago.
January 14th, 2013 at 6:58 PM ^
Is this because you in fact don't hat SEC fans anymore?
January 14th, 2013 at 6:55 PM ^
Thank you all for proving me correct in that I am in fact an idiot and for restraining yourselves from calling so. Go Blue.
January 14th, 2013 at 7:06 PM ^
You can change your screen name. Go to your account and hit the edit tab. Change your name and save it. Done. I only know this because I changed my name.
January 14th, 2013 at 7:22 PM ^
I have tried this and I don't get an option to change my screen name. Only my email, password, profile pick and comment signature.
January 14th, 2013 at 3:11 PM ^
I know he made some noise a couple weeks back about having some interest in Michigan and possibly trying to plan a visit to AA. A long shot for sure, but one certainly worth exploring. Seems like it's been radio silence on that front for the past week - safe to assume that nothing further will be happening here?
January 14th, 2013 at 5:16 PM ^
I just read today that after his really good visit to Washington(?), he has visits to Bama, Georgia and possibly Auburn. No talk of ][V][.
January 14th, 2013 at 3:24 PM ^
Doubtful. Look at his quote:
“The coaches told me they still had room for me,” Hunt said. “I know six offensive linemen is a lot but I’m not afraid to compete. After taking all my trips, if I feel Michigan is the best spot for me, I’ll still go there and be ready to win a job. There is going to be competition anywhere you go so that doesn’t bother me.”
M is at six now so he would be number seven. That quote seems to be pre-Samuelson.
That's as it should be. "Trust the coaches" and all that but 7 OL after last year's class pretty much guarantees that you're wasting a scholarship on somebody (not neccessarily Hunt) who's going to leave for more playing time.
January 14th, 2013 at 3:25 PM ^
Or Decommit and go somewhere there's less in class competition, problem with that is it may manifest itself in three or four guys looking to go elsewhere and so you effectively sabotage the depth you're trying to build up. There's rumblings of that going on with UCLA(7 O-line commits) and I'd rather a void that situation if possible.
January 14th, 2013 at 5:10 PM ^
The same thought has been bugging me, but I also know the coaches understand what they want to do with the roster. We've had bad OLine injuries and position swaps in the past. They could be looking to take 6-7 prospects just to get 5 starters down the road. It's rare, but not impossible for them to want to rotate offensive linemen in the future, too. They haven't done it on OLine yet, partly because of terrible depth, but the coaches have mixed and matched starters at most other positions for different opponents, or at different times of the game. Air Force has 2 and sometimes 3 sets of starting OLinemen. They'd run a couple fast plays, and 5 new guys would come on and they'd run a few more. Just a thought.
January 14th, 2013 at 7:17 PM ^
While I get your point, I don't think the offense moving so fast you need to rotate linemen is going to become a thing here as long as Hoke is the coach. I definitely get the idea of getting lots of O-line in order to get a few to pan out as it is definitely a numbers game, just wonder at the wisdom of adding a 7th now.
January 14th, 2013 at 5:57 PM ^
Well, Bosch and Tuley-Tillman are already enrolled, and Samuelson just committed knowing that he was #6 in the class. So that leaves Fox, Kugler, and Dawson. Kugler seems pretty happy with his choice of Michigan. So that leaves Fox (who is coming off a torn ACL and may not want to rock the boat) and Dawson (who has already proven to be a little indecisive).
January 14th, 2013 at 3:31 PM ^
January 14th, 2013 at 3:25 PM ^
...McGrath had a very good senior year. Here are his self reported career HS stats from kicking.com:
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5/8 made FGs were between 49-57 yds, which is quite impressive.
Here's a post I did on McGrath when he named Michigan in his top ten. At the time, MSU seemed to be in the driver's seat. Apparently they must have gone in a different direction.
Spartan Mag covered McGrath's impressive performance at a Jun 2012 kicking camp at LSU.
Not sure to what school McGrath was referring in this tweet, but apparently his recruiting took a major detour in early Dec 2012.
January 14th, 2013 at 3:39 PM ^
Would be a nice close to the class.
January 14th, 2013 at 3:50 PM ^
McGrath was offered a preferred walk-on spot, so while I agree that he would be a nice addition, he would not be taking away a scholarship for the class.
January 14th, 2013 at 4:05 PM ^
Ace:
Do you know why Webb chose OSU? To commit there this early seems odd unless there is a backstory someplace driving it. Any ideas?
January 14th, 2013 at 4:15 PM ^
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