Thursday Recruitin' Lacks D-I Talent
An Unexpected Twist
When an out-of-region prospect cancels a visit, it's usually a death knell for a program's chances of landing him. So, when top-100 AL WR Nico Collins didn't make it to the spring game, I assumed Michigan was out of the picture.
I was wrong. Collins got to campus last week, and he told 247's Georgia outlet he has a new leader in the aftermath:
"Right now, Michigan has caught my eye," Collins said. "I fell in love with them on my visit. They might be my leader - with Georgia, Alabama, and Clemson pushing them. There is just something more with Michigan - they have a plan for you after college - plus their football program is pretty nice."
We'll see if that holds once the post-visit afterglow has faded. Even if the pack catches up, Michigan is in excellent position; Collins noted two important factors are his relationship with the coaches and the quarterback situation at each program—M should fare well on both counts.
[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]
#WarOnRutgers: An Update From The Front
Oh man. Oh man. Ohhhhhhhh man.
That's the lead image for Jersey Pravda's slideshow in which the coaches of the top 20 high school progams in the state discuss the competing satellite camps. Encouragingly, not everyone is as loony as the guy who accused Michigan of "conspiring" with Paramus Catholic to... commit the nefarious act of providing their players an opportunity to go to Michigan instead of Rutgers, I guess? Most of the Rutgers support is qualified with statements about how they'll support their players getting a chance to be recruited, whether that's by the in-state program or the invading forces.
There are a couple exceptions. The coach of Montvale St. Joseph Regional, which has two 2017 offensive line prospects in Penn State commit Robert Martin and Michigan target Joshua Fedd-Jackson, stands out as a voice of reason:
This guy, on the other hand...
...well, he doesn't matter anyway.
Meanwhile, the high school coaches of Alabama actually found a way to institute what's essentially their own ban on satellite camps:
The Wolverines had hoped to hold a camp June 6 at the Bob Jones campus in Madison. However, a bylaw passed April 12 by the Alabama High School Athletic Association allows its member football coaches to only participate in camps involving their players on the weeks of June 27, July 4, July 11 and July 25.
Student-athletes can attend camps prior to those dates as individuals, and at their own expense.
"We're not going to have it," Patriots coach Kevin Rose said. "To have that many kids, 500 kids, they need 12 high school coaches to help work the camp. And since that's no longer legal, they won't be coming to Bob Jones."
A coincidence, I'm sure.
In-State Package Deal?
247's Steve Wiltfong reports that Michigan is in the top four for four-star Detroit King CB Ambry Thomas:
Where Thomas will play on the next level is still up in the air.
“I trust Michigan State a lot, Pittsburgh, Penn State and Michigan,” Thomas said.
Thomas has been a fixture on the campuses of both in-state schools, and he'll be in Ann Arbor again at the end of the month:
“Michigan, I’ve been talking to Coach (Don) Brown lately, I’m going up there on the 25th or 26th. He’s going to lay out my life plan for me, life after football that’s what we talk about a lot.”
While Michigan State is the crystal ball leader, Thomas' connection with cousin Jaylen Kelly-Powell could swing the momentum in favor of the Wolverines, the presumed leader for the four-star Cass Tech safety. Kelly-Powell told TMI's Josh Newkirk that the pair are looking to play together in college:
“It’s really big for our family, really,” Kelly-Powell said of playing with Thomas in college. “Not everyone can say they did that in life, ‘I play with my cousin, I played with my brother.’ We were supposed to play together in high school, but now we’re trying to do it in college.”
Adding: “We always do joint visits all the time,” Kelly-Powell said of Thomas. “If he go, I go with him. If I go, he goes with me. We do everything together.”
Package deals often fall through, of course, but given where JKP stands, it seems more likely both would end up at Michigan than at Michigan State.
CROOTIN, Part I
When five-star 2018 OH DE/TE Leonard Taylor committed after the spring game, we anticipated his recruitment was far from over. Given what he told 247's Bill Kurelic this week, it's probably best to consider his commitment more an informal declaration of his current leader:
“Man, I have a chance to go to Ohio State,” Taylor said when asked for his reaction to the NFL draft. “I still think about it almost every day. They had five people go in the 1stround. That’s lovely. It’s going to be (a part) of my thinking.”
...
“Senior year, signing day,” Taylor said when asked when he will make his final decision and be all through with recruiting.
Only 21 months to go!
CROOTIN, Part II
Four-star 2017 NJ WR Tarik Black, who has Michigan in his top five, provided his current commitment plans to Scout's Brian Dohn:
"I want to decide before my senior season. I’ll probably do a silent commit, and then announce at the Army All-American game."
That would involve Black remaining a silent commit to a school for four-plus months. Let's just say I'm skeptical that will stick.
Etc.
I'm battling a stomach bug, so apologies in advance for running through these quickly.
Current commit stuff: Scout has free highlights and analysis from last weekend's Opening Columbus regional for AJ Dillon and Ben Mason. MLive has a feature on Benjamin St-Juste.
