ben roebuck

I really had hopes of getting UFR out this week, but the fallout from last weekend's visitpalooza will continue until morale improves. Ben Roebuck, one of Michigan's top offensive line prospects, and one of the top prospects in Ohio, announced on Instagram yesterday that he's committed to Michigan. He did this moments after I posted the Hello from Tuesday's commitment, Cincinnati 4.5* RB Jordan Marshall. Marshall announced right after I posted on Monday's commitment, 2023 4* VA safety prospect Brandyn Hillman, another Michigan-Ohio State battle.

Was Roebuck actually a Michigan-Ohio State battle? OSU was his expected destination for the first half of the cycle, but never officially offered. They also traditionally withhold offers for born Buckeyes in-state because the act of giving one often leads to a commitment shortly thereafter. Clearly they viewed Roebuck differently than Marshall, but their reporters were really surprised an offer didn't come after Roebuck camped at Columbus last summer, and by all accounts faired as well as one of the top national tackle prospects was expected to. As was the case with Rod Moore a few cycles ago, Michigan began making up ground shortly thereafter, and the Buckeye reporters who are tightest with the local coaches were starting to openly wonder what's the deal. OSU skipped him again when they offered two other Saint Ed's offensive linemen in January, however by that point Roebuck was so obviously enamored with Michigan that he was making surprise pop-ins to Ann Arbor. We'll explore this too, but first there's about 6'7"/350 pounds of John Lennon's head on Ryan Hayes's body to assess.

GURU RATINGS

His rankings have come down across the board. ESPN actually had a 79 on him earlier in the cycle, which got him ranked in their early top-300. Rivals had him ten spots higher among OTs. On3 moved him 28 spots down the OT rankings and all the way to #43 in Ohio. This is more than what you'd get from the normal recruiting gravity. He was 146th overall, the #5 OT, and #3 in Ohio just ten months ago, and the #2 prospect in Ohio (one ahead of Marshall) when the cycle began.

This could be the sites reading the continued lack of an official Ohio State offer, versus a reevaluation. Roebuck has been a Michigan lean for so long an OSU offer might have just been rebuffed as too late. On the other hand, they made the decision to be too late, which is not a decision they would have risked for Marshall. They also offered Roebuck's linemates, the Armstrong twins, in January. Sherrone Moore had been working hard on them, too, and that didn't stop the crystal balls from flying to OSU.

Anyway I viewed Roebuck as the bigger target than Hamilton initially, and since then the sites have flipped that.

[AFTER THE JUMP: At large.]

News from the front! Another major citadel in Ohio territory has fallen to the Wolverines. The Lakewood St. Ed's tower of Ben Roebuck, long predicted to fall into Wolverine hands, has surrendered its gold pants peacefully.

The 6'7" Roebuck was one of Michigan's top tackle prospects in this class, and one they've been focused on since the start of the cycle. The private powerhouse has been good to Michigan relative to other area schools. Two of Roebuck's fellow St. Ed's linemen, the twins Deontae and Devontae Armstrong, have also been longtime Michigan targets, though not on the same level as Roebuck. OSU finally offered the pair in January. Including longtime commit Luke Hamilton it was possible for Sherrone Moore to build an entire line class from a small circle of Western Cleveland. However there are a lot more linemen on Michigan's board right now, so the Armstrongs may not be as high of a priority. If they become so, having a teammate pushing Blue should help bring them around.

Roebuck was. Like Hamilton, he profiles as a mauler. He played RT last year but is expected to shift to the blindside. I think Michigan sees him as a right tackle, but we'll know more after a thorough hello.

Right now I just want to talk about The War, as Michigan continues to build its 2024 class at the expense of its main rival. Coming on the heels of their major early commitment from 4.5* RB Jordan Marshall out of Cincinnati, Harbaugh's program now has pledges from three out of Ohio State's top ten prospects for 2024 as of June, versus one (Cade Stover's cousin) for Ohio State. Youngstown Edge Brian Robinson is expected in Ann Arbor eventually, though he wants to get his visits in before making a decision. The front now shifts to 5-star Aaron Scott, the Springfield cornerback long expected to go to Ohio State because that's what the #1 prospect in Ohio does. It's usually what the top tackle prospect in Ohio does too.

In a map:

We'll get a full hello up probably tomorrow. There is no content after the jump.

I've been wanting to write a Spring Football Bits for weeks, except the biggest news coming out of there isn't what's happening on the field for 2023 but which high schoolers have been coming by to watch it. So here we are, mid Spring Ball of the most anticipated season since 2006, rolling out an update on teenagers who might sign in 2024 or 2025 and be relevant by 2026.

Oh, and one stray 2023 that's still out there.

Safety swipe. VA 4* ATH Brandyn Hillman recently asked out of his NLI to Notre Dame and is expected to join either Michigan or Ohio State($, info in title), with Michigan calling within 15 minutes of Hillman reopening his recruitment. Lorenz agrees Michigan is in front($) but makes it sound more like a 4-point lead, with Ohio State about to get possession($), as Bill Kurelic says OSU is the only school that's currently certain to get visit (video). OSU was the loser of a 5-star battle with Bama for #1 safety/#6 overall Caleb Downs on Early Signing Day. USC, who missed out late on TX 4* Warren Roberson, also offered.

Michigan didn't have a pure safety in the class but brought in three guys who redshirted in 2022 and a couple more ATHs in Jason Hewlett and DJ Waller who project to the LB and CB sides of the safety range, respectively, meaning they can afford Hillman time to develop. Not so at Notre Dame, where the safety depth chart is starting resemble their 4-scholarship player basketball roster. Their 2023 class also got raided over the course of the cycle.

Hillman played QB and several other positions in high school but it's pretty clear this is a safety offer, not a last second quarterback. He's shown out at camps, most recently at the Polynesian Bowl. Tim Prister describes a versatile "wrecking ball" and "Point A to Point B missile" who's sized like a pure safety but brings a LB's mentality. All that sounds more like Khaleke Hudson.

So how did Hillman slip loose? Hillman said "personal reasons." MnB did some message board sleuthing but only found Tom Loy claiming academics but not just academics:

[Loy] stated he “believes academics played a role here in this decision” for him to leave Notre Dame. Loy further stated there were “some hurdles” to getting him academically admitted, but Notre Dame didn’t push to get him cleared. Apparently this is a specific academic problem related to Notre Dame, otherwise high academic schools like Michigan, Vanderbilt and Virginia likely would not have offered.

It's my understanding that Michigan and Notre Dame have the same academic approach—the teams get a handful of "trust us" counters for freshmen who are reasonably close but everyone else has to get in on their own—which means non-qualifiers either A) didn't meet the minimal standard for a counter, or B) were supposed to get in on their own and now need a counter. Loy's claim that ND "didn't push to get him cleared" is a nod toward 'B' but could also translate to "he told us not to bother."

[After THE JUMP: Phil Brabbs gets a downgrade]