Wednesday Recruitin' Wants MOAR Linebackers
Joe Bolden and James Ross Go Blue
Tom broke the news of Bolden's commitment last week, then caught up with Joe for a quick interview:
I wanted to [commit] in person because it shows more respect when you say it in person and look someone in the eyes to tell them you're coming to their school...
I'm very solid on it. I wouldn't have made the decision if I wasn't. There were a lot of factors that played into it, and there were some factors on why I did it so early. I thought why wait if it's the right school, with the right people, and I don't see any better opportunity to play college football and get an education.
A few other outlets have talked Joe's game since the commitment. Local commitment article. Touch the Banner:
While he's not exactly a quick-twitch athlete, he has above average coverage skills because of his instincts and awareness. Bolden also seems to have a top-quality motor with the willingness to chug back into plays that others would give up on. He flies to the football, makes solid contact, and wraps up ballcarriers.
Jack Slice on The Wolverine Blog:
His hips aren’t stiff and he can drop into coverage well, he’s got good coverage awareness. He reads the QB’s eyes at all times. Bolden probably plays smarter than either of the other two LBs we have committed.
Moving along to Ross, there's a commitment brief from DetNews, and Michigan Insider has the audio of his commitment and of his parents' interview with Sam Webb. Magnus is downright effusive:
There's essentially nothing to dislike about Ross as a prospect. Even though he's not lightning fast in a straight line, he's a true "quick twitch" athlete. Watching his feet and hips move, he has the agility of a safety. But the most impressive thing about Ross is how quickly he diagnoses plays. I'm not sure that I've seen a high school player - and certainly not a Michigan recruit - make quicker decisions and find the ball faster than Ross does.
As always, the original commitment posts can be found here: Hello: Joe Bolden, and Hello: James Ross .
As for past commits, MI TE Devin Funchess got a writeup in the Oakland Observer.
Quarterbackin' Again
Last week, it seemed like Gunner Kiel was a longshot for Michigan, so I only spent a little bit of time discussing him, but he's since visited Ann Arbor, so an ESPN profile suddenly becomes much more interesting.
"I still need to be more vocal and be the person that people can rely on. I try to be upbeat about everything -- workouts, conditioning, studying the playbook... I'm a great competitor, I hate to lose," Kiel said. "I'm going to work as hard as possible and try to make the other players on the team better every single day. Hopefully I can be the consummate teammate."
Making said article even more interesting is that the author included Michigan among his four favorites:
Michigan: "They have a new coaching staff and they are bringing a new offense on the table that's going to feature the passing game a lot. It's going to be a good system and they will be successful."
Meanwhioe, here are some Tyler O'Connor Highlights:
($) Maybe got offered.
OH QB Austin Appleby talks about coming back from a knee injury last fall:
Appleby searched every nook and cranny he could for rehab edges. He found a a device called an ARPwave. It is similar to electro-stimulus muscle training, only amped up. It can be painful. Dwight Freeney used it to recover from an ankle injury during Super Bowl week and play in the game in 2010.
“It is the single most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Appleby said. “But I am so much stronger because of it. They would stick it to my quads and hamstrings, jack it up, and I would have to hold squats and lunges. The first month or so, I couldn’t make it up my stairs.”
His recruitment is blowing up, and many analysts say it will get even bigger once he proves he's healthy.
NY QB Chad Kelly visited Michigan on Monday. He is the nephew of former NFLer Jim Kelly. Tom's weekly update talks about the visit. Local article on Kelly's recruitment.
Happy Trails to WA QB Jeff Lindquist, who committed to Washington.
Decisions Upcoming
A couple more prospects are expected to make decisions soon. MI DE/DT Matt Godin will announce on May 12th (that's next Thursday) and MI TE Ron Thompson has been planning to announce soon, but may push that back:
I'm just not ready, it's too much. I think I'm far from a decision to be honest. There was a team that was looking good, but now there are others that have come aboard and I'm not sure if I'm ready.
