Football offseason posts will continue, though they might be slightly more theory-oriented until spring pratice begins and there’s actual news to talk about. While on the topic of spring practice, I should have a bonanza of information up during that period, and it should be a fun time to be around here. I’ll spread news about some of those items as they get a bit more solidified.

I’m hopefully going to get the podcast up and running again, since we haven’t really made one since the end of football season. Possible topics include the end of basketball season, football and recruiting (obviously the bread and butter here at VB), or baseball. Let me know how much interest there is in each of these things (and a podcast in general).

Baseball coverage will continue to go strong with new contributor FormerlyAnonymous, who never got a proper introduction. Without further ado: FormerlyAnonymous is the newest member of VB, bringing the total to 3. He’ll bring the baseball coverage, making Varsity Blue the #1 site for Michigan Wolverines baseball coverage.

Recruiting update #1 for the week should be coming tomorrow. Sorry for the delay, but baseball season has left VB up to our ears in content, and I want to make sure every post get the attention that it deserves.

Thanks for bearing with us at a (surprisingly) busy time for the blog.

Recruiting Notes
Lewan was unknown early in the recruiting season, but a solid senior year at a new position and a new school has given him the ability to pick from a virtual who’s-who of colleges. Michigan offered him after the first few games of his final high school campaign, and when they landed Craig Roh, it greatly increased their chances to land Taylor. However, Lewan’s father is a native Minnesotan, and attended the University in St. Paul. Because of his father’s roots, Lewan has described himself as a displaced midwesterner. After a Minnesota visit, Lewan maintained that he would still take trips to Michigan and Oregon before making his decision. Taylor visited Ann Arbor the weekend of December 13th, and attended Michigan’s basketball victory against Eastern Michigan. Shortly thereafter, he told Rich Rodriguez that he wished to be a Michigan Wolverine, and committed to the Maize and Blue.

Player Notes
In his junior year, Taylor Lewan was a little-known defensive end prospect from Cactus Shadows High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. A transfer to Chaparral High School (a more successful program) and a move to the offensive tackle position (at which he is a better physical fit) gave Lewan a new lease on football life. He has become one of the fastes-rising prospects in the country over the course of a few short months. Lewan is a true offensive tackle, and a four-star prospect to both recruiting sites. He plays with an edge to his game that sets him apart from other offensive linemen. New teammate Craig Roh had a mutually-beneficial relationship on the practice field with Lewan, and the pair helped each other improve. Roh has described Lewan as a gym rat that won’t be outworked by anyone. Roh and Lewan also faced

Video
Junior Film

Freshman running back Sam McGuffie has announced his intentions to transfer from Michigan. McGuffie was Michigan’s 2nd leading rusher on the year, but missed parts or all of several games with concussions. He received his unconditional release from Michigan this morning, according to both pay sites.

McGuffie-and-Michigan never was a perfect fit after the departure of Lloyd Carr and the pro-style system, and McGuffie will likely transfer somewhere closer to home that is a better fit for his skill set. His injury history and family issues are reported to be the reasons for his departure from Michigan.

Varsity Blue wishes McGuffie the best of luck with whatever he plans to do in the future. Scholarship count will be updated accordingly.

New Rankings:

#1 Ohio State – 24 commits
LB	*****	Dorian Bell
RB	****	Jaamal Berry
DE	****	Melvin Fellows
CB	****	CJ Barnett
WR	****	James Jackson
MLB	****	Storm Klein
MLB	****	Jordan Whiting
RB	****	Jordan Hall
OG	****	Corey Linsley
OT	****	Jack Mewhort
S	****	Jamie Wood
WR	****	Justin Green
RB	****	Carlos Hyde
CB	****	Corey Brown
WR	****	Chris Fields
CB	****	Dominic Clarke
WR	***	Duron Carter
DE	***	Jonathan Newsome
TE	***	Reid Fragel
DT	***	Adam Bellamy
FB	***	Adam Homan
LB	***	Zach Boren
OL	***	Sam Longo
DT	***	Johnny Simon

