Monday Recruitin' Is A Maybe
Will Costello Visit? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Michigan's top target at quarterback, California four-star KJ Costello, has repeatedly stated his intention to take a trip to Ann Arbor in the near future; he's also hinted at a forthcoming decision.
Several reporters caught up with Costello at the Pylon National 7-on-7 Championship last weekend in Las Vegas, and it's unclear whether or not he'll make it to campus before a decision. The lack of clarity comes from quotes that directly contradict each other. Here's Costello talking to Scout's Greg Biggins ($):
Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) Santa Margarita quarterback K.J. Costello could be closing in on a decision.
"I think it will happen sometime in March," Costello said. "I don't think I'm going to take any more visits, I have a good idea what I want to do. With Stanford and USC, I was always going back and forth every other day but I'm pretty set now and it's just a matter of doing it.
Same Costello, same weekend, different reporter—247's Steve Wiltfong ($):
“I’m pretty close [to a decision]. Day in and day out I’m trying to think If I feel like I’m feeling the same way. If I’m feeling the same way four, five, seven days in a row, I’ll make my decision.”
Ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the nation’s No. 4 pro-style quarterback and No. 42 prospect overall, Costello may take one more visit.
“I’ve been talking to (Jim) Harbaugh quite a bit,” he said. “He wants to get me out there as soon as possible. I think I might head out there during the week next week, if I can find a flight. Or in two weeks.”
Costello also told GBW's Kyle Bogenschutz that he's trying to set up a visit, but his next couple weekend are booked with Elite 11 camps and he's unsure if he can miss school for a trip ($).
It doesn't look great for Costello getting to Ann Arbor before a decision. While he's been on campus before, that wouldn't be good for the chances that he'll choose Michigan over either of the in-state finalists.
If Costello drops to Stanford or USC, the quarterback picture could still gain a lot of clarity soon. Five-star WA QB Jacob Eason told Wiltfong that while Michigan is making a bigger push than any other school for him to reconsider his commitment, "something would have to go wrong with Georgia" for him to make a change ($). He's leaving the door ajar, but only just.
That leaves four-star IN QB Brandon Peters, who's slated to visit for the Spring Game. Michigan pushed to the forefront of Peters' recruitment when they offered shortly after NSD, and there's been a lot of optimism that he'll commit so long as no other quarterback takes the spot before he gets to campus. At the time, Costello seemed like a more legitimate possibility; at this point, I'd say Peters is the safer bet to end up in the class.
[Hit THE JUMP for a five-star visitor, new offers, and more.]
Five-Star Sets Visit
Five-star CA OLB Caleb Kelly has yet to narrow the scope of his recruitment. Michigan will get the chance to make a move when he visits in a couple weeks, per Wiltfong ($):
Still very open to any school, Michigan will get a chance to make an impression on the U.S. Army All-American in two weeks when he visits Ann Arbor for the first time March 13 weekend.
“Coach (Jim) Harbaugh,” Kelly started in on what he looks forward to seeing on his visit to Michigan. “And I want to see the Big House and the tradition going on over there. I just know it’s going to be a cool school and a lot of my friends love that school.
Kelly visited Oklahoma last spring and is scheduled to see Alabama in July, and he's also visited in-state USC a couple times. He plans to extend his recruitment all the way to NSD and take all five of his officials; this should be Michigan's best chance to secure one of those.
Michigan is also one of the schools hottest on the heels of four-star CA CB David Long, per Wiltfong ($):
“As far as schools I have a good relationship with Michigan, Washington and UCLA,” Long said Saturday afternoon at the Pylon 7-on-7 National Championships. “Those are the ones that come around the most.”
Long still doesn't have any visits planned because of his track season, but he's maintained that he'd like to get out to Ann Arbor.
New Offers
Michigan became the first program to offer MN three-star ATH JD Spielman a football scholarship. Spielman, however, is already committed to Ohio State—for lacrosse. He told The Wolverine's Tim Sullivan that while he's still a Buckeye commit, he'll take a closer look at his football options ($):
"Hopefully, I can choose whether football or lacrosse by this fall," he said. "Let's see how the summer plays out, see if I pick up any other schools and which schools they are. Then if I like my options, hopefully I can decide that in the fall. In choosing a school, I'd like to do that on a Signing Day, sometime in the Winter or Spring [for football or lacrosse].
Convincing Spielman to flip could prove difficult. The adopted son of Minnesota Vikings GM Rick Spielman, JD is the nephew of Buckeye great Chris Spielman, and his older brother is a freshman on OSU's lacrosse team.
Recently offered four-star CA CB Lamar Jackson told Scout's Greg Biggins that he's considering Michigan for an official visit ($). Jackson also added an offer from UCLA last week.
According to The Wolverine, Michigan offered 2017 DE AJ Epenesa, who's ranked as the #2 overall player in the class on 247. Iowa's thought to have the early edge since Epenesa's father is an alum, but his recruitment is already drawing in many of the top programs in the country, so we'll see if that stays the case for long.