Godin is choosing between Michigan, Michigan State, and Wisconsin. Tom says that Thompson may still announce on the 11th, but it's no longer a certainty. "There was a team that was looking good" definitely seems like it should be followed by "and then they got two tight ends committed."
MI DE Mario Ojemudia (a teammate of Michigan commit TE Devin Funchess) has been making noises on twitter about making a commitment this month, so keep an eye out for him. [ed: As mentioned on the sidebar yesterday, rumblings out of Harrison suggest Ojemudia will end up at M. The main competition conceding is about as good of a sign as you can get.]
Etc.
Bucknuts reported that OH RB Bri'onte Dunn "re-opened" his recruitment, but he says he's still an Ohio State commit:
“I am still committed to Ohio State,” said Dunn, who rushed for 2,030 yards last season and scored 22 touchdowns. “I have been visiting other schools. I was basically trying to tell (the writer for the recruiting site) I’m still committed to Ohio State, but I’m going to visit other schools to keep my options open if anything happens to Ohio State. Who knows what’s going to happen.”
Dunn's father repeated that position to Tom, though they are considering a visit to Ann Arbor. "I am committed to School X but still taking visits," as former Michigan Coach Rich Rodriguez would tell you, is secret code for "I am not committed to anybody, but School X is my strong leader." Since the chances of anything happening to Ohio State are 100%, keep an eye on Bri'onte.
Tom spoke with MO DT Ondre Pipkins about when he'll be making a decision:
Yeah, I'll narrow it down to a top five in June sometime... and I'll probably make my decision after my season. I don't mind waiting that long, it doesn't get annoying if you can manage it and prioritize things the right way.
Michigan appears to be in strong position.
Tom spoke with OH DE Adolphus Washington,
We're open to everybody. We like Ohio State because we grew up fans of Ohio State, but we're giving everyone a chance. Michigan is recruiting me very hard. A lot of people say that I'm an Ohio State lean, but Michigan is still recruiting me hard and I like that. That says a lot about them that they're still coming after me like that. Their program was down last year but I think they're an up and coming program and they'll be back.
His high school Athletic Director played for Michigan's linebackers coach, Mark Smith, at Indiana, a potentially helpful connection. He also described his game:
I'm 6-foot-4, 258-pounds right now. I think my strengths are rushing the quarterback and being the first to the quarterback. I think I need to learn how to use my hands more, to use my hands better. That's something that I work on.
The Wolverines could certainly use an elite edge rusher.
NY CB/S Wayne Morgan told 24/7 Sports that he's most interested in Rutgers, Syracuse, and UConn, though they must have omitted the part where he said "and least interested in winning football games" (glass houses and all that, but whateva). Michigan dropped in on him last week.
Michigan is "still in the mix" for AZ OL Andrus Peat.
Lifelong Buckeyes fan Tom Strobel is "warming up to Michigan" ($, info in header).
OH OL Kyle Dodson is "still high on Michigan" ($, info in header).
Michigan has boosted its position ($, info in header) with OH WR Dwayne Stanford.
PA OL Tyler Alt was the O-Line MVP at the Penn State Nike Camp. Michigan coaches want him to camp in order to earn an offer.
Michigan is in a top-5-ish substance for MD DT Ryan Watson. He's a teammate of 2011 signee Blake Countess.
Alabama offers MI DT Danny O'Brien.
According to Sam Webb, OH S Bam Bradley favors Pitt and MSU.
New Offers
Michigan has offered MO WR Durron Neal.
Michigan has offered AZ CB/WR DJ Foster.
Happy Trails
Happy Trails, CA DT Aziz Shittu. He committed to Stanford, which is no surprise.
Happy Trails, OH OL Benny McGowan. The teammate of DE Ifeadi Odenigbo committed to Michigan State.
2013
Michigan is showing interest in Detroit Catholic Central lineman Wyatt Shallman (a teammate of Matt Godin).
