boss tagaloa

Announced announcements organized again

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Your slightly adjusted who-is-announcing-when primer:

  • 7 PM tonight: NJ CB Jordan Fuller. Michigan, OSU, ND.
  • 9 AM, NSD: MI CB Lavert Hill. Michigan, MSU.
  • 11 AM, NSD: MI K Quinn Nordin. Michigan, USC.
  • 1 PM, NSD: NJ DE Rashan Gary. Michigan, Ole Miss, USC, Clemson.
  • 1 PM, NSD: FL WR Pie Young. Michigan, Louisville, USC.
  • 2 PM, NSD: AZ DE Connor Murphy. Michigan, USC, Oregon, ASU.
  • 3PM, NSD: CA TE Devin Asiasi. Michigan, USC, UCLA, UW, Bama.
  • 3PM, NSD: CA DT Boss Tagaloa. Michigan, USC, UCLA, UW.

Fuller's decision tonight

NJ CB Jordan Fuller seems to have successfully kept everyone in the dark about his final destination until this morning when Lorenz CB'd him to Ohio State, reporting that Michigan's coaching staff does not expect to come out on top. Before that both sides of the presumed Michigan/Ohio State battle had more or less thrown their hands up and said "dunno." Bill Kurelic just yesterday:

In the case of Fuller things have become tighter since I did my Crystal Ball of Fuller to the Buckeyes right before Fuller’s in-home visits – Michigan has staged a rally and is a very real threat and Notre Dame has not given up in their chase.

He still thinks OSU but hedged that very hard. Webb related that this is a "dogfight" and that things are 50/50.

If Lorenz is correct that's a bit irritating. Yesterday Fuller retweeted a Michigan edit and then a bunch of tweets from Michigan commits showing him the proverbial love. And… uh… some guy playing Counterstrike with an MGoUser told said user that Fuller would go to M, so we had that going for us. I just wanted Counterstrike guy to be right, really.

Double silent commit is extra ninja

Brandon Justice set off a 600+ comment thread here by reporting a "surprising pickup" on the twitters:

He'd later reiterate that, yes, the gentleman in question has a commitable offer. Steve Lorenz reported that Justice's information was indeed legit but declined to steal the guy's scoop. In the aftermath everyone from TX OL Greg Little to USA ADM Chester A. Nimitz has been mentioned as a possibility.

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Of late most speculation in the non-ludicrous category has centered on CA QB Vic Viramontes, a former commit and MGo fave-rave. Webb posted a potentially-related note about Vic's resurgence on Michigan's board, as Harbaugh has a "special appreciation" for the guy. Sam says he'll be one to watch through signing day.

We're putting him back on our best guess list based on that chatter and because it hurts too much to keep tearfully deleting it.

Hello again: Nate Johnson

TN WR Nate Johnson's trip to Notre Dame was apparently as disastrous as Brady Hoke's most recent, resulting in a parting of the ways between the Irish and Johnson.

With ND out of the picture, Johnson's nominal commit gets far less nominal. He visited Miami, was committed to Purdue, and fielded an offer from in-state Tennessee; of those schools only the 'Canes seem like any threat, and there was minimal buzz coming off his official there. Wiltfong believes Johnson will stick in the Michigan class, and that makes sense.

The last hurdle there is whether Michigan wants to spend the scholarship, but NJ WR Donald Stewart committing to Stanford probably answers that question. As a reminder, yes, Nate Johnson can play football:

He's a guy Michigan went after with many other options available. It is very good to have him back in the fold.

