Tony Grimes commits

Three star cornerback Tony Grimes has committed to Ole Miss over Michigan and Maryland today. UM were originally very high on Grimes but after Cullen Christian committed, the safety position became more of a priority.

Grimes and teammate Clarence Murphy were set to be a package deal for colleges, and Michigan was the heavy favorite after the pair took their official to Ann Arbor for the OSU game. However a couple months later, and they have gone there separate ways, with Murphy going to Maryland. 

Another issue with Grimes is that he apparently hated the weather in Ann Arbor, the Florida native wasn't a fan of the cold! This isn't a big loss for UM, Grimes is a talented player, but Rich Rod already has several CB commits in the class. 

Dorsey de-commits

Florida safety Demar Dorsey has de-committed from the Gators and will now look at Michigan, FSU and USC (possibly Tennessee, but I doubt that). ESPN says Dorsey is no longer being sought by the Gators, leaving the door wide open for Rich Rod and co.

Coach Rodriguez is set to visit Dorsey tomorrow I think, let's hope it goes well. Dorsey will announce his decision on signing day.

Rashad Knight Update

Michigan target  Rashad Knight has canceled his trip to Ole Miss this weekend and will now just decide between Michigan and Rutgers. He was on campus at Rutgers last weekend and enjoyed the visit, but I think he'll go blue. Michigan has been on him since the start and he has named UM as a leader in the past.

His announcement will come before signing day.

Rich Rod hits the road

Could you say no to this face? Of course not!

 On a serious note now, Rich Rodriguez is really going for it this week with the in home visits. He was with Sean Parker yesterday and things are looking good there, he did visit Washington this week, but it will probably be a UM vs USC battle.

 He was down in Florida last week to meet up with Rashad Knight, and he'll be back in Florida this week to see Demar Dorsey. There are plenty of rumors about Dorsey going around, some say Florida aren't that keen on him anymore, (unlikely!!!), others seem to think he's a silent commit to FSU, which is also unlikely seen as hes going to visit USC this weekend. Either way Rich Rod will do his best to make sure Dorsey picks Michigan.

In other news, Terrance Talbott has made it clear that he's going to Michigan and he seems sure his brother Terry will be joining him despite a recent visit to UNC. Whatever the situation Rodriguez will pay them an in home visit to make sure everything is good.

Predictions:

The best you can possibly hope for is 2 of 3 safeties to commit, I don't see any scenario where all three pick Michigan. Also, let's not forget about Tony Grimes who has Michigan in his top 3 schools, along with Maryland and Ole Miss. Personally I think Grimes will go with Clarence Murphy to Maryland, I think when UM took Cullen Christian the interest in Grimes faded. 

I also think Dorsey won't be donning the winged helmet next season. I saw him in an ESPN interview with Florida commit Johnathan Dowling in which they were both saying how they love playing together, and how they aren't going to lose a game whilst at Florida....

I don't know when the video was made, they are both wearing all Under Armor gear, which means the video might be as old as the UA AA game, which is good. Whenever it was made, Dorsey sounded pretty certain at that time where he was going to college.

Prediction - UM get Parker and Knight, but Dorsey goes to Florida.

Black chooses Maize + Blue

Four star defensive tackle Jibreel Black has committed to Michigan today whilst on his official visit, making him the 3rd DT in the class. Jibreel's father confirmed the news earlier and said academics was a big reason in the decision. 

Black was previously committed to Cincinnati but after head coach Brian Kelly bolted for Notre Dame, Black chose to look at other options. Apparently he really hit it off with Rich Rod on the visit.

This is a great catch for Michigan, I certainly didn't expect a commitment from him, in fact I thought he was the least likely to go blue out of the remaining targets for UM. He did say last week that he was a (Cincinnati) "Bearcat", but things quickly change when you see what Michigan has to offer!!

Black is rated as the #15 DT in the nation on scout.com, and you can see his highlight reel here. (Note: scout.com lists him as a DT, but he plays DE in the video, not sure which position UM plans to use him at).

There is probably only one space left in the class now, how exciting! Who will get it, Rashad Knight might be the most likely? He still has some visits to go, as does Demar Dorsey, maybe Sean Parker makes a silent commit to secure the last spot?? Anything can happen as signing day approaches, should be fun!

