Hankins done with UM?

Johnathan Hankins (3* DT) could decide his collegiate decision as soon as this Thursday, but his plans may not include Michigan. Whilst he insisted Michigan is not completely out of the running, he did say that Ohio State and Florida are the frontrunners. 

Michigan and Alabama are in the trailing pack, and it looks like Rich Rod will have to use his snake oil to lure the talented prospect to Ann Arbor. Due to the shock announcement of Urban Meyer's resignation/leave of absence at Florida, I would put Ohio State as the clear favorite here. 

Hankins' family still remain Michigan fans, and they might try to push the Wolverines effort, but some kind of in home talk is needed to persuade Hankins to join UM.

Slow days

No real news on the recruiting front for Michigan concerning the class of 2010, but you can check out an article about 2011 Ohio Safety Ron Tanner, here. Unless there is some major news soon, there will be no new posts until the new year.

Apart from that, Happy Holidays!

Back in play

Earlier this year a lot of Wolverine fans were left scratching their heads when highly recruited prospect Torrian Wilson committed to Stanford. Wilson had previously named Michigan his favorite, making the announcement was a huge shock to most.

All that doesn't matter now as the OG has withdrawn his commitment to the Cardinals. Michigan, Tennessee and South Florida will now fight it out for the 3 (should be 4) star prospect. A couple of weeks ago there were rumors that Wilson would visit Michigan in January, but de-committing before this was unexpected. 

Still, this is a player that Rich Rod would definitely take in this class. Wilson is an under armor all American, so watch out for him in that game coming shortly!

Josh Furman Goes Blue!

Four star S/LB prospect Josh Furman last night announced his commitment to Michigan over Virginia Tech, roughly one month after he told both schools of the decision. Furman made the move public in front of the crowd at the Maryland Crab Bowl, becoming the 25th member of the class of 2010 (if you include Adrian Witty).

As a player, he has great speed and can easily beat offensive linemen in the pass rush, he runs a around a 4.36 forty yard dash. However he will need to bulk up a bit to play outside linebacker in college, but he says he's looking forward to working with strength and conditioning coach Mike Barwis, who was a factor in his decision.

Overall Wolverine fans should be very happy with this news, Furman has great potential and could be an impact player early on. 

Note: If you haven't seen it already, check out vote on the right hand side of the screen!

Donovan Warren to enter NFL Draft

Michigan's top cornerback, Donovan Warren, has declared he will enter the NFL draft. The junior registered 4 INT's and 66 tackles this season, and was a bright spot in an otherwise poor defensive secondary. 

Warren's father broke the news to GoBlueWolverine just recently, saying that Warren had informed coach Rod earlier this morning.

It's obviously bad news for the Wolverines, but it definitely opens the door for Cullen Christian and J.T Turner, who will be looking to earn starting roles next fall. It will be interesting to see if this affects the Boubacar Cissoko situation.

Crab Bowl Delayed

kellwood said... 

Do you know with any certainty if the Crab Bowl is delayed do to weather? I had seen posts to that effect on the two main Michigan message boards?

The Maryland Crab bowl's official website says that the bowl game has been delayed until Monday, which means Josh Furman's college announcement will probably be delayed as well.

Oklahoma it is

Unfortunately for Michigan, both Tony Jefferson and Kenny Stills have committed to the Oklahoma Sooners. Both had UM in their final groups, but it wasn't to be.

Attention now turns to Josh Furman's announcement later today at the Maryland Crab Bowl.

Cissoko working hard

Michigan CB Boubacar Cissoko was kicked off the team earlier this year for violating team rules, but it appears now there might be a way back for the talented sophomore. I say talented...well Cissoko had a poor start to 2009, especially against Notre Dame, but they did have one of the top receiving groups in the country.

Cissoko, a former 5 star recruit is working hard on the academic side of things to get back on the team, and earn back his place as starting corner. If Donovan Warren leaves for the NFL, it would be great to get an experienced corner back on the team, otherwise Troy Woolfolk might be moved back to corner...again.

Check out this article from the Detroit News about it here.

Reminder #2

Look out for the Kenny Stills/Tony Jefferson announcement tomorrow at around 9pm pacific? Read an article today about Stills being down to just Oklahoma and Florida, I don't think this is necessarily true, however I'll be stunned if he chooses Michigan.

Jefferson is a slightly more hopeful matter, he got the in-home visit from Rich Rod, which must count for a lot, plus he really enjoyed his official to Ann Arbor this fall. 

Prediction: My heart says Jefferson to Michigan....my head says both are going to Oklahoma!

Ash Commits!

LoverofTroy said...

I just got news Ash commited to Michigan. Does it affect on Hankins?