The Wolverines offered four-star 2017 OH CB Marcus Williamson last week, and he plans to see the school this spring, per The Wolverine's Brandon Brown ($).
Etc.
Now this is a Harbaugh offer. Tim Sullivan caught up with three-star 2016 AL LB Erroll Thompson, who added an offer last week, and Thompson discussed where Michigan plans to play him ($):
Many of the 6-2, 240-pound Thompson's offers come on the defensive side of the ball (at either linebacker or defensive end), and given that his offer from the Wolverines came through defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin, the Maize and Blue are no exception. However, there's also a twist.
"They told me they'd maybe use me on both sides of the ball: as a fullback and a linebacker," he explained.
Thompson sounds quite interesting in Michigan, but it's usually tough getting a prospect from Alabama to visit, let alone commit.
Four-star Southfield RB Matt Falcon, another recent offer recipient, told Sullivan that he's still getting to know the new coaching staff ($):
"I still have to build up a relationship with Coach Wheatley; I haven't really spoken to him yet," Falcon explained of Michigan. "It's not a favorite right now, but it could be in the future."
Falcon mentioned that the old staff "didn't really seem interested" in him, so while Michigan is working from behind—Tennessee is his stated leader—they've got the chance to make a big move up his list if the new coaches continue making a push. He visited Ann Arbor again last week, his second unofficial in the span of a couple weeks.
Damn it Ace, stop spoiling recruiting with these titles. I am DVR'ing Scout today!
Not suprised by Costello. I was confused that people thought the quote from last week meant Michigan was the favorite since he pretty much said Stanford was the favorite with USC making a push.
People take innocuous quotes and turn them into silent commits.
You can spin the first blockquote by Costello in any direction that suits your perferred outcome.
His quotes over the last two weeks actually paint a pretty clear picture. His two favorites are USC and Stanford, its been really tough flipping back and forth between them but he thinks he is almost there. Harbaugh has also been pushing for him to go out to Michigan and he likes Michigan so he is going to try to make it but its not a priority and they are clearly not in the top two.
(Only read the words I wanted to)
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QB gurus - how does Peters compare to DeWeaver ? That sounds like the situation here. Really bummed on Costello, and a bit shocked considering how hard Harbaugh pushed immediately after Jan 15 for him he would not "find time" to make a visit. If you are serious about Michigan you'd skip a weekend of camps to go to your potential future home for 4-5 years.
Just a weird situation if the meme that he wanted to commit to Hoke was true. How would you want to commit to a Hoke Michigan and not a Harbaugh Michigan. Maybe that was an overblown rumor.
Over at 247, Wiltfong expressed the opinion that Peters is arguably a better prospect than Costello, so I wouldn't be too bummed other than the potentially missed opportunity to have a big time CA prospect pushing UM for a year to other CA recruits.
Luck was a high four star and composite #3 pro style QB according to 247.
Not sure Michigan is "log jammed" at QB when UM has no established (or presumtive) starter. Even if Shane wins the job, he only has this year and next.
Speight was a 247 Composite 3-star, the #22 pro-style guy, and #451 overall. He reported offers from NC State and Notre Dame, and that's all. I wouldn't say he was "highly sought after."
Alex Malzone's non-MAC offers included Pitt and Wake Forest. That's it.
I do think the number of quarterbacks Michigan has might turn off some prospects, but let's not pretend that the whole world wanted Speight, Malzone, etc.
Probably a bit better, but in the same ballpark as DeWeaver. Different set of skills, DeWeaver may have a higher floor, but a lower ceiling. For both of those guys it'll depend more on coaching at the next level (and their own personal drive) for which one ultimately becomes the better college player.
Is DeWeaver completely out of the picture now?
It seems like he is. I'm not sure if he was "re-offered" by the new staff.
I ranked DeWeaver as the #6 quarterback on Michigan's radar and Peters #7. However, I think Peters is a better physical specimen (size, running, arm strength). I just think Peters is somewhat raw in the mental aspects of the game.
http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2015/02/scouting-report-2016-quarter…
Yo Ace,
Any concern by the fact that we haven't had any new 2016 commits for a while? It seems like we've had a lot of splashy offers roll out but little in the way of actual results yet. I know signing day is almost a year away still, but Hoke already had a good number of signees at this point in his classes IIRC.
The view of insiders is that it is the late start that the staff got on 2016 that is causing the commitment drought but the ball will start rolling in the near future. Take it FWIW.
Yup, there still isn't much to go on for the 2016 guys. This is still a 5-7 team. Harbaugh only can sell them that things will get better so I suspect that if this season gets off to a good start, momentum will build quickly for the 2016 class. Not that I think they won't get any commits before the season but I think some with interest will hold out until they see the product on the field.
