Wolverine Wednesday: Jourdan Found Not Guilty

Last night in the Jourdan Lewis domestic violence case, the jury deliberated about an hour and came back with a not guilty verdict for Jourdan.  Per the Dallas news: The case centered around the use of a pillow during an argument about finances in the couple's apartment. The woman said Lewis struck her in the face so hard she was forced into a wall, but Lewis' defense attorney contended he simply tossed the pillow and was trying to leave.

"For him, before a jury, to have this exoneration and it's truly that, I hope everyone will recognize that's a real, real plus," Jones said. "He just didn't want there to be any question about that."

"I'm real proud for the Cowboys and proud for him. He's got a chance to really be a fine player and he is a good person.''

Domestic violence is a serious charge but I'm glad this worked out for Jourdan and his future in the NFL and with the Dallas Cowboys.

• Jimmy spoke with the media at the Big Ten Media Day and said that the QB race is between Wilton, John, and Brandon.  We know that Jimmy loves to keep it competitive in camp but we also know Wilton is the leader in the clubhouse.  It might be a 3 way tie when camp opens on Monday, but the expectation is that Wilton has a strong grip on the job. 

• Shayne Simon Committed to ND yesterday.

• Michigan picked up a surprise commit yesterday when 2018 3 star TE Luke Schoonmaker made the call for the Wolverines.  He wasn't on anyone's radar and this even caught the recruiting services off guard.  More to come on this 6'6 225 pound TE. 

Michigan Tuesday: Is Happy For Derrick and Zak

Yesterday, Derrick Walton signed a two-way contract with the Miami Heat.   I had no idea what a two-way contract was, so I headed over to UMHoops for some clarification:




A two-way contract allows players to split time between a team’s NBA roster and its NBA G-League roster throughout the season. These contracts essentially extend the NBA roster to a 16th and 17th NBA spot and allow a player to spend up to 45 days with the NBA team that signs him, the rest of the time must be spent in the G-League.


Players are paid a salary of $75,000 while with the G-League team — far more than the $26,000 allotted for a one-way G-League deal — and a salary consistent with the NBA rookie minimum of $816,000 while on the NBA roster. That means that a player on a two-way contract can make a total of $279,000 if they spend the maximum allotted 45 days in the NBA.


If you haven't heard, the D-League sold its right to Gatoraide and is now called the G-League. This is great news for Derrick coming off a great finish to his senior year and playing well in the Summer League.  I thought he might stick with Orlando but found a home in Florida with the Heat, who are known for finding diamonds in the rough and making them into very good NBA players.

• Zak Irvin also signed a professional basketball contract yesterday with VL Pesaro in the Italian Serie A next season.  Good luck to Zak!

• IL 4 star TE Luke Ford visited last weekend and enjoyed his time, per 24/7:  "It was amazing," Ford said. "Me and Jim hit it off. I got to talk with him for two hours and could've talked more. Greg Frey was awesome to hangout with. Facilities were nice and loved the campus."  Luke and his father say that Michigan is now tied a top of their board with Alabama, Texas, and Georgia.  Bama is the presumed leader for Luke.

Michigan Monday: Former Wolverine News

• Denard is getting a tryout with the Dallas Cowboys.  Dallas could have Denard, Taco, and Jourdan all on the same team.  Nice!

• As you know, Jourdan's trial starts today and is only predicted to last a couple of days.  Hopefully, it is resolved in the best possible way for all parties.

• Jabrill Peppers signs a 10.3M four year contract with a $5.6M signing bonus with the Browns.   Congratulations, This is life changing money and I hope he is smart with every dollar!

• Jimmy takes a staff member from RR.  Reports are that Jimmy has hired Arizona's Matt Dudek as Michigan's next Director of Recruiting.   It seems Matt is well liked and a very good hire.   Inside Joke: Should we let Matt recruit defensive players?  Just kidding Matt, welcome!

• Don't forget the BBQ at the Big House is this weekend.  We will have more on it as we get closer to the event.

• Instate recruit Vincent Gray, a three-star cornerback from Rochester committed to Mizzu on Friday.  Vincent wasn't on Michigan's radar.

Michigan Friday: A Frozen Nutt at Ole Miss

We all could see this coming.   Back in the 2013 recruiting class it looked like Laquan Treadwell was heading to Ann Arbor to fix all of our WR problems.   He surprisingly committed to Ole Miss and posted on social media a photo holding a ton of money.  Ole Miss had a great recruiting class that year and everyone and their brother knew they were paying recruits.   After more and more issues popped up, including the NFL Draft night photos and text messages about Laremy Tunsil taking money from coaches and doing drugs, the NCAA finally woke up and did an investigation.  


What was the strategy with the NCAA?  It was to protect Hugh Freeze and the current staff and run the bus over former head man Houston Nutt.   Hugh as you might remember from the comments about taking time away from his family about Jimmy's Satellite Camps a few summers ago. 


This strategy of blaming Nutt was a strange one as most Universities are willing to fire their head coach hoping the NCAA goes soft on them.   Ole Miss went the other direction and tried to protect Hugh Freeze.


Guess who wasn't a big fan of this strategy? Houston Nutt who filed a law suit against Ole Miss after it was clear he was going to be the fall guy.


Houston Nutt resigned from Arkansas (Nutt left Arkansas to go to Ole Miss) due to his own text issue, as he had 2000 texts to a local news anchor he was rumored to be having an affair with.  Nutt spent 4 years at Ole Miss with his last two years (2010-2011) going 1-15 in the SEC.  He was fired in November 2011 and Freeze took over.


So what prompted Hugh Freeze to resign yesterday, 6 weeks before the season and after SEC Media Day?


