Tuesday Recruitin' Comment Count

Brian

Update 12/2: Linked to articles on MI DT Will Campbell, IL OL commit Michael Schofield, OH RB commit Fitzgerald Toussaint, MD LB Jelani Jenkins (and Jason Ankrah), FL S commit Vlad Emilien.

Removed FL S Jonathan Scott (dropped us), FL CB Josh Robinson (UCF). Added NC S Josh Hunter.

2010 stuff: Local TomVH article on MI QB Devin Gardner.

Editorial Opinion: Recruiting board lives here.

Bzzzzzt.

So, yeah, FL CB Josh Robinson did pick Central Florida over Michigan. Which, like… okay. There must be something compelling in the local area. A kid maybe?

Status quo.

And MI DT Will Campbell's tour of schools we really hope he's not serious about continues. He's gone to LSU and Alabama and has Michigan on the docket this weekend; a planned trip to USC never materialized. A week after the Michigan trip Campbell will take a final visit; the article linked above says it's Miami but he recently changed that and will go to Florida. I'd rather he goes to Miami, but a sudden change to a school he's never mentioned before probably bodes well.

Snake oilin'.

Normally the firing of Mississippi State's head coach would have zero impact on the Michigan football program whatsoever, but the hiring of Jay Hopson has put a number of recruits who either committed to the Bulldogs or were considering them on the radar.

Croom's firing is most likely to be helpful with MS S Dennis Thames, who visited in the summer and then fell off the face of the earth. Anonymous has the vague feeling Thames is staying in the south, but that appears to be a default belief in lieu of hard evidence. Mississippi State seemed like the most likely destination unless an LSU offer came through; now Michigan's probably got a good shot. (Are they still recruiting safeties? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.)

The other guy who comes to mind is MS DE/DT Josh Boyd, who also took a visit to Ann Arbor in the summer. There is the requisite "Josh Boyd?!?!?" article from GBW; it sounds like the answer to that is "very probably not!"

Also, FL DE and Pahokee alum Pernell McPhee is a soft Mississippi State commit who's likely going elsewhere now; Michigan is recruiting him. I'm skeptical we'll see him commit and get admitted. Michigan is notoriously difficult to transfer JUCO credits into.

Meanwhile, Michigan is bringing in UNC commit Josh Hunter for a visit soon according to a guy connected to NC recruiting. Hunter is a defensive back of some description, probably a safety, and a low-four or high-three star recruit.

Linemen hoy.

Michigan needs another couple of offensive linemen in the class, and one of the guys they're after is NC OL Travis Bond. An informed source on his situation:

Travis Bond took his official visit to NC State this weekend for the Miami game. He said he had a great time and was honestly very confused about where he would commit.

Michigan is still in it. I think he likes the fact that he could go to Michigan and see early playing time. I think he likes the tradition and I think he likes the coaches. I do not think that he likes the cold and the distance to Ann Arbor.

UM, UNC and NCSU are the only schools he is considering.

His coach is a big UNC proponent, FWIW. I'm slightly pessimistic here; usually when the cold keeps coming up that is not a kid Michigan gets.

There's also a fluffy, but good, article on Michael Schofield, Michigan's lone OL commit to date:

"I loved everything about Michigan," Schofield said. "Coach Rodriguez told me when I visited there in the summer that things would get turned around real quickly, and they'd be right up there among the nation's best in the next couple years. Plus, the spread offense they run is perfect for me, because I've always been pretty athletic for a guy my size."

Longshots getting longer.

I'm not sure how much to trust Mike Farrell anymore after months of stuff of debatable veracity, including two separate incidents where Farrell asserted Shavodrick Beaver was looking around, prompting calls to go out to Beaver. Both times Beaver said he was 6000% committed. So, yeah, take it with a grain of salt, but:

Five-star linebacker Jelani Jenkins of Olney (Md.) Our Lady of Good Counsel has set his first official visit, to Florida on the weekend of Dec. 12. You read here a few weeks back that the Gators were the biggest threat to Penn State, and this visit speaks to Urban Meyer's chances. Penn State also will surely get an official visit, while other visits remain up in the air.