#2 Michigan – 21 commits
CB	****	Justin Turner
QB	****	Tate Forcier
QB	****	Shavodrick Beaver
RB	****	Fitzgerald Toussaint
S	****	Vladimir Emilien
WR	****	Jeremy Gallon
OL	****	Michael Schofield
DT	****	DeQuinta Jones
DE	****	Anthony LaLota
DE	****	Craig Roh
DT	****	Pearlie Graves
WR	****	Cameron Gordon
S	***	Isaiah Bell
WR	***	DeWayne Peace
RB	***	Teric Jones
LB	***	Jordan Barnes
S	***	Mike Jones
LB	***	Brandin Hawthorne
RB	***	Vincent Smith
S	***	Thomas Gordon
K	**	Brendan Gibbons

#3 Notre Dame – 18 commits
RB	*****	Cierre Wood
WR	****	Shaquelle Evans
OL	****	Chris Watt
RB	****	Theo Riddick
DT	****	Tyler Stockton
OL	****	Alex Bullard
CB	****	Marlon Pollard
LB	****	Dan Fox
OL	****	Zach Martin
LB	****	Zeke Motta
S	***	Nyshier Oliver
S	***	EJ Banks
TE	***	Tyler Eifert
MLB	***	Carlo Calabrese
P	***	Ben Turk
K	**	Nicholas Tausch
TE	**	Jake Golic
OL	*	Jordan Cowart

#4 Michigan State – 17 commits
RB	****	Edwin Baker
RB	****	Larry Caper
SLB	****	Chris Norman
OL	****	David Barrent
WR	****	Donald Spencer
DT	****	Blake Treadwell
QB	****	Andrew Maxwell
OL	****	Nate Klatt
WR	***	Dana Dixon
LB	***	Tyquan Hammock
OL	***	Micajah Reynolds
WR	***	Patrick White
DE	***	Dan France
LB	***	Denicos Allen
WR	***	Bennie Fowler
TE	**	Derek Hoebing
DE	*	Corey Freeman

#5 Illinois – 16 commits
WR	****	Kraig Appleton
DT	****	Lendell Buckner
OT	****	Leon Hill
QB	****	Nathan Scheelhaase
RB	****	Bud Golden
WR	****	Terry Hawthorne
DE	****	Craig Drummond
OL	***	Andrew Carter
FB	***	Greg Fuller
OL	***	Hugh Thornton
DT	***	Tank Carradine
WR	***	Steve Hull
S	**	Tommie Hopkins
CB	**	Joelil Thrash
OL	**	Jake Feldmeyer
LB	**	Darryl Lee

#6 Penn State – 20 commits
OT	****	Eric Shrive
CB	****	Darrell Givens
DE	****	Sean Stanley
S	****	Derrick Thomas
S	***	Stephen Obeng-Agyapong
S	***	Malcolm Willis
C	***	Ty Howle
CB	***	Stephon Morris
WR	***	Brandon Felder
OT	***	Adam Gress
OL	***	Nate Cadogan
RB	***	Curtis Dukes
LB	***	Glenn Carson
ATH	***	Devon Smith
K	***	Anthony Fera
QB	**	Curtis Drake
OG	**	Frank Figueroa
WR	**	Christian Kuntz
OT	**	Mark Arcidiacono
DE	**	Garry Gilliam

#7 Wisconsin – 17 commits
DT	****	Jared Kohout
DE	****	Shelby Harris
DE	****	David Gilbert
RB	****	Montee Ball
LB	***	Conor O’Neill
DE	***	Tyler Dippel
OG	***	Ryan Groy
QB	***	Jon Budmayr
OT	***	Zac Matthias
TE	***	Brian Wozniak
MLB	***	Chris Borland
OL	***	Travis Frederick
LB	***	AJ Fenton
WR	***	Jeff Duckworth
OL	**	Casey Dehn
S	**	Jason Peprah
CB	**	Darius Thomas

#8 Minnesota – 15 commits
RB	****	Hasan Lipscomb
WR	****	Hayo Carpenter
QB	***	Moses Alipate
C	***	Ed Olsen
OT	***	Josh Campion
WR	***	Victor Keise
OL	***	Brooks Michel
LB	***	Kendell Gregory-McGhee
DB	***	Kerry Lewis
TE	***	Ra’Shede Hageman
DT	***	Joey Searcy
DE	***	Matt Garin
CB	***	Daryl Robinson
DE	**	Nick Rengel
K	**	Dan Orseske

