Title says it all really. After a stellar showing at the Army All American game, Michigan DT commit Ondre Pipkins has picked up a 5th star on rivals.com. The analysts at rivals don't give out a 5th star to that many players (in comparison to scout), so this is quite an achievement.
Rivals will bring out their full rankings for the 2012 class in stages throughout the week. I believe the top 100 comes out tomorrow?
Monday, 16 January 2012
Weekend Updates + Blog Update
This weekend Michigan hosted three of their top 2012 targets, as well as one of their main priorities for the 2013 class.
- Jordan Diamond took his official visit to Michigan this weekend, after already visiting Auburn and Ohio State. He's got Wisconsin and Arkansas to follow, so its a bit early to say where he's going to end up. Before he started taking visits, I thought Wisconsin was in a really good position, so that visit will be very important.
- Sam Grant was the unofficial 2012 visitor this weekend, and he'll be deciding pretty soon. I think it will come down to Michigan and Boston College, although officially I think he's got a top four that also includes Arkansas and Oklahoma. If I had to make a prediction, I'd say he ends up blue, might depend on his in home visits though.
- Armani Reeves finally took his Michigan official, but like Diamond he's still got two more left, so even in January its early days. His cousin Camren Williams seems pretty keen on Ohio State, so the two of them will visit the Buckeyes this week followed by a trip to Penn State at the end of the month.
- 2013 RB Ty Issac was on campus again to check out the Wolverines. It wouldn't surprise me if Michigan was the early leader, but with a prospect as good as he is, many other schools are bound to come in the mix soon.
In other news, Josh Garnett visited Stanford officially this weekend, and is now done with his visits. It's a UM-Stanford race, despite an apparent top 3. It's really close, but I have to give the edge to Stanford, based on their academics, and the fact that they're a lot closer to home. Still, both schools will get one last chance with an in home visit.
Blog Update
I'm pretty satisfied with how far the blog has come over the last year or so, but there is always room for improvement. In evaluating the blog, I thought whats the one thing it really lacks? The answer (to me) was obvious; first hand interviews with recruits. Now, I've spoken to recruits in my time, but being in my final year of university, and living in a different time zone, its not ideal for me to do right now. I'm more suited to the analysis and prediction side of recruiting. So, whats the solution to this problem? Easy, recruit someone to do the interviews for me!
Enter SimplyComplex (Real name: Davon):
"Hello my fellow Michigan fans, my name is Davon and I will be helping out Benji with MGoRecruit as the site's recruiting analyst and reporter from here on out. I've done many interviews with Michigan recruits as well as some 2013 prospects. In the interviews, I use the name SimplyComplex instead of my real name because that's how I contact recruits. I am a regular poster on the recruiting site 24/7 Sports and I've been working with the blog Midnight Maize, which is where I post my interviews. Some of the recruits that I've interviewed are: Allen Gant, Devin Funchess, Kamani Thomas, Colin Goebel, Cameron Burrows, Brogan Roback, Devonte Moore, Ethan Pocic, and Erik Magnuson. I have many more interviews setup and finished, but I wanted to wait and post them exclusively on MGoRecuit. I plan on creating some type of recruiting segments on the blog where you guys can ask me any recruiting questions you might have via liveblog, recruiting roundtable, etc. I'll try to post as often as I can, although my schedule might get hectic sometimes, but I'll try my best. You can follow me on twitter: @SimplyComplexMM. Also, I have a surprise for you guys that will be unveiled on National Signing Day. So make sure to tune in here on February 1st. Finally, if you have any questions for me, post them in the comments and I'll answer all of them as fast as I can. I look forward to working here and providing you guys with the best recruiting content that I have to offer! Have a great day and Go Blue!"
Welcome Davon!
Sometime today I'll enable him to start posting on the site, so look out for his content in the future! As for me, I have exams starting this week, and ending next Wednesday (25th Jan), which is why I haven't posted much over the last few days. I'll be back with vengeance for the run up to signing day, which should include much more comment answering, email responses and twitter replies etc, as well as an awesome signing day live blog.
For the record, if Davon's 'surprise' on signing day goes to plan, then it'll definitely be worth your while to be on the site during NSD!
Extra: One final bit of blog news. After my graduation in June, the summer project will be moving the blog to its own site, away from the blogspot format. Hopefully this will make it easier for you guys to post any comments you have, as well as being able to start your own threads in a forum layout. It's early stages, but I've got some friends in web design who will be helping me design it, so thats something to look forward too!
Go Blue!
- Jordan Diamond took his official visit to Michigan this weekend, after already visiting Auburn and Ohio State. He's got Wisconsin and Arkansas to follow, so its a bit early to say where he's going to end up. Before he started taking visits, I thought Wisconsin was in a really good position, so that visit will be very important.
