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.
"He's still basically committed to U-M, but I said there is nothing wrong with going to visit a few schools. There is nothing wrong with that."
This doesn't sound too bad. Also, the article says he won't announce his decision until the Army game, which would contradict a recent assertion that he will enroll early. NJ DE Anthony LaLota. Michigan and PSU are widely regarded to be his de facto top 2. Also, Scout indicates that he is likely deciding soon. MI S Thomas Gordon. The Cass Tech player has said he'd be a near-lock to Michigan were he to get an offer, and now he has it (info in header). Is his commitment just a matter of time? FL S Jonathan Scott. His brother transfers from OSU. I guess coming to Michigan would no longer let them engage in sibling rivalry. MS S Dennis Thames. Fluff, including top schools (Michigan still up there). His injury will keep him out 4-6 weeks.
Removed: MI RB Hersey Jackson. He is out for the season with an injury. He hadn't earned a Michigan offer, and needed a big senior year to get one. So much for that idea.
Analysis: Like I said immediately in the wake of the Campbell "decommitment," nothing has really changed for Big Will. When he was "committed" he said he'd take 5 visits and probably pick Michigan, and following his "decommitment," he's saying... that he'll take 5 visits and probably pick Michigan. On that basis alone, there's nothing to freak out about (if we didn't really have him before, did we really lose him).
Etc.: NC S Devonte Holloman. He will take visits other than Clemson. Typical "not including elsewhere-committed prospects" rules apply, but keep in mind that one of them will be to Michigan. He is planning to enroll early, fwiw. MI WR Commit Bryce McNeal. A bit of fluffy stuff. TX QB Commit Shavodrick Beaver. Don't forget, he plays on ESPN2 in a couple hours.
Michigan Targets Visiting South Bend This Weekend: NC OL Xavier Nixon (though he's not on the board anymore, could a strong game from the Wolverines rekindle his interest in Michigan?). SC DE Chris Bonds (have seen a "maybe" next to this one).
Come one, come all to your television sets to witness the Wichita Falls Rider Raiders take on their rivals from Sulphur Springs, tonight at 9 on ESPN2.
The Raiders are helmed by University of Michigan commit Shavodrick Beaver, and they look to get on the right tracks after falling to Cedar Hill last week.
VB will have an AWESOME FULL GAME REPORT on Beaver's play later this weekend.
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.
Since a lot of people have been asking how I am doing, I'll just start off by saying: considering the circumstances, I'm doing great. I can move around without a ton of pain, which is something most people who fall four stories can't say (they usually can't say anything because they die). Here is what an x-ray image of a broken spine looks like: Pretend like I posted almost the exact same image 3 times. Now you know what my L1-L3 vertebrae look like. I am walking, talking, and (clearly) typing, so thanks to everyone for the kind words you gave earlier. And now for a couple of actually relevant things:
2. Rumor has it that that Jeremy Gallon has grades troubles and thats why some bigger schools passed on him. Any truth to that? Also is there any video of gallon
1. I have yet to figure out whether Jones is even a '09 or '10 prospect. There is precious little about him on the internet, and I think this "offer" sounds a little questionable. Where are the Scout and Rivals interviews with the kid (or even a profile on one of the two sites)?
Another thing I question on this topic is why the Free Press is writing about this offer. Michigan has offered tons of kids at this point, and this is the first one that the Freep has taken the time to write (read: plagiarize) and article about. Sounds a little questionable in terms of writer's motives.
2. I have heard this, but it doesn't really seem to make a ton of sense. Sure, RR isn't afraid of recruiting a kid because of possible grades issues, but then, neither are most of the schools in the SEC. There has to be another reason why schools didn't pursue this kid.
I think it is primarily because he is tiny (reports range from 5-6 to 5-9), and few schools have need for tiny guys like Michigan has need for tiny guys. Another factor is that he will have to change positions, and perhaps take a while to be ready to play. If Michigan was not scrambling to fill all the roster spaces for slotmen, perhaps someone like Gallon would have had to wait until later in the recruiting process for an offer.
As far as Gallon video, this is the best (free) one I've been able to find. If any enterprising readers find something else, drop me a line.
I've also gotten about 30 versions of this question:
What's the deal with Tate Forcier?
