Thursday Recruitin' Rolls Deep
"Pace Yourself" Isn't In The Harbaugh Lexicon
Michigan's already reeled in ten commitments this month, and with several highly interested prospects set to visit campus soon, recruiting shows no sign of slowing down.
Three-star FL OLB Jonathan Jones has been among the handful of prospects most expected to join the class sooner or later, arrived on campus today for what will be a five-day unofficial visit, per Steve Lorenz. That long a visit is almost unheard of, and while Jones made the very reasonable request for people to stop asking if he'll commit, it's definitely on the table.
Starting next Wednesday, a whole crew will arrive from the east, per Lorenz: four-star PA TE Naseir Upshur, four-star NJ WR Ahmir Mitchell, four-star NJ WR Brad Hawkins, four-star NJ DE Ron Johnson, and 2017 four-star NJ C Cesar Ruiz will all spend three days on campus. Upshur and Johnson both have Michigan at the top of their lists, Mitchell seems like a strong possibility, and Hawkins has Michigan and South Carolina tied at the top.
2017 four-star Paramus Catholic OLB Drew Singleton is expected to visit on Friday, per Lorenz. His five-star 2016 teammate, DT Rashan Gary, told Rivals' Adam Friedman that he plans to be in Ann Arbor on June 25th, and his mother will come along with him ($).
[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup]
More On M's Commits
The Mathlete is a fan of the Ben Bredeson commitment:
At 31st overall, Ben Bredeson is in position to become the highest ranked OL to sign with Michigan in the Internet Era (Schilling at 38)
— Brett Thiessen (@The_Mathlete) June 17, 2015
Before someone jumps in here, Kyle Kalis was 49th.
Three-star TE Sean McKeon told Tim Sullivan he knew on Saturday, two days before he informed the coaches, that he wanted to commit to Michigan ($). First, he participated in Michigan's camp, and according to Scout's Allen Trieu he had the second-best performance of anyone there ($):
Loved how he could bend for his size. Very naturally athletic and catches the ball well. Lean frame with the room to grow. Staff seemed to not just like him, but love him.
The Wolverine's Chris Balas caught up with Rivals' FSU analyst to get a scouting report on cornerback commit Antwaine Richardson, who stood out at the Seminoles' camp ($):
"He has great range, really covers a lot of ground and is very good in coverage," he said. "He's one of the best guys I saw in one on ones. He stood out to me, even though he was a sleeper last year when we saw him and I wasn't focused on him that much. But I was really impressed with his ball skills - that caught my attention. He'll still have some work to do with technique and stuff, but he's going to continue to get better."
TMI's Brice Marich spoke to Josh Metellus after his commitment yesterday, and Metellus feels pretty good about Michigan's chances with his talented teammates:
Metellus is not only Flanagan target the Wolverines are hoping will help with that process. His teammates Devin Gil and Devin Bush are major priorities for the Maize & Blue. Now they’re major priorities for Metellus too.
“I think (Michigan) has a good chance because we all want to play together at the next level,” said Metellus. “I will tell them that Michigan is the place to be because of the new coaching staff in Coach Harbaugh and Coach Durkin and I really think Michigan will be one of the top five teams in the nation.”
A couple commits moved up in the latest 247 rankings. Brandon Peters moved up a spot in the pro-style QB rankings; he's now sixth at the position and #135 overall following a strong Elite11 semifinals performance. Michael Onwenu made a bigger jump, going from the #5 guard and #140 overall prospect to #1 among guards and 63rd overall.
Worth Keeping An Eye On?
The focus on how Michigan will be able to fit 20+ commits into a class already standing at 15 with several big-time prospects still highly interested has mostly centered on attrition from within the current team, but rumors are swirling that one or two current commits may not end up in the class. Around the time those rumors hit Twitter, this did, too:
Farmington, Mich., LB David Reese, a Michigan commit who had previously committed to Louisville, is visiting U of L campus today.
— Jody Demling (@jdemling) June 17, 2015
We'll see if anything develops. Reese reportedly had a strong showing at Michigan's camp while playing linebacker, but if he thinks he's got a better shot of playing defense—instead of fullback—at another school, he could end up elsewhere.
More 2016 Updates
Four-star OT Terrance Davis told Rivals' Adam Friedman that Michigan is still at the top of his list ($):
"Michigan is the favorite," he said. "I really like the family atmosphere and coach Harbaugh. He's a pretty amazing coach. I got to sit down with him and see what he's about. Coach Drevno is my guy too."
