Thursday Recruitin' Gets In Early Comment Count

Ace

Peters Camps In Cinci

Camp season is underway, which means we're getting our first round of fresh information on the members of the 2016 class since they made their initial commitment. Quarterback commit Brandon Peters participated in last weekend's Rivals Quarterback Challenge in Cincinnati, and The Wolverine's Tim Sullivan provided an in-depth scouting report ($):

Peters showed off one of the strongest arms in attendance. In the long-throw drill, he was one of just a few who were able to get the distance on their passes to hit the target 50 yards away. That drill was into a heavy wind, and while his passes weren't quite accurate enough to land in the basket, most couldn't even get it to the goal line (40 yards away), much less all the way to the target.



Peters has solid arm mechanics, as well. He gets his shoulder around on rollouts in either direction, and sets his feet. He can revert to a bit of a long windup - or go in the other direction, slinging the ball rather than passing it - but has the kinetics down, and will be more consistent with additional reps.

On a windy day, Sullivan said Peters was one of the more accurate quarterbacks, especially among those who were actually throwing with something close to college-level velocity. His areas for improvement are fixable mechanical issues.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]

I Refuse To Create A "2019 Recruiting" Tag

So, this happened:

Middle-school phenom Blake Hinson's star continues to rise in the eyes of college recruiters.

The eighth grader Monday claimed a football scholarship offer from Michigan. He also has football offers from Florida, Miami and North Carolina and hoops offers from Florida State and Miami.

Hinson (6-foot-5, 205 pounds) had 24 catches for 518 yards and four touchdowns last season for Warner Christian's varsity football team. He followed that by averaging 22.5 points and 9.1 rebounds on the court for the Eagles.

There's a justifiable reason for this offer beyond Michigan getting in (very) early on a remarkably large and athletic middle-schooler; the Wolverines also offered Hinson's older brother, three-star 2016 FL WDE Evan Hinson, a Miami (YTM) commit who knows DJ Durkin from Durkin's days at Florida.

The cradle-robbing offering didn't stop there. Per 247's Steve Lorenz, Michigan offered 2018 FL QB Joey Gatewood on Monday night. Despite coming off his freshman year of high school, Gatewood is already considered a Florida State lean and may make a decision—for whatever that's worth at this stage—within the next couple months.

Other New Offers To More Reasonably Aged Prospects

Michigan also offered several prospects of late who may actually be able to drive. Top-100 2016 TX OT Jean Delance decommitted from Oklahoma in the wake of their fraternity racism scandal, and he told Rivals' Jason Howell earlier this week that he coveted a Michigan offer ($). Tim Sullivan reports Michigan came through with one yesterday. If they can get Delance on campus, they should have a shot.

The offensive line offers didn't stop there. Michigan also extended scholarships to four-star HI OT Michael Eletise, per Sullivan, and three-star UNC OT commit Jay Jay McCargo, per 247's Ryan Bartow. Eletise is expected to end up on the West Coast, while McCargo committed to the Tar Heels within the last week.

Michigan offered 2016 three-star LA S Chanse Sylvie, who may be leaning towards Tennessee, per Brandon Brown. They also sent out a couple offers to 2017 prospects, becoming the first program to offer OH TE Charles Reeves, and also entering the fray for NJ OT Micah Clark, who also picked up an Alabama offer.

BBQ To Continue?

An article on 2016 commit Erik Swenson by Rivals outlet EdgyTim indicates that the BBQ at the Big House tradition will live on under Jim Harbaugh ($):

Will he visit Michigan again anytime soon?

"I visited Michigan the week before the spring game and that was great. I'm also planning to go back in August for the big barbeque."

Swenson, who received an Alabama offer earlier this year and swung by Tuscaloosa on his spring break, also reaffirmed his commitment, saying 'Bama "is not the school for me."

Etc.

Michigan recently offered three-star NJ OT Will Fries, and while he's considered a Penn State lean, he'll check out Ann Arbor to see how the Wolverines measure up before making a decision, per Tim Sullivan ($):

"I'm definitely really high on [Michigan] right now, it's just can I get down there and see the campus and see it for myself," he said. "That's where I am with that, but I'm definitely high on them right now.



"I'm not sure right now about when I'll make a decision. We'll hopefully see after I take the visit to Michigan and maybe one or two other places."

Fries will be one to keep an eye on when he sets that visit.

Top-100 WI OT Ben Bredeson, whose recruitment is reportedly becoming a Michigan/Notre Dame battle, according to one of Steve Lorenz's sources($), was slated to take an unofficial visit tomorrow. He's rescheduled the visit to May 30th, per Lorenz, in order to avoid this weekend's graduation mayhem. I don't blame him one bit.