I've just got back in, its 2am GMT, and read the comment above.  To my delight Richard Ash has committed to Michigan, making him the 24th commit for the 2010 class (including Adrian Witty). Ash is a three star recruit on scout.com, but a 4 star on rivals, which is promising. The likes of LSU and USC have also offered the talented youngster, but the Michigan-Pahokee pipeline keeps on going, which is vital for the Maize and Blue!

Back to the question posted, how does this affect Johnathan Hankins? Probably negatively. By taking Ash, Michigan essentially fill the need at DT for this years class, assuming they consider Terry Talbott a DT. If Furman commits to UM on Saturday, spaces in this years class will be sparse, and Hankins will probably end up at Ohio State. Unless most/all the big announcements concerning Michigan go badly (Furman/Jefferson/Stills etc), there probably won't be room for a 3rd DT in the class. 

Would Rich Rod take a commitment from Hankins or Jatashun Beachum now? Probably not. What about Mike Thornton? Or Jibreel Black? There are some talented DT's out there, but with Michigan leaning towards a 3-4 scheme on defense, perhaps defensive backs are a greater priority, especially since Will Campbell will be there for three more years. 

Reminder

Just a quick reminder to look out for the Josh Furman announcement this Saturday. Furman will choose between Michigan and Virginia Tech at the Maryland Crab Bowl, however due to a knee injury, he won't be playing in the game.

This is a real 50/50 call, neither school has an apparent lead for the talented athlete, but he would be a great edition to both classes.

John Hankins Update

The list of schools for Hankins is as follows: Ohio State, Michigan, Florida and Alabama, in that order. He was meant to announce his choice this week, but has delayed it. If he did announce this week, it would have been to Ohio State, but a Rich Rodriguez home visit has really shaken things up.

Hankins' family are all pro-Michigan too, as they want to be able to watch him play next year. He will host Florida and Alabama coaches this week, (possibly Nick Saban! Which is a testament to how good Hankins is), and a decision will likely come before Christmas. 

One big question: If Richard Ash commits to Michigan before Hankins, does that mean he's heading to Ohio State? I know Michigan would probably take two DT's, especially since Terry Talbot has been talking about playing at DE. It will be interesting to see it all unfold, and don't forget about Jatashun Beachum, who I think probably has the best potential of all three recruits.

Tony Jefferson Update!

ESPN's #1 Athlete Tony Jefferson helped his team to a CIF title (regional title?), although he had to watch the final drive on the sidelines due to an injury. Scout.com caught up with Jefferson after the game, and he confirmed Oklahoma, Michigan and USC are the schools left in his recruitment.

The injury is a sprained AC joint, which could be quite serious, but Jefferson seemed positive he'd make the Army AA game in January. Also, despite some sources announcing Oklahoma and USC as the frontrunner's in Jefferson's recruitment, Brandon Huffman (Scout.com/West Regional Recruiting Manager) now seems to think it will come down to Oklahoma and Michigan. 

D-Line Updates

- I'll start with the bad news. Johnathan Hankins has put Ohio State at the top of his list after the official visit to Columbus last weekend. The three star DT from Michigan will make his decision fairly soon, and the Buckeyes will now be favored, but the distance factor might just keep UM in it.

- In other news, Richard Ash is rumored to be on the verge of taking back his commitment to West Virginia. If this were to happen, Michigan would likely be the school to take Ash, a three star DT from Pahokee, FL.

- Arguably the top DT left on Michigan's board is Georgia prospect, Michael Thornton, who could be looking at a Jan 15th visit to UM.

Slow days

The recruiting front has been a bit of a wasteland for the last few days, and so will still blog for a while. My laptop currently has 30 mins of battery left, and I have no electricity to power it up due to my house being flooded? Bad times! 

Anyways, sit tight, the blog will be back as soon as possible!

Michigan back in it?

The list of potential DT's for Michigan just keeps growing. Cincinnati commit Jibreel Black has all but withdrawn his commitment from the bearcats after head coach Chip Kelly left for Notre Dame. Michigan was one of the schools interested in Black earlier this year, and now it seems like he will visit UM, along with MSU and Indiana.

He'll wait until the new coach is announced at Cincinnati, but he gave the impression that if a completely new coaching staff was brought in, he wouldn't be a bearcat. 

Black is the #21 DT in the nation and a four star prospect according to scout.com, he was previously committed to Indiana before choosing Cincinnati.

Jefferson-Stills Update

Tony Jefferson and Kenny Stills have decided to announce their collegiate choices together on December 18th, but according to scout.com, neither will choose Michigan. Both players were at the Michigan-Ohio State game, and both came away with positive reactions to it.

Stills is apparently to choose between Oklahoma and Florida, whilst Jefferson likes Oklahoma and USC. If this is the case, I think they will both pick Oklahoma, as they are rumored to be a package deal.