Up: Robinson (From 1)

Recruiting Notes
Gordon started the recruiting year as someone Michigan fans expected to likely end up in the Wolverines’ recruiting class. However, it certainly ended up taking significantly longer than they expected (although he had always planned to take his time with a decision). At the end of his junior year, he announced that he would be transferring from Melvindale High School to Inkster, where he would have a better opportunity to excel athletically. During the summer, he attended Michigan’s summer camp. The Wolverine coaches told him that they liked him more as a linebacker, and told him that he would receive an offer if he was willing to play at that position in college. With a noncommittal answer, Michigan’s offer took significantly longer to arrive than Gordon would have otherwise liked. When he finally received his offer in November, Gordon took a visit to Iowa, who had been on him all along. However, the allure of the Michigan offer was too much to pass up, and he committed to Michigan today.

Player Notes
Gordon is a big, physical receiver, with large measurables for the position. He lacks elite speed, but is able to beat defenders, using his body well and catching it at the highest point with his biug hands. However, Michigan fans liked the physical play he could bring to a linebacker position at the next level. It will be interesting to see whether he remains at receiver when he gets to the next level, or at least be open to a potential position switch.

Etc.
This year, Gordon was catching passes thrown by 2010 dual-threat quarterback prospect Devin Gardner, who is certainly one of the top targets on Michigan’s recruiting board. Securing a commitment from Gordon should go a long way to helping Michigan land his teammate in the next recruiting class.

With no comments on the draft ballot, everything remains as it was. Again, the deltas are inaccurate, so pay them no mind.

Lake the Posts, poster-blog for “hey give us respect, guys!” posting, has yet another issue with not getting what the Cats “deserve.” 8-4 Iowa has been selected to the Outback Bowl over the 9-3 Wildcats, who also hold a head-to-head victory on the season. Well, for once there may be a legitimate gripe here. Let’s take a look at the resumes:

Neither resume is particularly impressive, and they’re fairly hard to differentiate at this point (aside form the head-to-head win). Let’s break it down further.

Northwestern gets the non-conference nod, though it’s slightly skewed because they didn’t lose a non-conference game, whereas Iowa lost to the only legit opponent either team played. Northwestern’s crappy non-con schedule gets a bump of one spot at each position. If you were to sort just by quality of opposition, ignoring win/loss record, Iowa’s slate would take Northwestern’s behind the woodshed.

Overall, the resumes are very similar, but Iowa’s seems to be better on the whole, despite the head-to-head loss and the slightly worse record. The common opponents occupy a high slot on Northwestern’s resume, and their wins were eith
er comparable or not as impressive. In loss, Iowa was competitive in every game they played (and let’s not even get into how they should have beaten both Michigan State and Pitt), whereas Northwestern was either getting blown out by good teams, or losing to Indiana, of all teams.

New Rankings:

#1 Ohio State – 24 commits
LB	*****	Dorian Bell
RB	****	Jaamal Berry
DE	****	Melvin Fellows
CB	****	CJ Barnett
WR	****	James Jackson
MLB	****	Storm Klein
MLB	****	Jordan Whiting
RB	****	Jordan Hall
OG	****	Corey Linsley
OT	****	Jack Mewhort
S	****	Jamie Wood
WR	****	Justin Green
RB	****	Carlos Hyde
CB	****	Corey Brown
WR	****	Chris Fields
CB	****	Dominic Clarke
WR	***	Duron Carter
DE	***	Jonathan Newsome
TE	***	Reid Fragel
DT	***	Adam Bellamy
FB	***	Adam Homan
LB	***	Zach Boren
OL	***	Sam Longo
DT	***	Johnny Simon

#2 Michigan – 20 commits
CB	****	Justin Turner
QB	****	Tate Forcier
QB	****	Shavodrick Beaver
RB	****	Fitzgerald Toussaint
S	****	Vladimir Emilien
WR	****	Jeremy Gallon
OL	****	Michael Schofield
DT	****	DeQuinta Jones
DE	****	Anthony LaLota
DE	****	Craig Roh
DT	****	Pearlie Graves
S	***	Isaiah Bell
WR	***	DeWayne Peace
RB	***	Teric Jones
LB	***	Jordan Barnes
S	***	Mike Jones
LB	***	Brandin Hawthorne
RB	***	Vincent Smith
S	***	Thomas Gordon
K	**	Brendan Gibbons

