Friday Recruitin' Feels The Mood
Part one of this week's two-part roundup, covering the recent commits, can be found here.
Official Offers Out: Sims Enrolling Early
August 1st was the first day written scholarship offers could go out to the class of 2018. You can see what Michigan's formal offers look like above; over the last couple years they've added the "we expect you to continue to strive for excellence" section as an explicit defense against another Erik Swenson situation.
Offer day came with some news this year: four-star GA CB Myles Sims will take advantage of the new early signing period and sign on December 21st, getting Michigan their top defensive back commit on campus for spring ball.
In other commit news, four-star MI DE Aidan Hutchinson announced yesterday he was selected for the Army All-American Bowl.
After last weekend's BBQ at the Big House, Michigan's odds of holding onto four-star IN OG Emil Ekiyor have improved. Following a recent visit to Alabama, Ekiyor said he'd eventually decide between the Wolverines and the Tide, and it sounded like it might be a coin-flip. He told 247's Isaiah Hole, however, that he's simply covering his bases:
While there's still a long ways to go until Signing Day, Ekiyor reaffirmed that he's taking visits as part of an exploratory process, but that he remains firmly committed to Michigan.
“Michigan is definitely the place that I want to be," Ekiyor said. "But I'm also (taking visits) just to make sure that I'm not being blind to another place, just because I feel so good about Michigan.”
It helps that a fellow Indianapolis native, four-star LB Cameron McGrone, joined the class on Monday. Ekiyor told The Wolverine's Brandon Brown he's "really excited to get up there" and join McGrone (plus Hoosier state products Chris Evans and Brandon Peters) in Maize and Blue:
"It makes you feel more comfortable with everybody up there," Ekiyor said. "We already know each other from being in the same city. You get more people from Indy supporting you too because basically all of the best players are heading to Michigan. It just gives you a level of being comfortable."
While Michigan will have to sweat out more visits, Ekiyor's commitment looks to be firmer than we believed last week.
[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]
BBQ Wrap: Little On The 2018 Front
Other than the commitments of McGrone and Sammy Faustin, it was a relatively quiet BBQ weekend in regard to 2018 prospects. Michigan's main target to not commit, top-100 MO DT Michael Thompson, reportedly had a good trip but isn't talking to media, per 247's Steve Lorenz:
I've been told that Michigan feels better about their chances with Top100 DT Michael Thompson coming out of the visit. That's about all I've been able to muster on that visit, as Thompson doesn't do interviews and intel has been relatively sketchy. I would say Michigan is still fighting Missouri for his eventual commitment.
Four-star TX OT Rafiti Ghirmai was also on campus, and while he hasn't done interviews either, Scout's Greg Powers gave an update on his recruitment to TMI's Brice Marich:
"Ghirmai has been a world traveler this offseason and in addition to Texas the two schools who seem to have resonated with him the loudest are UCLA and Michigan. It's a good sign if you are fan of one of those two programs that he would be looking at two completely different programs in that regard."
If Michigan secures an official visit, that one could get interesting.
Unfortunately, four-star CA S Bryan Addison didn't make his trip as planned, instead taking an unofficial visit to nearby UCLA. He still plans to see Michigan on an official visit but Lorenz believes M's chances have "lowered considerably." Three-star TN OL Jerome Carvin was also a no-show.
BBQ Wrap: M Makes Move With #1 2019 RB
No one will ever know what we go through but we grow! @CrouchQuavaris extremely proud of you brother #makeHimstandup #movingmountains # pic.twitter.com/Zu80Z8X19k
— Sam Greiner (@coachSamGreiner) July 29, 2017
We already got an early look at five-star 2019 NC RB Quavaris Crouch's visit last week when he helped Chris Evans and Co. coach a youth football camp; it appears the rest of his visit went similarly well, per Scout's Michael Clark:
"The visit was great and I had a lot of fun," Crouch said. "I saw the facilities and they were really nice. The campus was also great. I like how everything is so close.
"But my favorite part was spending time with the players, and getting to feel and see how it is to be a student-athlete at Michigan. I really like the coaches, players and people. Michigan is just an amazing place overall. I want to go back as soon as possible."
Lorenz posted that he "wouldn't be surprised" if Michigan led for Crouch after the visit, which his coach seemed to enjoy as much as he did. That puts Michigan in contention for a trio of top-tier 2019 backs; five-star IMG RB Noah Cain (who's mentored by former M RB David Underwood) had a good visit last month, and top-100 TN RB Eric Gray did an interview this week with Scout's Michael Clark in which the three schools he discussed were Michigan (where he had an "amazing" visit last month), Tennessee, and Mizzou.
Michigan may be in even better shape with four-star IN DE George Karlaftis, who tweeted this following the visit:
Mood pic.twitter.com/vUC5IuuUqc
— George Karlaftis III (@TheGK88) July 30, 2017
Karlaftis recapped the visit for Isaiah Hole:
“I really had high hopes and I thought it was amazing," Karlaftis said. "And I thought it was even better than I imagined it would be.