I have no idea. It certainly seemed like Michigan was going to be done with '09 quarterbacks with Kevin Newsome and Shavodrick Beaver committed. However, Tate Forcier still came to Ann Arbor for Michigan's senior camp, and appears to be strongly interested in the Wolverines.
Are Rich Rodriguez and Co. just leading the kid on? Or are they keeping him in mind as an insurance policy of either of the other guys jumps ship? Maybe he just refuses to let them drop him as a prospect. It may be too early to tell at this point, but I think Michigan has its two guys, and Tate will be on the outside looking in, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
Paul:
Whatever happened to the combined recruiting board with MGoBlog?
Brian and I tried to come up with a simple solution that would be easy for both of us to access and maintain, and when nothing came up quickly, the project was sort of shelved/forgotten. In all honesty, I think it might serve a good purpose to maintain separate ones, as it leads to more information getting out overall, about a wide range of prospects. For now, don't expect to see a combined recruiting board any time soon.
RJ furnishes us with a link, summarizes by giving us this snippet of information:
Sam Webb said this morning that the days of Michigan recruiting players that only play qb. Brandon McGee and a few other dual threats who play other positions are what they are looking for. Tate Forcier and all the other qbs can be pretty much taken off.
I removed all QBs except two categories when Shavodrick Beaver committed to Michigan:
Guys who could play another position and learn QB for emergency situations.
Tate Forcier.
It now sounds like Forcier can be removed from that list. However, I think the scope of RJ's message is a little overextended. For 2009, Michigan is probably done recruiting QBs (unless they are multiple-position guys), but in the future, if there's a Tate Forcier-type guy, they would take him. So, for this year, it means Forcier is off the board.
The Board. One formatting note: I changed players' names to links, so if you want to see previous updates involving a particular player, just click on his name in the main board. Soon I will remove a lot of prospects whom I don't see mutual Michigan interest with.
Added: FL RB Jaamal Berry. He has a Michigan offer, though rumors say I should be ready to remove him soon because he will commit to the Bucks.
New Information: MN WR Fritz Rock. He has apparently had his Minnesota offer pulled. He is a candidate for removal in the not-so-distant future. SC DE Chris Bonds plans to take a Michigan official visit, and will decide around Christmas. He is also Adam Patterson's HS teammate, which I guess might be obvious, but I hadn't realized until just now. OH OL Chris Freeman. He is still wide open, and will visit LSU this month. MI WR Cameron Gordon. Fluff.
Removed: A bunch of QB recruits who aren't guys that Michigan would likely take as the third guy in a class, and didn't have offers yet (and would be unlikely to move to other positions). FL QB Eugene Smith IN QB Morgan Newton IN QB Jordan Luallen MS QB Clayton Moore TX QB Kolby Gray IL QB Darwin Rogers MO RB Ronnie Wingo. No mention of mutual interest in any articles. Dangerously close to removing MI TE Reid Fragel, who Michigan only wants at OT, and apparently wants to stay at TE.
Though many believed Kevin Newsome would be the only top-flight quarterback in Michigan's class of 2009, improbably-named Texas QB Shavodrick Beaver has also committed to Michigan (Scout). Beaver (6-4, 200, 4.5), unlike Newsome, is not expected to enroll early.
Player Notes Beaver is a run-pass quarterback, with a very good TD-Int ratio for a player with that distinction, especially at the high school level. As the second quarterback in this class, it will not be a surprise if he redshirts in 2009.
Recruiting Notes Beaver was off the recruiting radar for Michigan fans for quite some time, despite his status as a highly rated dual-threat QB. Beaver wasn't thinking much about Michigan either, as he was prepared to commit to TCU when his Michigan offer came. He quickly reconsidered, and Michigan moved among his top choices, sending TCU fans into a tizzy. After indications that a quarterback could commit this week, many Michigan fans were thinking it would be Tate Forcier yesterday. However, Beaver committed today instead.
It will be interesting to see what Beaver's commitment means for Tate Forcier. Tate has said that Beaver would not scare him off from committing to Michigan, though he doesn't plan to commit until a little later in the process. However, if Tate were to go blue as well, that may frighten Beaver into changing his commitment.