Michigan leads for 2017 Paramus (NJ) Catholic four-star DT Corey Bolds, per 247's Clint Brewster ($). The Chris Partridge connection continues to pay dividends.

Comments

Magnus

April 30th, 2015 at 1:17 PM ^

Not to rain on the parade, but several "awards" were handed out to participants at the Rivals Quarterback Challenge last week. Brandon Peters did not win in any of the categories.

I think Jim Harbaugh is more important than a Rivals camp performance, but I think it's at least worth mentioning.

CWoodIsMyBoiii

April 30th, 2015 at 1:37 PM ^

I noticed that too, but there was an article up on Rivals that pretty much said a lot of the QBs in attendance were more interested in scoring accuracy points and winning awards than actually throwing the football how they will in a game setting.  It sounds like Peters was slinging the ball around fairly well.   It would have been nice to see him come away with an award or two, but I am encouraged when hearing about his arm strength and confidence.

Magnus - I'm not sure if anyone has asked you this yet, but do you have any comparison to any former QBs and Peters?  Thanks in advance!

Magnus

April 30th, 2015 at 1:57 PM ^

I think if I had to pick a former Michigan QB to compare to Peters, it would be Steve Threet. I know I've mentioned it elsewhere, but Threet was a 4-star with a fairly strong arm and decent mobility. Hopefully with some better coaching (and health), Peters can surpass what Threet was able to do.

JeepinBen

April 30th, 2015 at 1:32 PM ^

I mean, that could be positive and negative. I was full height by my freshman year of high school (5'11", hadn't filled out yet, but would) but there has to be at least some concern with this guy peaking "too early" physically. Is he good because he's the only guy who's 6'5"? Once puberty hits the competition will he still be that good? Does he have more room to grow? Or will he hit his physical ceiling before hitting campus?

That said, can't hurt to get the Michigan name in there early... Harbaugh does want an army of big, fast guys.

oriental andrew

April 30th, 2015 at 2:35 PM ^

Define "physical ceiling." Even if he stays that size for the rest of his HS career, it's GREAT size. Also, he's already clearly physically gifted if he's pulling down 500+ receiving yards for his HS varsity squad. You'd have to imagine he'll be getting better as he matures and gets stronger and faster and learns better technique, skills, etc. Only question now is whether he's going to be a football kid or basketball kid.

The Mad Hatter

April 30th, 2015 at 2:05 PM ^

are going to prove to be a mistake later on.  If I got an offer from Michigan, or any other top tier school, in 8th grade, I would have thought I was king shit of fuck mountain.

The ego's on these kids are going to be massive.

wolverine1987

April 30th, 2015 at 4:17 PM ^

It seems like I'm seeing their name everywhere with top recruits the last couple of years. Given their lack of winning the last few years, Butch Jones must be a hell of a salesman

EGD

April 30th, 2015 at 8:06 PM ^

"Top-100 2016 TX OT Jean Delance decommitted from Oklahoma in the wake of their fraternity racism scandal[.]" That's awesome, good for him.

Tater

May 1st, 2015 at 9:38 AM ^

In OK's defense, they did close down the fraternity.  Also, wasn't Bob Stoops at a demonstration against racism during the resulting kerfuffle?  

There are assholes on every campus.  All you can ask out of the school is that they are made to pay for their misdeeds.  OK may suck for a lot of reasons, but they definitely acted against the fraternity and the racist culture it promoted.

Coldwater

April 30th, 2015 at 10:29 PM ^

Offering an 8th grader is flat out the dumbest thing Harbaugh has done since he's been at Michigan.. You're telling me he's trying to project 5 years down the road?



And don't say, "it never hurts to get in early". Early is 10th grade. To me, offering a middle school boy is just weird.

Magnus

May 1st, 2015 at 8:43 PM ^

It's about keeping up with the Joneses. Other big-time programs are getting in early on these guys, so if you don't offer early, you're going to allow those other schools to develop strong relationships earlier.

It's within the rules. Until the rule is changed (just like satellite camps), people are going to take advantage of whatever they can.

umumum

May 1st, 2015 at 11:43 AM ^

If Harbaugh had a policy against offering until 10th grade and/or after an on-campus visit, like Beilein, and OSU was offering 8th graders,  I can only imagine the shade that would be thrown at Meyer here.  I just don't see the upside.  Expressing interest should be just as good as an offer at this point.

CriticalFan

May 1st, 2015 at 12:29 PM ^

with a dozen offensive players and two defenders.

Didn't Harbaugh read alum96's diary post?

Or is this related to the Chris Singletary thing from the other day, and there will soon be a correction toward some roster balance?