Davis still plans to take visits; he locked in an official to UCLA for January, and he plans to announce a top five before the season that will include Michigan, UCLA, Alabama, Maryland, and a program to be named later.
Michigan will have to fend off several top programs to land four-star TX ILB Dontavious Jackson, but in talking to Sam Webb he certainly sounds like he'd be comfortable in Ann Arbor after a great visit experience in April ($):
“It was wonderful. The fans they’re so enjoyable, so welcoming and they’re very humble people. They’re very accepting. It is almost like I’m home. I can almost do whatever I want. I’m just chillin. I feel relaxed. I don’t have to be all (uptight) when walking around.”
Jackson's teammate, three-star Chris Brown, told Webb that Michigan is recruiting him at corner, and he'll be back on campus for an official visit:
Sam Webb: Has Michigan talked about getting back up there for an official visit
Chris Brown: “Yes.”Sam Webb: Do you think you’ll do that
Chris Brown: “Oh yes, Michigan will definitely be one of my official visits.”
Oklahoma is the other school he's "for sure" going to see on an official.
Etc.
Happy trails to three-star TX WDE Rahssan Thornton, who committed to LSU, and three-star IN RB Toks Akinribade, who committed to Iowa. Thornton was a target Michigan had high interest in, while the pursuit of Akinribade cooled when the Wolverines added multiple backs to the class.
Michigan offered 2017 five-star dual-threat QB Tate Martell, who plays for Las Vegas powerhouse Bishop Gorman, per Tim Sullivan. He's a Los Angeles native, and USC appears to be the school to beat.
If you missed them, I strongly encourage you to check out Adam Schnepp's interviews with Michael Onwenu, Corey Malone-Hatcher, Chase Claypool, and Xavier Kelly. Click here for part one, and here for part two.
Les' class is currently #1 - not bad considering the lost Chavis.
FIRE HARBAUGH. HIRE LES! lol
No way. Les is too crazy.
Oh, wait . . .
but it an weird way
Dontavious Jackson
“It was wonderful. The fans they’re so enjoyable, so welcoming and they’re very humble people. They’re very accepting. It is almost like I’m home. I can almost do whatever I want. I’m just chillin. I feel relaxed. I don’t have to be all (uptight) when walking around.”
We all know the last X years have been hard, scratch that..terrible, it for sure has made us more humble....which is a good thing IMO. We had it pretty good for a while but we got brought back down to earth to realize how good we had it. I think we all feel that JH is the man to bring us back to relevance, we have tasted some bitter stuff lately but it feels like the sun is rising with this regime.
I know I am putting the cart before the horse here, but my personal confidence level of JH and his staff bringing us back is pretty high.
Hail
Wow! No word on the Bredeson commit? Still? Care to explain?
Admit it already!!!!!
Multiple outlets (Rivals, Bleacher Report, SI, Scout, ESPN, Sam Webb) have all reported his commitment. So why the holdup on the MgoBlog?
For those who may not know, Bredenson may be our highest ranked OL recruit in quite a long time. His position (OG) rank is #1, He was rated as the #1 player in the Midwest for a while, and the 25th best player in the country according to Scout. If the rankings are any indication he is a Peppers caliber recruit. Rejoice!
My apologies to all my fellow Wolverines. I had not seen yesterday's Hello Post. I was told Briam for whatever the reason had not posted it on the sight. All mistakes are mine. Sorry Brian. This was dumb
I would love to pull him from Texas but I know it won't be easy.
It seemed to me that you were pretty pessimistic about D Reese staying in the UM 2016 class and going to U of L.. I get the opposite feeling, and IMHO I think that he just wanted to check out Louisville to make sure
Not that my opinion matters to a whole lot of people
along with his teammate and friend Despond Fitzpatrick (WR).
Both later got Michigan offers and Reese eventually flipped back in March. It was expected for Fitzpatrick to flip as well but that's not yet happened and slowly is seeming like he wants to stick with Louisville. If Fitzpatrick is staying there, and Reese thinks he can play LB at the team he originally committed to vs FB at Michigan, then I think there's reason to be a little pessimistic there. I'm also pretty sure the two have openly talked about playing together in college.
Would you be...despondent?
Maybe it's just me but I am moving the name Despond up in my hierarchy of names for potential male children.
It matters to me.
Any idea what's up with Donald Stewart? Seems to be trending away from Michigan after a Stanford offer.
