recruiting roundup
crootin
rashan gary
connor murphy
jonathan jones
david long
boss tagaloa
jordan elliott
devin gil
drew singleton
eddie mcdoom
khaleke hudson
nate johnson
chase allen
michael dwumfour
baron browning
isaiah simmons

Thursday Recruitin' Surveys Antics Comment Count

Brian

Harbaugh antics of the week

After climbing a tree for CA CB David Long's little sister, Harbaugh "participated in" a De La Salle class on world religions. He was there as part of his in-home with CA DT Boss Tagaloa:

He proceeded to spend the night at AZ DE Connor Murphy's house, whereupon Murphy either displayed an ignorance of memes or—more likely—deliberately tried to set twitter's server farm on fire:

Twitter survived. Murphy reports that he played chess against Harbaugh when he was 12 and lost. No word on whether Harbaugh then took him to laser tag.

Business is boomin'

Tim Sullivan understands what this is about even if we don't

CA CB David Long commits during Recruiting Nation on ESPNU this evening. Show starts at 6 PM. Even Washington mods who will fight you if you suggest players are not going to Washington have resigned themselves to their fate. They are probably fighting themselves now.

Other recruitments with a likely positive outcome in the near future

1. NJ DT Michael Dwumfour told Sam Webb that the "main reason he didn't flip" is that his high school coach wants him to handle things "in a respectful way." That sounds like he's about to let PSU down easy this weekend. It's not you, Penn State. It's me. We have put in a ballz for Dwumfour to Michigan; Sam issued a gut feeling.

One note: Dwumfour is not qualified yet. He says he's "very close" but just "has to finish up a few things." He also gave Webb some enticing intel on Rashan Gary.

2. PA S and MGoBlog fave-rave Khaleke Hudson left his official visit to Michigan with the Wolverines as a clear leader; Tim Sullivan reports that Michigan goes in-home today in the hope of getting Hudson to pull the trigger. Even if Hudson follows through on planned trips to PSU and Pitt he seems likely to end up in a winged helmet by Signing Day. Webb reports "overwhelming confidence" from Ann Arbor.

Unfortunately 247 issued him a fourth star, thus disqualifying him from Sleeper of the Year consideration. /shakes fist at 247. An interview with Tim Sullivan reveals where he might play:

"They really want me, and they think they can use me in many ways. They say safety - like a nickel - and maybe running back.”

Hear hear.

3. It's status quo for MO TE Chase Allen; he has no visits scheduled and Michigan is a heavy leader. Sam issued a gut feeling on him as well.

4. FL WR Eddie McDoom decommitted from Oregon, who subsequently pulled his scholarship, and currently has a list of "Michigan and… uh". He told Scout that he's planning on pulling the trigger this weekend if he "loves it."

I would be surprised if any of these gentlemen did not end up in Ann Arbor.

Gary panic of the week is downright relaxing

26_3890747[1]

Our brief regional era of panic was kicked off by a couple of Ole Miss crystal ballz from guys who work for the Rebel 247 site. At the time I noted that they were speculative predictions from guys who had no record of ever talking to NJ DE Rashan Gary or his mother and that actions spoke louder than words, so like chill man.

Days later, lo, the ball has unflipped:

…the news that he is returning to Michigan this weekend on his own dime, factored in with his former high school coach on the Michigan staff, the numerous recruiting ties the Wolverines have with players at Gary's high school, and the reports that his mother did not see or was unable to see the Ole Miss coaches Monday when they were there, seems to be bright writing on the wall.

All of these things save the last were true when the ball flipped in the first place.

Gary's official on the 29th may or may not happen; I'm leaning towards "will" after this Scout article:

According to his mom, Jennifer Coney, his last official visit will be to either Alabama or Clemson, and he could visit one officially and the other unofficially. She said a decision on which school will get the official has not been made.

"The final visit will be between Alabama and Clemson," she said. "We may do both. ...We're not sure which one officially."

That notes Gary is going to be in Atlanta next weekend to pick up some award for being awesome, so he's going to be near those two schools anyway. Even if said visit occurs the kind of things that might push either of those two schools past Michigan have already been attempted by Ole Miss, and rejected.