In case you were worried about Kevin Newsome's speed, check out this video of his 4x100 team winning the large school division at the Penn Relays.
Newsome is the anchor leg in lane 2(? second from nearest at the finish line, the guy who wins). He brings his team the victory.
Also, according to Sam Webb on today's edition of the Michigan Insider on WTKA, there may be other good QB news this week. Tate Forcier or Shavodrick Beaver may announce for Michigan this week.
Not a lot of guys have updates, but some dudes got dropped. Board.
Added: FL DT Antwan Lowery. He may be leaning towards Rutgers? TN OG Alex Bullard. He is now reporting a Michigan offer.
New Information: VA QB Kevin Newsome. A ton of people have e-mailed me with the MySpace thing, so I might as well post it. Apparently, he is blue? I wouldn't read too much into it. Maybe he just likes 90s pop-techno. Also, interesting ESPN article that VT may redshirt Tyrod Taylor. That would have to make the depth chart here look even more appealing in comparison. TX QB Shavodrick Beaver. Apparently TCU fans are up in arms over my post making fun of beloved member Zammers. I don't harbor any resentment towards the guy, he just said a lot of dumb things championing TCU over Michigan. I don't really care either way. Thanks to "mgoblu," who apparently registered for the board just to defend my post. Also, TCU fans, all no huddle spread offenses are not the same. Sorry.
I'm digging this Monday-Friday recruiting update schedule when there isn't a ton going on. I'll probably keep to it except in the case of big news like commitments. Speaking of which... a couple of bigtime visitors are coming in the weekend, including Bryce McNeal. I wouldn't be shocked if McNeal pulled the trigger for Michigan. On to the update... (full board here).
Moved to committed: OH RB Fitzgerald Toussaint. This is what I get for publishing before doing all my due diligence.
New Information: SC QB (DB to most other schools) Stephon Gilmore says that Tennessee is his favorite, but he isn't close to finalizing a decision. OK RB David Oku. Pontificates on Michigan and Ohio State. By the way, he has a top 6 with neither in-state school. IL OL Chris Watt visited Notre Dame for the 7 millionth time, I think it's fair to say they're his favorite. FL QB Aaron Murray is the first player selected to the Elite 11 camp. OH OL Marcus Hall. Ohio State, Southern Cal, and Illinois are his favorites. LA DT Chris Davenport has a top two (LSU and USC) and a decision schedule (Spetember or October). He is a candidate for removal soon, since the Wolverines appear to be out of the race. Most importantly, this: TX QB Shavodrick Beaver is really wanted by TCU. A quote from Beaver:
"I was just about to make a decision here for TCU, but now I don't know... but now that Michigan has offered that made me want to change my mind."
Sounds like Michigan and TCU are atop his list. The entirety of the "open letter" response to Beaver's comment (warning: it's really stupid):
"Dear Shavodrick,
Its COLD as HELLLLL in Michigan and its a long ways from Wichita Falls. Don't get wrapped up in all the hype. The new TCU offense will be a mirror image of Michigan's and you WILL get playing time here instantly. Do the coaches in Ann Arbor even know how to get to Wichita Falls? No they have no idea. They offered just to offer. Don't let them cloud your vision of being a superstar here at TCU. *See University of Texas if you want an example of players told one thing and receive another. Transferring after finding out too late would really suck and sitting out a year would suck too. Plus, your mom can watch you EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND here in Fort Worth.
Your future biggest fan,
Zammers"
First things first: it does indeed get cold in Michigan. That may be the only part of the letter that makes sense (then there are the counterarguments of having to play in the cold in the NFL, non-conference CFB games being played in cold weather (or even conference games for about half of the Mountain West), and the fact that summer camp in the south is brutal).
The new TCU offense will be a mirror image of Michigan's, eh? Then why would you play at a less prestigious school with a coach who didn't invent the scheme?
Instant playing time? Have you seen Michigan's depth chart? Offering just to offer? I think it might be offering because Michigan needs a good dual-threat QB.
Superstar at TCU != Superstar at Michigan.
What does UT have to do with players being told one thing and experiencing another at Michigan? And what, exactly, are you saying that Rich Rodriguez will lie about?
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