Etc.: UNC CB Commit Josh Hunter intends to visit Ann Arbor. I had been ready to eliminate OH OL Marcus Hall, because he had been naming a top group without us, but now it looks like he's planning a Michigan visit. I still think the Wolverines don't stand a chance, but he'll remain on the board until they're officially eliminated. GA WR Jamal Patterson remains "100% committed" to Stanford.
Added: AZ OL Taylor Lewan. Both premium sites have front-page headlines indicating he's been offered. He's a teammate of DE Commit Craig Roh. FL CB Jarvis Byrd. Michigan is showing interest in the Pahokee-an (Pahokeeite?).
New Information: VA DE Will Hill. Enjoys a Tennessee visit, still plans to visit Michigan before deciding. SC DE Chris Bonds. The perpetually-injured one now says he's probably not going to visit Michigan. FL LB Commit Brandin Hawthorne. He's still taking other visits. I wonder if the Michigan coaches might discourage that at his official visit this weekend. FL LB Mike Marry. Michigan is in what appears to be a Top 7 for him. How about a little video?:
Official Visits this Week: TX QB Commit Shavodrick Beaver (though that is apparently not the case) FL LB Soft Commit Brandin Hawthorne MD RB Tavon Austin SC OL Quinton Washington
Analysis: Chris Bonds might be a casualty of 2 DE commits. Michigan's continued pursuit of o-linemen definitely indicates that they see Anthony LaLota staying on the DL. Michigan definitely still seems to want another CB (in addition to another LB), as their increased interest in Jarvis Byrd seems to indicate. That would fill a need and keep a pipeline open.
Etc.: MSU picks up a TE transfer. This probably hurts them with Dion Sims. I personally think he wants to go to OSU if he picks football, but the Buckeyes' class might fill up before he gets a chance to commit there.
Pahokee, FL teammates Vincent Smith and Brandin Hawthorne have both announced their intentions to sign letters of intent to Michigan in February. The duo announced their respective decisions today, instead of their original plan, which had them announcing at their team's game against Olive Branch (MS) tomorrow. Smith is a 5-9, 170-lb running back, and Hawthorne is a 6-0, 185-lb linebacker who boasts a 4.7 40-yard dash.
Recruiting Notes Michigan fans first became aware of Pahokee High School when slot receiver Martavious Odoms joined the class of 2008 in February. They quickly learned of Odoms's younger teammates, including WR Nu'Keese Richardson (Florida commit) and Smith and Hawthorne. Smith was the first of the two added to the board, when he reported in March that he was about to receive a Michigan offer. That offer became public in June, and Hawthorne was added to the recruiting board shortly thereafter, when he placed Michigan in his top two, despite not reporting an offer. In early July, Brandin stated that he wouldn't make a school decision until after he had taken his official visits. However, in the middle of July, both he and Smith stated that they would announce their college decisions on August 30th at their game against Olive Branch. At the end of July, the duo started dropping none-too-subtle hints that Michigan would be the choice for both Blue Devils. Towards the end of August, both Hawthorne and Smith announced that they had set up 5 official visits, though they still planned to announce on August 30th (an announcement that they subsequently moved forward by one day). With the final choice of Michigan, it is unlikely that they will have spots reserved for them in the class if they still intend to take officials to schools other than Michigan. The runners-up for Smith were Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Tennessee. finishing in second for Hawthorne was Louisville.
Player Notes Both players may be considered slightly undersized for their positions, though Rich Rodriguez has focused on adding speed to the team first, and will likely worry about size and speed in future classes. Smith projects as yet another RB/Slot combo, with his diminutive stature and decent quickness. Hawthorne is probably going to end up as a weakside linebacker unless he has a pretty significant growth spurt. He will have to add a ton of mass to play linebacker, and hopefully he won't lose too much speed doing so in Mike Barwis's program.
Video
Pahokee's spring game, courtesy of our friends at SoFLAFootball.com. Unfortunately, the video quality is a little too low to get any great detail.