#3 Notre Dame – 17 commits
RB	*****	Cierre Wood
WR	****	Shaquelle Evans
OL	****	Chris Watt
RB	****	Theo Riddick
DT	****	Tyler Stockton
OL	****	Alex Bullard
CB	****	Marlon Pollard
LB	****	Dan Fox
OL	****	Zach Martin
LB	****	Zeke Motta
S	***	Nyshier Oliver
S	***	EJ Banks
TE	***	Tyler Eifert
MLB	***	Carlo Calabrese
P	***	Ben Turk
K	**	Nicholas Tausch
TE	**	Jake Golic

#4 Michigan State – 16 commits
RB	****	Edwin Baker
RB	****	Larry Caper
SLB	****	Chris Norman
OL	****	David Barrent
WR	****	Donald Spencer
DT	****	Blake Treadwell
QB	****	Andrew Maxwell
OL	****	Nate Klatt
WR	***	Dana Dixon
LB	***	Tyquan Hammock
OL	***	Micajah Reynolds
WR	***	Patrick White
DE	***	Dan France
LB	***	Denicos Allen
WR	***	Bennie Fowler
TE	**	Derek Hoebing

#5 Illinois – 16 commits
WR	****	Kraig Appleton
DT	****	Lendell Buckner
OT	****	Leon Hill
QB	****	Nathan Scheelhaase
RB	****	Bud Golden
WR	****	Terry Hawthorne
DE	****	Craig Drummond
OL	***	Andrew Carter
FB	***	Greg Fuller
OL	***	Hugh Thornton
DT	***	Tank Carradine
WR	***	Steve Hull
S	**	Tommie Hopkins
CB	**	Joelil Thrash
OL	**	Jake Feldmeyer
LB	**	Darryl Lee

#6 Penn State – 20 commits
OT	****	Eric Shrive
CB	****	Darrell Givens
DE	****	Sean Stanley
S	****	Derrick Thomas
S	***	Stephen Obeng-Agyapong
S	***	Malcolm Willis
C	***	Ty Howle
CB	***	Stephon Morris
WR	***	Brandon Felder
OT	***	Adam Gress
OL	***	Nate Cadogan
RB	***	Curtis Dukes
LB	***	Glenn Carson
ATH	***	Devon Smith
K	***	Anthony Fera
QB	**	Curtis Drake
OG	**	Frank Figueroa
WR	**	Christian Kuntz
OT	**	Mark Arcidiacono
DE	**	Garry Gilliam

#7 Wisconsin – 17 commits
DT	****	Jared Kohout
DE	****	Shelby Harris
DE	****	David Gilbert />
RB	****	Montee Ball
LB	***	Conor O’Neill
DE	***	Tyler Dippel
OG	***	Ryan Groy
QB	***	Jon Budmayr
OT	***	Zac Matthias
TE	***	Brian Wozniak
MLB	***	Chris Borland
OL	***	Travis Frederick
LB	***	AJ Fenton
WR	***	Jeff Duckworth
OL	**	Casey Dehn
S	**	Jason Peprah
CB	**	Darius Thomas

#8 Indiana – 16 commits
LB	****	Jeremy Gainer
QB	***	Edward Wright-Baker
DT	***	Adam Replogle
WR	***	Jamonne Chester
WR	***	Duwyce Wilson
OL	***	Charles Chapman
QB	***	Dustin Kiel
OL	***	Colin Rodkey
CB	***	Lawrence Barnett
K	***	Mitch Ewald
S	***	Nick Zachery
S	***	Demetrius Carr
S	***	Ted Bolser
OL	***	Pat McShane
S	***	Kenny Watkins
DE	**	Javon Cornley

#9 Minnesota – 15 commits
RB	****	Hasan Lipscomb
WR	****	Hayo Carpenter
QB	***	Moses Alipate
C	***	Ed Olsen
OT	***	Josh Campion
WR	***	Victor Keise
OL	***	Brooks Michel
LB	***	Kendell Gregory-McGhee
DB	***	Kerry Lewis
TE	***	Ra’Shede Hageman
DT	***	Joey Searcy
DE	***	Matt Garin
DE	**	Nick Rengel
K	**	Dan Orseske
CB	*	Daryl Robinson