Five-star FL OT Alex Leatherwood told MnB's Brandon Justice that Michgian is "really close" to Alabama, the program to which he's currently committed, after receiving a visit from Tim Drevno.
Michigan offered three-star CT ATH CJ Holmes, who said "all [he] could do was smile" after getting word from Don Brown, who extended Holmes' first offer back when he was at Boston College, per TMI's Brice Marich.
Three-star CA jumbo athlete Popo Amuvae told Oregon's 247 outlet that Michigan and Oregon form his top two. He just visited Oregon and will use an official to get out to Ann Arbor.
It's a good thing that Michigan should have a very strong showing in the next NFL Draft to even up the score a bit in his mind about which program offers better pro opportunities. Not that Michigan will do as well (5 first rounders set or tied a record) but also, Harbaugh and staff obviously know the pro game.
Is it just me, or is your Voltron more Purple than Blue?
Dude, you of all people should know that shiny metal reflects other colors, and that Voltron comes up against enemies of various colors. It's the reflection. Duh.
So...you're playing Northwestern in that pic?
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Thou doth gettith thy gangbang on for the coinage?
Or you post links to sites hosted in Tokelau which then serve up malware so you can steal information and monetize it for financial fraud.
Touche.
Begone!
I keep forgetting Taylor is a 2018 recruit. Man, that is a long long way to go.
Another factor? "My dad's a Michigan fan. He's from there. I've been up there to go visit my grandparents but I've never been to the stadium." - July 2015
http://247sports.com/Bolt/2017-4-star-Nico-Collins-has-six-standouts-38291497
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Re: Class of '18 recruits -
Think how much better Michigan will look in 21 months than they even do now!
A couple chances to beat our rivals, win Bowl games, get kids drafted (or at least get a feel for how high they'll go in the case of '18) between now and then.
I like our chances to get someone good, whether it's a current commit or other.
EDIT: And thanks for working through the stomach bug, Ace! Harbaugh would give you a knowing nod, maybe even a slight salute with the coffee mug, ala Wexler Wolff
Plus all those Somoans will know about us.
Sorry to hear you're having stomach problems. Check your frozen veggies, there's been a recent lysteria outbreak on frozen veggies (Meijer's organic corn and peas was the one that got me). Even if you haven't consumed any recently, keep in mind lysteria can incubate with no symptoms for months.
Please stay away from me for a while.
But he shouldn't stop his kids from attending a camp in hopes of catching someone's eye. There are walk-ons all over the country that didn't get any interest, but who's to say if one more camp could have made a difference?
Decidedly satisfying to have followed that link and thumbed through the slide show. Great pictures - Erik Rosenmeier looks to be dominant at all things ice-bucket-challenge related by an utter lack of reaction.
I'll admit to the guilty pleasure of loving all the hoopla of NSD, and of having Michigan be involved in the thick of all the last second drama.
I konw it's dumb, a June 4-star commit is just as valuable as a NSD 4-star commit, and it's more stable to have your class locked down months in advance.
But not gonna lie . . . I love the NSD circus with Harbaugh as the ultimate Ringmaster.
I'll bet it's highly aggressive.
Talk good about us. Talk bad about us. Just keep talking about us.
Throughout the entire nation, there are two schools on everybody's mind: The home school . . . and Michigan.
What's on everybody's mind in Tuscaloosa, AL? Alabama. And Michigan.
What's on everybody's mind in New Brunswick, NJ? Rutgers. And Michigan.
What's on everybody's mind in Oxford, MS? Ols Miss. And Michigan.
Move over Illinois, we're everybody's rival now.
+1 insightful
The Illinois rivalry puts everything in perspective.
Seriously, good points.
If we were to get Nico that would make the Auburn assistant a liar. Shhhhhhh.
is my favorite quote fragment of the week.
Sounds like Nico is a perfect fit for Ann Arbor.
But it's the first half of that fragment that is the true compliment...
the guy does it all, catch, block, pass. He seems like he's focused on every play.
Imagine having Collins on one side and DPJ on the other side for our QB to throw it to.
This face does not inspire fear in Harbaugh, or probably anyone else. It would probably inspire indifference, had not the owner of said face neglected to call back or inform The Michigan Coach that he was going to team up with OSU rather than UM as Harbaugh had asked him to do.
I have to believe this will make our coach angry. Chris Ash, you won't like Harbaugh when he's angry. If Jim gets a chance to run it up on Rutgers, it could get REALLY ugly.
Since I cannot get this posted as a new topic. Wanted to share this.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/terps/tracking-the-terps/ph-cc-sp-te…
Looks like Maryland and Durkin are coming to the aide of the Good guys! Screw OSU and Rutgers!
It does not look like the Durkin departure from Michigan was adversarial, the way some people might think.
Also, found this interesting: The main attraction to the camp, which will be streamed online, is Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh
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