During the investigation into Ole Miss, Nutt's attorney found a strange 313 Detroit phone number on Freeze's phone record.   After some research, they found that number was to a Tampa based escort service.   The day Freeze was speaking at SEC Media days, Nutt's attorney sent that information to the leaders at Ole Miss.  


Hugh Freeze resigns yesterday and declines to have ever called an escort service.  Game over.

• Reports are that former NFL personnel guy Tom Gamble who worked with Jimmy in San Francisco is coming to Ann Arbor to work on Jimmy's non-coaching staff.   Probably in a recruiting or operations role.

• Jourdan Lewis's trial starts on Monday.  I'm surprised they couldn't plea this out before going to trial.   They expect the trial to only last a couple of days and probably be wrapped up on Tuesday.

• The recruitment of IN LB Cameron McGrone and NJ Athlete Shayne Simon seem to be coming down to Michigan vs. ND battle.  The Fighting Irish are having a surprisingly good year on the recruiting trail coming off a losing record and a coach on the hot seat.

Michigan Thursday: It's Pretty Quiet Right Now

We are 12 days from fall camp opening and things seem pretty quiet around Michigan's Football Program at the moment.   They call it Fall Camp because they are preparing for the Fall season even though camp starts in July and wraps up at the end of August. 

• 2019 4 Star OLB Spencer Lytle will be visiting Ann Arbor on July 26

• Urban Meyer texted Jeremy Ruckert's girlfriend and his girlfriends mom to help get him to OSU.   Jeremy seemed to like it, I think its a bit creepy.  

• Wilton Speight has been named to the Davey O'Brien Watch List and the Golden Arm Watch list

• Michigan is expecting a big visitor a week from Saturday on 7/29 at the BBQ at the Big House, it's 4 star Indy LB Cameron McGrone who visited Ann Arbor on 6/22 and attended Nike's Opening earlier this month.

• DJ Durkin and Maryland Football have a new indoor practice facility.  Which should help recruiting.

😍😍😍#NewColeFieldHouse pic.twitter.com/PLvxoS6zee

— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) July 19, 2017

Wolverine Wednesday: Wants To Go To Maui

• Michigan Basketball gets LSU in the first round of the Maui Invitational.  Now that is a trip you want to plan with your family!

Enjoy all that Sun, Surf & Hoops has to offer. Plan your trip to #MauiHoops now! https://t.co/0qpFifpvOH pic.twitter.com/ypp5DYloeg

— Maui Invitational (@MauiInv) July 18, 2017

• Speaking of Michigan Basketball, Coach B has yet to replace the two assistant coaches he lost.

• 2019 QB Michael Johnson Jr. got offered by Tennessee and Alabama yesterday.

• 2019 5 Star RB Quavaris Crouch is planning a visit to Ann Arbor.

• 2018 3-star OT Jalen Goss will visit Ann Arbor officially next season.

• Sam Webb says that Michigan will "kick the tires" on Oregon DL transfer Rutger Reitmaier.  Rutger picked Oregon over Michigan and stayed with that commitment after the coaching change.  Now he is transferring and I expect him to stay home and go to Tennessee.  With the loss of Corey Malone-Hatcher, Rutger would be a great replacement for the Wolverines.

Michigan Tuesday: He is Playing Where Edition?

Michigan Basketball walk-on Andrew Dakich has been planning a 5th year transfer for sometime.  It seemed every time Coach B was planning to redshirt him, Michigan had an injury at the guard position and had to use him to fill some minutes off the bench. 


Andrew had announced earlier this year that he was heading to Quinnipiac to spend his 5th and final year in college.  Well, there seems to be a change of plans and a program in Columbus is in serious need of some guard help.   That's right folks, ESPN tweeted Andrew is heading to Ohio State to play his 5th a final year.   I can see both sides of this, OSU of course is greater then Quinnipiac, but then again its OSU.   Reports are that Dakich will be on scholarship at Ohio State.


Speaking of strange decisions, The number one TE in the country Jeremy Ruckert committed to Ohio State on Monday afternoon.   This decision was not a surprise and many insiders predicted it.   He picked Ohio State over Michigan and Wisconsin.   That is a strange decision as Ohio State really doesn't use TE's in their offense too often.  Reports are that Urban has told him that he will change his offense for Jeremy.  Ok, good luck with that decision. 

• Drake Johnson got his 6th year from the NCAA and will participate in track at Michigan and won't be on the football team.   That is a good decision and I wish Drake all the best!

• Jimmy on Corey Malone-Hatcher:  "It's something that Corey, in conjunction with the doctors and the trainers, decided it was in his best interests and the right path for him to take," Harbaugh said. "I support it, from the standpoint of being very supportive of what the doctors and Corey thought was best." -- "He's still in school," Harbaugh confirmed. "It's a disappointment for his family, for him, for us coaches and for everybody in terms of football, there were high hopes there. I thought he said it very well, I can still get a great education, I can still be a great Michigan man and be able to participate as a student intern if he so chooses. There are other ways that he can contribute."

• 2018 Safety from Miami, Randy Russell Jr. has Michigan in his top 5.

Going off the Board:


I don't know if we have any History Channel fans out there, but there is a new series called The American Ripper.  The premise of the show is they are trying to solve the mystery of London's Jack the Ripper identity.    This series is trying to prove that American serial killer and con man H.H. Holmes could have been Jack the Ripper.  


HH has ties to the University of Michigan.  He actually graduated from U of M's Department of Medicine and Surgery in 1882.  He went on to run a bunch of insurance scams in Chicago and even opened a hotel that was latter nicknamed the Murder Castle.  After years on the run and more murders and scams, HH was hung on May 7th, 1896 in a prison in Philadelphia.