If this is accurate, and then this youtube profile actually is Jelani Jenkins—and I kind of think it might be because who creates fake youtube profiles—and this bio note is correct…

Just please dont be askin the recruiting questions man, i made up my mind, yall find out soon..

…then I think we're not in good shape. That is obviously speculative like whoah, as that's not Jenkins' public stance:

"I will probably not have my decision by then [January 4th], but if I do, I will probably do it during the Under Armour game," Jenkins said. "I would have to get all my five officials by that time. Right now it will probably be Feb. 4."

We should find out if Michigan gets one of those visits pretty soon.

From the same article:

Gaithersburg (Md.) Quince Orchard defensive end Jason Ankrah will not end up at Penn State. He wanted to commit to the Nittany Lions a couple of times, but it seems as if Penn State has backed off for good. While Ankrah loved his trip to Nebraska, distance could be factor there and it appears Michigan, Virginia Tech and Maryland could be the teams to beat. Michigan State is making a strong push, too, and could get an official visit. Ankrah has been to Maryland twice in recent weeks.

Even with Ankrah's supposed favorite backing off, I think he's going to stay closer to home; Maryland has a commit from teammate Travis Hawkins.

This weekend.

…is a big recruiting weekend, though it got slightly smaller when a couple kids had to move their visits back a week because their teams are still playing, Taylor Lewan among them. One of the guys coming in is a big recruit at a position of need:

Philadelphia Northeast wide receiver Je'Ron Stokes long has been considered the most solid of the Tennessee commitments, but he is making backup plans in case he doesn't think the new coaching staff is a good fit for him. Stokes will take an official visit to Michigan the weekend of Dec. 5 and plans an official to Florida on Dec. 12; Illinois and Oklahoma are other possibilities.

We'll see if Tennessee's quick decision on Lane Kiffin solidifies Stokes' commitment.

2010 stuff.

There's an interview with Devin Gardner frontpaged that you probably saw already. Sounds like we've got an in with the guys he knows already:

TOM:  Have you developed any relationships with other recruits yet?

DEVIN:   Yea, Austin White, Nick Hill, we met at the Notre Dame game, Jeremy Jackson, Ricardo Miller, Robert Bolden, and Joe Boyster.

Jackson and Miller are commits; White and Hill are in-state running backs that have mutual interest with Michigan. Hill's likely to commit when offered; White has a couple brothers at MSU, one of them a walk-on, but there are mutterings  on the MSU interwebs that for whatever reason Michigan State has backed off its recruitment.

Elsewhere, Varsity Blue runs down an array of 2010 targets, likely and not.

Etc.: Commit Fitzgerald Toussaint is co-Ohio Player of the Year; quotes from FL S Vlad Emilien on his commitment; fluff on all-star participants; fluff on the Emilien/Graves commitments.

Comments

Drill

December 2nd, 2008 at 2:39 PM ^

Also, FWIW, it was only made a few days ago. That makes me think that there's a decent chance it's fake (although, seriously, who fakes a youtube account?).

Although, if it is a fake, it appears that the person who is using it as a fake IS using it as their main account, it has almost 40 videos watched since Sunday.

TheMichiganDif…

December 2nd, 2008 at 1:49 PM ^

"So, yeah, FL CB Josh Robinson did pick Central Florida over Michigan. Which, like… okay. There must be something compelling in the local area. A kid maybe?"

I sincerely hope you have a source, because that is really not cool to start a rumor about a high school kid.

Mlaw1984

December 2nd, 2008 at 2:10 PM ^

1) I have no idea about Robinson, but maybe he just wanted to stay in Florida and he considered that to be his best in-state offer. I don't think that's such a crazy idea. Throwing out the idea that he has a kid (true or false) is a bit much.

2) I think Stokes is no longer visiting this wknd. I don't have the source but I remember reading it - probably Scout.

Brodie

December 2nd, 2008 at 4:16 PM ^

If Austin White goes to Michigan, I'll crap myself. Aside from his brothers, his dad holds some track records at State. If they back off recruiting him, he'll go out of state.