Thomas Rawls Eligible?
Thomas Rawls will announce his decision on the 31st of January, it's between UM and CMU, although he doesn't have a Michigan offer yet.
That might change next weekend when he takes his official visit to Ann Arbor. Rawls has refused to reveal his new ACT score, because he wants to surprise people on the 31st. I think he'll inform the coaches next weekend that he has qualified, and then he'll get the offer that Fred Jackson has been DYING to give him.
Then of course he'll accept and become part of our class, and I for one would be thrilled. If you haven't seen his senior highlights, shame on you. Link below.
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:06 AM ^
f@$! yes
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:11 AM ^
Fred Jackson said he is most eligible.
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:19 AM ^
I'll plus this one...
January 22nd, 2011 at 8:52 AM ^
Does. Not. Like. To. Be. Tackled. See 5:35 and 8:35 of the video.
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:11 AM ^
Fred Jackson said he is most eligible.
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:13 AM ^
so nice you had to post it twice.
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:52 AM ^
He's so eligible that he makes Stephen Hawking look ineligible.
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:19 AM ^
...and neg the next one.
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:17 AM ^
Reminds me of Mike Hart, Would be a great get!
January 22nd, 2011 at 4:07 AM ^
He is as close to Hart as any back we've recruited the last few years. It's something you can't explain but the best thing this kid does is go forward. Hart did the same thing. He just always found a way to go a little further than he should have.
January 22nd, 2011 at 5:58 AM ^
5'8" 180 versus 5'10' 215. Not to mention that Rawls has legitimate track speed. Throw in the fact that Hart played in an area of NY not knowing to produce much football talent against the SVL which has produced its share of D1 players and I can almost understand the comparison. With you posting at 4:07 am I'll blame it on the alcohol.
January 22nd, 2011 at 7:14 AM ^
He said they were close. He didn't say they were exact replicas.
And actually, they do have very similar running styles. Yes, they're different sizes. And maybe Rawls is a bit faster. That doesn't mean they can't have similar skills.
January 22nd, 2011 at 11:31 AM ^
and I was only referring to running style
January 22nd, 2011 at 11:36 AM ^
is like MIke Hart, but bigger and faster... SWEET!
January 22nd, 2011 at 11:56 AM ^
Seriously
I'm pretty sure that at this point we know more about Mike hart than how big he was at 16 and what competition he played against in high school. I'm comparing Rawls to the Mike Hart we all know now. When he was a senior at Michigan, he was 5'9" 200 and yes, they have the same running style, imo.
January 22nd, 2011 at 12:05 PM ^
Calm down Fred.
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:18 AM ^
Thomas Rawls is an absolute beast of a running back. I played against Mark Ingram in high school, as well as Rawls. The similarities are crazy. Not to mention Rawls has broken some of Mark's city records. All of us in the Flint Area are having flashbacks from Ingram's career. We couldn't keep Ingram home, so it would be awesome to get Rawls in Maize and Blue.
January 22nd, 2011 at 2:24 AM ^
So you played 4 years of varsity ball?
January 22nd, 2011 at 7:11 AM ^
Well, if Ingram's last high school season was 2007 and Rawls played varsity as a sophomore in 2008, then it's very possible that the OP could have been a junior in '07 and a senior in '08.
Logic. It's an amazing thing.
January 22nd, 2011 at 8:00 AM ^
smart magnus...
January 22nd, 2011 at 11:55 AM ^
Impossible. No one could have possibly been a junior in '07 and a senior in '08.
January 22nd, 2011 at 10:08 AM ^
It's common at the city schools. Not every school has a JV team.
January 22nd, 2011 at 12:10 PM ^
Wow. That's impressive. I was the size of a beagle when I was a freshman.
January 22nd, 2011 at 12:59 PM ^
I got moved up for playoffs my freshman year. I caught a glimpse of Rawls in a scrimmage we played in . I was a 3 year starter. I played Mark Ingram my sophomore year, in our home opener, when he was at Grand Blanc. Then again my junior year when he was at Southwestern at the same scrimmage. Rawls was a young guy playing with varsity at that point. He played a lot of linebacker, and got spot carries at RB, but he definitely showed out.
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:19 AM ^
Either way I win!!! One of my teams gets him! YAY!!!!!!!