Said it was his "dream offer".... No idea why because last I checked we had harbaugh not Stanford.
I can never begrudge a player taking an offer like Stanford or Harvard over Michigan. We claim to think education is important, can't reverse that when they choose an even more highly regarded educational institution.
For anyone who has ever visited Stanford's campus, there really is no equal. I took my two young sons there this past March and was completely blown away. When you combine their academics wth that campus, even the most die-hard of Michigan loyalists, of which I consider myself included, would have to concede Stanford is arguably the best.
Academics yes. Campus no.
It's really pretty, but in an old-folks Palm Springs resort sort of way. It does not feel very college-y.
You have your whole life to go on vacations, but you only go to college once. Michigan/Ann Arbor is much more of a classic college environment than Stanford/Palo Alto.
We tend to underestimate it because we are familiar with it and most of us are from the north and overly-enamored with a campus with palm trees, but Michigan/Ann Arbor is a world-class college environment.
Yes Stanford is great. Nobody is crazy for going to Stanford and not just for academics. I just wanted to defend Ann Arbor a little bit in the sense that it is not a no-brainer where Stanford's campus is automatically "better" than Michigan's because it is warmer and more resort-y.
I was in this exact situation. I had a chance to go to UCLA, but I went to Michigan. UCLA was awesome. Being from LA, you would know. But it did not feel much like college to me. Ann Arbor did.
It is indeed subjective. But that goes both ways. Not everyone is always going to think that the place that's warmer and feels more like a resort is "better" for a college atmosphere.
I assume you are speaking only about the physical design of the campus and not taking into account weather, campus activities, professional opportunities, etc. And – even if you are only talking about the aesthetics, then with all due respect, this is a pretty subjective assessment and falls under the category of: "Well...that's like your opinion, man."
Having gone to both UM and Stanford, I find both campuses absolutely gorgeous...and both are very different. To say one is better than the other seems like a silly argument to try and make. They each have nuances and idiosyncrasies that make them special...from a purely aesthetic standpoint.
When you then begin to factor in weather, academic opportunities, professional opportunities, the environment around the campus, etc…well – then – frankly one campus rises above the other one pretty quickly. Just my $0.02.
I am talking just about campus environment and the general college life. Nobody is going to argue that Michigan is better academically, or that the area outside of Ann Arbor is better.
But for campus environment, college town, and general college life, it's not automatic that Stanford is "better" because it is warmer and wealthier and more resort-like.
Yes it's very subjectivee. But that means it can go both ways. Stanford's campus is not the automatic winner in everyone's mind.
There tends to be a bias toward resort-like campuses as "better" . . . Pepperdine, ASU, Stanford, etc., but I am at least one voice out there that would prefer Penn State, Wisconsin, UVA, Michigan for a four-year college atmosphere. My driving criteria is not "feels like I'm on vacation."
My dad remembers going to a football game at Stanford during WWII and how beautiful it was. He was stationed on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay while in the Navy. I always wanted to see what he was talking about. As a result, about 10 years ago, while on a work related trip to Redwood, I drove to Treasure Island while on the way in. My flight out was a redeye, leaving me 12 hours to bum around. I ended up spending time at the tide pools, eating fish on the coast, and also spent a few hours walking around the Stanford campus. It was gorgeous, and very different from Ann Arbor, to my way of thinking. It reminded me just a bit of the ND campus in South Bend, except much prettier setting, and nicer buildings. I love Ann Arbor, but Stanford seems much more clear of a defined campus than UofM, with such a gorgeous physical setting. Can't blame anyone who goes there, especially on a scholarship.
Sounds like a dream offer to me
Try telling that to Daryl Rogers.
I know this is early in the process, but for those fans worried about potential forced decommitments/scholarship crunch in 2016, one thing I'm noticing is that a lot of the lower-rated kids Harbaugh is offering are getting pretty solid reviews at camps and the like. I'm sure this happens a decent amount with kids from smaller schools/less recruited areas (which isn't the case for all recruits here, but definitely some) that as they start making the camp circuits and get their name out, their stock goes up and by the time we notice them they are all those high-3*/low-4* kids that field multiple offers and maybe even decommit from a couple of places. And also, the local power teams start getting into the recruiting as well, meaning that pressure/opportunity to remain closer to home enters the conversation.
