Signing Day Spectacular Schedule Comment Count

Brian

world-of-warcraft-south-parkSigning Day 2010 promises to be far less hectic than last year, when Michigan picked up Denard Robinson, Adrian Witty, and Je'ron Stokes but lost out on Pearlie Graves and Dequinta Jones, and far, far less hectic than 2008, when Michigan snake-oiled a half-dozen guys and Sam McGuffie went on a vision quest. But it's still going down, and we'll be here to answer all your questions six to ten times each.

An up-to-the-minute accounting of events that will go down tomorrow: [UPDATE: HA HA! I meant Wednesday.]

CA S Sean Parker announces at 10 AM on ESPN. National guru opinion is USC, Michigan insider opinion is Michigan.

FL S Rashad Knight could drop to Rutgers or Michigan at any time but since he's waited this long he'll probably have a signing day press conference of some sort. Time is indeterminate. This one is fuzzy.

FL S Demar Dorsey announces tomorrow. Florida State is the favorite; Michigan just put on the full-court press. USC is also involved. Florida pulled his offer once he started looking around.

OH DT Terry Talbott may end up elsewhere. Twitter du Tom:

Jay Minton, Terry Talbott's coach sent me an email: "Terry's head is spinning, I wish I could tell you what he'll do."

There is an article on Rivals($) to similar effect. Talbott visited North Carolina two weeks ago. Brother and OH CB Terrence Talbott did not go and has been adamant he will sign with Michigan and the brothers wanted to stay together, so Michigan should come out on top here. That quote is alarming, though.

Other decommits are unlikely. No other Michigan recruits have taken post-commitment visits and all of them have taken Michigan officials; it would take some Roy Roundtree-style subterfuge for a Michigan commit to end up elsewhere. MI RB Austin White, TX RB Stephen Hopkins, MI QB Devin Gardner, MI WR Ricardo Miller, MI WR Jeremy Jackson, OH WR Jerald Robinson, and OH OL Christian Pace are already on campus.

Things happening tomorrow:

  • A potentially epic signing day liveblog kicks off at 9:30 to catch the Parker announcement. Depending on level of interest and how tolerant we are of answering the same questions fifteen times, this may extend until the Rich Rodriguez press conference scheduled for 6 PM.
  • The most timely MGoPodcast in history will drop, though obviously it will not contain information on Parker, Knight, or Dorsey.
  • The front page will update throughout the day with things that are occurring.

Comments

Jon Benke

February 1st, 2010 at 2:27 PM ^

I know someone, who is also a USC fan/alum, and he's saying that his university sources are telling him that Sean Parker will pick Michigan. This, plus Sam Webb's gut, makes me feel better about Parker and Michigan.

MechEng97

February 1st, 2010 at 3:50 PM ^

Yeah, I'm assuming he meant to post that tomorrow or something because NSD IS Wednesday... I can't wait to see if we get Parker and either of the other 2. I'll be happy if we get 1, really happy if we get 2, 3 will make me wonder who is Gray-shirting...

matty blue

February 1st, 2010 at 2:34 PM ^

how many scholarships do we have to give?
how many scholarships do we have to give?
how many scholarships do we have to give?
how many scholarships do we have to give?
how many scholarships do we have to give?
how many scholarships do we have to give?

thought i'd just get that out of the way.

Jon Benke

February 1st, 2010 at 2:42 PM ^

Rodriguez said the max Michigan can sign is 29 high school seniors on Wednesday. We're allowed to count one back, and we had one under last year, so one of the guys that enrolled early is counting back. He said the number would be 26/28, pending how they finish.

ToledoWolverine

February 1st, 2010 at 2:35 PM ^

Has Parker as a Michigan lean as well, with a confidence level of medium, so we got that going for us. Of course ESPN's recruiting coverage sucks ass and is usually 2-3 weeks outdated. If USC gets Parker and Dorsey I might punch a baby. If we get them both then all will be right with the universe.

UMaD

February 1st, 2010 at 2:48 PM ^

shouldn't Dorsey's past encourage UM to back off as well? It seems to open up a lot of negative press for the University.

I do believe people deserve second chances, but if you're a repeat offender your rap sheet probably doesn't reflect all the bad things you did. Plus Dorsey isn't exhibiting the highest character in his recruiting with the "commitment" to UF and brash behavior.

Its not any one thing that Dorsey has done, but the signs point towards a kid with questionable character. Not trying to kill the guy. He might be a fantastic person and I certainly think he deserves a shot somewhere. But it doesn't need to be at a school that prides itself on being elite on the field and off.

UMaD

February 1st, 2010 at 4:59 PM ^

If he was acquitted in all cases, then you can't knock the guy too much. That said, it still points towards someone who makes dumb decisions, at least in regard to putting himself in bad circumstances.

I guess if all these other programs are offering him we can chalk it up to nothing serious. I'd just rather Michigan stayed away from questionable characters like this. Its a personal preference about what I want to see from a "Michigan man". I won't be heartbroken if Dorsey signs on, its just a risk I'd rather the program didnt (have to?) take.

GBOD79

February 1st, 2010 at 5:16 PM ^

I agree that its not the ideal situation we would all like. However, he has never been found guilty of any wrong doing and our coaches are still recruiting him. This tells me that the coaches know more than we know and that he might have been a kid with questionable friends.

