This incoming class is remarkable

Submitted by Alumnus93 on December 19th, 2018 at 12:41 PM

Mods please delete the last OP's post about Harrison live feed  (what a dumbass)..

We just landed the top RB and the top S,  at two positions that have evaded us, the past decade, in Dax and Charbonnet  (the only Zach that matters).

We also landed two OT much needed,

and two top 5 DT  in Smith and Hinton....

This class IS different....

Wisconsin Wolverine

December 19th, 2018 at 1:44 PM ^

You can hear him speak to an interviewer in this video.  His accent sounds indistinguishable from any other American to me.  This article in The Athletic details his background before the paywall:

He spent the first seven years of his life in the city of Port Harcourt, Nigeria.  When his father's employer, Shell, transferred him to Scotland, the whole family moved to Aberdeen.

Ojabo spent the formative years of his youth in Scotland, noticing how the people were much quieter than the Nigerians he'd been around.  They kept to themselves.  They weren't chatty.  He began to emulate them.

When he arrived in New Jersey at age 15 to attend Blair Academy and play soccer and basketball, Ojabo was surrounded by louder people again.  Americans.

JohnGalt

December 19th, 2018 at 2:53 PM ^

A friend of mine is white but is African American because he was born and lived half his life in Africa.  This dude went to a top tier university on a full ride scholarship, both undergrad and grad, and now makes $200,000 a year with a Fortune 500.   His says every interview is awkward because he’s asked why he says on the application that he’s African American when he’s white.  Lol

I'mTheStig

December 19th, 2018 at 4:33 PM ^

I got cussed out recently for not using the term African American appropriately.  

It's only applicable to those who have descended from slavery apparently.  To do so otherwise is insulting and cultural appropriation.

If one is not descended from slaves, I was told the proper way to refer to that person is by nationality rather than continent... Such as Zimbabwean-American or Kenyan-American.

DairyQueen

December 19th, 2018 at 12:57 PM ^

From a statistical standpoint, even better than the “highest ranked” recruits, is to have MORE “highly ranked” recruits.

There’s a happy medium between more at-bats mitigating a “slightly lower” batting average. (i.e. there will ALWAYS be “misses” on every team—even the Alabama’s/OSU’s)

And if you look at this year, we also have taken the most players in the Top-10, thus far.

TheCube

December 19th, 2018 at 1:01 PM ^

I'd be curious to see how star average plays out vs # of points on 247. 

 

If you look at star average, OSU and PSU have us beat by a bit. OSU will recruit well no matter what, but Franklin reeling in Noah Cain is surprising. 

Hopefully the new WR coach is one heck of a recruiter too. 

ijohnb

December 19th, 2018 at 12:45 PM ^

It really is.  If you haven't gone to like 24/7 or a comparable and really looked at the entire class it is worth doing.  It is a really strong recruiting class.

stephenrjking

December 19th, 2018 at 1:23 PM ^

It's Harbaugh's way. Recruit a lot of guys. Get as many blue chips as you can, but identify guys you think can develop into players that are as good as 4-stars and bring them in.

It's a big reason Michigan has so many transfers (not talking about gut-punch Solomon types, but I am talking about Eddie McDoom and Kingston Davis types). Harbaugh brings in a lot of guys hoping for some hits. The misses get a chance to prove themselves, and get a chance to transfer to a place where they can play with that theoretically good positional coaching under their belt. The hits are guys like Khaleke Hudson and Josh Metellus and perhaps Jon Runyan, guys that get coached up and can contribute at a high level. 

Nobody, not even SLDMBM, complains about Chase Winovich's recruiting ranking now. He was a 3-star across the board. He played at an All-American level for two years. A 5-star recruited in his place could not hope to perform better. He developed into a great player.

If 4 of those 3-stars develop into guys that play as well at 4/5 star recruits, that really changes the outlook of the class in a positive way.

You can't build a whole team this way--there are athletic limitations and you need athletes all over the field to win at the highest level--but in a situation where you aren't going to get as many 4/5 star guys as Bama, it's a way to supplement the roster and find guys that can play big.

That's why Michigan has such big classes every year. Some guys won't make it all four years. Theoretically, the ones that do are the guys that you win championships with. Alas, this is still only theoretical. 

M-Dog

December 19th, 2018 at 1:52 PM ^

Harbaugh is not shy about nudging players out the door that are not going to play.

He does not explicitly cut them, but when you know there is no future you typically remove yourself out of the picture for greener pastures.

Make no mistake, Harbaugh has some Saban in him.