Etc. With a pipeline to Pahokee High School now firmly established, Michigan is likely to go after Doral Willis, a top defensive tackle/offensive line prospect in the class of 2010. In addition, Nu'Keese Richardson, who liked Michigan early in the process but is a Florida commit, has expressed interest in visiting Ann Arbor with Smith and Hawthorne this year. Both Smith and Hawthorne have stated that plan to enroll at Michigan in January.
Huge update this week. There is actually more that will have to wait to Monday because this update is so JAM-PACKED. Anyway, here's the board.
Moved to Committed: TX K Anthony Fera.
Added: A kicker category to the board. Thanks, Fera, ya jerk. Maybe in the light of more recent developments, I shouldn't be calling anyone committed to Michigan a jerk.
Moved from Committed: VA QB Kevin Newsome.
New Information: CA QB Tate Forcier. August 30th visit (info in header). GA WR Braxton Lane. Skipping football this fall to focus on baseball. Sounds unlikely he'll hit the gridiron in college. NC OL Travis Bond. His official visit is set for October 25. VA DE Will Hill. Fluff. SC DE Chris Bonds. Michigan and Notre Dame won't move into his highest group until after he has a chance to see campus. They are still in his top 5. OH DE Tank Carradine. Does he have an offer? He's been working on his grades. FL LB Brandin Hawthorne has set up 5 official visits, despite planning a decision before any of them. If Michigan is his choice on August 30, expect him to either forget about the other visits or not be given all the priviledges (i.e. having a spot saved for you) of a true commit. OK CB Gabe Lynn. His friend (and former UM target) David Gordon is trying to lure him to Arkansas. Lynn's junior highlights.
Removed: PA WR Todd Thomas. He may have trouble qualifying. That may explain why Michigan never really seemed interested, despite his early love for the Wolverines.
Etc.: MN WR commit Bryce McNeal is a speed prospect, but is currently too skinny to be considered speed and size. Paging Mike Barwis, who will have McNeal built like an All-American in no time flat. TX QB commit Shavodrick Beaver welcomes competition. I was so much more into this article when there was someone in the class for him to compete with.
Analysis: Recruiting changes from the developing Newsome situation outlined here. On the defensive end front, Michigan still really needs people. Though Tank Carradine is now reporting an offer, his recruitment remains under the radar, likely because of qualifying issues of his own.
New Information: MD OL Brennan Williams. Down to 4 (BC, Mich, Duke, Wake). FL TE Orson Charles. Knee surgery, will narrow to a top 5 soon. OH DE Davon Custis. His leader is Boston College. FL LB Brandin Hawthorne. His final two has changed. Michigan is still in it. Things still look rosy here. FL S Vlad Emilien. Top 5 of UNC, Wake, tOSU, Mich, UF. He will probably decide in November. AR CB Darius Winston. He has accelerated his timetable drastically. This is a bad thing for Michigan, but if he picks the Wolverines, then hooray. FL CB Josh Robinson. Decision on November 30 (USF and UCF seem to lead). VA CB Javanti Sparrow. Top 6 doesn't include Michigan, and Kevin Newsome is no longer his teammate. Should he be dropped soon?
Etc.: A really crappy article that seems to think Winston is a Mich commit. A good sign? Probably not.
Though we've all seen what can happen when social networking sites are relied upon to be a source of recruiting information, sometimes the evidence is overwhelming.
Pahokee Blue Devils Brandon Hawthorne and Vincent Smith won't announce their respective college decisions until August 30th, but it appears as though Michigan has a very good shot at landing both. Several readers have chimed in to let me know that each has changed various aspects of his Facebook page to indicate impending commitment to Michigan.
There is a long time until August 30th, and even longer before signing day, but it appears as though both Hawthorne and Smith intend to don a blue hat at their first game this season.