OH RB Dymonte Thomas visited Ann Arbor on his way home from Michigan State's spring game. He's openly an Ohio State fan, but says he'll give every program a chance.
Recruiting guru Jim Stefani runs down some prospects of interest to Michigan in the 2013 and 2014(!) classes.
...hearing our guys described as having a "motor."
sideline to sideline, 11 hats on the ball.
If we can't get either Pike or Kiel, we should be keeping a close eye on this Appleby kid. He could turn into a big-time prospect this year assuming his knee is healed.
The possibility of having Wormley and Washington on opposite sides terrorizing QB's warms my Maize "n Blue heart. I realize getting Washington away from TSIO may be a job, but I think Hoke and Mattison may be up to the task.
Good to hear about Pipkins. The video of him at one of the camps manhandling offensive linemen was incredible. Just the kind of guy we need in the middle.
Let the good recruiting news continue.
I was just thinking about whether there was an update to his status, but couldn't remember his name. So, is there any update to his status? Last I recall, he was a Michigan lean, but thinking about osu.
Gunner Kiel? Yes please. I really hope we can pick up some of these guys, like Pipkins for example.
Tim, any news on Wormley? Haven't heard much from / about him in a while. Thanks in advance.
Glad to hear we're making progress on both the Washington and Stanford front. Both of them are longshots it would seem, but they would be great additions to this class.
It may help us that they want to come as a package deal, though. We'll be willing to take both easily, as they're both positions of need, but schools like tOSU might be more hesitant. I say might, but they're both top-flight recruits, so this is mostly just supposition.
Dwayne Stanford has a really nice offer list. I would love to get both Washington and Stanford.
First, awesome name.
Second, if his top 4 are ND, Oklahoma, Indiana, and Michigan, we seem to have pretty good chances of landing him. Indiana sucks, Oklahoma doesn't have tradition of UM or ND, and ND is lame. So we should land him. This is great!
They have a recent tradition of Sam Bradford, which is appealing to a lot of kids. Also, they have some pretty nasty skill position players on campus, and are in the driver's seat for the OMG shirtless Dorial Green-Beckham. Their depth chart at QB also is pretty wide open after Jones leaves.
over the last 40 years. For years it was OU and Nebraska only (pre Big 12). But it would be great if BH can re-capture QB university for the Maize and Blue again !
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<br>Go Blue !
and claims 7 national titles and have had 5 Heisman winners. How is that not having the tradition of UM or ND? It seems like it's pretty much on par with anything any all-time elite program has done.
Also, in the new millenium, they are 122-26. Only Boise can top that.
Michigan's numbers, conveniently stated in your signature, show that we have a lot more tradition that OU. I wasn't saything they don't have tradition, just that they don't have as much as UM or ND.
Well unfortuantely for us, not every recruit's decision comes down to tradition.
but... but... have you ever SEEN the wind come sweeping down the plains? BORRRRRRRRRRING.
I get the feeling this is going to be a monster class for us. If there's one thing that we can somewhat evaluate Hoke and Crew on so far, it's recruiting, and they are not failing to impress. Let's bring on the football season so we can really see what this team is going to look like.
...for all the fun we've made of our new assistants for being OLD, and not having the relatable youth for recruiting, there has to be some small balancing advantage to having guys who have been around long enough to have connections all over the place (particularly the midwest). I mean, having Athletic Directors and Coaches who played for you can't hurt in making us seem like an option for a kid, because he'll hear good things about us. Not the be all and end all, but still.
I think there's a definite advantage there. Sure, they're not rocking out to Wiz Khalifa, but there's an implied level of trust already when your H.S. coach played/coached with/for the M coach who's recruiting you. I think Washington said as much in his interview - that he trusted his recruiter already because of that past history. I legit feel like the M coaches are basically the M mafia - they know everyone.
Getting Dunn and Dymonte Thomas out of NE Ohio (and away from the evil clutches of the LiarVest) would be the greatest recruiting coup in recent Michigan football history.
