Recruiting Updates via Sam Webb Michigan Insider Article

Submitted by Indonacious on

Sam Webb's Michigan Insider Article (Free) from this morning is definetely worth a read. I'll put some quotes in regarding uncommitted prospects but the whole thing is worth a read, as it goes over all of the relevant players performance to date at the Army All American practices.

http://www.scout.com/college/michigan/story/1629640-army-practice-recap…

David Long (CB): "He’ll officially visit Washington the weekend of January 16th, then will host Michigan upon returning home.  He’ll then announce his choice before leaving for Italy on the 22nd."

Dylan Crawford (WR): "He plans to announce his decision during the All American and prevalent scuttlebutt in San Antonio suggests Michigan is the favorite (though Crawford himself chose to keep any leanings close to the vest). However, Saturday’s commitment won’t spell the end of his recruitment.  He said he plans to take his three remaining official visits in January. Washington, Miami, and Georgia are the likely stops."

Lavert Hill (CB):  In recruiting Hill is going back and forth on whether to commit to a school during the game Saturday.  He mentioned the need to talk it over further with his mother first. He’ll make the call on whether to do so later this week.  Even if he does he said to expect him to take his remaining official visits to Michigan State, USC, and Clemson offer (who recently offered).
****UPDATE per Sam Webb ‏@SamWebb77  1 minute ago

Detroit King CB Lavert Hill told me he will NOT be announcing his decision during the @ArmyAllAmerican bowl. Said mom said no the idea.

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MayOhioEatTurds

January 5th, 2016 at 2:10 PM ^

of the recruiting season.  Seems like in the past, Michigan has had their big fish tied up early in the cycle. 

This year there are plenty of fish to fry at the end of the recruiting year.  Can't wait to see the final list.

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FreddieMercuryHayes

January 5th, 2016 at 2:16 PM ^

Why commit?  Seriously, it's one thing if you legitimatly change your mind, but if you go into your decision planning to still visit to decide, then why commit in the first place? 

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CorkyCole

January 5th, 2016 at 2:21 PM ^

Might be a concern over whether or not a spot is still available at the current school the kids expect to commit to if they hold off a "committment" until the process is officially over. In UM's case, I wouldn't be surprised if there's some truth to that for some of these kids. I have a feeling that spots will be made if necessary, but that's risky for both the coaches and players.

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Rabbit21

January 5th, 2016 at 2:26 PM ^

Great, then make a decision knowing that a school may be closed to you if you decide to wait, at some point there have to be consequences.  I hope coaches continue to recruit as if the player is just interested if they commit and then take visits.

To clarify, I have no problem with guys taking visits and wish more guys would hold off until after they take advantage of the opportunity the visits afford, I even don't really have a problem with committing and then taking a visit, as long as that "commitment" is simply treated as a guy indicating that school is his leader at the moment. 

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WorldwideTJRob

January 5th, 2016 at 2:37 PM ^

I agree the process is silly but what would be the real consequence? Take Rashan Gary for example...if he committed to us in June and said "I want to take all my OV's" if we say no and stop recruiting him who's really winning? He'll have a ton of opportunities to secure a 4-year scholarship at the University of his choice, yet we may not find another DL of his caliber in the same class. The system is set up to let the kids have all the power at the beginning of the process and the coaches then take over the power once they are signed.



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turd ferguson

January 5th, 2016 at 2:30 PM ^

I know it's blasphemous to prefer anything Hoke to anything Harbaugh, but I liked Hoke's approach to this.  Hoke basically said that if Michigan offered a kid and the kid committed, Michigan would honor that commitment.  That deal was off, though, if the kid started taking visits.  In that case, Michigan might still offer a spot, but there's no guarantee, since they'd stop recruiting the kid if they found a better way to use the scholarship.

I like that because it prevents recruits from holding a place in your recruiting class while searching for something better... while still treating a scholarship offer as a real offer.

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CorkyCole

January 5th, 2016 at 2:41 PM ^

Don't disagree with you at all.

I'm glad Harbaugh and staff are holding out for these elite kids, however. That's something that maybe Hoke didn't do quite enough in my opinion - he really emphasized/pushed for the early commitment. At times they would just jump to the next guy in line, even if he was a lesser talented guy, just because they wanted to lock in those spots and not have to worry about them down the line. This is partly speculation, but I feel like there were some more obvious instances of that happening.

Even if there's a spot or two that gets left on the table in the end because of all these late commitment dates, I still have a feeling that those spots will be used in a very good fashion ala the grad transfer route. And I do think that they're in on so many guys late that the "uncommitable offers" will result in immediate commitments once they find out they lost out on a guy who's on the top of their board. I think some of these guys are just waiting for that green light.  

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JamieH

January 5th, 2016 at 3:26 PM ^

Harbaugh has more confidence that he will reel in the big fish at the end?  He certainly has a much higher profile than Hoke, so that probably helps him a ton in that regard. 

