Tuesday Recruitin' Is Immune To Dizziness
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The roundup took a hiatus during previewpalooza. I'd be remiss if I didn't post this run by commit Christian Turner from last week.
This @UMichFootball commit is gamin' on them this season.
— Hudl (@Hudl) August 30, 2017
(@_ChrisTurner28) pic.twitter.com/V1FaBXAJLs
Balance: Hart-like.
All The Hintons, Please
This is one of the Hintons.
Ha, ha! @gacsREDZONE @myles_hint75 is only a sophomore...said no opposing team ever!
— WSB-TV Sports Zone (@WSBTVsports) August 23, 2017
Dude looks NFL ready now!
More: https://t.co/3E1aFD7yge pic.twitter.com/2F9Gt4P9mR
It's not five-star 2019 Michigan commit Chris Hinton, however. It's his younger brother, 2020 OT Myles Hinton, who wouldn't look out of place lining up at tackle for Michigan right now. While we'll have to wait a few years to see that, it seems close to an inevitability we will; here's Myles talking with TMI's Josh Newkirk about joining his brother in Ann Arbor:
“Yes we are,” Hinton said on playing with his brother in college. “Before he committed I still liked Michigan, they were high on my list. So it kind of reassured that I love the school. I feel like I’m really close with my brother, so if we were separated it wouldn’t be as fun in college I don’t think.”
The Hintons attended Saturday's game, which couldn't hurt matters, either. They'll be back on campus for the Rutgers game. Michigan is already off to a great start in the 2019 class; a commitment from Myles Hinton would be the perfect way to begin the 2020 haul.
[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]
2018 Updates: Hufanga, Addison Set Officials
It's usually tough to tell how an out-of-region team stands with West Coast prospects, whose recruitments often have surprising late developments once they're able to take official visits. (Devin Asiasi comes to mind before I heave a deep sigh.)
Michigan has at least taken a big step in the right direction with a couple high-profile left-coasters. Top-100 OR ATH Tulanoa Hufanga set his official visit for the Ohio State game, per TMI's Brice Marich. Oregon is the current favorite as the in-state power, but we'll see if visits change that outlook.
It's a similar situation for top-100 CA S Bryan Addison, who recently set up three officials, including one to Michigan for the Michgian State game, per Scout's Gerard Martinez. His Crystal Ball is currently split between USC, Washington, and UCLA; there could be room for Michigan to sneak in there.
Staying out west, five-star CA WR Amon-Ra St. Brown mentioned Michigan as one of the most prominent schools in his recruitment to Scout's Greg Biggins:
"The schools recruiting me the hardest right now are UCLA, Stanford, USC, Michigan and Notre Dame. I'm going to the USC-Stanford game this weekend and I'm going to try and check out a UCLA game sometime as well. The plan is to make my decision at the Army All-American Game."
St. Brown has a brother (Equanimeous) at Notre Dame, where he's set his first official visit, and USC is coming on strong. Landing him would be a coup for Michigan.
There's good and bad in tight end recruiting news. Let's get the bad out of the way: top-100 IL TE Luke Ford told Rivals's Josh Helmholdt that Alabama is out in front, and given the only visits he has planned are to Crimson Tide games, that gap is going to be tough to close.
Here's the good: four-star TX TE Mustapha Muhammed made his way to Dallas for Saturday's game, and while he couldn't talk to the coaches because it wasn't a home game, he came away impressed with the program nonetheless, per Marich:
“I think (the tight ends) were mainly used to help out the offensive line with the really stout Florida defensive line,” Muhammad said. “Although it seems as if they all made plays in the passing game too. (Wilton) Speight did a great job of distributing the rock.”
While the coaches weren't able to recruit for the Wolverines, the Maize and Blue faithful certainly did.
"The fans are awesome as always," Muhammad said. "They traveled really well as I think 60% of the people there were Michigan fans. Some also tried to recruit me again (laughter)."
He plans to return to Ann Arbor sometime this fall. Michigan is in a great position here.
2019 Updates: Looking Good For East Kentwood Duo
Michigan appears to be in great shape for two of the state's best 2019 prospects, both hailing from East Kentwood. Four-star OT Logan Brown talked up Michigan's coaching staff and his friendship with Heisman candidate Quinn Nordin (the two were training partners in high school) to Brice Marich, then said what he's looking for in a school:
“I’m just worried about my high school career and really focusing on my education,” Brown said. “I’m mostly looking for a great coaching staff and city. Location is a big thing for me.”
That's promising criteria for the in-state power with a Harbaugh coaching staff and a campus you can actually walk from end to end without needing a sherpa. Marich spotted Brown sporting Michigan gloves during his game on Friday, too.
Brown's teammate, four-star DT Mazi Smith, was quite effusive in his praise of Greg Mattison, per The Wolverine's Brandon Brown:
“I love Coach Mattison — LOVE him,” Smith said. “I really can’t explain it; I really can’t put it into words. Every time I get around him I just feel like he really tells me the truth and just makes me feel good. He has a great energy. He may be older but you can’t tell when he’s just talking to you. He brings so much energy and passion and you can’t help but feed off it.”