Although these prospects were both longshots for Michigan, I find it hard to believe both have ruled out UM. There will be a press conference with video of the event, and if they do the whole "hats" thing, I wouldn't be surprised to see a Michigan hat up there, even if they don't choose it.

Coaches on the move

The Michigan coaches are out on house visits this week, some important ones to say the least. Coach Rodriguez will be in Ohio checking in on some current commitments tomorrow, whilst Tony Dews (WR coach) will be in California visiting Sean Parker. Also Rod Smith (QB coach) will be in Florida with DT prospect Richard Ash.

Later on in the week Michigan are expected to meet with Tony Jefferson, Kenny Stills and Josh Furman, but I'm not 100% sure which coaches are going where, although I'm hoping Rich Rod makes it out to California.

Monday's News

Two main things for today. Firstly OG Torrian Wilson has confirmed that he will take an official visit to Michigan, despite committing to Stanford earlier this year. The visit will more than likely be on January 22nd. Tennessee will also get a visit.

The second piece of news has been a rumor for a week or so now, but it was confirmed to me today. Ohio safety Latwan Anderson will visit Michigan officially sometime in December. This is great news for Michigan, who would definitely make room for Anderson in the class. He's one of the top safeties in the country, and could play early at UM, which will be a factor in his recruitment. 

Best visit so far

"It was a good visit, I would call it my best visit so far," Parker said. Californian safety prospect Sean Parker took his official to UM last weekend, and Michigan is sure to be in the mix to sign the talented recruit on signing day.

ESPN caught up with Parker to talk about the visit, you can read the article here.

Johnathan Hankins update

Johnathan Hankins made the short trip to Michigan this weekend for his official visit, and came away with a lot to think about. Hankins will visit Ohio State this weekend before decided later this month.

Hankins was hosted by long time friend Thomas Gordon, but he also got to hang out with Will Campbell and Teric Jones. The three star DT was impressed by the facilities at Michigan, as were his parents.

I think we probably have Hankins right now, largely due to the distance factor. He lives about 20 minutes away from the UM campus, so family and friends can easy come and see games etc. William Campbell told him one thing he couldn't leave was his nieces and nephews, which really hit Hankins. 

Jerald Robinson - Interesting comments

Long time Michigan commit Jerald Robinson took his official visit to Ann Arbor this weekend, he got to talk to current players and commitments, as well as some of the other visitors.

His host was J.T Turner, but he got to speak a bit with Donovan Warren, who told Robinson to work hard straight away, and wished him good luck. Good luck, does that imply Warren won't be there? Some reports say Warren is leaning towards the NFL.

Robinson didn't speak that much with the non-committed visitors, but he said all of them had a good time, and he expects at least one of them (Richard Ash, John Hankins, Sean Parker) to commit, let's hope hes right.

He also mentioned that he speaks quite a bit with Maryland S/LB Josh Furman, and he expects Furman to choose the Wolverines later this month! Robinson is definitely optimistic, "we’re going to get a National Championship. One or more!” Again, lets hope he's right.

Kenny Stills Update

Five Star WR Kenny Stills has put Michigan into his top six schools along with Cal, UCLA, Oklahoma, Florida and Miami. His decision could come as soon as December 11th, due to a local news station wanting to televise the announcement.

Stills was at the Michigan-Ohio State game, and 'loved' the visit, but chances are he will end up elsewhere. He would be a great get for UM, as he would provide a legitimate deep threat for Tate Forcier next season (Stills runs a 4.36 40yd dash).

Commit #23

Michigan has very few scholarship places left for this year's class, so they should go to the better prospects left on the board. On with the news, Ray Vinopal has committed to the University of Michigan.

I find it hard to get excited about this commitment, scout.com rates him as a two-star prospect, and the #144 Safety? ESPN agrees, two stars with a rating of 68. Rivals.com also rates him as two star, which begs the question, why did he get a Michigan offer?

You have to look at what is left on the board for UM, four star players like Tony Grimes, Josh Furman, Sean Parker. Ratings aren't everything, many under the radar recruits go on to have great college/professional careers. I also trust Rich Rodriguez, he's a good recruiter and knows what it takes to fit into his system.

Ray will definitely be playing safety at Michigan, which worries me slightly after reading the ESPN analysis, "Looks more natural at running back than he does in the defensive secondary". 

Enough negativity, lets look at the positives. In reading his past interviews, Ray comes across as a smart football player, which is echoed by his 4.5 GPA. He also has good speed and acceleration, boasting a 4.41 electronically timed 40 yard dash. He may need to add some weight before college, but he has good intensity on the field, makes all the tackles and knows his assignments.

Vinopal's commitment leaves very few places left in class of 2010, it'll be interesting to see how things unfold from here on in.