Added: CA QB Tate Forcier. He refuses to stop mentioning Michigan, so it would be inappropriate to not at least include him on the board. FL QB Eugene Smith. Ditto. CA OG Michael Philipp. Michigan is interested and he wants to visit AA. MD DE Jason Ankrah. Offered:
Jason has offers from Illinois, Oregon, Maryland, Nebraska, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Syracuse and others. Jason said he attended North Carolina, North Carolina State, Syracuse and Penn State Junior Days.
“We have a rule that, even if that young man, Newsome, wanted to come to our school, he would have to play on the high-school team. We don’t jump over our high-school team.”
Removed: NC QB Everett Proctor. Michigan seemed to be offering him as a draw to Xavier Nixon, who has eliminated Michigan. PA OL Adam Gress. Final 2 doesn't include Michigan. And also, he committed to Penn State. IL OL Chris Watt. Wolverines out of his final 8. PA DT Levi Brown. Committed to Temple. MS DT Josh Boyd. Committed to Mississippi State. AZ DE Devon Kennard. Michigan did not make his final 5 (USC, UCLA, ASU, Cal, Texas).
Analysis: So, uh, any other DTs? At this point, there doesn't seem to be a high correlation between guys who have offers and guys that Michigan can realistically land. If the coaches want another tackle in this class, I expect to see some more offers go out soon. If they landed somebody like Chris Bonds, he could conceivably move from end to tackle, but there isn't exactly a glut of DEs, either.
The recruiting board is all-new! If you have any problems with the new incarnation, e-mail me right away. If you have any suggestions, questions, etc., let me know.
Since it's still in the buggy stages, everything is still up to date at the old board as well.
Moved to Committed: IN LB Jordan Barnes. Commit article. TX WR DeWayne Peace. Commit article. He may be moved to another position as word comes out about where Michigan recruited him to play.
Added: FL LB Jon Bostic. He apparently holds an offer. OK DE Pearlie Graves. Awesome name, Michigan offer (info in header).
New Information: FL LB Brandon Hawthorne. We already knew Michigan and USF were his top choices, now we know that Louisville, Tennessee, and West Virginia round out the top 5. SC DE Chris Bonds. Top 5 of USC, USC, Michigan, ND, and 'Bama. OH OL Chris Freeman. Article with no Michigan mention. He is teetering near the edge of being dropped. OK CB Gabe Lynn. Audio interview in the radio, top 5 by end of summer. OK RB David Oku. Nebraska official 9-27.
Removed: PA CB Corey Brown. As expected, commits to Ohio State. PA DE Juantez Hollins. Pitt commit. MI TE Mitch Kessel. Cincinnati commit. He was a longshot to ever get an offer.
Analysis: Losing Brown to the Bucks isn't that big a deal, because it was expected and prepared for, and means OSU is starting to run low on scholarships to give to other '09 prospects. Barnes is a Chris Graham-ish player, and he may see a move to MAX back. DeWayne Peace could be a good WR or CB.
Added FL LB Brandon Hawthorne. Michigan in his top two with USF (info in header). SC S David Sims. Offered. SC S DJ Swearinger. He has a Michigan offer. FL CB Angelo Hadley. Offer.
New Information SC DE Chris Bonds. Recruiting fluff with mention that one of his officials will be to Michigan. OH OL Chris Freeman. WVU-tinted recruiting fluff. AZ DE Craig Roh. Plans a summer visit to Michigan. AL DB Dre Kirkpatrick. Plans to take a visit to Michigan. NC WR Jheranie Boyd. Michigan is in his top 15. FL OL Nick Alajajian. He plans to make a summer decision without taking a visit to Michigan. Things don't look so good here. SC OL Quinton Washington. Michigan doesn't make his top 5, but is just barely on the outside. MD Slot Tavon Austin. Georgia has distinguished itself in his recruitment by offering him as a slot. Michigan has done the same (most other schools want him to play RB), but does not garner special mention.
Removed TN OL Alex Bullard. Notre Dame commit.
Analysis Alex Bullard isn't a huge loss, mostly because it was expected. It may also indirectly help out with Chris Watt (whom I believe UM covets more than Bullard) by making the Irish less appealing to him.
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