Weekend Notes

Firstly, Jibreel Black and Kenny Wilkins both made it to Ann Arbor this weekend for their officials, Wilkins has been a commit for ages, but this is Black's first time on campus. Although Michigan already has two defensive tackles committed, Black is rated much higher than both of them, and would be a good finish to the class. 

Of those two DT's committed, one of them, Terry Talbott, will be visiting North Carolina this weekend. His brother, fellow UM commit Terrance will not be going on the trip and as most see them as a package deal, I doubt either will de-commit. But stranger things have happened.

The Final Four

With signing day inching closer, its time to take a look at who is left on the board for Michigan. There is probably only two spaces left in this class, but Michigan has four targets that could commit.

4* Safety Sean Parker (CA) - Michigan is throwing everything at him right now, three UM coaches visited him this week, and Rich Rod himself will be out California next week to try and seal the deal. Its between USC and Michigan, and many think the Wolverines might have a slight lead...

3* Safety Rashad Knight (FL) - Michigan has been near the top of his list for a long time now, and he loved the official visit last weekend. He's probably the most likely to sign with UM right now...

4* DT Jibreel Black (OH) - Got an in home visit this week from coaches, and should be in Ann Arbor this weekend for his official, if not, forget about it. 

4* Safety Demar Dorsey (FL) - Blazing speed and enormous potential, Michigan has a shot! He got the in home visit this week and with Florida losing some defensive coaches, the Gators aren't so certain anymore. He loved the UM visit, has good relationships with Devin Gardner and Denard Robinson (his cousin), however FSU and USC are still on him big time. ESPN rates him very highly, would be great to get him on signing day.

I think UM will get at least one Safety, and if I could choose one it would probably be Dorsey, what can I say? Speed Kills. Parker comes in a very close second, he's a big hitter and Michigan could use a sure tackler at Safety.

Knight has mainly played CB in his HS career (I think?), but Michigan definitely wants him as a Safety, can he make the transition? As for Black, he might be the least likely to commit to UM, he may have interest, but he hasn't been on campus yet and there is no guarantee that he will. 

Cissoko gone for good

Last year I posted something about Boubacar Cissoko trying to get back on the team after he was kicked off for violating team rules, well you can forget about it. This week he was caught with marijuana and admitted intent to sell. 

This is a shame for a talented player to fall so far, Cissoko came into Michigan as one of the top corners in the nation and had a pretty good freshman year. However he did struggle this year against the likes of Notre Dame. 

Still, it would have been good have some experience at the corner position this fall, but now its up to the freshmen.

Confirmation

Posted yesterday was the story that Dillon Baxter re-committed to USC, and it was made official last night as he announced his decision on live tv. You can check out the announcement video here.

Baxter would have been a great get for Michigan, and the Pete Carroll drama gave the Wolverines a shot, but love him or hate him, Lane Kiffin is a great recruiter, and knew exactly what to say in order to bring Baxter back to USC.

Baxter and Dorsey Updates

A source today is indicating that Dillion Baxter has re-committed to USC after having a poor trip to Oregon this weekend. Apparently Lane Kiffin has really been after Baxter, who is a key recruit for USC's class. 

Anyway this isn't 100% at the moment, if confirmation comes I'll do another post later.

In better news, Demar Dorsey loved his trip to Ann Arbor last weekend, and even stormed the court at the end of the basketball game with "his boy" Devin Gardner. The two players met at the UA AA game and Devin has been pushing Michigan on Dorsey ever since. 

Demar was hosted by Denard Robinson, and had a good time with him and the other players. Michigan are now in Dorsey's top three along with Florida and Florida State. He will visit FSU and USC in the next couple of weeks. Chances of landing him were always slim, but things look better at least now. 

Scout.com Final Rankings

For those of you that read the blog often, you'll know that 90% I'll use scout.com's ratings when talking about a recruit, and today they released their final rankings for 2010's class. Here's some notes of interest for Michigan:

- Devin Gardner slipped a bit in the overall rankings, down to #43, but maintained his 5 Star status and he remains the top dual threat QB.

- Cullen Christian climbs to #56 overall, just 6 places short of being a 5 star prospect. He remains the #3 CB in the class.

- Josh Furman made a big leap, landing in the top 100 recruits at #96. When your 6'2, 200lb with a good frame...and you can run a 4.36 forty...you have to figure he should be a top 100 player. 