#10 Northwestern – 15 commits
OL	****	Patrick Ward
QB	***	Evan Watkins
RB	***	Mike Trumpy
DE	***	Anthony Battle
LB	***	Will Studlien
OL	***	Taylor Paxton
DB	***	Davion Fleming
RB	***	Arby Fields
OL	**	Brian Smith
WR	**	Drew Moulton
LB	**	Tim Riley
LB	**	Tyler Scott
DE	**	John Plasencia
K	**	Jeff Budzein
S	*	Cooper Gerami

#11 Iowa – 12 commits
WR	****	Keenan Davis
RB	****	Brandon Wegher
WR	***	Jordan Cotton
FB	***	Brad Rogers
OL	**	Drew Clark
DT	**	Scott Covert
OL	**	Brett Van Sloten
TE	**	Anthony Schiavone
LB	**	Tyler Harrell
LB	**	Shane DiBona
LB	**	Martin Hopkins
CB	**	Joshua Brown

#12 Purdue – 12 commits
DT	***	Eric McDaniel
DE	***	Shayon Green
TE	***	Gabrison Holmes
WR	***	Xavier Reese
DT	**	Cody Davis
DE	**	Trevor Foy
S	**	Ishmael Aristide < /td>
WR	**	Gary Bush
QB	**	Rob Henry
WR	**	Josh Johnson
DT	**	Brandon Taylor
DB	*	Chris Quinn

]]> http://www.umvarsityblue.com/2008/12/big-ten-2009-recruiting-class-rankings-12-7-08/feed/ 3 http://www.umvarsityblue.com/2008/12/more-possible-attrition/ http://www.umvarsityblue.com/2008/12/more-possible-attrition/#comments Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:17:00 +0000 Tim http://panel1382.wordpress.com/2008/12/05/more-possible-attrition/ At the annual football bust, according to every media outlet with a UM beat writer, Sam McGuffie, Carson Butler, and Avery Horn were not present. Butler’s (as-yet-still-unofficial) departure from the team may be the worst-kept secret in America, and Horn wasn’t expected to ever contribute.

McGuffie, on the other hand, had a transfer rumor circulating a few weeks back, and until now, it had appeared that everything was back on track for him to remain in Ann Arbor. Of course, his absence from one event is not a sure sign either way that he is on his way out, but certainly something to keep in mind.

Eligibility Chart as yet not updated, but certainly on notice for official word on any of these guys.

At this point, it is clear Charlie Weis is not going to succeed as a coach on any large scale at the college level, barring a completely-unforeseen turnaround. This obviously affects Michigan, as the Wolverines play Notre Dame for the next infinity years.

In the more immediate timeframe, this means that Notre Dame commits like Chris Watt and Shaquelle Evans, who had considered Michigan late in the process, will remain off (metaphorical) board. However, even if Notre Dame reels in a good recruiting class for 2009, they are likely to FAIL once more in the next season, and it is more relevant that Weis is stockpiling talent for the next Irish headman (thankfully, not Brian Kelly immediately).

And now, some humor at Weis’s expense:
Tim: charlie weis retained, and there is much rejoicing
Paul: do you think it was because kelly turned them down?
Tim: i dunno. i think they didn’t want to develop a reputation of cycling through coaches before giving the new guys a chance, plus the buyout thing
Paul: so they’re giving them the five years?
Tim: yeah, they give everyone 5 years, with necessary adjustments for melanin levels
Tim: charlie weis just went on a recruiting trip to hawaii. do you think he had to buy 2 seats on the plane?
Paul: hahaha
Tim: i’m just sayin’. the cost of that flight alone might have been worth paying the buyout instead
Paul: he may fit in with the samoan population
Tim: they are at least athletic and fat
Paul: yeah… CW has one of two. that’s closer than he is to most athletes
Tim: hey man, MCL injury
Paul: true

Cameron Gordon
He won’t wow you with his speed, but I was surprised how good his hands were (especially after hearing they may be something of a liability). He was definitely Inkster’s go-to receiver, and made a few good plays and showed no fear going after the ball in traffic. Defensively, he showed that he can lay a pretty big hit, though he wasn’t a huge factor on that side of the ball. I still think that, if he wants to play receiver at the next level, whichever team he picks will see enough skill to give him a chance there.