My point is that I suspect some of these lighter-regarded recruits will start seeing their stock rise and, with it, the quality of offers they receive. Michigan might just be the canary in the cole mine, so to speak, and so when that happens I wouldn't be surprised if a couple decide that the distance from Florida, or Texas, or CA is too much when they can play for a closer porgram like, say, Baylor, LSU, or Arizona St. So while I do think the potential remains for a larger-than-optimal class, the chances that all of these kids stick and don't leave for their own best-interests is also incredibly low.
These kids may also have grown or developed more since their junior seasons. Kids grow a lot in HS, and it happens at different rates for different kids. These kids potentially look/play differently from their most recent HS tape which was 8 months ago.
I'm pretty OK with the idea that a Michigan offer is considered a sign that major schools need to start looking more closely at a lowly-ranked player, because UM's scouts are so good at evaluating talent as a kid emerges from his junior year.
Pretty OK with that idea, for sure.
If my memory is correct I went to high school with Drew Singleton's brother, DJ. We graduated together and he played for Nebraska for awhile and Michigan recruited, but I think he's at UNI now. If he's anything like his brother, he'll look like a grown man and be a real cool guy.
Slow day today.
#yesiamspoiled
There's been a South Florida commitment every day since 6/10/15. Maybe these kids are doing a slow drip so each guy gets their own day in the spotlight. Could the streak will continue today?
Ryan S. Clark Every day since June 10, a South Florida player has committed. For the month, there have been 14 commitments. #GatorNation & #GoBlue have 6.
Slew of 4 stars visiting? DO NOT WANT. Only want coach-in-person-evaluated-at-a-sattelite-camp-that-rustled-the-SEC talent.
Er... wait, what?
Given the strategy of the coaching staff, I highly expect more churn throughout the cycle. Harbaugh is casting a VERY wide net and allows recruits to shop around. I almost feel like some of these "commitments" are not really full offers at this point. It is almost like an early signing period that Brian prefers - these guys may stick around if they want, but if they want to look around Michigan will also.
I'm not too worried about the low star ratings of some of our recruits for a variety of reasons. But I also think it comes with a situation that they may not all stick around through the cycle.
I have said something similar to this in a couple other threads, that I think some of the guys are just throwing their name in the Michigan hat so they can hold their spot while they figure out if michigan is actually the place for them. All the commitments at one time is sort of a double edged sword in the fact that the class is filling up fast with guys harbaugh wants but it is also taking away spots. So guys are committing to michigan, either outright or silently, and they might not be 100% sure that this is where they want to be but on the other hand if they dont make the committment now they may not have a chance to get in the class at all so they just holding their spot till they are for sure where they want to go.
Someone wrote in another thread that Stanford had 18 DEcommits in one cycle (I believe) - that seems crazy high even accounting for the fact that some failed to get into Stanford. If that was for 1 year - or even 2, this "rolling offers until we find someone better ...but we'll only do that to you until say December 2015 because it would be rude otherwise" is something to watch.
There are so many good things happening right now on the recruiting trail that I am all excited for some of these guys to hopefully end up in this class. It makes me want to start like a wish list of sort on who the guys are that I would like to see most fill out this class come national signing day.
Its just a great time to be a fan of michigan again and the enthusiasm is through the roof for me. I cant wait till the season starts and to see where harbaugh takes us
saving 2 or 3 spots for the late 4 or 5 star players but have backup plans available in case the record is not good enough for these high stars to commit!
So it seems like the next wave is something like this pool
- Kareem DE (next week)
- Gil S
- Bush Jr LB
- Mitchell WR
- Jones LB (5 day visit)
- Upshur TE
- Some 2 star we've never heard of
Heavy lean but when?
- Davis OL
Starting to lean?
- Jackson LB
Our pool of "we're not sure" are:
- Evans (ND is his dream offer)
- Reese (Louisville)
- Dele (he is like the mystery man in this class)
Late in cycle comes the battle for Gary and throw in guys like Caleb Kelly which is probably months away til a final decision. Need another CB and WR in this class too.
He committed immediately after Hoke was fired which seems like something someone would do only if they wanted to show they were truly committed to the program. It is strange how little we know of him though. Haven't really heard much about him since he committed. He is a four star though, so sounds good to me.
Is there a timeline for a Rashan Gary decision? I thought I read something about a late July decision but I also seem to remember something about him taking all five official visits. Also, who is he considering? I think I heard Ohio State?
NJ, Harbaugh will take all your top high school football players! One good thing, these players are use to playing in the cold, rain and snow!
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