Finally, USC did hire their DL coach. He's a former Trojan DE who spent the last couple years as an assistant strength coach. Not likely to move the needle.

[After THE JUMP: less good news on Jonathan Jones, a massive massive visit weekend, another class projection, and some 2017 news of note.]

Not so much on Jonathan Jones

File under "who you talk to is important": FL LB Jonathan Jones has given interviews to the ND sites at Rivals and 247 in the last few days. In both he explicitly states that his dad is in ND's corner. Rivals:

"My dad is Notre Dame all the way," Jones said

We've flipped our ballz to ND based on "who you talk to" and a general lack of chatter from the Michigan side of things. Most of our picks are based on spidey sense and Jones, who had Michigan as his leader forever, just gives off a Not Michigan vibe at this point. Que sera sera.

Who might take Jones's spot in the class as a second linebacker? He might be on campus this weekend…

Massive visit weekend on tap

This is going to be an absolutely enormous weekend for Michigan. Gentlemen incoming:

  • NJ DE Rashan Gary. The nation's #1 recruit is taking an unofficial to Ann Arbor, hopefully to confirm things.
  • NJ WR Donald Stewart. Could announce at any time between Michigan and Stanford. Depending on who you talk to either school could lead. Definitely a take with the Nate Johnson wobbles.
  • NJ CB Jordan Fuller. OSU thought to lead, but kid is really quiet and Michigan could depose the current king of the hill.
  • FL WR Eddie McDoom. Coming to commit.
  • CA TE Devin Asiasi and CA DT Boss Tagaloa. The De La Salle duo is coming off an official to Washington that was met with the usual positive noises. Washington mods insist the Huskies lead for them because they are football players with interest in Washington. UCLA and USC lurk.
  • AZ DE Connor Murphy. Recruitment is relatively fuzzy but vibe has always been that family connections with Harbaugh will win out. M certainly has room for him. Lorenz says he's close to putting in a CB.
  • GA LB Elysee Mbem-Bosse. With Jones trending away Michigan will try to lock down EMB. He just tweeted he had a "GREAT" in-home with Brown and Partridge; Lorenz thinks Michigan has growing confidence with him.
  • FL LB Josh Uche. Uche's bringing his coach and recently fielded a Don Brown in-home visit that provided another entry in the ever-growing field of "Don Brown is a streetwise cop who gets results" photos. Florida, the vague leader, is next week.

Webb reports that Michigan isn't recruiting FL LB Joel Dublanko, who was supposed to come in this weekend, any more.

Meanwhile the enemy will get their turn with a number of uncommitted prospects:

  • PA ATH Khaleke Hudson is set to follow through on his official visit to Penn State.
  • Ditto NJ DT Michael Dwumfour.
  • MI K Quinn Nordin got offered by USC and switched his planned visit to Baylor to the Trojans. Sam Webb and Allen Trieu think it'll be very tough to pull Nordin away from Michigan. In light of this news we have authorized a 30-second period of fist-shaking directed at John Baxter, after which you should get over it.
  • MI CB Lavert Hill visits Michigan State. Webb says he's down to 50/50, with Delano's development, Greg Jackson, and mom in Michigan's corner versus Corley and Vance in MSU's.
  • FL WR Pie Young visits FSU. FSU may be recruiting him as a defensive back. Unclear how high he is on their board.

A couple more visits will be covered in the wobblers section.

Sooooo about that tackle spot

Assuming a Cole move to the interior, Michigan's tackle depth chart looks like this going into 2017:

LT: Newsome(Jr), Ulizio(So*)
RT: Bushell-Beatty(Jr*), Hamilton(Fr*)

That is one guy who's trending in a very good direction, two middling recruits with experience, and a redshirt freshman version of mid-four-star Devery Hamilton. That is not a depth chart I'm a fan of.

Possibilities to paper over the hole include:

  • playing Cole at right tackle, which buys you a year.
  • moving TJ Wheatley to tackle, as his weight might dictate.
  • using Bredeson as a tackle a la Cole, but then your guard depth looks shaky.
  • getting another tackle in this class. As of two days ago I couldn't say who that might be, but it might be eatin' things on the internet time…

Always promise to eat a lemon, not a hat

So…

…this guy. GA OL EJ Price decommitted from Georgia in June. There was a brief flurry of chatter about him amongst Michigan fans in the aftermath, in part because Price is originally from Grand Rapids. Sites said nothing was going to happen there and that looked accurate until Price fired that tweet out.