Devin Gardner
Watching Gardner play, it’s really natural to think “wow, he should know better than to do that,” until you remember that the kid isn’t a Division-I player yet. Hell, he’s not even a high school senior. He showed good escapability and running skills, though he’s not the easy-strider that other big run-pass QBs (i.e. Vince Young or Terrelle Pryor) have been. At this point, he’s still improving as a passer, though I don’t think he was as bad as many people who had never seen him play before were expecting. Prepseer:

Gardner has blossomed into a 5 star recruit, in my opinion. I don’t kow what his actual Rivals rating is. As a Junior, he may not be rated yet. But, he has a number of BCS offers and I’m thinking he will be a 5 star when rated next year…

I predict he will commit before next season.

I’m not sure about his making a commitment that early (he seems like the type who will at least take a couple visits, if not wait until January or February to make a choice), but you have to like hearing good things like this about a definite Michigan target.

AJ Westendorp
Michigan fans have been talking about this kid a ton lately, thinking he might deserve a scholarship offer. After having the chance to watch him, I’m not sure he’s quite that good, but he’s the type of guy I’d love to have as a preferred walkon if he’s interested. He plays a similar offensive system to Michigan, with a zone-read option game and lots of horizontal passing. He is also a tough runner – he reminds me a lot of CMU’s Dan LeFevour in that respect. He could also throw well on the run. The biggest knock on him is his arm strength – he simply doesn’t have enough to earn D-I scholarship offers. Anything thrown past the line of scrimmage was thrown with a big loopy path, and the deep balls tended to look like ducks, and hung in the air for a long time. His strength actually reminded me a bit of Nick Sheridan, though his game was appreciably better in just about every other respect. Prepseer:

I don’t think he has great arm strength (something that could keep him at the Div. 2 level), but he is extremely accurate and he reads the coverage very well. Several times he would go to the third, even fourth receiver all while eluding the DCD pass rush.

He’s a smart player who would certainly warrant a scholarship if he had a much stronger arm. His coach used to be at Glades Central, and Rich Rodriguez has always recruited the muck hard. Maybe there’s a relationship there that could facilitate a preferred-walkon situation.

MSU Commits Bennie Fowler and Max Bullough
Fowler actually impressed me a lot. He had much better size than I was expecting, and pretty good speed, too. He’s a guy who will have to develop a bit before he is ready to play at the Division-I level, but if you’re Michigan State, those are the guys you have to thrive on. I didn’t think Bullough was anything special, until I looked at the boxscore and realized he was the leading tackler – in any of the state finals games. He looked really small to me, though of course it’s important to remember he’s just a junior.

If happened to watch any of the finals games, be sure to fill in your thoughts in the comments.

Michigan passes Notre Dame to regain its throne as #2 recruiting class. Considering the fact that Notre Dame is likely to start hemorrhaging recruits when their coach is either fired immediately or effective following another shitty year in 2009, I doubt the Irish will get back up to the #2 spot. However, stranger things have happened.

New Rankings:

#1 Ohio State – 24 commits
LB	*****	Dorian Bell
RB	****	Jaamal Berry
DE	****	Melvin Fellows
CB	****	CJ Barnett
WR	****	James Jackson
MLB	****	Storm Klein
MLB	****	Jordan Whiting
RB	****	Jordan Hall
OG	****	Corey Linsley
OT	****	Jack Mewhort
S	****	Jamie Wood
WR	****	Justin Green
RB	****	Carlos Hyde
CB	****	Corey Brown
WR	****	Chris Fields
CB	****	Dominic Clarke
WR	***	Duron Carter
DE	***	Jonathan Newsome
TE	***	Reid Fragel
DT	***	Adam Bellamy
FB	***	Adam Homan
LB	***	Zach Boren
OL	***	Sam Longo
DT	***	Johnny Simon

