Weekend Update
I just talked to Travante Stallworth, and he was very excited about the visit. Terrence Robinson was his host, and thought he was a cool guy. Travante has seen snow before, and watched the snowball fight. He said the best part for him was how family oriented everyone was, especially the coaches. He felt very comfortable with all the players, and more importantly the coaches.
Rich Rodriguez talked to him about playing slot receiver and possibly some quarterback, which he liked. They got a chance to eat at Rich Rod's house, take a look at the academic centers, basketball practice, the usual tours, and the Big House.
He said that all the recruits that were there were all excited to be there, and they all had an awesome time. He said, "We all talked among ourselves about a few things," and he felt like the vibe was good.
Believe it or not Travante hasn't seen Auburn as in depth as he saw Michigan, so this will be the guage for the other visits. He's going to South Carolina next week, then Auburn the weekend after that.
January 11th, 2009 at 6:54 PM ^
I'll keep posting on this thread as I hear more.
He sounded pretty excited, but he didn't want to give out too much yet. He's going to make sure he talks to his parents about everything, and make the right decision. I really like this kid though, good kid.
January 11th, 2009 at 7:02 PM ^
Did Travante say whether RichRod's TV is bigger than Chizik's?
January 11th, 2009 at 10:42 PM ^
I hear Chizik still isn't prepared for the switch to digital.
January 11th, 2009 at 6:55 PM ^
Keep it coming!. Love all the great work!
January 11th, 2009 at 7:00 PM ^
Thanks Tom, good stuff as usual. I especially like to hear about the family orientation.
January 11th, 2009 at 7:02 PM ^
the writeup over at Rivals was a bit more subdued.
January 11th, 2009 at 7:04 PM ^
Was also done by an Auburn writer, so take it FWIW.
January 11th, 2009 at 8:57 PM ^
I didn't bother to check that. Makes sense though since the first sentence was sure to include the words "I'm still committed to Auburn".
January 11th, 2009 at 7:02 PM ^
Good Job TomVH. You are truly an asset to us here at Mgoblog. You Brian and the Other Brian give out the most informed and accurate info on the net. Thanks again.
January 11th, 2009 at 7:05 PM ^
Any info on either of those two? Or Mingo?
January 11th, 2009 at 7:06 PM ^
I love Travante.
No homo.
January 11th, 2009 at 9:26 PM ^
Shut up queerfag.
January 11th, 2009 at 9:35 PM ^
Oh, I can just taste those meaty leading man parts in my mouth.
January 11th, 2009 at 7:08 PM ^
Awesome job tom! Any insight on denard robinson?
January 11th, 2009 at 7:11 PM ^
Read Tom's second post, he'll update as info comes in.
January 11th, 2009 at 8:44 PM ^
recruiting would be so much less fun to obsess about without you.
...oh, and ditto on the no homo.
January 11th, 2009 at 9:16 PM ^
Did you learn nothing from Marques Slocum? Real MFers shouldn't have to say no homo.
January 11th, 2009 at 9:22 PM ^
My Mom, who may or may not be the realest bitch alive, concurs with that sentiment.
January 11th, 2009 at 9:23 PM ^
No story tonight but a text to a mod at Rivals said "Loved it. Go Blue!"
January 11th, 2009 at 9:25 PM ^
Mother of God...
January 11th, 2009 at 9:31 PM ^
FWIW, Travante has pictures posted at the Big House and with Rich Rod.
January 11th, 2009 at 9:38 PM ^
*hurries to Facebook to add as friend*
*feels lame*
January 11th, 2009 at 9:34 PM ^
as usual.
January 11th, 2009 at 9:39 PM ^
From people on Scout and some OSU guys.
Also, Witty and Robinson seemed to have a blast.
January 11th, 2009 at 9:39 PM ^
Like I said...
Mother of God.
January 11th, 2009 at 9:49 PM ^
just told me to laugh at this post and call it fake...so i did
January 11th, 2009 at 9:40 PM ^
That's huge if true. Snake-oiling an OH star (from GLENVILLE!) away from Tressel would be pretty epic.
January 11th, 2009 at 9:47 PM ^
that snake-oil must have been good.
January 11th, 2009 at 11:03 PM ^
I will not believe this until sophomore on geddes, etc.
January 11th, 2009 at 9:39 PM ^
but I'm getting a pretty good vibe out of this weekend. You have the best insight Tom--do these looks like signs that are more encouraging than usual, or is this the standard "loved it" gushing that recruits tend to do right before committing to a rival school?
