2016 recruiting

it was a busy week for Harbaugh and his staff. they secured four more commits and I think the next two weeks will bring three more. My board and predictions from last week are shot. No sense trying to deny it. I can only take solace in knowing that I pulled the trigger on Bredesen when other weren't willing to. Still, I failed miserably with everyone else ha ha. 

Anyhow, here is my UPDATED commit list and my UPDATED predictions for the class. 



5* DT Rashan Gary 6-4 290lbs Paramus Catholic (Paramus, NJ)
4* SDE Khalid Kareem 6-4 260lbs Harrison (Farmington, MI)
3* WDE Terrell Lucas 6-3 220lbs Hollywood, FL (Miramar)
2* SDE Rashad Weaver 6-5 245lbs Cooper City (Fort Lauderdale, FL) - Committed

3* ILB Dele Harding 6-1 232lbs Eastern Christian (Elkton, MD) - Committed
3* ILB David Reese 6-1 235lbs Farmington (Farmington, MI) - Current Commit / Predicted Decommit
3* ILB Dytarious Johnson 6-1 205lbs Prattville (Prattville, AL) - Committed
3* OLB Jonathan Jones 6-1 220lbs Oak Ridge (Orlando, FL) 

5* OT Ben Bredeson 6-5 293lbs Arrowhead (Hartland, WI) - Committed
4* OT Erik Swenson 6-7 285lbs Downers Grove South (Downers Grove, IL) - Committed
4* OG Michael Onwenu 6-3 365lbs Cass Technical (Detroit, MI) - Committed
4* OG Terrance Davis 6-4 305lbs DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, MD) 

4* TE Naseir Upshur 6-3 233lbs Imhotep Institute (Philadelphia, PA) 
4* ATH Ahmir Mitchell 6-3 206lbs Cedar Creek (Egg Harbor City, NJ)
4* APB Chris Evans 5-11 186lbs Ben Davis (Indianapolis, IN) - Committed
3* WR Donald Stewart 6-4 180lbs Paramus Catholic (Paramus, NJ)  
3* TE Sean McKeon 6-5 230lbs Shepherd Hill (Dudley, MA) - Committed

4* PRO Brandon Peters 6-5 205lbs Avon (Avon, IN) - Committed
3* ATH Victor Viramontes 6-2 22lbs Norco (Norco, CA) - Committed

4* CB David Long 6-0 175lbs Loyola (Los Angeles, CA)
3* CB Antwaine Richardson 6-0 165lbs Atlantic (Delray Beach, FL) - Committed
2* S Josh Metellus 6-0 187lbs Charles W Flanagan (Hollywood, FL) - Committed

3* RB Kiante Enis 6-1 200lbs Winchester Community Sch (Winchester, IN) - Committed
3* RB Matthew Falcon 6-1 215lbs Southfield (Southfield, MI) - Committed
3* FB Kingston Davis 6-1 225lbs Prattville (Prattville, AL) - Committed


I still have Gary in the class. In fact he's visiting this weekend and I've recently read a few things that made me feel a bit better about UM's standing to this point. Still a long way to go. I can't wait to hear how his visit goes.

I have taken 4* WDE Xavier Kelly off the board. In his place I put 3* WDE Terrell Lucas.

I have taken 5* OLB Caleb Kelly off of the board. Maybe too much of an uphill battle at this point. 

Look for Jonathan Jones upates this weekend. He is visiting and I feel he is a guy that could pull the trigger if all goes well.

I'm still not ready to put Devin Bush Jr in the class. I think he stays legacy and ends up at FSU.

I'm throwing in the towel on 4* WR Desmond Fitzpatrick. In fact I've also taken David Reese off the board. There is word of a decommit coming soon. Reese is visiting Louisville right now. He and Fitz are good friends. I think Fitz flips him to UL, especially given the LB class UM is lining up. 

I have also taken Brad Hawkins off the board. Just not enough room at this point. Side note to that, Chase Claypool is a WR to watch for. I would be ecstatic to have him in the class. 

Bad news is that 4* CB Lavert Hill has been taken off of my board. He hasn't decommitted from Penn State and from what I'm reading, if he does it will be a 50/50 battle with sparty. That said, he seems to be tredning Sparty so I'm predicting he wont be in the class and will end up at Sparty.


So that puts the class 9 over the scholarship limit. I think the writing is on the wall for at least 6 (possibly eight) 5th yr SRs. I think they know Jim will not be offering them a scholarship. If that is the case then that still leaves anywhere from 1 to 3 kids that will have to get trimmed through "attrition". 

I personally don't like that at all. It is shades of SEC/Urban Meyer. But in Jim's defense (and technically the defense of all of the other SEC coaches that oversign), the UM staff may already know of kids that aren't going to get medically/academically cleared or plan on  not playing a 5ht year and not be sharing that info publicly at this point.


If all of these kids drop that would give UM a total class score of 268.97. That score of 268.97 should go up over the next year because I'm sure some of these recruits will gain a few more points or stars as their senior season unfolds. A score of 268.97 should be enough for UM to finish with a top 10 class.  Side note: Harbaugh's best class at Stanford was ranked #18.