[after THE JUMP: your very very last Gary panic of the week, admittedly speculative Bossiasi CB explanation]

Announced announcements organized

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ma'am may i have this hat dance

Your who-is-announcing-when primer:

  • Sometime Friday: MO TE Chase Allen. Michigan, Nebraska, ISU.
  • 7 PM, February 1st: NJ CB Jordan Fuller. Michigan, OSU, ND.
  • 11 AM, NSD: MI K Quinn Nordin. Michigan, USC.
  • Noon, NSD: CA TE Devin Asiasi. Michigan, USC, UCLA, UW.
  • Noon, NSD: CA DT Boss Tagaloa. Michigan, USC, UCLA, UW.
  • 1 PM, NSD: NJ DE Rashan Gary. Michigan, Ole Miss, USC.
  • 2 PM, NSD: AZ DE Connor Murphy. Michigan, USC, Oregon, ASU.
  • Unknown, NSD: MI CB Lavert Hill. Michigan, PSU, MSU.
  • Unknown, NSD: FL WR Pie Young. Michigan, Louisville, FSU.
  • Unknown, NSD: TN WR Nate Johnson. Michigan, Miami.

Murphy's mom in Michigan's corner

AZ DE Connor Murphy got home and gave a couple interviews. He told Brice Marich that his mom was all about Murphy committing right then and there.

“My mom loved the visit,” said Murphy. “My mom wished I would have committed right then and there!”

Brandon Justice also got in touch. Murphy said Ann Arbor impressed:

"Since my brother played in the Pac-12 and I live on the west coast, I've pretty much seen all of the schools I've visited before, but Michigan I was clueless about," he said. "I know it was rated the best college town, and it lived up to the hype."

This is a situation where everything looks good but there's no certainty. He did talk to an Oregon site recently for an article that was vaguely positive. Murphy will announce on Signing Day. He cancelled a planned visit to Alabama this weekend. USC appears to be the main competition.

Fuller tea leaves

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NJ CB Jordan Fuller announced he would announce at 7 PM on February 1st. In-homes with his three finalists were completed yesterday, so word could leak out in the near future. Most say it's Michigan or OSU, with OSU a tentative but universal favorite. Fuller's recruitment is the inverse of Murphy's: expected to not end happily for fuzzy reasons.

In those circumstances a recent OSU offer is interesting. The Buckeyes, along with a couple other Power 5 schools, recently threw their hat in the ring for two-star Cinci commit K'Von Wallace. OSU is tight on numbers and was expected to take one more defensive back recruit. If that's related (and it is not necessarily so) that doesn't mean that OSU thinks they'll lose Fuller; it might mean they want to cover their bases.

Movin' on up with Bossiasi

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Ace informs be that I should have made this BAWSEiasi because of rappists

Let's make a sportsmanteau out of CA TE Devin Asiasi and CA DT Boss Tagaloa because this is one package deal that seems likely to come to fruition. Yeah.

Anyway you'll never guess who the Washington 247 mods believe leads for them. Yep: Washington, and they will fight you if you believe otherwise. Interestingly enough, they're under the impression that Michigan is the competition here, and that was before the duo's official to Ann Arbor.

After that official Michigan appears to be picking up steam. Webb posted a slice of promising information late last night:

A poster on the 247 board has information very similar to Sam's*: word around De La Salle is that Bossiasi is telling people Michigan is the pick. DOTMAN, a mod there, also suggested Asiasi is trending to Michigan. Circumstantial evidence: Tagaloa cancelled a midweek visit to Cal, and Asiasi is not going to Alabama.

But even if Michigan is the favorite of both guys the trick is convincing Tagaloa's family to let him go across the country. A USC visit this weekend also stands in the way. Lotta ins, lotta outs here.

*[He was put under suspicion since he said something right after that Webb article, but he pointed out a week-old post in which he said something similar. Credible? I think so.]

[After THE JUMP: radical reshift of Michigan's WR/TE board, a few visits, best guess list.]

RIP to da servers

A few weeks ago I mentioned that Michigan was set to have a Signing Day unlike any they'd experienced since Signing Day became a thing. There are usually a smattering of commits and maybe a flip or two. This year was looking to maybe double that level of activity even before Michigan got it in their head to pull the ol' Bobby Bowden out:

Because of the Signing of the Stars event on National Signing Day, I am expecting most (if not all) of Michigan's remaining pledges to be silently committed to the staff until February 3rd. If they don't, it's either because Michigan believes it's their only chance to publicly secure said kid or the kid just doesn't want to wait to make it public.