- Sam Grant was the unofficial 2012 visitor this weekend, and he'll be deciding pretty soon. I think it will come down to Michigan and Boston College, although officially I think he's got a top four that also includes Arkansas and Oklahoma. If I had to make a prediction, I'd say he ends up blue, might depend on his in home visits though.
- Armani Reeves finally took his Michigan official, but like Diamond he's still got two more left, so even in January its early days. His cousin Camren Williams seems pretty keen on Ohio State, so the two of them will visit the Buckeyes this week followed by a trip to Penn State at the end of the month.
- 2013 RB Ty Issac was on campus again to check out the Wolverines. It wouldn't surprise me if Michigan was the early leader, but with a prospect as good as he is, many other schools are bound to come in the mix soon.
In other news, Josh Garnett visited Stanford officially this weekend, and is now done with his visits. It's a UM-Stanford race, despite an apparent top 3. It's really close, but I have to give the edge to Stanford, based on their academics, and the fact that they're a lot closer to home. Still, both schools will get one last chance with an in home visit.
Blog Update
I'm pretty satisfied with how far the blog has come over the last year or so, but there is always room for improvement. In evaluating the blog, I thought whats the one thing it really lacks? The answer (to me) was obvious; first hand interviews with recruits. Now, I've spoken to recruits in my time, but being in my final year of university, and living in a different time zone, its not ideal for me to do right now. I'm more suited to the analysis and prediction side of recruiting. So, whats the solution to this problem? Easy, recruit someone to do the interviews for me!
Enter SimplyComplex (Real name: Davon):
"Hello my fellow Michigan fans, my name is Davon and I will be helping out Benji with MGoRecruit as the site's recruiting analyst and reporter from here on out. I've done many interviews with Michigan recruits as well as some 2013 prospects. In the interviews, I use the name SimplyComplex instead of my real name because that's how I contact recruits. I am a regular poster on the recruiting site 24/7 Sports and I've been working with the blog Midnight Maize, which is where I post my interviews. Some of the recruits that I've interviewed are: Allen Gant, Devin Funchess, Kamani Thomas, Colin Goebel, Cameron Burrows, Brogan Roback, Devonte Moore, Ethan Pocic, and Erik Magnuson. I have many more interviews setup and finished, but I wanted to wait and post them exclusively on MGoRecuit. I plan on creating some type of recruiting segments on the blog where you guys can ask me any recruiting questions you might have via liveblog, recruiting roundtable, etc. I'll try to post as often as I can, although my schedule might get hectic sometimes, but I'll try my best. You can follow me on twitter: @SimplyComplexMM. Also, I have a surprise for you guys that will be unveiled on National Signing Day. So make sure to tune in here on February 1st. Finally, if you have any questions for me, post them in the comments and I'll answer all of them as fast as I can. I look forward to working here and providing you guys with the best recruiting content that I have to offer! Have a great day and Go Blue!"
Welcome Davon!
Sometime today I'll enable him to start posting on the site, so look out for his content in the future! As for me, I have exams starting this week, and ending next Wednesday (25th Jan), which is why I haven't posted much over the last few days. I'll be back with vengeance for the run up to signing day, which should include much more comment answering, email responses and twitter replies etc, as well as an awesome signing day live blog.
For the record, if Davon's 'surprise' on signing day goes to plan, then it'll definitely be worth your while to be on the site during NSD!
Extra: One final bit of blog news. After my graduation in June, the summer project will be moving the blog to its own site, away from the blogspot format. Hopefully this will make it easier for you guys to post any comments you have, as well as being able to start your own threads in a forum layout. It's early stages, but I've got some friends in web design who will be helping me design it, so thats something to look forward too!
Go Blue!
Thursday, 12 January 2012
247 Sports final rankings
247 Sports have released their final rankings for the class of 2012, you can see their top 247 prospects here. UM has 10 prospects in the top 247, 5 of which landed in the top 100. It's not quite as positive as scout's rankings, but its still pretty nice.
I don't have time to do a full recap of the list, but Ondre Pipkins was our top prospect at #51, and the most surprising ranking was RJS at around #210. Bit harsh there maybe.
I don't have time to do a full recap of the list, but Ondre Pipkins was our top prospect at #51, and the most surprising ranking was RJS at around #210. Bit harsh there maybe.