This staff had to start from behind with just about every prospect they've recruited; considering those circumstances, I'm pretty impressed with how they've positioned themselves with a lot of the blue-chippers they're going after. They're going to miss on a lot of them (the vast majority of them, really), because that's how recruiting works, but they haven't even really started peppering the Midwest with offers—they're mostly sticking to high-level national recruits in top talent-producing states.
I don't think it's going to take too much longer for them to land a commit, and when that happens I think the pace will pick up pretty quickly.
I see very few midwest and northeast recruits. It's mostly 4/5-star guys from CA and the South.
Harbaugh is a confident man, but we're late to the party and we're competing with the local programs who happen to also be elite top-of-the-food-chain programs. We're in a lot of top 5's for these guys, but not in a lot of leader slots. As you siad, we're going to miss out on most of these guys.
At what point does Harbaugh move on to the guys more likely to actually commit to Michigan? Is that something that he feels can wait until summer or even the fall?
It's seems inside-out from the way Meyer and even Tressel did it, where they would solidify their core of local guys early and then branch out from there for the national 5-star type guys.
Does Ohio being a more talent rich state than Michigan have something to do with why that has been the Tressel/Meyer model versus what Harbaugh is doing?
Is Harbaugh trying to reach out nationally first to see if he can hook someone early, then moving back inwards towards recruits who theoretically have more knowledge about UM and may be more likely to commit?
I did a post on this maybe 2 months ago. Urban has already changed the complexion of OSU recruiting to shift more south/FL than Tressel was. But yes they are still OH centric and they have a built in advantage in being in OH. Michigan is to Ohio what Oklahoma is to Texas. You can still be wildly successful but you have to go outside the state a lot more than Texas and Ohio have to. And OSU obviously has the far superior coach vs Texas at this point and Stoops is far superior to what we've been rolling out the past 7 years as well.
UM be definition has to have a base of Michigan/OH/PA/IL and then add to that. OSU can be 50%+ just OH. Because the talent is that deep.
Their approaches were hardly the same. Tressel had a much stronger emphasis on Ohio. Meyer has ruffled some feathers there by not offering a lot of the local players that Tressel would have. Not only is Meyer taking far fewer OH players, but more of the good ones are coming here again.
What they have in common is being the only big dog in a talent rich state. Meyer is using the same strategy as Harbaugh. He just has more local talent to fall back on and longer realationships with national recruits.
They are quantitatively different, but not qualitatively different. Meyer takes more out-of-state kids than Tressel did, but they both start by locking down their Ohio targets early, and then branching out from there. Meyer goes after a greater percentage of out of state kids, but he still has an Ohio core.
The Michigan "core" is a little different, it's necessarily distributed a little wider . . . MI, OH, PA, IL, and some NJ, MD/DC/VA . . . essentially the heart of Big Ten East country + Chicago area.
It will be interesting to see when Jim harbaugh starts fishing in these waters. He's not going to be able to make a class consisting of 70% CA and Southern kids.
I think there are a lot of factors playing into the no commits yet column. Most guys havent been on campus yet, they also have barely had a chance to get to know the coaches and build a relationship with them. Plus most of the guys are from areas where they are going to have trouble getting to campus on their own dime for an unofficial visit. So to get to campus they have to wait a while yet till they can take an official visit to see the campus.
Also there is a huge factor playing in to the whole equation, they are waiting to see the results ON THE FIELD first and foremost
Without looking at potential decommits who aren't on the list, Rivals shows that Hoke's first commitment in the 2012 class came on April 12, 2011. So Harbaugh still has one month and nine days to beat Hoke.
Think its time for happy trails on Costello. Also, I don't find those quotes THAT contradictory. "I don't think I'm going to" and "I think I might" are actually pretty similar. One is just a pessimistic view, and the other is an optimistic view. For a kid that hasn't made up his mind yet, that's not that surprising. Especially considering Harbaugh is pressuring him to make a visit.
A.J. Epenesa's sister Sam plays volleyball at Purdue; she was a highly-touted recruit out of Edwardsville HS and has been a solid three-year contributor (she'll be a senior in the fall).
That, plus the fact that Purdue barely garners a mention anywhere with respect to A.J., probably gives the average person perspective on the relative positions of Purdue's volleyball and football programs. (It is true that those sports offered package deals last year for days when both teams played. It's not true that you got a discounted football ticket with a volleyball ticket stub ... but maybe they should have done it that way.)
That accounts for the are/our...but that "seen him" though....
I can kinda see talk to text mix up, "I've seen him" to "I seen him"
Michigan.
I actually played Lou Costello's roles in my h.s. variety show over four years and since for fundraising. Who's On First, Mudder's Fodder, Hertz U Drive, Flee Flu/Up Down. So I know that Costello is coming for some Harbz. That is all.
I've always felt we should look to our own backyard first and foremost, but without there being a large enough talent pool in MI (and Midwest in general) every year, establishing a solid CA pipeline would be a huge asset.
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