January 11th, 2009 at 9:50 PM ^
Some of this is on par, but there's a lot that's really encouraging. I think Travante liked it more than he was leading on, because he still wants to see Auburn and hear what they have to say. The stuff about Marcus Hall is crazy, they have him quoted saying Michigan is his leader. I just don't think he would say that just to say it. The Florida kids kind of said the usual. I never thought we had a legit shot at Mingo, still don't. Sam Montgomery, I think was impressed, but it's still LSU.
If we came away with Stallworth and Hall I would be really happy. Then hope for Denard Robinson and Adrian Witty.
January 11th, 2009 at 10:07 PM ^
where did you read that Marcus Hall had us as his favorite? Scout?
January 11th, 2009 at 11:41 PM ^
... he was quoted on palmettosports.com as saying "I was impressed by the bond of the players. They were all family. I loved them to death. There's no selfishness. They are all on the same page. They are ready to win some games. And playing opportunity is there. I'm high on Michigan right now. They are two steps ahead of everybody. But I'll wait and make my decision after all the visits."
January 11th, 2009 at 9:49 PM ^
Hearing that these targets enjoyed their visits is nice but I'd be comfortable knowing he had a good enough time to stay blue.
Nevermind. Someone on another board just told me he wasn't in this weekend, even though Rivals still listed him as a January 9er.
January 11th, 2009 at 9:57 PM ^
I know he's a 2* on Rivals and NR on Scout. Is he just one of those players that there's not a whole lot of film on, making it hard to judge or is it that he's just a meh CB/S recruit?
January 11th, 2009 at 10:00 PM ^
But he blew out his knee as a Junior and missed most of this year.
He is teammates with Denard Robinson though, and that makes him worth the risk for a schollie assuming Denard comes in.
January 11th, 2009 at 10:01 PM ^
Rich Rodriguez has focused on "teammate recruiting." If you haven't noticed we have a lot of teammate recruits. The Trotwood kids last year, the Liberty kids, Pahokee, Chaparral. There has also been more than didn't commit, I'm just getting tired. But, it's actually a really good idea and has been working well. If you can convince one of the two to really like Michigan, then you have an extra recruiter that has a lot of influence on the other. I really like it.
January 11th, 2009 at 10:03 PM ^
If I were a midrange high-schooler on a good team, I would totally become best friends with the team's best player. Full ride at an awesome school to ride the pine sounds pretty awesome.
January 11th, 2009 at 11:29 PM ^
Cass to the Tech
January 11th, 2009 at 10:03 PM ^
Blew out his knee in the playoffs his junior year. Came back partway into his senior season and wasn't the same in terms of physical skills. Definitely has talent, though. He was highly regarded before the knee injury.
January 11th, 2009 at 10:03 PM ^
Hearing that alot of recruits like Michigan is great especialy the part of Travente saying that he liked the family oreintation which is unlike some people we knoe Cough beaver and Boren. Also i am obviously biased but Brian posted that Witty missed his senior season so there is a possibility that he could be really good plus he is Denard Robinson's best friend. f it helps for some reason the random stat that the Louisiana state all purpose record holder in yards for a QB is also ranked the same as Witty. So unless there is something wrong with owning the state of Louisiana then rankings could end up being wrong.
January 11th, 2009 at 10:10 PM ^
i was saying that the rankings can sometimes be wrong because a person has the wrong size or got hurt or something i was using the kid in louisiana as an example of it.
January 11th, 2009 at 10:10 PM ^
Pat White was a 2 star, omg
January 11th, 2009 at 10:13 PM ^
At least of college success. Unless the record has been broken lately, Michigans all time leading scorer is currently a fullback on WMU. I'm not even sure the starting Fullback.
January 11th, 2009 at 10:16 PM ^
Actually, Michigan's all-time leading scorer is a tailback on Michigan's football team. And his little brother is a point guard on the basketball team.
January 11th, 2009 at 10:18 PM ^
And let's all hope he's not driving tonight.......
January 11th, 2009 at 10:25 PM ^
I went to the game today, and my brother DVR'd it so we could see if anything insightful was said during the BTN broadcast. Anyways, I noticed they did a little spotlight on lil' Grady, and I couldn't help but laugh a little when he was talking about Kevin being someone to look up to or something like that. I know that little brothers generally look up to their big brother (Hi, Michigan State!), but I just hope he steers away from late-nite Mickey D runs.
January 11th, 2009 at 10:34 PM ^
Oh come on, man. Kevin is a good kid, who had a run-in. I know a lot of people who I look up to who have had missteps. I know I've fucked up before, but I don't think my little brother stopped looking up to me because of it.
January 11th, 2009 at 10:19 PM ^
And the nation's all time leading scorer is a backup tailback on the Indianapolis Colts who just completed his rookie season.