Smith told Marich that he still has a top five of Alabama, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Wisconsin, and the Wolverines seem to be out in front. Oddly enough, that information was omitted from a lengthy Spartan Nation post on MSU's pursuit of Smith. I'm sure it was an oversight.
The Spartans are faring well with one 2019 in-stater, at least. Top-100 Belleville WR/CB Julian Barnett visited East Lansing over the weekend and now has MSU out in front, per Spartan Nation's Justin Wieber:
To wrap up our discussion, Julian gave Spartan Nation some interesting news, possibly hinting at an MSU commitment in the future. When asked if committing to MSU may be a possibility, Barnett responded: "I don't know when I'll commit yet, but it may just be to MSU soon."
To go over this for the umpteenth time, Michigan wanted Barnett to camp before getting an offer, especially since he could be a wideout or a corner. He didn't camp and the Wolverines haven't been a prominent part of his recruitment since.
September 5th, 2017 at 5:02 PM ^
Guess I had a brain fart, though Cole had one more year. I really hope Newson can come back strong, mostly for him but our tackle depth is scary thin without him unless the freshman this year are able to take big steps.
September 5th, 2017 at 7:51 PM ^
Mone can and should stay one more year. He is only a redshirt Junior. Hurst and Cole are leaving for sure because they have no more eligibility left.
September 5th, 2017 at 9:01 PM ^
Hurst. Everyone else is back unless they decide to leave early. Leaving us with a three deep along the DL. Cole is a senior so he will be gone, but we should have Grant Newsome back especially if his rehab continues the way it is currently going.
You realize the only reason you need impact freshman is because you have recruited poorly. You talk about Bama, but how many true freshman play? DeShawn Hand is finally starting in his third year. OSU very seldom starts true freshman either. The really good ones at both schools get rotational snaps as freshman and then become starters later. Kind of like what has happened on our DL.
September 6th, 2017 at 2:59 AM ^
September 6th, 2017 at 8:46 AM ^
September 5th, 2017 at 4:08 PM ^
Here's what the 2018 "panic" arises from. Take a look at the top recruits on 247 http://247sports.com/Season/2018-Football/CompositeRecruitRankings?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool
Looking at the top 50 recruits, over half (27) have committed. Unfotunately for us, 7 of those 27 players in the top 50 have committed to Ohio State.
Then look at 51-100. Almost 3/4ths have committed (36/50). OSU scoops up another 4 from that segment. So they have 11 players committed from the top 100 already.
We have zero top 100 commits. Sure, we may get some before it's all over, and maybe some commits wind up decommitting and end up somewhere else. But it's hard not to get a little heartburn when you see what OSU has hauled in already.
Heck, Texas has 7 top 100 commits. USC, PSU, ND, FSU, Miami, Tennessee, Washington, Florida and others all have multiple commits. So why are we sitting here with zero when 63 of the top 100 have already committed?
I'm not panicking, but I'm not pleased.
September 5th, 2017 at 5:32 PM ^
September 5th, 2017 at 5:32 PM ^
September 5th, 2017 at 8:00 PM ^
you were going to let him explain!
September 5th, 2017 at 9:46 PM ^
Agreed, this is a weird recruiting cycle for sure, I am sure they will get a slight uptick going later but right now this lack of interest from top players is puzzling, but it may be that they see the incredible youth on the team, feel the path to playing time is blocked and so Michigan's pitch right now is more effective with guys like Mayfield and Hayes who know they need time to develop.
Let's let this play out, a solid class designed to provide depth and develop players with traits the staff really likes is a pretty good deal at the end of the day.
September 5th, 2017 at 10:05 PM ^
Reading that OSU has 11 top 100 players is disgusting. With that I have no idea how they wouldn't take the number one spot. That is just insane to have that.
September 5th, 2017 at 11:04 PM ^
September 5th, 2017 at 6:03 PM ^
James Laurenitus said "Michigan, who wants to sit back in quarters".
September 5th, 2017 at 2:26 PM ^
September 5th, 2017 at 2:26 PM ^
After watching Hufanga's tape I can't imagine how he wouldn't want to play for Don Brown.
September 5th, 2017 at 2:31 PM ^
I have a couple questions:
1. Are we supposed to land any of the top 250 DTs?
2. Is Jalen Hall still considering us? Seemed like the staff was very high on him (I believe they set up a camp this summer at his high school).
3. Probability losing one of our 2018 Georgia commits?
September 5th, 2017 at 10:02 PM ^
1. All of them, no. Odds on we get one of the three pursuing
2. He's a five star out of Long Beach Poly, he's going to USC. There are better ways to use staff resources than Chase players who are all ketchup and mustard.
3. Pretty good, there are some rumblings that aren't super fun from down there right now(to be expected), but they're not going to go without a fight.
September 5th, 2017 at 2:45 PM ^
Happy Trails to NJ WR Jahan Dotson who committed to UCLA.
