Anyone hear anything about Ward?

http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=2&c=1255816&ssf=1&RequestedURL=http%3a%2f%2frecruiting.scout.com%2f2%2f1255816.html

Evidently Ward visited Florida. Isn't that a no-no?

I'm trying to find more on this but it really seems like a non factor because I can't find word of it anywhere. Does anyone know if Hoke allows kids to visit other schools if the clear it with him first?

Would be a shame to lose this kid. It may seem overkill to some but I'd love to have 5+ big nasty OL trench guys each class.

To piggy-back on what you said, as far as I know he is still committed as well. Could it be possible that the no other visits "rule" is only for Seniors? That is a lot to ask a kid who is a junior in High School to give up. I'm also not clear if your trip can be paid for by the school when you're a junior. Basically I'm saying, "I don't know."

2ndComingOfBo wrote:

To piggy-back on what you said, as far as I know he is still committed as well. Could it be possible that the no other visits "rule" is only for Seniors? That is a lot to ask a kid who is a junior in High School to give up. I'm also not clear if your trip can be paid for by the school when you're a junior. Basically I'm saying, "I don't know."

From what I can tell it wasn't an official because he's not at that point yet. I think officials start just before you're senior year. That would mean Ward paid for it. Maybe Hoke is okay with that. In the end, Florida did offer him and he visited so I'm a bit confused. Also from what I can tell he is still clearly committed.

Maybe it's no official visits? That sounds plausible.

2ndComingOfBo wrote:

Maybe it's no official visits? That sounds plausible.

Let me clear this up. I've got coach hoke on the red phone. I'll call him up and ask and get right back with you ha ha!

I read that he (I think it was Ward) was visiting a friend down there. He had permission from coaches. He posted on Twitter January 9 that he is still committed to Michigan. Mgoblog has rumblings that he may have committed to soon so this may not be the end of this saga.

I'm waiting 'eggo....

2ndComingOfBo wrote:

I'm waiting 'eggo....

busy signal

Don't give me that crap. This is Michigan fergodsakes, we have call waiting...

2ndComingOfBo wrote:

Don't give me that crap. This is Michigan fergodsakes, we have call waiting...

Must be a few others with his number tying up the line.

I'll shoot him a quick text.

Sounds like an excuse.....

So Denzel just transferred high schools and is now at IMG Academy in Florida.

That explains the whole Florida thing. Probably going to be a lot harder to keep him committed.

for those that don't know what the IMG academy is....

http://www.imgacademy.com/academy-program/what-academy-program

Isn't that where Te'o is training? Picture or it didn't happen...

IMG also sounds like a Junior College (kinda), that means he most likely won't come to Michigan.

2ndComingOfBo wrote:

Isn't that where Te'o is training? Picture or it didn't happen...

IMG also sounds like a Junior College (kinda), that means he most likely won't come to Michigan.

Read what the place is about. It's a legit school (structured like a college learning environment) where the kids basically focus on school for half of the day and train in their respective sport the other half. They offer post high-school courses but Ward is there to finish his high school.

I realize that but IMHO I don't think that Michigan will remain interested. It still looks like a Juco to me, or a "Transitional school". I could be wrong and I won't be upset or disspoleased if I am. A lot of it depends on the kids history, if it's anywhere even close to Dorsey he can forget it. If he hasn't ever even been suspected of anything it is possible. Michigan likes to give people who have earned it the chance to succeed. If he jhas talent and is clean he "could" end up here. I don't know enough about the situation to make a call as of yet but it smells a little funny.

I think I see where you're coming from 2nd. You're thinking is that he has been "displaced" from his previous school in Chicago and has decided to finish his schooling to make himself eligible for college by attending this IMG Academy in Florida. I can't find anywhere that says that he's had any trouble with school or the law.

So my contention is that he has moved down there to be at a place that he can satisfy his academic requirements and work on his football technique at a much more aggressive pace than he could at his previous high school.

I'm not in the know but nothing I've heard or read so far places this kid in the "Bad Apple" basket so the comparison to Dorsey doesn't hold water for me. Going to be interesting to see how it shakes out.

There's that or maybe he's another Manningham. How Coach Carr got him in UM I'll never know. It worked for the football team but wow. Grades could be another issue. We don't know yet, but where there's smoke there's usually fire. Not all of the time, but we just need to be cautious.

Not sure if this in the comments above...I didn't get through them all...but per his twitter this morning, UofM coaches are visiting him and his new QB tonight.

2ndComingOfBo wrote:

There's that or maybe he's another Manningham. How Coach Carr got him in UM I'll never know. It worked for the football team but wow. Grades could be another issue. We don't know yet, but where there's smoke there's usually fire. Not all of the time, but we just need to be cautious.

yep another wonderlic score of 6 would be quite embarrassing for UM.

True story... I went to a bachelor party weekend for a buddy of mine a few years back that happened to coincide with the NFL draft weekend. So basically the entire weekend revolved around the draft almost like a draft themed bachelor weekend. Of course we went on an all night bender every night but someone brought a sample copy of the wonderlic test in anticipation of this and one morning we all took the wonderlic still drunk\hungover, with zero sleep and the results were classic.

16 of us took the test and the worst score was a 13. The best was 31. I scored a 23. Let's just say my mind was not right when I took that test so I was impressed with my 23. I took it again a few weeks later and got a 36. The questions can be somewhat tricky but I feel like I should have scored in the 40s. The questions really weren't that hard, the problem is that I'm an analyzer and the time limit killed me.

Admin wrote:

Not sure if this in the comments above...I didn't get through them all...but per his twitter this morning, UofM coaches are visiting him and his new QB tonight.

good, if he is all squared away and not going to be an issue then I say we do all we can to keep this kid on board. The great thing is that he's said that he's still committed but I know that can change in an instant with these high school kids, not to mention signing day for him is over a year away.

IMG Academy isn't for people coming off the street. It takes some pretty big money to go there. Kids from all over the world go to IMG, especially in golf and tennis. A lot of our college seniors go there to get ready for the Combine. He must be pretty serious about his game.

From what I've heard, the academics at IMG are pretty intense. This isn't a school for thugs or delinquents or guys with poor grades. They need to keep up academically to be able to do the other stuff.

I believe Jennifer Capriatti is an alum. I really do not see this as any different than any other college prep school like Brewster Academy (Mitch McGary's school). Looks like a good school.