There had been some renewed chatter about Price as people tried to piece together a tweet about Chris Partridge's visit schedule that included a trip to Atlanta and Matt Doherty following Price on twitter. This resulted in 247 and Rivals reiterating that they really didn't expect Michigan to pick Price's recruitment back up. Lorenz offered to "eat a hat" if Price ended up at Michigan, and trust me on this: never promise to eat anything on the internet.

Scout says there might be something there. Sam says Price's recruitment "has legs" and Michigan will try to get his last official; he goes to Auburn this weekend. He had planned on going to Georgia—the presumed favorite—on the 29th. The usual: Michigan has a shot with a visit. Price has already been on Georgia's campus frequently and that might help Michigan out.

Despite that Price remains a long shot. Other options:

  • MD OL Stephen Spanellis, who told Scout he's "pretty on the fence" about flipping from Virginia. He'll visit UVA this weekend and then decide. Feels like if M goes after him hard he'll flip, but conflicting info about how enthused they are about him.
  • AZ DE Connor Murphy is 6'7", 250, and could easily end up an agile left tackle.
  • Some Guy You've Never Heard Of could easily emerge. He will be under the radar because he never did camps and you will be irrationally enthused about him.
  • A gaggle of walk-ons could produce a Glasgow; Michigan has an offer out to OH OL Matt Muterspaw and is doing a good job scouring the bushes for guys who could contribute after they develop.

Or Michigan could skip it, go with the Cole gambit, and try to lock down the two five-star 2017 OTs (Isaiah Wilson and Tedarrell Slaton) who have named Michigan their leader.

Safety types

Michigan fired out an offer to KS S Isaiah Simmons last week. This would normally be too late to get involved with a four star, but Simmons has only visited Illinois and Missouri; Kansas leads on his Crystal Ball. Those are not mountains to overcome. Simmons told Josh Newkirk he is planning on officials to Michigan and Clemson, another recent offer, before a Signing Day decision.

One hitch: he's already scheduled trips to Nebraska and Louisville. Getting a visit set up is going to be "kind of hard." There hasn't been any movement on switching his visits up so far.

Wobble wobble wobble wobble

Recruiting is fun. Fun is had in recruiting.

TX DT Jordan Elliott is of course the recruit who Texas folk were after hardcore despite his commitment, causing a series of adamant denials that Elliott was even slightly persuadable. Holland was in fact specifically called out by Elliott on twitter for asserting that he might flip his commitment. So… yeah.

We'll see how persuadable he actually is; Texas people are naturally expecting a flip. Michigan has an in-home tonight that is their best chance to stave it off. Webb says it could go either way. I give this 5/5 crootins.

TN WR Nate Johnson did tell Marich this…

…but later announced he would announce on Signing Day, rendering his commitment almost entirely notional. His three finalists are Miami, Notre Dame, and Michigan—Penn State got the ziggy. At this point Michigan should probably go forward as if he is uncommitted.

Meanwhile MI OL Michael Onwenu is still supposed to visit MSU this weekend. Nobody on the Michigan side expects much to come of that.

IN RB Kiante Enis made his decommitment official.

This instant's best guess

The Swenson news adds another spot to the list. I'm also moving Nate Johnson off the "is actually committed" side of the ledger, so Michigan has ~13 spots. Again this is in approximate order of likelihood.