“Just the overall environment, and the culture at Michigan is different and better than most places I've been to. And their facilities obviously were good. Everything was great about it.”
Then he placed Michigan in one of the oddest top threes I've ever seen:
“So first off with that, I visited Purdue earlier this week and they made a huge impression on me. It was one of my best visits ever. They have to be in my top three: Michigan, Purdue and Miami.
He's from West Lafayette; that still confounds. He added that Michigan made a "huge move" in his recruitment. A shiny silver dollar says Michigan won't lose this recruitment to Purdue.
The coaches moved on two big-time in-staters over the weekend, offering East Kentwood teammates Logan Brown and Mazi Smith. Brown, a top-100 OT, posted on Twitter that he "can't wait to return" to Ann Arbor, and Lorenz is considering pulling the trigger on a Crystal Ball pick for the good guys—Wisconsin is the other main contender. Smith, a four-star DT with an impressive early offer sheet, put Michigan in his top five along with Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Wisconsin, per Scout's Allen Trieu. He holds offers from all those schools save OSU.
Michigan also extended an offer to three-star CA WR Kyle Ford, whose early USC and UCLA offers indicate he could rise up the rankings. He left telling TMI's Brice Marich that the Wolverines are "definitely in my top five" after the visit exceeded expectations:
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound Ford thought coming into the visit that he would probably be impressed with Michigan, but walked away feeling it even surpassed his expectations and more.
“Coming in, I already thought really high of them,” Ford admitted. “The facilities, the way they run things, the field and atmosphere is great. It really exceeded my expectations honestly. This place is amazing. The Big House and everything they got going there. I loved it and it is a good place to be.”
While top-100 IN WR David Bell wasn't able to attend the BBQ, he actually made it in for a visit the day prior and "really enjoyed his time," per Marich.
Four-star Baltimore St. Frances (Biff Poggi) LB Shane Lee told TMI's Josh Newkirk that he "liked everything" and wants to return for a game, but won't name any leaders at this stage.
Happy Trails, JT Daniels
One of the most prominent BBQ visitors was 2019's #1 quarterback, California five-star JT Daniels, who reportedly had a great visit, even including Michigan in a top four while on campus—then he committed to USC on Sunday evening. Michigan seems to have done as well as they could over the weekend; Daniels was just set on staying home. There were reports that if Michigan could land Daniels, they wouldn't pursue a second QB in the 2018 class, and at the moment Lorenz hears that may stay the case even without Daniels:
The biggest question that remains unanswered regards the 2018 class. As of today, I don't think the staff is going to pursue a second player at the position. Joe Milton is raw, but we were told once again on Sunday by a great source that Pep Hamilton is completely enamored with Milton's abilities and the belief is that they can turn him into a star eventually.
The coaches will focus on four-star OR dual-threat Michael Johnson Jr., now the only uncommitted '19 QB holding a Michigan offer.
Happy trails as well to four-star 2019 KY DT Jacob Lacey, who committed to Notre Dame instead of taking a scheduled trip for the BBQ, and three-star 2018 LB David Reese, who committed to Florida in a bit of deja vu.
Etc.
Michigan added Tim Drevno's son, Saline long-snapper Zach Drevno, as a preferred walk-on. He's ranked 24th among 2018 long snappers on Chris Sailer Kicking and 42nd on Rubio Long Snapping.
Top-100 2019 CA CB Chris Steele decommitted from UCLA and mentioned Michigan as a school he plans to visit in the fall, per Scout's Greg Biggins.
Lets not let him have that number. No running back should wear that number from here on out.
too soon, the grass is still green
I now an idea for the next chapter of my Harry Potter fan fic - "Quavaris Crouch and the Cursed Number."
Any Harry Pottervreference gets an upvote from me. He'd have to write for the Quibbler.
Keep 'em coming. We're reaping a bountiful, quality harvest in the Hoosier state.
317 represent!
Witfong just CB'd Tyler Friday to Rutgers. Which would be a huge disappointment. Looks like he has a teammate committing there, may be a package deal.
Long ways to go. It is Rutgers after all
Yeah something tells me witnessing a couple 60-70 point beat downs may influence his enthusiasm to be fenced into that garden.
I like the inclusions from this past class to the DT board. Hudson, Jeter, and Solomon all look to be fantastic prospects. But I've been largely underwhelmed by the DT recruiting so far. This class definitely needs 2 solid DT/NT prospects. Michael Thompson and Tyler Friday would be incredible. In addition, I hope we push for Rick Sandidge.
Wiltfong changes his pick the day of commitment everytime. I have zero respect for that guy and feel he really does not know all that and flips his predictions constantly. Okay asshole so you picked Rutgers and thats great so stick with it until the kid commits. I would not bank on it.
August 5th, 2017 at 10:30 AM ^
Wiltfong uses the crystal ball as a sign of where the recruitment currently stands in his opinion, often changing it to a school a recruit is visiting that week if he thinks there's a decent chance of a commitment. He also really cares about his score and will change it night before a commitment if he hears something different from before. As one of their top guys, he's getting info from lots of different 247 sites. But he is very accurate, and one of the 247 staff who it's worth to listen to.