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:20 AM ^
Says he will have a surprise announcement. Since CMU wouldn't be much of a surprise, it sounds good for us.
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:23 AM ^
My thoughts exactly. The surprise will be him telling everyone he's eligible for a Michigan offer
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:27 AM ^
So I'm hoping a TR Going Blue will be the best part of the day (besides getting drunk and getting my smash on)
January 22nd, 2011 at 8:56 AM ^
Mine too. Hope were getting a great present.
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:29 AM ^
3 star MAC level RB nothing to get excited about.
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:32 AM ^
Eh you never know what will become of players and if you're a Central fan yes there is too
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:33 AM ^
If he could have got his test score in sooner, you would have been surprised at the offers he would have pulled. He had high level interest, grades were always the issue. This would be an absolute steal.
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:40 AM ^
Sam Webb (WTKA and Go Blue Wolverine editor thinks Rawls is the best running back in the State. Rawls wasn't getting much attention due to his earlier ACT score.
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:48 AM ^
said he would be worth sending him to prep shcoll to get this kid qualified.
January 22nd, 2011 at 9:10 AM ^
that he's not a 3 star MAC level RB, and if his test scores would have qualified him earlier, the offer sheet would look quite different. This could be a good get.
January 22nd, 2011 at 10:56 AM ^
While I normally am skeptical of the rave reviews people give middling prospects just because they're going to Michigan (which is not to say that they disappoint me; any kid COULD be a star and any kid can represent our university well), Rawls is a big exception.
I've said this before, but there's a high school coach in the state who I'm friends with who thinks that Rawls is the best player in the state - counting Arnett, counting Beyer, counting everyone. This dude is a human weapon and I pray he is part of our class.
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:29 AM ^
What would be the odds that Michigan does not give him an offer if he is eligible?
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:39 AM ^
Slim. Very slim
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:50 AM ^
215 5-11- 6 foot range ideal back in a Hoke offence. real bruiser with speed as Freddie Jwould say.
January 22nd, 2011 at 10:36 AM ^
Might his size draw comparisons to one Touchdown Timmy?
January 22nd, 2011 at 11:53 AM ^
I think Freddie Jack said he has the speed of Tyrone Wheatley, the physicality of Touchdown Tim, the determination of Mike Hart, and the elusiveness of Ricky Powers. : )
January 22nd, 2011 at 8:51 AM ^
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:43 AM ^
if you can play, 95% of the time you find a way around the grades....and here comes the yes, but we're michigan responses
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:55 AM ^
remember that one time we pulled some strings and got a top 10 overall player at corner last year, the position of greatest need?
What's that? Oh yeah, he met NCAA eligibility standards and then we dinged him. If we aren't willing to "get around" grades as you say for a 5 star, we sure as hell won't now. Also, there's no way to "get around" the NCAA eligibility hurdle. Something tells me you have no idea what the fuck you are talking about.
January 22nd, 2011 at 3:33 AM ^
now. The administration can't say no!
January 22nd, 2011 at 9:16 AM ^
The problem with Dorsey was that he made huge strides to be eligible in a short time with a shady program. IT wasn't that he wasn't eligible, but the way he got there through Lifeskills raised alot of red flags. He also had a record which compounded the situation. Here is a link
http://mgoblog.com/content/its-over-demar-dorsey-and-michigan
Rawls as far as we know doesnt have these red flags and raised his GPA and test score the rights way and to assume otherwise is foolish. So in conclusion, you don't know what the fuck you are talking about my man.
January 22nd, 2011 at 10:35 AM ^
The program Demar went through might be something similar that we have at our school for credit retrieval in a drop-out prevention program. While the kids do earn credits towards graduation, the NCAA was not accepting the credits because the program was not rigorous enough. Our district have since gone to a different platform for our program, but our athletes cannot be in that program because if the NCAA clearinghouse won't accept the program, we do not want to put our athletes that earn a schollie on the field not qualify in the classroom because they did not work hard enough in a rigorous program. I think the NCAA rulings caught many Florida counties off guard. I don't know if this is the case with Demar, but I do know it has been an issue in Florida.
January 22nd, 2011 at 1:53 AM ^
...where he takes a 6 yard loss and makes it a 7 yard gain.
That, and his stiff arms are good for another 5 yards, minimum. Pound the rock, son.