- Austin White, Marvin Robinson, Jerald Robinson and Ricardo Miller are the other four star prospects in the UM class, although in my opinion Will Hagerup should be in that group. He's received great reviews from the Kicking Camps and he was the top punter at the Army Game. 

- I'm also a bit disappointed with Cornelius Jones' final rating of 2 Stars. He lead his team to a fairytale playoff run, losing in the semi-finals to one of the best teams in the country, but showed great leadership and skills in the process. I refuse to believe that there are 103 better QB's.

Anyway, these changes put Michigan 9th in the team rankings, which is a great effort. If Rich Rod can lure in a big time recruit like Sean Parker (#81 prospect) or Dillion Baxter (#33 prospect) then the class could remain in the top 10 after  signing day.

Jake Ryan joins the family

Ohio OLB Jake Ryan has committed to Michigan today after receiving his offer from the Wolverines. I've done a post about Ryan earlier this week, but if you missed it, all you have to know if that Ryan is a sleeper prospect with great fundamentals.

Apart from Michigan, it was mainly MAC schools that had offered him, but after a good senior year he did start to get interest from the big ten schools. An injury during his junior year is one of the main reasons for this.

Still, if you watch his highlight reel on youtube, you can see why Rich Rod wanted him, it could prove to be a very good pickup in a few years!

Not again...

Offensive Guard Torrian Wilson has again committed out of the blue, this time to Louisville. Michigan has always been in good shape with Wilson, and after he decommitted from Stanford late last year, many assumed it would be for Michigan.

He was meant to visit Michigan officially this coming weekend, but that doesn't look likely any more. One factor in Louisville's favor is having two of Wilson's teammates already committed, Corvin Lamb and Michaelee Harris. 

Still, the commitment is a surprise, I thought at the very least Michigan would get another visit from the three star prospect.

In other news, Ohio LB Jake Ryan got offered by Michigan this weekend and could commit any day now, and Rashad Knight also loved his visit, although he has a couple more trips to take. Rich Rodriguez has said the class will probably reach 26 commitments, although I think they could stretch it to 27 if a major recruit like Dillion Baxter wanted in.

Hollowell Commits

The good news keeps on coming today! Top junior prospect Delonte Hollowell has committed to be a part of Michigan's class of 2011, joining fellow Cornerback Greg Brown in the class. 

Hollowell has been mulling it over for months, and finally decided to pull the trigger this weekend at Junior Day. Delonte said Michigan has always been his dream school, and he was excited to get the chance to play with former teammates like Will Campbell, Teric Jones and Thomas Gordon.

Michigan will have to work hard to hold onto Hollowell though, he only has two offers at the moment (UM and CMU), but he turned in a great performance at the Army Junior Combine, making the all-junior team. 

Both Hollowell and Brown made the ESPN 2011 Watch List, so its good start to the class for Michigan, who looks to be stacked at the cornerback position in the next few years. However there are still some good 2011 CB's that Michigan will try to recruit, namely Ohio prospect Doran Grant, who could be one of the best in the nation. 

Watch Hollowell's highlight reel here. The video shows a lot of interceptions and a few punts? A good watch!

Another 2010 Commit

Michigan added another commit to their class of 2010 today when athlete Davion Rogers switched his commitment from West Virginia to Michigan. Rogers is listed as around 6'7, 200lb and is projected to play defense for Michigan at OLB or the "quick".

Rogers attends Warren G Harding HS in Ohio along with fellow Michigan commit DJ Williamson. Davion is listed as a three star prospect on scout.com and rivals.com as an outside linebacker. Rogers becomes the second player to drop the moutaineers in exchange for Michigan in this year's class after Richard Ash did so a month back. 

Michigan now has 25 commitments for the 2010 class, but that could drop to 24 as there are some rumors going around that Tony Drake will not qualify academically. Its estimated that the class could be as big as 27-28.

Boom! LB Visitor

Ohio LB Jake Ryan is on campus this weekend for his official visit to Ann Arbor, and a commitment could happen. Ryan is a bit of a sleeper prospect, he has apparently grown a lot over his senior season, and he is starting to attract some attention from the Big Ten schools. 

The reason this post is called "Boom" is....well just check out his highlight reel here! Around 0:57 is a great hit!

Ryan plays outside linebacker (OLB), and with Michigan's recent troubles at the linebacker spot it would be good to add him to the class. He looks very fast in the video, which states that he runs a 4.57, which is good for a 225lb LB. Looks like a great tackler, and either he's playing against the worst O-Lines in the nation, or this kid really knows how to get into the backfield! His high school team actually won the D1 state championship in Ohio, so he has played at a good level and knows how to win.