September 5th, 2017 at 2:50 PM ^
Maizen shitposts about Barnett
September 5th, 2017 at 3:05 PM ^
You have to wonder what the coaches think is going on at Belleville to be so cool on two top in-state prospects. Asking a top100 guy to camp because you aren't sure of position isn't something you do with an elite recruit, plenty off out of state guys get offers without camps despite not having a defined position and they seemed to slowplay Dobbs too to the point we aren't really in any sort of top group.
I trust the coaches on this one but its going to be annoying losing two elite in-state guys.
September 5th, 2017 at 3:28 PM ^
Asking a kid to travel 10 miles to camp is very different from asking a kid living in Hawaii to camp. I have to wonder why the kid does not want to camp, show off his skills and be coached.
September 5th, 2017 at 3:39 PM ^
September 5th, 2017 at 8:00 PM ^
September 5th, 2017 at 7:46 PM ^
September 5th, 2017 at 3:24 PM ^
Geez Louise - he just dwarfs the guys on the opposite side of the line from him. I wonder how big he's going to be when he gets here?
September 5th, 2017 at 3:41 PM ^
step away from the ledge man, you worry too much.
I have confidence in the HC and staff, whatever reason we don't get player A or B or not seemingly going hard after player A or B....maybe the coaches have their reasons or are not enamored with a certain player's personality or attitude, we just don't know.
I'm sure we'll get our share of great players who will be coached up, that's for sure.
September 5th, 2017 at 3:49 PM ^
Not worried, just commenting that its pretty weird. If it was one guy you could say the coaches have a worry about the kid. Two guys from the same school and it appears like maybe the coaches have some questions about the program. Its more interesting than anything else.
September 5th, 2017 at 5:13 PM ^
You remind me of a frequent poster on the Touch the Banner site (who, come to think of it, has often been surprisingly reasonable over the past week).
Questions for you:
* How well correlated do you think recruiting rankings and on-field performance are? Somewhere between 0.0 and 1.0 if you please (correlation coefficient).
* Related: Do you believe that some coaching staffs (like Boise State, Wisconsin, and ... Sparty) are better at talent evalulation than others (late Mack Brown at Texas)? (I do. Early returns for Harbaugh are good.)
* Have you considered that the '14 and '15 classes are a bit of a burden to Harbaugh? Urban Meyer wasn't similarly challenged when he took the OSU job.
If you're like the guy on TTB, you'll ignore questions and demand answers to yours. Please be better.
September 5th, 2017 at 5:48 PM ^
September 5th, 2017 at 8:53 PM ^
Thanks.
September 5th, 2017 at 3:57 PM ^
Sam Webb had some promising stuff on 2019 5* #1DT (#2 overall to Scount) Ishmael Sophsher yesterday as well. Michigan just offered, and he is extremely high on Michigan. Claims Michigan is one of his top schools and that he will be visiting in the future.
Needless to say, regardless if this kid ends up at Michigan or not, 2019 is going to be an awesome class.
September 5th, 2017 at 4:07 PM ^
Hard to get excited about Sophsher. He is from Louisiana. Coach O will throw everything at him.
September 5th, 2017 at 4:26 PM ^
See what I heard was the generic recruit response to being asked about a great school. Good school, amazing to be offered by them, coaches are cool, want to visit eventually, and system seems like a good fit. I wouldnt take much of what was said as any kind sign that chances are any more than "ehh" that he goes to michigan
September 6th, 2017 at 12:05 AM ^
September 5th, 2017 at 4:15 PM ^
one game into this season, with coaches who have already proven they can recruit, develop and identify talent, and people are having meltdowns over what may or may not happen in recruiting. i think i will trust the people who really know these recruits and not a bunch of people that are guessing.
September 5th, 2017 at 7:48 PM ^
Turner looks like a Higdon clone...and that's a good thing.
#PADLEVEL
September 5th, 2017 at 9:03 PM ^
should be the 1st and 2nd down back so there wouldn't be all those third and long situations. He is a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush runner. Evans, and even Isaac, are great at making people miss in space but not so good at taking on initial contact, turning up field and getting 3-5 yards anyway. Higdon has learned to make sure you get positive yargage and if you can break the initial contact look for the bigger gain.
September 6th, 2017 at 6:42 AM ^
September 5th, 2017 at 9:32 PM ^
September 5th, 2017 at 11:26 PM ^
Higdon, please. Agree that Evans and Isaac don''t break many tackles. Higdon seems like a great balance of speed, slashing ability, and he can choose holes quite well.
September 6th, 2017 at 1:19 AM ^
He missed the biggest hole anyone got all day and plowed into nothing and Isaac did a much better job making Florida players look silly, but keep drinking that MichiganMan14 koolaid.
September 6th, 2017 at 11:43 AM ^
I think Higdon's biggest flaw is his tendancy go to where the play is designed even if there is 50 yards of open green the other direction.
September 5th, 2017 at 11:27 PM ^
cocktailing on a work night, fingers like sponges
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