TomVH: Quick Update On Where We're At
I'm having trouble posting, so I'm just going to put an update here with where we're at right now.
Tim posted the visitors list for me in the diaries, if you're too lazy to look up and over, it's right here.
Illinois OL Chris Bryant had a visit from Brady Hoke today. He's on his way home from school, so hopefully I will catch up with him later. Chris is announcing his decision tomorrow at 7:30pm (I believe Central time). It's down to Michigan, Pitt, Arizona, and Illinois. Arizona's OL coach recently took another job, and Chris hasn't visited Tucson in awhile. If I had to guess it's probably down to Michigan and Pitt, with Michigan getting the edge tomorrow. Hoke and co. have made it clear how bad they want him.
Hoke is now scheduled to meet with OL Jake Fisher to try to convince Jake to come back on board. Fisher recently took a visit out to Florida, which causes some concern. Jake is announcing his final decision quietly on signing day. Hoke will be there at 7pm tonight.
There was a post in another thread that said Glenville LB/TE Frank Clark was moving his decision from tomorrow to signing day. That is confirmed. He'll be announcing on signing day, because Ted Ginn Sr. thought it would be a good idea.
LB Leilon Willingham told me a few days ago that he still plans on visiting UCF this weekend, and announcing his decision on Signing day. This was always the plan, so nothing has caused him to change that. I was told that the UCF visit is more for fun. Michigan still looks good here, and would be a great addition if they can land him.
Michigan currently has 16 commits, with somewhere around 4-6 spots left. Likely/Possible names to pick Michigan Chris Bryant, Frank Clark, Leilon Willingham will leave them with roughly 2-3 spots left. Names to fill those spots could be Jake Fisher, Darian Cooper, or Thomas Rawls. Wildcard from this weekend's visit is Chris Barnett.
January 27th, 2011 at 4:53 PM ^
neg 1 for TomVH
dangling preposition, c'mon man. this is MGoBlog, not a demolition derby
January 27th, 2011 at 5:11 PM ^
TBF to Ginn Sr., he's the one who set up Clark's visit to Michigan. He had a problem with RR moreso than Michigan, and I think we'll see a lot more interest out of future Glenville prospects. And Dantonio said he was dropping Clark if he didn't make the decision by Friday, so that drops them from contention.
January 27th, 2011 at 6:11 PM ^
The Ginn/Michigan animosity long pre-dates Rodriguez's arrival in Ann Arbor and revolves around the recruitment of his son and the treatment of Pierre Woods when he was here. I'm not aware of any particular animosity between Ginn and Rodriguez at all. If Hoke is able to mend that relationship it will be because he's able to distance himself from Lloyd Carr and his old staff rather than Rodriguez.
January 27th, 2011 at 6:45 PM ^
You're right. I seem to recall him having some beef with RR, though. Anyways, you're right about the Ginn Jr. stuff. Apparently Ginn Sr. likes Hoke.
I'll be interested to see what kind of access Hoke gets to Glenville players who OSU are interested in.
January 27th, 2011 at 6:08 PM ^
If Michigan doesn't have land Top 10 recruiting class and the No. 1 recruiting class in the Big Ten next year (2012), I'll be very disappointed. The UM facilities have been upgraded (for football), UM academics are still top notch in the entire league, the head coach is finally a "Michigan Man". The pins are set. All Brady Hoke has to do is knock 'em down. Right?
January 27th, 2011 at 6:42 PM ^
It's very unlikely we do any of those things, only because of the class size we'll be dealing with. If we sign 22 in this class, we'll have 13 spots for 2012 before normal attrition. Maybe we only sign 20 or 21 in this class, and maybe 3-5 guys bail between now and then. On the high side, that still only gives us 20 spots to fill.
It's very difficult to be a top-10 class nationally when you have so few scholarships to give out. Look at the top classes this year, they all have top talent, and more than 20 guys.
January 27th, 2011 at 8:26 PM ^
I never heard expectations from you like this for any other "recent" U of M coach ....
Your initial reaction to BH was doom and gloom ... and now you expect #1 in B1G and Top 10 nationally ?
Regardless ... the entire atmosphere since Brady's first presser has been nothing but excellent ! Lets enjoy the positives w/o the expectations !!!
Go Blue !
January 27th, 2011 at 7:02 PM ^
Where recruiting sites rank our class really doesn't matter. A successful recruiting class to me is one that addresses our needs regardless of star ratings.
January 27th, 2011 at 7:07 PM ^
Tom, percentages that we land Clark, Bryant, Willingham, and Fisher?
January 27th, 2011 at 8:12 PM ^
who is our biggest competition for Willingham, Fisher, and Barnett?