Under Armor AA game

After writing the last post, I suddenly wondered, who is in the Under Armor All American game? I searched through google and went on ESPN recruiting site etc, couldn't find anything. Twenty minutes later, ESPN put up the entire roster, how strange. 

Anyway, the complete roster for the Black and White team can be found here.

Michigan won't be represented on the White team, unless Mike Thornton suddenly has a big change of heart and goes to UM, unlikely. The only player on the Black team is Devin Gardner, who is one of two quarterbacks on the team with Alabama commit Phillip Sims, I imagine they play one half each?

It's kind of disappointing to only have one player in the game, especially since they had four last year (I Bell, T Lewan, C Roh and Q Washington).

Cullen Christian to play in Army AA game

Recent Michigan commit Cullen Christian has been selected to play in the Army All American game in San Antonio, on January 9th. He'll join fellow Wolverine Will Hagerup on the East team, as they go up against some of the best players in the country.

Cullen may go up against scout.com's #1 receiver Robert Woods, or USC commit Dillion Baxter, who are both on the West team. 

Dec 4th Visitors (Update)

Quick Hitters:

- ND commit Spencer Boyd has apparently canceled his visit to Ann Arbor after speaking at length with Notre Dame, this is no big loss to Michigan. 

- The good news is that Sean Parker will be on campus this weekend looking at the Wolverines, Parker is rated as the #6 safety in the nation by scout.com. 

- Johnathan Hankins is still scheduled to be there this weekend also

- Michigan commits will be there in numbers to convince the prospects that UM is the place to be! Jeremy Jackson, Terry Talbott, Terrence Talbott, Austin White, Courtney Avery, Christian Pace and Jerald Robinson will be there.

The two big names, Devin Gardner (#1 Dual Threat QB) and Ricardo Miller (good recruiter) will be there as well, which is important.

Soft verbals to visit Ann Arbor

You may have noticed that Richard Ash, a defensive tackle from Florida committed to West Virginia today, but he is far from a solid commitment for the Mountaineers. Ash was a possible visitor for the Michigan-Ohio State game, but he missed his flight. Now it looks like he'll be visiting this weekend instead. Even if he doesn't commit to Michigan soon, it might put more pressure on John Hankins or Jatashun Beachum to pull the trigger.

The other surprise visitor this weekend will be Notre Dame commit Spencer Boyd. He is a three star cornerback from Florida, and although we need DB's, apparently he got burned three times in his recent match-up with WR Kenny Shaw! I don't think Michigan would take him over Tony Grimes.

Note: Michigan is apparently looking at him as an athlete now, if that makes much difference, I think with the talent left on the board, there isn't enough room for Boyd.  

Sam Webb talks to John Hankins

Scout.com's Sam Webb talks to Johnathan Hankins and his father to talk about recruiting, why Michigan offered so late, and what lies ahead for the talented senior.

Check out the full article here.

Upcoming visits

The season may be over, games may be done, but official visits are still happening in Ann Arbor, ones that could shape the recruiting class of 2010.

December 4th: Five current UM commits will visit, including Ricardo Miller, who hopefully will do his own recruiting on Johnathan Hankins, who will take his official visit this weekend. 

Others Upcoming:

- Ray Vinopal, should visit UM in the next few weeks, UM is in a good position for the two star recruit.....yay?

- Sean Parker, will definitely visit Michigan during December, unsure of the exact date at the moment

- Torrian Wilson is also a possible visitor. He committed to Stanford in a hurry earlier this year, things aren't set in stone just yet though

The list of longshots includes the following; TJ Clemmings, David Mackell, Mike Thornton, Tyrone Cornelius, Tobi Okutemi, Lorenzo Waters, Gabe King and Dior Mathis.

Jatashun Beachum Update

Jatashun "Big Tex" Beachum spoke to Sam Webb today about his official visit to Michigan, and where the wolverines stand in his recruitment. There were some rumors that Michigan weren't in the race anymore (see article here), but Big Tex confirmed Michigan is still there. 

He said he doesn't have a leader right now, but he did prefer the Michigan visit to the Arkansas one, which is promising. I think most UM fans were expecting a commitment after the OSU game, including myself, but his mom has told him to take all five officials, since he's never been out of Texas before. 

Distance isn't a factor, which is good to hear, and another advantage for UM is that his coach is very pro-UM right now. 

Sean Parker Update

In the last post I mentioned how the change in coaching staff at Notre Dame might affect Sean Parker's decision, I might have actually been right! Sean caught up with scout.com after his team's latest victory in the playoffs.

He said he will definitely visit Michigan, hopefully in the next few weeks. Oregon, USC, Cal and Washington are the other options, he didn't mention Notre Dame at all. He has already taken an official to ND, so it seems strange not to mention the Irish.

Parker is the ranked as the #6 safety in the nation by scout.com, to get him on campus would be great for Michigan, he's a player RR would definitely make room for.