#2 Michigan – 20 commits
CB	****	Justin Turner
QB	****	Tate Forcier
QB	****	Shavodrick Beaver
RB	****	Fitzgerald Toussaint
S	****	Vladimir Emilien
WR	****	Jeremy Gallon
OL	****	Michael Schofield
DT	****	DeQuinta Jones
DE	****	Anthony LaLota
DE	****	Craig Roh
DT	****	Pearlie Graves
S	***	Isaiah Bell
WR	***	DeWayne Peace
RB	***	Teric Jones
LB	***	Jordan Barnes
S	***	Mike Jones
LB	***	Brandin Hawthorne
RB	***	Vincent Smith
S	***	Thomas Gordon
K	**	Brendan Gibbons

#3 Notre Dame – 17 commits
RB	*****	Cierre Wood
WR	****	Shaquelle Evans
OL	****	Chris Watt
RB	****	Theo Riddick
DT	****	Tyler Stockton
OL	****	Alex Bullard
CB	****	Marlon Pollard
LB	****	Dan Fox
OL	****	Zach Martin
LB	****	Zeke Motta
S	***	Nyshier Oliver
S	***	EJ Banks
TE	***	Tyler Eifert
MLB	***	Carlo Calabrese
P	***	Ben Turk
K	**	Nicholas Tausch
TE	**	Jake Golic

Down: Shaquelle Evans (from 5)

Up: Steve Hull (from 2).

Moved to Committed:
FL S Vladimir Emilien.

New Information:
MD RB/Ath Tavon Austin. I was about ready to remove him, but not it looks like he’ll visit December 12th.
AZ OL Taylor Lewan. Visited Minnesota this past weekend. Maybe helping Michigan in this one: the Gophers just lost their OL coach.
MI DT William Campbell. Bama-related mention.
IN LB Commit Jordan Barnes. Same as above (link the same as well).
FL LB Commit Brandin Hawthorne. Visiting Pitt this weekend (info in header).
OH CB Commit Justin Turner. Not losing faith in Michigan.

Removed:
FL S Jonathan Scott. No apparent interest.
SC S DJ Swearinger. South Carolina commit.

Etc.:
UNC CB Commit Josh Hunter intends to visit Ann Arbor. I had been ready to eliminate OH OL Marcus Hall, because he had been naming a top group without us, but now it looks like he’s planning a Michigan visit. I still think the Wolverines don’t stand a chance, but he’ll remain on the board until they’re officially eliminated. GA WR Jamal Patterson remains “100% committed” to Stanford.

When my uncle brought up the fact that he lost 6 games his first season (that’s a 2-6 season which is the same winning percentage as 3-9 fyi…), she said “Yes, but after that they won a lot of games every year.” At that point my hand was firmly attached to my forehead. When I said what the difference was between Peter Stuursma’s first year and Rich Rodriguez’s, she said that something was, but she couldn’t explain it to me.

Then I explained how Rich Rodriguez generally had a rough first year followed by a fairly good second year and then BECOMES A MACHINE. I told them how at WVU he had one bad year followed by four years of 8+ wins and 3 years of 10+ wins*. After I said that, another uncle said “10 wins won’t cut it at Michigan.” At this point I’m trying to resist the urge to fly over the table with a butter knife. Lloyd Carr was a great coach and only had 5 of 12 years with double digit wins. Bo Schembechler, THE Michigan coach in the modern era was only slightly better at 10 of 20 seasons of 10+ wins**.

I’m hoping he just doesn’t really know football. If Michigan fans think 10 wins is unacceptable, we’re worse off than I expected. 10 wins is a great season. 8 wins is a good season. Sure we’re Michigan and our team should always be in contention for a championship, but you can’t expect to be a game or two away every year. With limited scholarships, you don’t have hegemonic powers. There is more ebb and flow. It’s time Michigan fans learn to appreciate what we’ve had, have and will soon have.

*People are mature. From Rich Rodriguez’s Wikpedia entry:

**It’ s a little hard to compare the to eras given Bo only had 10 games with a much harder to reach bowl up until 1975, but Lloyd’s whole tenure was within the era of limited scholarship era. I’m not sure if the factors balance out or not.

