What goes up...

...must come down. 

After two good commitments this week, Michigan then loses out on TE Ray Hamilton. The Ohio prospect has chosen to play for the...Iowa Hawkeyes? What happened?

There hasn't been much coverage of Hamilton's recruitment, but I still can't find the last time he talked about Iowa. I thought UM were in a great position here, especially with all the links to UM through Hamilton's father and one of his best friends, Jack Miller (UM commit #6). He made it up for two junior days and really hit it off with Rodriguez, all seemed to be going great.

He has apparently visited Iowa, and clearly felt comfortable enough to commit, but still this is a surprise. Best guess is that he wasn't happy with NCAA infractions, or Michigan's use of the Tight End? Either way, Iowa have stolen one here.

Two commitments...both to UM!

Who'd of thought it? After a somewhat slow start to recruiting this year, Michigan finally picks up the pace with two solid commitments in as many days. Last night, offensive lineman Jack Miller said he was all in for Michigan, choosing the Wolverines over 20 other scholarship offers. FL QB Kevin Sousa became the 7th commitment of the class, picking UM over Illinois as well as South Florida, West Virginia, Louisville and others.

Miller (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's) is a life long Michigan fan, and just couldn't pass up the opportunity to play for the Maize and Blue (Boston College was 2nd choice). Miller is listed as a three star DE on scout, but is fully expected to play on the O-Line at Michigan, possibly at Center.

Miller is also good friends with Ohio TE Ray Hamilton, and will definitely be trying to lure him to Michigan in the coming months. Remember Hamilton's dad is good friends with Coach Rod from their playing days at WVU, so UM has two really good connections there. 

In Sousa, Michigan gets another sound dual threat QB, he passed for over 1500 yards and gained 989 on the ground during his junior year, and runs a hand timed 4.54 40 yard dash.....and a slightly more disappointing 4.71 electronic! You can check out part one of his highlight reel here.

Kevin was visiting Michigan with his coach from high school, and both felt like UM was the right place to be. The family atmosphere that Michigan has going right now is really paying dividends, Sousa said it just felt like home. 

His commitment may close the door on the long shot of Marquise Williams going blue, as really UM only wanted to take one QB in the class. 

Daren Kitchen Update

Despite still not receiving a Michigan offer, Louisiana defensive back Daren Kitchen still holds the Wolverines in high regard, in fact, they are still his top school. 

Kitchen, listed as a three star CB on scout.com has offers from the likes of Stanford, Nebraska and Kansas, but still keeps trying for the UM offer. He's sent up some more tape for the coaches to go over, and now its just waiting for Coach Rodriguez's seal of approval. 

He fully expects to get the offer eventually, and when he does, there's a very strong chance that he'll accept on the spot. This is largely due to his great relationship with Coach Fred Jackson, who is the area recruiter for Louisiana, he recruited Carvin Johnson and Drew Dileo from the 2010 class.

Conelius Jones Update

2010 QB commit Conelius Jones will not enroll this fall after failing to qualify academically. He'll now go to a prep school, like Antonio Kinard. Both players expect to join Michigan in the winter, although sometimes it doesn't always work out. 

I was a pretty big fan of Jones in the end, he lead his Spartenburg high school team through an incredible playoff run, eventually losing out in the semi-finals to a nationally ranked Byrnes school (Marcus Lattimore and co). But this setback pretty much rules out whatever small chance he had at playing QB now at Michigan. With Gardner enrolling in spring, he'll be way behind the rest and at best 4th on the depth chart.

Jones is a good athlete though and with training could certainly contribute on defense at DB, or as a receiver on offense.

Quick Hitters

Commitments are coming thick and fast!

- Four star safety Ron Tanner will make his announcement on July 2nd, he likes Michigan, but its going to be Ohio State.

- LB Nick Lifka has chosen to play for Boston College, had some interest in UM.

- DB Dallas Crawford has Michigan and Miami as his top two right now, which surely means UM will get a crucial official visit in the fall.

- Ohio OL Aundrey Walker continues to favor Ohio State and others, but says his family loves Michigan!

- Sam Webb chats with safety Avery Walls about his recent visits to MSU and UM, link here.

Andre Yruretagoyena commits

The Oregon Ducks have landed a commitment from four star OL Andre Yruretagoyena after what he described as a perfect visit to Eugene. This is hugely disappointing as many thought Michigan had a very good shot at Andre after landing Craig Roh and Taylor Lewan from the same high school two years ago. 

A few months ago there were reports that USC and Michigan were the main schools involved, but in interviews discussing the commitment, he fails to mention Michigan. The decision came down to Oregon (childhood favorite) and USC. 

Tony Posada Update

FL OL Tony Posada was one of the bigger names at the Michigan camp last weekend, and the three star prospect came away with positive reviews, in fact the Wolverines are now his leader. Posada had previously named UM a leader, but had never visited the campus before.

The visit was much needed, as Posada had his concerns about the weather up north, fortunately it was in the mid 80s during his stay! He'll be visiting nearly all the Florida schools this summer, but the main competition should come from just the Gators. He grew up a gator, and at one time it looked like he'd jump at an offer, but it still hasn't come.

If they do offer soon, then its going to be a Florida-UM race, but if they leave it too long then its purely Michigan's to lose.