Obviously that's not 100% with three commits in the last day. In Uche and Mbem-Bosse's case they had officials scheduled so the commits eliminate those schools as threats unless the recruits take the Nate Johnson path.

We have a plan for Signing Day, but if Michigan gets ten commits all bets are off. Let's hope RAILGUN™lives up to its badass name. In lieu of flowers please donate to a fund to investigate Ole Miss recruiting.

Visit weekend fallout other than three commits

NJ WR Donald Stewart declared Michigan his leader. With Nate Johnson trending to Notre Dame and the rest of the WR class comprised of smaller guys, the 6'4" Stewart brings a unique skillset and should definitely be a take. He just visited his two finalists, so Stanford has little ammo left to catch up with.

Status quo with NJ DE Rashan Gary but we have a little section on him below for the clicks.

Ditto FL WR Eddie McDoom. He did not commit publicly; he did tell various people things were going really well after saying that he would commit if things went, you know, well.

AZ DE Connor Murphy hasn't talked to anyone yet about his visit. Michigan is generally regarded the favorite; his mom came up with him.

We project all of the above in the class in addition to Uche and Mbem-Bosse. On to guys who are still relatively open…

NJ CB Jordan Fuller doesn't say much, and when he does say stuff it's carefully calibrated to not give anything away. He did tell Scout's Brian Dohn that Don Brown showed him "really cool stuff" and that Michigan's defense looked "really fun to play," but for insight you have to go to second-hand stuff.

So let's do that. Dohn says he "knows the job Michigan did with Jabrill Peppers" and "loves" Michigan's academics but that ND and OSU were ahead pre-visit. He cancelled his trip to PSU and is thus down to three; Wiltfong doesn't think ND is much of a threat.

Tim Sullivan notes that rumbles from both ends of Fuller's recruitment seemed positive:

The Michigan staff is feeling good, and perhaps just as telling, we've heard rumblings that the Ohio State coaches are worried about the progress Michigan has made there.

And Rivals mid-Atlantic analyst Adam Friedman on Gary and Fuller:

The Buckeyes have limited slots and just flipped a DB recruit from Louisville. They would likely still take Fuller. OSU 247 guy Alex Gleitman still thinks it's OSU but offers considerable uncertainty as he says that. Fuller is very much in play.

Finally, reports from CA TE Devin Asiasi and CA DT Boss Tagaloa and people close to them were highly positive, as they usually are. ESPN's Erik McKinney caught up with them. Tagaloa:

"It was much more than I expected. This visit was by far one of the best I've taken. They are really high on my offer list right now and there's a good possibility I could be going there, too."

Asiasi had similarly positive but not definitive statements. UCLA, Washington, and USC are all in play for both. The duo took trips together to the former two and have USC set for next weekend; Asiasi cancelled a midweek visit to Alabama. Lorenz reports that Michigan believes this is one package deal with a high chance of coming to fruition. I believe it. When you're taking all your officials as a pair, that means something.

Whether that's good or bad is in the eye of the beholder. West Coast folk tend to think Asiasi is much more open to departing than Tagaloa. Scout's Greg Biggins:

"…with Boss, it would still be a surprise if he left the state but not as much with Devin, he's very open to everyone right now and fits that Michigan offense really well."

Wiltfong also thinks Tagaloa will stay in the west, with Asiasi an option.

If this is indeed a package Michigan is hoping that Asiasi is the guy driving the bus here, as Michigan is school on his list most likely to let him play tight end for the duration of his career. At this point all of the finalists seem like they're in play.

[After THE JUMP: nothing at all has changed with Rashan Gary but you are still going to click through to confirm this]