Questionable friends can be left behind and replaced with good friends once he gets to school.

Lets also mention the fact that hes a 5 star recruit who could come to Michigan and play right away. With the state of our program, we can not afford to not recruit him.

Rasmus

February 1st, 2010 at 7:50 PM ^

[From a blog comment, so not authoritative, but seems reliable.] Two separate felony charges in two different years for robbery with a deadly weapon and burglary. At least one went to a jury trial. This is way beyond the normal sort of trouble. I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure the details of the trials would be available to the coaches/University, right?

Basically, I have no problem with recruiting him if those doing so know the details and have met the kid. I don't presume to judge. But brace yourself for a shitstorm if he comes to Michigan, between the Freep jihad and MSU fans looking to make themselves feel better.

TTUwolverine

February 1st, 2010 at 10:37 PM ^

until you got to the part about him being a 5-star recruit. The idea that a blue-chip deserves a higher tolerance for criminal activity than say an anonymous two-star because we "can't afford" to let an athlete like that go is wrong, IMO. I'm not naive, and I understand that better athletes get preferential treatment in these cases on a regular basis, but that doesn't mean I agree with it or that I think that Michigan should stoop to that level. That being said, if he has not been convicted, and the coaches think that he is worthy of a scholarship, then I am inclined to trust them.

TTUwolverine

February 2nd, 2010 at 2:39 AM ^

However, I think you effectively made that point before the last paragraph. The way the end was worded, to me, suggested that Michigan should apply lower standards to "must have" prospects. Mentioning Dorsey's star rating there is (or should be) irrelevant to whether or not Michigan recruits him based on the outcome of the charges.

Ernis

February 1st, 2010 at 7:05 PM ^

happened to "innocent until proven guilty"? Pre-trial speculation and slandering is bad enough, but character assassination after the trial is really just a steaming pile of crap. If he was acquitted, he very probably wasn't guilty -- good enough for the courts, good enough for the law, then good enough for me, brah.

Don

February 1st, 2010 at 8:26 PM ^

So if MSU or OSU signed a guy with the exact same encounters with the criminal justice system that Dorsey has had, with the same results, you wouldn't have a single thought about that recruit other than "there's no reason to criticize, he was acquitted?"

Ernis

February 1st, 2010 at 8:43 PM ^

I take every opportunity to shit-talk our rivals and defend the Maize n Blue! There's no room for reason, here. The comparison is unfair.

Take a neutral team and I would have the same opinion. I think our culture is a bit unhealthy in prematurely ascribing blame. Though, like I said, when it comes to OSU, MSU, ND, or USC ... all bets are off.

GBOD79

February 1st, 2010 at 8:57 PM ^

There could be many reasons as to why he has had these encounters with the justice system.

He could have bad friends. This problem would likely be solved by placing him in a structured environment with high character kids, like the UM football team.

He could also have been wrongly accused for some reason.

There are a multitude of possible reasons he has faced trial. The bottom line is that 12 people found him innocent on all charges and he doesnt need us putting him trial again.

I find it comical that privileged people can sit on a computer and judge an 18 year old kid who they dont know, whose trial they werent at, and who was proven innocent. Give it a rest.

aaamichfan

February 1st, 2010 at 6:23 PM ^

If you read the definition of "Disposition Entered", it does not necessarily mean that his record is clean.

I have been tempted to bite the bullet and pay whatever it costs to see the case details, but it really isn't that important to me unless he does end up committing to Michigan.

baorao

February 1st, 2010 at 3:01 PM ^

the incident happened years ago and he had previously been committed to them for a full year (or close to it).

did they decide to recruit him and accept his commitment without out doing any research?

ThWard

February 1st, 2010 at 3:52 PM ^

I'm thinking this is more likely a situation that in politics you'd just call "cover."

A few scenarios: (1) Florida just cooled on Dorsey and wanted to yank his offer, after he committed. (2) Florida didn't want Dorsey to visit other schools, or they'd yank his offer, after he committed. (3) Florida honestly just learned about a 1-2 year old issue, and wanted to yank his offer, after he committed.

The only thing that really justifies yanking a kid's schollie, at least to the Holy Rolling types, is (3). Gives Urban the moral highground in the "runs a clean program," "wants good, Tebow-type kids" crowd. You can yank a kid's schollie for (1) and (2), but (1) is widely perceived as being flat out dick (even in the SEC), and (2) is risky... people do it, but top recruits don't like having their hands forced that much, or their trips limited.

So (1) or (2) can be your ACTUAL reason, but with the help of a few off-the-record comments to the local, slurping media, it can be implied that (3) is the reason, ignoring how improbable that it is that Urban and co. had no idea about Dorsey's past despite the fact that Dorsey is in their fucking recruiting base.

Whatever.

Zone Left

February 1st, 2010 at 2:42 PM ^

My biggest concern the entire recruiting cycle has been secondary depth, and it's still hanging in the balance...geeze.

I think signing day may be the best argument against college football by pro fans. I'm a diehard like everyone else, but recruiting is dirty, dirty, dirty--even when the rules are being followed.