Gardner to enroll early

Inkster High School has cleared Michigan QB commit Devin Gardner to graduate, meaning he can enroll early at UM. This means a lot for Gardner, if he expects to win the starting QB role this year, spring practice is a must.

Head Coach Rich Rodriguez has always stressed the importance of competition for starting roles, and with Tate Forcier, Denard Robinson and Devin Gardner all around for spring ball, he'll certainly get competition at the QB spot.

Rumor Mill

As mentioned previously, there is a chance that Delonte Hollowell could commit this weekend, he's been looking at the Wolverines for a long time now. 

Also in the news today is that Florida commit Demar Dorsey will be taking an official to Michigan this weekend. Dorsey is a four star safety prospect with lightning speed, running a 4.35 forty time. He showed off his skills at the Under Armor AA game, where he had an interception. ESPN has him as the #12 prospect in the entire country, but the only the 3rd best safety committed to the Gators, behind Matt Elam and Johnathan Dowling.

He was scheduled to visit Tennessee this weekend, but the coaching situation there obviously changed things. With Florida already having two elite safeties in the class, and Urban Meyer's future unclear, perhaps Michigan has a shot at Dorsey, assuming the visit goes well this weekend.

Rivals 250 released

Rivals.com released their final rankings for the class of 2010, and like the ESPN ratings before them, it's more bad news for Michigan. 

Devin Gardner remains the top Duel-Threat QB, but took an almighty drop to #132 in the rankings, I think he was around 60-80th before. Cullen Christian is the only UM player to make the top 100, and that was at #99!

After seeing Devin Gardner at #132, it really was painful to scroll down the rest of the list searching for the word "Michigan" next to the player's names, the search ended in disappointment. The one bright spot was that Dillion Baxter checks in at #17 (5 Stars), if Michigan were to land him it would certainly improve the outlook of the class.

Rivals only gives Michigan five 4 Star prospects, which is pretty harsh, let's hope the scout.com rankings are a little more in favor of UM.

ESPN 150 latest rankings

Well, if you commit to Florida, your rank just goes up on ESPN. The Gators have four of the top 10 prospects in the country now, and two of the top three.

Michigan's Devin Gardner drops about 10 places to 128th despite being the best dual threat QB in the nation in most people's opinion. Ronald Powell jumped up to number one on the rankings (FL commit), whilst big OL Seantrel Henderson drops to #8. 

Michigan commits like Cullen Christian failed to make it into the top 150, although he is rated better on rivals and scout.

Mid-Week Notes

- This weekend will see quite a few recruits visiting Michigan, most of which are already committed to UM, but Rashad Knight (CB/S) and UCLA de-commit Earnest Thomas (S) will take their official visits to Ann Arbor also. Michigan have a fairly good chance with Knight, who will likely never get that Florida State offer he wanted.

- Next weekend, Torrian Wilson and Jibreel Black (both recent de-commits) will be in Michigan. Wilson is a legitimate shot for UM, Black looks unlikely to choose UM at the moment, but  a good visit could change things.

- 2011 Ohio DE Chris Rock has Michigan very high in his list, but I get the feeling he might be waiting for the Ohio State offer. Notre Dame is also in the mix, it will probably come down to these three schools.

WARNING - OUTRAGEOUS RUMOR COMING UP:

Scrolling through the Michigan message boards and forums, I came across a pretty outrageous statement from one fan, who claims his son goes to the same school as Dillion Baxter. In the post he claims that Baxter has told all his teammates that he has officially de-committed from USC, but his coach thinks he will end up at Oregon or Florida. Ok, pretty normal so far. But then he states that if Baxter commits to UM, then Tony Jefferson and Kenny Stills will also pledge to Michigan! I'm pretty sure Jefferson is an early enrollee, making the story even more far fetched, but its been a slow week for recruiting, so I had to post this! 

2011 Commit looming?

Michigan's class of 2011 begun with a good start last fall with the commitment of Ohio CB Greg Brown, but could another CB being making a pledge to the Maize and Blue shortly?

Michigan prospect Delonte Hollowell, who was named to the Army All American junior team this week has recently named Michigan as his number one school and that he could commit within the month. 