*** UPDATE **** Gary got another CB prediction to UM. UM clearly has the momentum over the last 3-4 months in terms of scout predictions. I don't think he would commit this weekend but a good impression will go a long way. He is visiting with four PC teammates I believe.   As far as I know Gary is set to drag this out and commit during his All American game. 



*** UPDATE #2 **** I got way ahead of myself and forgot that Jaylen Kelly-Powell is a 2017 target and not a 2016 target.  So I have taken him out and updated class projections. I'm having a hard time keeping track of these kids ha ha. [Go home eggo, you're drunk!!]

my gut says devin gil will drop tomorrow (per his tweets ha ha)

geez this has quickly turned into the eggo thread. Is anyone else gonna post question / comments? bout time for me to go silent because I feel like I'm I'm talking to myself here.    Anybody?

Go off on your recruiting rants, we know nothing. We are all reading your posts though and we fully appreciate them.

I like your theory on redshirting most of the incoming freshmen. If this is indeed Jim's strategy, he must be getting these kids to buy into it. How does this affect recruiting, most knowing they won't be playing in their first year?

Is coach Harbaugh getting his targets, or is he whiffing on the highly ranked ones, and settling on 3-star recruits?

What happens to recruiting if the worst case scenario happens, and Michigan somehow goes 5-7 or worse?

Lastly and most importantly, blondes, brunettes or redheads? The world seems to be straying from the most important topics.

EJinGA wrote:

I like your theory on redshirting most of the incoming freshmen. If this is indeed Jim's strategy, he must be getting these kids to buy into it. How does this affect recruiting, most knowing they won't be playing in their first year?

Is coach Harbaugh getting his targets, or is he whiffing on the highly ranked ones, and settling on 3-star recruits?

What happens to recruiting if the worst case scenario happens, and Michigan somehow goes 5-7 or worse?

Lastly and most importantly, blondes, brunettes or redheads? The world seems to be straying from the most important topics.

My opinion:
1) Skill positions other than QB- i.e. RBs WRs , DBs, do not expect to redshirt if they are bluechips. I think it is not a problem with other positions

2) I think JH is going for specific skills and attitudes, most coaches "settle" in some cases, but ZI don't think he is particularly so.

3) If we go 5-7- recruiting will suffer big, big, time.

4) They all have their appeal.

Don't forget the 2016 n°1 place kicker Quinn Nordin. 247 has him as 100% UM.

squeezebox wrote:

Don't forget the 2016 n°1 place kicker Quinn Nordin.  247 has him as 100% UM.  

good one squeez. completely forgot about him since we got Andrew David last year.

sandyeggo_blue wrote:

my gut says devin gil will drop tomorrow (per his tweets ha ha)

+1 eggo. Gil is Blue!

sandyeggo_blue wrote:

sandyeggo_blue wrote:

my gut says devin gil will drop tomorrow (per his tweets ha ha)

+1 eggo. Gil is Blue!

Good call Sandy. Be nice if number 3 of the group comes our way!!!

Go Blue!!

GOBLUEJOE66 wrote:

Good call Sandy.  Be nice if number 3 of the group comes our way!!!  

Go Blue!!    

sure would but I still think Bush Jr is headed to FSU.

sandyeggo_blue wrote:

GOBLUEJOE66 wrote:

Good call Sandy.  Be nice if number 3 of the group comes our way!!!  

Go Blue!!    

sure would but I still think Bush Jr is headed to FSU.

Dang it, but let's promise to not say "I told you so" no matter whichever one he signs with!! Commit does not count!

Go Blue!!

Benjamin St Juste just committed. NR CB from Quebec. Could fall into the 2016 or 2017 class depending on his enrollment. 

Tall CB. not sure why he's not ranked. I just watched his video and he can clearly play football. My guess is lack of exposure in Canada. He camped and the staff liked what they saw so he was offered. This could truly be a bust or the best "barn find" of the entire 2016 class.

Just a reminder that tomorrow is the announcement date for Khalid Kareem.

Given Michigan's depth at the position he is a desperately needed. You could make an argument that he is the #1 most needed recruit that UM is targeting at this point and that includes Rashan Gary.

I found this on Mlive:

http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2015/06/four-star_de_khalid_kareem_a_m.html


...At this point, Kareem did admit that Michigan is firmly on his mind as he prepares to wrap up his recruitment...

I think he's Blue tomorrow. [crossing fingers]

just saw this:

Coach Terel Patrick @KC_CoachTP

More good news coming today stay tuned
1:35 PM - 23 Jun 2015

then when he was asked if it was pertaining to Michigan he retweeted #HAIL

The three major kids from Detroit MLK that I know UM is recruiting are:

Lavert Hill - current PSU commit. Word is he'll decommit and will end up at Sparty
Donnie Corley - IMO a sparty lock
Martell Pettaway - committed to W Virginia earlier today


Other kids on their roster but I don't think UM is recruiting  are:

Armani Posey
Jesse Johnson
Dontre Boyd
Leon Page
Mikale Washington (just moved to W Virginia and will not be at MLK next year)


And now Sam Webb is tweeting that he's hearing things about something happening out of "one of the Detroit's most talent laden programs"


is UM on commit watch?