  1. CA CB David Long.
  2. MO TE Chase Allen.
  3. PA S Khaleke Hudson.
  4. PA DT Michael Dwumfour.
  5. FL WR Eddie McDoom. McDoom and those above him are 95%+ to be in the class.
  6. NJ DE Rashan Gary.
  7. MI K Quinn Nordin. Gary and Nordin are almost in the same boat as the locks but haven't set off the bat signals yet. PSU offered another kicker, so…
  8. FL WR Pie Young. Michigan a longstanding and unwavering leader but NJ WR Donald Stewart may get first crack; Young may get intercepted by one of the schools he visits.
  9. AZ DE Connor Murphy. Getting less speculative as room in the class is more clearly there.
  10. NJ WR Donald Stewart. Stanford main competition, M has last crack. Johnson of course an option here.
  11. MI CB Lavert Hill. No change since Monday.
  12. GA LB Elysee Mbem-Bosse. Somewhat random LB pick in wake of expectation Jones goes to ND.
  13. MD OT Stephen Spanellis. Guessing the EJ Price thing doesn't work out and M presses for Spanellis.

DROPPED: FL LB Jonathan Jones.
NEW: Stewart, Mbem-Bosse, Spanellis

Again, not sure TX grad transfer OL Jake Raulerson would take up a slot here or will be factored in after spring practice.

2017 stuff

Yes, we're glossing over some news that in a Hoke year would be the top news because this class would be all but settled. Most notably "CO QB Dylan McCaffery seems about 99% to commit to Michigan soon" but also:

Etc.: Happy trails to TX DE Levi Onwuzurike, who picked Washington. Michigan makes TX S Chris Brown's final three with Texas and Florida; he hasn't been mentioned by any Michigan site in a long time now so Michigan appears to be just another hat on the table. FL LB commit Devin Gil confirms that he is indeed coming in as a linebacker. He'll need some seasoning at 6'1", 205. Redshirting "isn't an option," he says, so if he inexplicably burns a year on STs that looks to be his choice.

MI OL Michael Onwenu gets a ratings bump at 247; NJ WR Ahmir Mitchell and NJ RB Kareem Walker tumble into the 300s.

Comments

True Blue Grit

January 21st, 2016 at 1:35 PM ^

but it's pretty common fact that people get shorter as they age by varying degrees.  I'm in my 50's and I know I am at least 1 to 1 1/2" shorter than when I was young.   The main reason is often the discs between your vertebrae typically compress over time.  At least that's what my doctor told me.  Maybe with athletes who played physical sports for many years like Harbaugh, it's more pronounced?  Don't know.  

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Blau

January 21st, 2016 at 1:32 PM ^

Who ya got?

I'd take them both and I think both are great prospects. If Gary's decision doesn't hinge on teammates such as Stewart (Walker is already here and supposey his BFF), then I think I'd take Nate Johnson based on film and current hype. Rashan already said it's going to be his decision ultimately.

Although it might all depend on WR position needs. They're very different size/style wise.

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MGoPoints: 35382

AC1997

January 21st, 2016 at 1:55 PM ^

Personally, I don't understand why we are looking at Stewart, Young, and Johnson at the same time when we already have Crawford, Mitchell, Hawkins, and Evans already locked up with McDoom close behind.  I think 5 WR is plenty given our glaring needs in this class at LB/OT while also holding spots for top recruits at other positions.  We need to restock at WR for the future, but the fact is that Harbaugh typically only plays 2.5 WR anyway.  I'd lock up McDoom and tell the others that they're competing for one spot....and I probably would have used that spot before I dumped Swenson without a replacement.  

 

I like getting more athletes and being able to use them at WR/DB.....but we have a lot already and more on the way.  Target positions of bigger need or players with higher ceilings.  

Joined: 09/19/2008

MGoPoints: 13824

MarqueeView

January 21st, 2016 at 11:57 PM ^

At least one of those guys will end up in the defensive secondary. It doesn't make sense to recruit that many receivers in one class, this class is light on secondary players and it's Harbaugh's style to flip guys to the other side of the ball. Harbaugh's plan is probably to have them all compete for a year or two; Winners stay at receiver; Losers fill in db depth.



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LKLIII

January 21st, 2016 at 1:30 PM ^

When we describe that hybrid position we have in mind for Khaleke Hudson, can we just dub it the "Peppers Back" position? We haven't found an elegant name for it yet, so that's my nomination.



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ak47

January 21st, 2016 at 1:31 PM ^

Seems like Hill is more than likely gone.  Webb might be saying 50/50 but when you drop a guy from almost certain to 50/50 it really means the other side is more likely.  That recruiting loss is going to hurt.