Kids are both the real deal. Have seen them both play live. And I hear they grew up together and are friends. Get one, and you may get the other. Wow.
Let's hope OSU gets hammered for the BS they have been pulling down there. It could pay off in SOOOOOO many ways.
FWIW, I do think that listing Thomas as a RB is doubtful. Probably a safety in college.
You heard correctly for the most part as they're cousins
Apart from the two Ohio RB's who else we in the running for - I know Keith Marshall - but he seems like a longshot
Somehow I'm worried more about RB recruiting than QB recruiting
Greg Garmon and Wes Brown are two other RB's you hear mentioned quite a bit. Garmon I believe has or is visiting very soon. As others have mentioned in the past we shouldn't be too worried about RB's as we have upwards of 7-8 on the roster. For us to take a RB this year they truly need to be elite.
Why are you worried about QB? Yeah we missed out on Zeke, but Gunner seems to be interested as well as a few other quality prospects. Remember uber recruit Shane Morris in the 2013 class is in our backyard per se and Denard and Devin still have 2+ years of eligibility.
We have decent RB in our stable but no-one is a bluechip unfortunately. At least from what we've seen until last season.
Greg Garmon has been spoken about - yes, but I think he is Penn State's to lose.
Wes Brown is our only other elite (4* +) offer who we talk about. Hence the worry.
QB, you rightly pointed out is more of 'nice to have' than an immediate concern.
I think Greg Garmon has NC as his leader at the moment.
What's the word on our chances with him?
sounds a bit silly given the consensus that it is a matter of time before something will happen to the liarvest and his minion. I wonder if Dunn means he will choose based on just how bad the penalties/sanctions against ohio are. Can't blame him for hedging since ohio has gotten away with alot for a long time, and still the vestboy remains with only a five game suspension. Any guesses on what will happen and when? I.E. will it happen in 2011? It seems obvious that Tre$$ell's cabana boy, Gee, has no intention of firing him.
Given Pipkin's roots in Michigan, it's certainly reasonable to think we have a chance with him, but calling our position "strong" is a bit over-optimistic.
Scout is apparently saying that Pipkin received an Alabama offer, and that he calls Alabama one of his "dream schools." He doesn't use any such language about Michigan in his interview with TomVH.
I hope like hell we can get him here. I can't think of another potential recruit, at any position, I'd like to see more in a winged helmet.
I think Pipkins will be a great get, but if he is sold on going to Alabama you can be happy knowing that we are in on many good DL prospects.
With so many early commits this really works to our advantage. Along with that giant cloud hovering over Columbus.... Also Hoke is a great recruiter in his own right . I still have his opening press conference and as corny as it might sound there is a real genuineness that comes across with him. You add Mattison to that Mix And the sky is the limit .
Go Blue
Everytime I see Dymonte Thomas' name I see "Dynamite Thomas". For that reason alone, I hope he goes blue.
no Shittu.
This guy would have been a great get, at least he is not going to usc.
When it comes to following recruiting, I'm a "glass is half-full" person.
I also can understand the "glass is half empty" perspective.
But one thing I've noticed over the past few recruiting seasons is how many people lose their minds with optimism ("Not only is our glass full but it is so full that we'll never run out of beverages again.").
If Michigan out-recruits OSU and ND this year, then that will be a stellar class. There definitely are grounds for optimism, but until Michigan has a couple of five-stars and a bunch of four stars on signing day (and ranks in the national top ten and at least a tie for tops in the B1G, I'm remaining cautiously optimistic, not exuberantly.
Bill Greene of scout stated Michigan is the clear leader for Dymonte Thomas as of right now and Matisson made a huge impression on him when he visited campus last weekend. Oh...and hes also Bri'onte Dunn's cousin =)
Has anyone heard about the 3 FHH guys visiting today or this weekend?
Yes, it's likely happening.
http://detnews.com/article/20110505/OPINION03/105050425/1131/rss17 just thought this was some good info on Pipkins. New member 3rd shift in Ohio.lol Go blue!
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