MHSAA Division 8 Final Fri 10AM
Crystal Falls Forest Park v. Muskegon Catholic Central

MHSAA Division 2 Final Fri 1PM
Muskegon v. Warren DeLaSalle
Terrance Taylor was a star at Muskegon (as was USC’s Ronald Johnson), and they are consistently one of the best teams in the state, and even the country.

MHSAA Division 6 Final Fri 4:30 PM
Montague v. Leslie

MHSAA Division 4 Final Fri 11PM
Holland Christian v. Detroit Country Day
Holland Christian Senior QB AJ Westendorp is a potential walkon candidate, though don’t be surprised if he accepts a scholarship offer from a different (likely smaller) school. Though he hasn’t even garnered an offer from GVSU, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s where he ends up. Consider this your opportunity to determine if you think he deserves an offer.
Country Day has several prospects, including 2009 MSU verbal Bennie Fowler, in addition to 2010 players DT Chris Eddins and S Jason Ray.

MHSAA Division 7 Final Sat 10AM
Traverse City St. Francis v. Ubly
2010 MSU commit Max Bullough is the star linebacker for St. Francis. Offensive lineman Peter Rigan is also a potential Division-I player.

MHSAA Division 1 Final Sat 1PM
Rockford v. Lake Orion
Rockford has a 2010 linebacker of interest for Michigan fans, in Joe Stefanski.
Lake Orion is the alma mater of outgoing UM tackle Will Johnson and offensive lineman Ethan Ruhland of Michigan State.

MHSAA Division 5 Final Sat 4:30 PM
Ovid-Elsie v. Muskegon Oakridge
Ovid-Elsie has 2010 RB Chris Robinson, who could garner some bigger attention down the road.

MHSAA Division 3 Final Sun 12:30 AM
East Grand Rapids v. Inkster
Oddly, the best game (or at least one of them) is not airing until Sunday morning at 12:30 (It’s being played at 7:30, during a Red Wings game). 2009 WR/LB Cameron Gordon from Inkster has the attention of several BCS-caliber schools, including much of the Big Ten (and both instate schools). His 2010 teammate is the headliner, however, and QB Devin Gardner has his first opportunity to show off his skills on the big stage. It’s highly likely he’ll be doing the same over a year from now in one of the national all-star games.
East Grand Rapids, the alma mater of the Grady brothers, has the state’s most productive RB, Joe Glendening. They also sport TE/PF prospect Colin Voss, and Western Michigan commit TE Christopher Blair.

Added:
4 from Jim Stefani:
NJ OL Dante Weaver
TX DT De’Aires Cotton
FL RB Roy Finch
OH WR Jerald Robinson

New Information:
VA QB Phillip Sims. Fluff.
TX RB Lache Seastrunk. Closing in on his school’s all-time yardage record.
SC RB Marcus Lattimore. He already has 20 offers. Yeah, he’s kind of a big deal.
FL WR Commit Ricardo Miller. One of the fluffiest articles in history.
OH DE/LB Jamel Turner. He didn’t grow up with a favorite school, and considers himself a “free agent.”
NC DE Prince Shembo. NC State has offered (info in header).

Removed:
SC DT Kelcy Quarles. South Carolina commit.

Etc.:
MI QB Devin Gardner and RB Nick Hill played each other in the playoffs. Gardner’s team won, and is going to the state championship game.

Player Notes
Emilien had a fairly impressive offer sheet prior to his commitment, and is known as a safety prospect who can play either position. He has good speed in the defensive backfield, and could excel under the tutelage of Mike Barwis. He has fairly good size as well, and will likely end up as a big run-supporting strong safety. Emilien has a good reputation of going 100% on every play, a good sign that he meets Rodriguez’s all-important criterion of “loves football.”

Recruiting Notes
Emilien was offered at the beginning of May, though it seemed even at that time that he was bound for Ohio State. All indications from the beginning of his recruitment showed that he was a heavy Buckeye lean. However, the OSU class filled up fairly quickly, and there was no longer room for him in the class of ‘09. When Ohio State allegedly pulled an offer from one of their commitments following an off-field incident, it appeared as though Emilien’s break may have come. However, he never committed to the Buckeyes, and after the Michigan State game official visit, the Wolverines may have taken over the top spot in his mind. Originally planning to announce yesterday, Vlad delayed his decision until today, and picked Michigan over Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Stanford.