In 2017 downer news I'm really nervous about donovan peoples-jones and osu. I only noticed it because of the Haskins stuff and being a nominal MD fan still but he has been tweeting at a ton of osu commits and re-tweeting a lot of osu stuff with pretty much nothing about Michigan.  Obviously a long way to go but in the actions speak louder than words side of things it seems like osu is at least a nominal leader.

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MGoPoints: 33614

schreibee

January 21st, 2016 at 2:07 PM ^

Unfortunately this type of "anecdotal" evidence re: DP-J is presicsely what I used to predict David Long to M back in maybe Oct or Nov when he was still committed to Stanford. Showing too much interest not to be interested, so to speak.

Still forever to go, but it would behoove us to start getting commits from people DP-J likes to tweet & retweet with! Teammates & like that...

Also did I read his parents are M grads? Let's start crootin them heavily too!

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MGoPoints: 21184

Wolverine In Iowa 68

January 21st, 2016 at 1:37 PM ^

Just curious, could his waffling of commitment be "the high school kid has watched the hat selection choices on TV and wants his moment of attention so he changed from his 'fully committed' to 'I'll decide on signing day'" type of thing?

As in, maybe he's still solid blue, he just wants his moment to feel special?

Not that there's anything wrong with that....

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MGoPoints: 55988

AC1997

January 21st, 2016 at 2:10 PM ^

Is it just me or is the math a little funny on those 13 spots that Brian listed.  According to the 2016 Recruiting board we have 19 "strong commits".  Even if you drop a WR or swap one for McDoom you're still looking around 19 just in that column without Swenson, Enis, Weaver, or Johnson.  Thus I get the class to 9 more, not 13 if you follow the 28 person rule.  

 

I also don't see how you go past 28 since I really dno't see any grayshirts on the list as they weed out some of the lower-ranked recruits or non-qualifiers.  Clearly we're still in store for more chaos, but I don't see them going higher than 28....

 

So if you draw the line there, what does that mean?  Per Brian's list it means we don't get another LB or OT (bad), we miss on Hill (sounding more ominous), and we "settle" for 5 WR instead of the 7 (!!!) on Brian's list.  

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Mr. Yost

January 21st, 2016 at 3:54 PM ^

You got me. Fair and square.

I'll be perfect honest...I haven't click on or commented on one thing recruiting sense. This was actually an accident because it was on the front page. I just was an idiot and didn't look at it. 

For some reason I was thinking it was the "unverified voracity" that Brian does. I'm so used to Ace doing recruiting updates and when I saw Brian...I just started reading. The brain didn't register "hey, this is recruiting stuff."

Especially when I was reading about Delano Hill...I specifically remember thinking "oh, he's a current player - I can post/ask about this." So yes, a recruiting thread...no question, but wasn't talking about recruiting. I was much more interested in if Delano was coming back.

Be honest, have you been looking for me the entire time? lol - I didn't weigh in on the Swenson stuff at all. 

I actually think I'm doing pretty good all things considered. But no excuse, you got me. I'm still staying away though. One set back doesn't keep me down forever!

Edit #1: And look - another decommit!

Edit #2: I know "blah, blah, blah, blah, BLAH!"

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Brenskifhn1

January 21st, 2016 at 2:23 PM ^

With such a thin depth chart on the OL moving forward, I am surprised they "dropped" Swenson and added so may WRs.

 

How many cheese burgers does Drake Harris need to play guard? Maybe he can move over.

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Rabbit21

January 21st, 2016 at 2:33 PM ^

I still am not a fan of what happened with Swenson, but watching his senior film it seems fairly obvious that he was going to need a lot of work to see the field at Michigan, whereas you can get more of an instant impact from the WR/DB/Athlete guys while trying to find an OL with more developmental potential.  I think the coaches are still pushing on that while also trying to upgrade the speed in the program.  So if your choice is between continuing to recruit a guy who may be a backup at best and a guy you can at least use on special teams and may project to multiple positions where there is a clear gap.........

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SD Larry

January 21st, 2016 at 2:27 PM ^

Terrific update Brian.  Easy to read and my head is spinning less now.  Thanks for the great info.  Gonna buckle up here this afternoon for the duration until signing day.

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