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Final Scout 300
Scout.com has released its final rankings for the 2012 recruiting class, or at least the top 300 prospects. The list includes a whopping 14 Michigan commitments, which is very encouraging. You can view the full 300 here, but below are the Michigan rankings:
- 5* Kyle Kalis: #35 overall, #6 OT
- 4* Ondre Pipkins: #65 overall, #7 DT
- 4* Joe Bolden: #69 overall, #4 OLB
- 4* Erik Magnuson: #82 overall, #15 OT
- 4* James Ross: #83 overall, #7 OLB
- 4* Tom Strobel: #93 overall, #12 DE
- 4* Royce Jenkins-Stone: #111 overall, #2 MLB
- 4* Mario Ojemudia: #162 overall, #20 DE
- 4* Chris Wormley: #164 overall, #21 DE
- 4* Terry Richardson: #183 overall, #14 CB
- 4* Amara Darboh: #205 overall, #32 WR
- 4* Devin Funchess: #221 overall, #8 TE
- 4* A.J Williams: #225 overall, #27 OT
- 4* Jarrod Wilson: #245 overall, #19 Safety
Key Targets: Josh Garnett (#42 overall, #3 OG), Armani Reeves (#79 overall, #6 CB), and for comparison's sake ONLY, Yuri Wright (#146 overall, #10 CB).
Thoughts: Very positive rankings if you're a Michigan fan. There aren't really any shockingly bad rankings, although TR @ #183 might be a tad harsh seen as he got great reviews from perhaps the greatest corner to play the game, Primetime himself!
Apart from that, I'm happy. By the way, these are going to be the most positive rankings UM gets, rivals and ESPN will be harsher, just based on where our prospects currently lye with them. Not sure about 247 sports.
Fun Fact: We have 14 commits in the top 300, MSU has 2.
- 5* Kyle Kalis: #35 overall, #6 OT
- 4* Ondre Pipkins: #65 overall, #7 DT
- 4* Joe Bolden: #69 overall, #4 OLB
- 4* Erik Magnuson: #82 overall, #15 OT
- 4* James Ross: #83 overall, #7 OLB
- 4* Tom Strobel: #93 overall, #12 DE
- 4* Royce Jenkins-Stone: #111 overall, #2 MLB
- 4* Mario Ojemudia: #162 overall, #20 DE
- 4* Chris Wormley: #164 overall, #21 DE
- 4* Terry Richardson: #183 overall, #14 CB
- 4* Amara Darboh: #205 overall, #32 WR
- 4* Devin Funchess: #221 overall, #8 TE
- 4* A.J Williams: #225 overall, #27 OT
- 4* Jarrod Wilson: #245 overall, #19 Safety
Key Targets: Josh Garnett (#42 overall, #3 OG), Armani Reeves (#79 overall, #6 CB), and for comparison's sake ONLY, Yuri Wright (#146 overall, #10 CB).
Thoughts: Very positive rankings if you're a Michigan fan. There aren't really any shockingly bad rankings, although TR @ #183 might be a tad harsh seen as he got great reviews from perhaps the greatest corner to play the game, Primetime himself!
Apart from that, I'm happy. By the way, these are going to be the most positive rankings UM gets, rivals and ESPN will be harsher, just based on where our prospects currently lye with them. Not sure about 247 sports.
Fun Fact: We have 14 commits in the top 300, MSU has 2.
Sam Grant to visit
Ohio TE Sam Grant is the latest to put his name down for a visit this weekend. The three star prospect, and teammate of current UM commit Kyle Kalis, has already visited UM for an official visit, so the fact that he's coming back is a very good sign. Commitment watch may well be on this weekend.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
National title game
Ohh my...
That defense. I don't care how bad Jordan Jefferson played, Alabama didn't give them anything. The one positive is that we got to see how Saban/Smart chose to defend against a reasonably mobile quarterback, and now Borges has to think of ways to exploit the system they used (I believe Herbstreit said it was a lot of cover 2 with corners in short zones for run support).
Michigan is going to have to make some serious strides on offense to be able to compete in Dallas on September 1st, no matter how many of their defense goes pro, because the practice of oversigning means that Bama will reload and still have a pretty darn good defense next season...
That defense. I don't care how bad Jordan Jefferson played, Alabama didn't give them anything. The one positive is that we got to see how Saban/Smart chose to defend against a reasonably mobile quarterback, and now Borges has to think of ways to exploit the system they used (I believe Herbstreit said it was a lot of cover 2 with corners in short zones for run support).
Michigan is going to have to make some serious strides on offense to be able to compete in Dallas on September 1st, no matter how many of their defense goes pro, because the practice of oversigning means that Bama will reload and still have a pretty darn good defense next season...
Jordan Diamond Visit
Four star offensive tackle Jordan Diamond is also likely to be on campus this weekend for his Michigan official visit. Diamond has already visited Ohio State and Auburn, and had a great times there, so this could be tough for Michigan to leapfrog those schools, along with Arkansas and Wisconsin who are both still in the mix.
Michigan led for Diamond for a long period of time over the spring and early summer, but I think it will need a minor miracle for him to pick the Wolverines on signing day. We'll see how the visit goes, but right now Josh Garnett is a more realistic option.
Michigan led for Diamond for a long period of time over the spring and early summer, but I think it will need a minor miracle for him to pick the Wolverines on signing day. We'll see how the visit goes, but right now Josh Garnett is a more realistic option.
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