connor murphy

Announced announcements organized again

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:

I was informed today, by the recruit, that he will silent commit to #Michigan 'sometime tomorrow', announce NSD. A surprising pickup for UM.

— Brandon Justice (@BrandonCJustice) January 29, 2016

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.

viiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiic(?)

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

Nate Johnson & Jim Hardbaugh hitting the Dab. pic.twitter.com/6RwjQGiepA

— James Johnson (@jtjohnson281) January 31, 2016

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

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

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

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:

#Michigan gaining momentum with big time West Coast duo too ($) https://t.co/1JyHVnYZod pic.twitter.com/btKcPhhQiS

— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) January 28, 2016

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.]

The Question:

Uncommitted recruit other than Gary you most want in the class?

The Responses:

Seth: Here, have some Khaleke Hudson highlights and a jump, then I'm making you all pick someone else.

[After the jump: OTHER than Gary, or Hudson. Or Long for that matter.]