We'll have to see if he ends up being right.

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Double-D

January 5th, 2016 at 7:33 PM ^

the job Harbaugh and the staff did this year and the enthusiasm of the team is contagious. It seems to have really amped up for so many recruits especially those that were waiting to see how the season went. It makes you wonder if we are even going after Corley right now because of space. The next month is going to fun to watch and the next class is going to be off the charts.

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Mr Miggle

January 5th, 2016 at 3:14 PM ^

They should be making these decisions with their best interests in mind. Decommitments may annoy fans, but it's not about us.

Coaches can always say no. They can ask a recruit to wait to make a commitment. They can take the commitment and ride out the process. If spots are filling up and they have someone else ready to commit, they can push the commit to cancel visits or risk losing his spot.  They're not helpless bystanders just getting yanked around.

As I see it, the biggest benefits to this process are that recruits are well prepared in case something happens at your first choice school. A coach leaving, NCAA problems, a significant change in the rest of the class; we've seen all of those pop up late in the process. That's a legitimate reason to take visits even after your mind is made up. The other is that you do hold a place if you're not certain, but not to the extent that it's guaranteed if you take other visits. That's up to the coaches to communicate.

 

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WorldwideTJRob

January 5th, 2016 at 2:26 PM ^

I totally agree with you and I think they take the Tyus Battle approach nowadays. They think that if I commit, I save myself a spot in this class for that particular school. Furthermore, if they still go on visits to other schools they can be swayed or cement their feelings about the school they gave a verbal to in the first place. This is nothing more than the "silent commitment" being made public now.



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turd ferguson

January 5th, 2016 at 2:33 PM ^

How often do coaches accept one job offer and then interview with other schools?  Almost never.  They sometimes leave one school for another school, but that's a pretty different situation (more analogous to player transfers).

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MontuckyYooper

January 5th, 2016 at 2:39 PM ^

Ugh Donnie...  Coaches are multi-millionare fast talkers, YOU are a fan that barely matters, and this 18 year old kid is making a desicion that will set the path for the rest of his life.  

Which person should have the most control over the situation?

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The Mad Hatter

January 5th, 2016 at 2:40 PM ^

when Harbaugh can recruit Michigan like Jimmy Johnson did Miami back in the 80's.  His pitch was, IIRC, you can either come and play for Miami, or get your ass kicked by Miami.

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Wolvie3758

January 5th, 2016 at 2:54 PM ^

I cant get into recruiting...Its all guessing, speculation, wishful thinking and so called experts who predict who dont  know anymore than I do ,and I dont pay attention until the signature is on the LOI....You get your hopes up then dashed over and over again and also you never really know if the recruit pans out ...seems like kinda of a waste of time and energy...Having said all that it does seem like way more buzz about our recruiting this year which of course is a good thing for Michigan

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aplatypus

January 5th, 2016 at 3:37 PM ^

talk directly to recruits, their family, and their coaches - I think they knw a good bit more than you do. Of course it's highly speculative but they're dealing with the decisions of teenagers being pulled all kinds of directions with constnatly changing goals. Still, it's a lot more than just guesswork. 

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Honey Badger

January 5th, 2016 at 2:54 PM ^

There is a risk that a school may not have a spot if a kid waits to commit.  Crawford is a good example of this.  I wonder if any of these kids are going to wait too long and have to sign elsewhere.

Really Corley, OSU?  Why not be a hometown hero and sign with a local school?

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1 percent

January 5th, 2016 at 3:43 PM ^

I think if Michigan was the choice for Hill he wouldn't have to talk it over with mom, or would have already talked it over with her. So I don't know about him being in the class.  I mean, I literally have no idea so I don't know why I'm even making this comment anymore.

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turd ferguson

January 5th, 2016 at 4:18 PM ^

I don't know what that's about, but Wiltfong is the guy who points his balls at the school where a recruit is visiting to make himself look good.  Fuller's next scheduled visit is 1/15 to OSU.  This one might not mean much.

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Alumnus93

January 5th, 2016 at 4:43 PM ^

Gotta love guys like Jordan Elliott... deep in SEC country, in Houston, and comes play for us, saying how he wish he could sign now.     It is a welcoming thing, in light of local kids who drag out their recruitment.  I don't mean this to knock any local kid, it is just that Houston is so far away, and so many decent reasons to stay local for them, and this Elliott kid rebuffs any suitors and is very enthusiastic to come to Ann Arbor.

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Magnus

January 5th, 2016 at 5:43 PM ^

Okay...

...but one reason he's probably saying he wishes he could sign now is that he's constantly barraged with questions and speculation that he'll flip. He has been committed to two different schools (Houston and Baylor) and rumored to be looking at Texas. So all that other stuff is good and everything, but his statements probably have some underlying meaning rather than simply the fact that he likes Michigan. If he could sign already, then people would stop bugging him about flipping.

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