Steve Lorenz is much more reserved and usually uses his for where he thinks the recruitment ends up. He still has Shayne Simon as ending up at Michigan because that's where he thinks he ends up. He's also mostly Michigan focused and rarely picks players to other schools unless he put in a Michigan prediction early or it's a big target he knows is going elsewhere. He's less concerned with points than with being right, and most of his sources are Michigan focused.
They are both valid methods of using it, and more data is better than less if you know how to interpret it. Other good picks to follow are Barton Simmons and EJ Holland (for Texas area). Also the mgoblog pick is essentially mixing the Michigan 247, Rivals. and Scout info into a crystal ball.
August 5th, 2017 at 12:50 PM ^
to handicap where Simon goes he'd say Notre Dame. A lot depends on their season and Kelly's job security. Complete unknowns at the moment. The rules are such that he gets a lot of points if he's right about Michigan and would have gained very little switching his pick late.
Thanks, you said it a lot better than myself but it just bothers me the way Wiltfong changes his prediction the day the kid is committing. I'm pretty sure anyone would be accurate with that bullshit. Like I said Wiltfong, you picked Rutgers know stick with them all the way so you can be wrong.
UCLA = Sun, coeds and school I guess...
Football not so much.
need much more of that...
i haven't been watching that, over and over and over for the last ten minutes, would a sane person do that?
That is clearly how an OSU player with the ball needs to go down. If not yards behind the LOS, the refs give him a first down without measurement.
Thank I got a little wood on that hit. Wanting so bad to see Gary get a clean running shot on Barrett sending him home just short of a body bag and with a loss.
almost definitely a long shot but crouch + cain anybody?
And now the best players in Indiana do too. And New Jersey, and Georgia ...
And from Ohio (if you want to be the greatest college football player of all time)
At the end of the 4th paragraph, it should read "continued growth". I've seen a lot of these official scholarship letters with typos... I wonder why?
If that were the only mistake, it wouldn't be so bad.
In the first paragraph, and then in the 2nd bulleted item, "student-athlete" should not be hyphenated. Also the sentences that begin with "Those" and "Strive" are sentence fragments; they should be combined. And in the last paragraph, "myself" should be "me."
Michigan: The fanbase that proofreads their own team's offer letters and points out sentence fragments and improper hyphenation.
August 4th, 2017 at 11:56 PM ^
I have not heard that word in ten years.LOL.
August 5th, 2017 at 10:25 AM ^
Dangle?
the OSU and MSU fanbase can't read. "Me play football. Go Bucks". That would be their version of the letter.
August 5th, 2017 at 12:18 PM ^
Student-athlete with a hyphen is both an acceptable and widely used spelling.
August 4th, 2017 at 11:57 PM ^
It depends on how it's being used. It gets hyphenated when it is used as a compound modifier before a noun: "student-athlete housing." When it is not being used in that way, there shouldn't be a hyphen.
You can also hyphenate a compound noun. Student Athlete isn't incorrect, but neither is Student-Athlete and the hyphenated one is what you are going to most of the time. Take a look at how it is used all over MGoBlue.com, umich.edu and in university press releases.
August 5th, 2017 at 10:14 PM ^
I'll check it out after I tend to my tomato-plants in the vegetable-garden.
Cue Sparty whining about how Dirty Jim Harbaugh only signed Tim Drevno in order to get Zach as a PWO...
Sweet
A little confused about how CA WR Kyle Ford iis ranked. I know it's early, but there is a huge disparity between 247 and Scout on this kid.
247 has him as a 3 star .8448 composite grade as the #53 WR in the country, whereas Scout has him as a 4 star #3 WR in the country. Rivals has him as a "5.9" whatever that means.
Anyway, my understanding is his uncle posts on one of the premium boards & so he's got a guy in his inner circle pulling hard for Michigan who maybe grew up in the state, so it isn't like this CA guy doesnt' have any connections to Ann Arbor.
Just curious to see if Magnus or any of the scouting gurus looked at the kid & can provide any clarity on him.
I don't expect us to get any monster 2018 WRs mostly due to the intimidatingly awesome 2017 WR haul. But by the time 2019 rolls around, I'd think that some top WRs would be interested again, as the 2017 kids would then have 2 years of separation.
The 247 ranking is a mistake. They had him in their top 50 before they updated rankings today. Scout and 247 joined and Scout has him as 32 player in the 2019 class. 5.9 is basically top 100 recruit.
2018 seems to be the year we're looking for one WR, and in that only an outstanding WR or a slot player. With the massive class last year, skipping WR for a year would probably be okay.
Man, that last bullet point should just be called the Eric Swenson clause. That was pretty on point re: the whole Swenson brouhaha.
August 4th, 2017 at 11:19 PM ^
They'll have to call one of them Peanut Butter and the other one Chocolate.
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