**** UPDATE **** It could be about 2017 recruit CB Ambry Thomas but I doubt it.

I'm thinking Corley has done a complete flip (not likely) or Hill has been pressured to get in the class now that St Juste committed today. I'm going to check the PSU boards to see what I can dig up.

Obviously will be quite interesting!!

Sandy, in your opinion which one would be the biggest surprise?

Go Blue!!  

GOBLUEJOE66 wrote:

Obviously will be quite interesting!!

Sandy, in your opinion which one would be the biggest surprise?

Go Blue!!  

i would be shocked if it were corley. but I had recently taken Hill off of my board so that would be a surprise to me also.

it looks to me like older brother Delano got to him. My gut is telling me that Lavert is going to be Blue.

still nothing from Steve or Sam but message boards are throwing around 100 different theories and the only one that makes sense is that Norfleet may be reinstated. This would be an all time epic troll from the MLK coach Terel Patrick. 

is a good thing to troll the most beloved college team in your state?

No. In my lame opinion I would be happy just landing Gary and calling it a day. Norfleet coming back would be a plus. They do need that big blue chip recruit, and I hope it's Gary.

As far as DE's are concerned, I have a feeling Wormley is going to go off this year.

Devery Hamilton has just announced that he is going to announce his decision today sometime between 4-5pm tonight.

It's UM/Maryland/Stanford.

Maryland is out based on the tweet that I read saying he wasn't going to visit Maryland anymore. that's just my opinion though. I could be wrong.

Most have thought it to be a UM/Stanford battle for a while anyway.

It's really 50/50 but my gut says he ends up at Stanford. UM is much closer to home but we already have two OTs in the class and I was under the impression that Cesar Ruiz was the last target for the Oline in this class (besides Terrance Davis being a lock). I could be really wrong about that though.

He's a take for sure but my gut says Stanford. If you look at the boards on Scout/247/mgoblog it's 50/50 so this could go either way tonight.

for what it's worth, Steve L says that his source told him not to mess with his CB prediction so that basically means he knows and doesn't want to break the news with an updated CB prediction.


**** UPDATE **** decision pushed to 5:30

sandyeggo_blue wrote:

Benjamin St Juste just committed. NR CB from Quebec. Could fall into the 2016 or 2017 class depending on his enrollment. 

Tall CB. not sure why he's not ranked. I just watched his video and he can clearly play football. My guess is lack of exposure in Canada. He camped and the staff liked what they saw so he was offered. This could truly be a bust or the best "barn find" of the entire 2016 class.

A little tid bit I found on St Juste.

apparently he committed a week ago per Steve L. I'd be interested to hear what his reasoning was to not announcing. maybe it was the coaches.


also, here is a reason as to why he could be a 2016 or 2017 (I copied this from a 247 message board):

"CEGEP is a uniquely Quebec thing. Basically, it exists somewhere between high school and university.
In Quebec, high school ends after grade 11 (as opposed to grade 12 in most of Canada and the U.S.). In order to attend a university in Quebec, you must graduate from a CEGEP.
Typically, CEGEP programs are two years in length, however, if you are attending university outside of the province, you can leave after one year (assuming you've met your out-of-province university's requirements), hence the confusion on when he will be a 2016 or 2017 player."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CEGEP

Rashan Gray, and other 4* unofficial visits this weekend!!

http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2015/06/five-star_dt_rashan_gary_natio.html

Go Blue!!

For all of the star gazers out there, it looks like St Juste got graded 3* (82 overall). Yesterday he was NR. That's the Michigan difference ha ha!

Not trying to get hopes up but it is trending for UM to get TWO very nice commits today.

Khalid Kareem and Devery Hamilton are trending VERY VERY nicely at this hour.

Kareem announcement in 45 minutes.

Hamilton has moved his up from 5:30 to 3:45

Oh, my hopes are up. Too late for that. Will keep a somber eye on B/R.

WTF can't we get a DE to commit to UM????  it's being reported that Kareem was a silent commit and then switched to Bama last night.

bama steals another one from us. This was a kid in our backyard and saban didn't have to set up a satellite camp to do it. Harbaugh should never leave the state of alabama. hound every bama recruit from here til saban dies.

i hate that midget nick saban. proabably not even tall enough to ride all of the rides at cedar point.

Well, Hamilton is blue.

just goes to show how unpredictable the recruiting game is.

I woke up this morning 100% sure that Kareem was Blue and when news of Hamilton committing today broke I was 75% sure he was going to Stanford.

I was dead wrong on both.

So I guess missing out on Kareem puts Ron Johnson at the top of the board for UM now.

I agree. Saban is a dick and he can go suck one. It pissed me off to get that update. I don't know who is a bigger snake, him or Meyer.

It's a slap in the face because it feels like a payback for the satellite camps. I'm sure the prick is gloating.

Ron Johnson is blue!

http://michigan.247sports.com/Bolt/Johnson-Commits-To-Michigan-37934819