Jaleel Johnson to Iowa
This more or less broke last night, but Jaleel Johnson officially committed to Iowa today. He was considering MIchigan earlier in the process, but was down to Iowa and Michigan State.
This is a big blow for Michigan State. As of a week ago, they were pretty confident that they had him in the bag. With Danny O'Brien focusing on Michigan and Tennessee and rumors that Norfleet is looking down South a bit, Michigan State is running out of big names on their board. It's possible that the only blue-chip recruit they end up with is Se'Von Pittman, but MSU fans can't feel too confident about that commitment given some of his comments.
For the sake of their sanity, they have to.
Well Washington's comments from The Opening were very pro MSU, so they do have that going...
if they stick to the package deal, I don't see it. It's one thing for Stanford to want to go to OSU, and for Washington to (maybe) not really want to go to UofM, but I don't see Stanford going to MSU. If they don't feel like OSU is a viable option and Washington won't come to us AND they stay together, I think they'd have to compromise on someone besides Sparty.
What are his comments?
He was talking about how Pittman is really talking them up and how both he and Pittman want similar things, so he's gonna listen hard to them now. Also he basically said OSU is not completely out of it, and he's just waiting on sanctions.
Have seen both him and ('11 tOSU commit) Steve Miller play live and IMO Pittman is much better. This stuff is all speculative of course, but Miller seemed awfully complacent once he knew he was going to the crime-ridden wasteland of Columbus. I like that Pittman plays his ass off on a regular basis.
Yup. SchadenSparty. Or is it Spartyfreude?
http://michiganstate.247sports.com/Board/93/Johnson-Makes-His-Decision-2989677/1
They do like their smilely faces over there. Hm.
I'm really glad he went to Iowa and not MSU. The kid seems like a real player.
Dantonio milked the negative-recruiting thing against Rodriguez for all it was worth, in a personal way. I'll bet he expected to be able to work that scheme indefinitely, because I don't think he thought Michigan under Rodriguez would do as badly as it did with regard to wins and losses. Dantonio had no Plan B -- no way to respond to Rich losing his job so quickly.
Plus, Hoke is like Teflon when it comes to that shit. Seems likely that it was a factor in the coaching search. He's the anti-Dantonio.
Getting owned in that bowl game versus the SEC last year hurts them, too. Expectations were much lower for Michigan versus the SEC, plus we fired our coach after the game.
Losing Johnson to Iowa stings. Most assumed he was a strong MSU lean until last week. In our defense, however, I don't think the overall recruiting picture is quite as dire as the OP suggests.
You've gotten some big gets in Pittman and decent gets in O'Conner, I'll grant you that. And some other guys who may be good. But coming off an 11-2 year, you couldn't exactly say you're making a lot of hey, could you?
It depends on who you talk to. Some people thought 11-2 would mean a recruiting class of nothing but four-stars. I think most realistic MSU fans realize that it will take a few more years of sustained success (along with perhaps putting some linemen into the NFL) to make a push for Top 20-25 ranked recruiting classes every year.
That said, my comment was directed more toward the assumption that Johnson and Norfleet were the last two 4*-type talents MSU has a shot at landing.
Who else is, would you say, is still on the board? With the requisite big name and State lean? Generally around here the sentiment is that Burbridge is a Michigan lock if he can qualify, and that O'Brien is headed here or down south, and that Pipkins is also Blue if he's not SEC bound.
I'm not familiar with anyone else, and I don't really follow MSU, so I ask out of genuine curiosity. After all, I was surprised when you got O'Conner and Pittman.
Trae Clark, Nathaniel Lohn, and Danny O'Brien are all pretty solid DT's who are interested in MSU.
Adolphus Washington made some very promising remarks about them, basically saying he's "very interested"
Some quick FL WR's are interested, as is Monty Madaris, one of the top WRs in OH. And I would NOT say Burbridge is a Michigan lock at all. Maybe a lean, but that's it.
Norfleet is another guy they have a shot at, but rumors are that he's starting to get SEC interest, and he could bolt for the south.
They still have a pretty good potential class lined up, but if they miss on a couple other guys, it'll be pretty disappointing
Beat me to it. Forgot about Lohn, although I think that's still a long shot. I also like Clark but I omitted him below because he's gotten mixed reviews.
Clark is a name I was seeing a lot on RCMB, so I imagine you're right. Lohn, not so much, I think.
I said big names and reasonable. Washington made one comment, I don't consider that interest enough to qualify as a lean (may become one), especially as he re-asserted his desire to package with Stanford, and we've heard Stanford say nothing on State. I consider that a State pipe dream until further notice.
We simply agree to disagree on Burbridge.
Madaris is a good point. Duly noted.
Norfleet is accounted for.
I wouldn't agree with you re: Burbridge being all blue. I'm not optimistic, but I don't think it's a lost cause from MSU's standpoint. It's probably not worth worrying about now because it doesn't sound like anyone (aside from maybe the recruiting analysts) will know where he stands until he qualifies. You're probably right on O'Brien and Pipkins.
Other solid 3* to 4* guys likely to strongly consider MSU include OT Ryan Ward, WR Monty Madaris, LB Antonio Morrison, DE Ryan Watson, DE Rod Chungong, S Demetrious Cox, and DE Washington. Not saying we'll get any of those guys in particular.
It's still relatively early. I'd hope that a good season could grow that list by a few names.
Duly noted. That's why I asked, I'm unfamiliar with most of these targets.
You are unfamiliar with them as they are not talented enough to warrant a Michigan offer.
No offense to these young players who, I am sure are good athletes, but just a cut below the current Michigan standard.
the only ones I really view as big names are Washington and Watson. I'm focusing mostly on consensus top 250-300 guys.
"the overall recruiting picture is quite as dire as the OP suggests."
So you're agreeing with the OP then with this statement, correct?
it says: "I don't think the overall recruiting picture is quite as dire as the OP suggests."
Hey, in his defense, that's how ESPN makes headlines everyday. Maybe he works for the WWL.
Michigan has bigger fish to fry than Jaleel Johnson...
...but hopefully those fishies want to be fried.
This is a very weird recruiting year for MSU so far. You would think that the 10-2 2010 season would help them recruit talent to the program, but it has done the exact opposite so far. It does not seem like Dantonion can reel in those talented players to MSU.
Honestly, they're always going to fight the fact that they're MSU, no matter how good they do. TCU has like the last decade of good to great teams, and they still don't get nearly the talent UT or A&M does.
I wasn't comparing them recruiting talented players to Michigan, I was comparing them to other programs at their level. This is the second good DT they have lost to Iowa in the last two recruiting classes. Darian Cooper was (I believe) pretty high on MSU based on his buddy Darien Harris committing to MSU. Eventually Cooper put Michigan into the mix as well, but lost out to Iowa. A runningback from the 2011 recruiting class decommitted from MSU and chose Iowa. I would never compare MSU's recruiting with Michigan's, because they are not on the same level, but to lose out on talent to other teams at your level historically after the 10-2 season is pretty pathetic, especially when Iowa had a pretty dissappointing season compared to what some thought they would be. I guess that one game dominating MSU did it for some recruits.
Point taken. I guess Iowa has in it's corner that it's had some sustained success for a while now, not one great season the past 20 years.
Tough loss for MSU. Kid is going to be a good player imo.
On another note does anyone notice how eager Michigan State fans are too bash kids like Terry Richardson and question his committment, yet they ignore Pittman's comments?
Johnson might get a chance to play early there. I heard their defensive line is supposed to be shaky this year.