He got his Michigan offer on September first and has been talking it over with family ever since, but the talented junior could be ready to pull the trigger this January.

California Shakeup

ESPN reported earlier this week that USC coach Pete Carroll is very close to completing a deal with the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL, which will affect a couple of big recruits.

Firstly USC RB commit Dillion Baxter is very worried seen as Carroll told him that he wouldn't be leaving USC, Baxter wants to enroll early too. He's sure to hear from Rich Rod in the next few days.

Sean Parker has already insisted that Carroll's departure wouldn't impact him that much, but it sure did when Charlie Weis left Notre Dame. 

So this news of Carroll possibly heading to the NFL could be great for Michigan, and the Big Ten, who always seems to lose to Carroll and the Trojans.

In other news, the Army AA game was today, lots of commitments, five stars all over the place. Check out the bottom of this page; http://recruiting.scout.com to see all the commitments.

Michigan punter Will Hagerup was the standout punter, averaging 46 yards per punt (7 yards more than the other guy) with a long of 53. 

Early Enrollers

Unfortunately for Michigan, Devin Gardner did not make the cut to enroll this January, which will no doubt damage his chances to start next season. 

Wide receivers Jeremy Jackson, Jerald Robinson and Ricardo Miller, running backs Stephen Hopkins and Austin White, and offensive lineman Christian Pace all signed up and will be on campus either now or very soon.

Army All Americans

Some quick notes from the Army All-American training camps that started yesterday:

- The east team, which has Cullen Christian and Will Hagerup (both UM commits) has started some 11-on-11 reps, Cullen Christian is a starter.

- Will Hagerup started warm-ups with six consecutive punts of over 50 yards and 4 sec hang time....yes he is the best punter in the nation in my opinion.

- Cullen Christian is playing well but got beat by Kyle Prater (scout.com's #2 WR)

- Michigan target Sean Parker is stepping up his game and might be returning punts in the game.

Other players of interest at the game include Dior Mathis, Anthony Barr and Latwan Anderson.

Hankins commits...

...to Ohio State! Now that John will officially be a Buckeye, I can wish him good luck as a bench warmer. That might be a little harsh, but he did say he was a lifelong UM fan, and now he chooses OSU over Michigan? 

In his interview after his commitment, Hankins said he feels OSU could be a place to play for 4 years. Firstly, if any DT is going to play at OSU for four years, it could be Sharrif Floyd, who by all accounts is an absolute monster.

I don't know Ohio State's D-line that well, but if they get Floyd, which is a strong possibility, then chances are that Hankins won't start as a Freshman.

Hankins set to announce

Big DT Johnathan Hankins is set to announce his college decision today, during halftime at his school's basketball game. I'll be very surprised if Ohio State isn't chosen, but maybe the close to home factor is too great to ignore for Hankins and Michigan. 

Anyway, he would be a good addition to the class, so lets hope Michigan top the Buckeyes and Florida in the race to sign him!

Unconfirmed Stories

Neither of these are 100% certain yet!

- It looks like Adrian Witty will not be a Wolverine, I think it is an academic issue. I hope this issue gets sorted out soon.

- Jonathan Hankins could decide his college choice this week, with Ohio State and Florida as the frontrunners. Another rumor going around is that Sharrif Floyd is a silent commit to OSU, this might discourage Hankins a little bit.

Quick Hitters

News from the Christmas/New Year period...

- The Big Ten has had a great start to the Bowl season with Wisconsin, OSU and Penn State all winning, if Iowa beats Georgia Tech then the league's rep will be restored.

- Devin Gardner threw a TD pass and had a couple of nice runs in the Under Armor AA game today, his team easily won.

- LB Coach Jay Hopson has taken a job at Memphis, which is bad for recruiting as he was recruiting many big names for Michigan, like Tony Grimes, Rashad Knight, Todd Chandler, Jatashun Beachum, Jibreel Black, Clarence Murphy, Michael Taylor (now Tennessee Commit)....so that is pretty much everyone but Hankins and Parker???

- Kenny Shaw picked Florida State today at the UA game, there was a Michigan hat in the crowd which he could have chosen! 

UA AA Game

Don't forget about Under Armor All American game today at 11am ET. Michigan's Devin Gardner should play a bit for the Black Team, but I don't think he'll be the starter. He's thrown a few picks in practice, some of which can be seen on the ESPN recruiting page.

Michigan target Torrian Wilson will most likely miss the game due to injury.