Michigan Friday: The Recruitment of Isaiah Sykes

The Michigan Basketball staff continues to recruit for at least one more spot for the 2010 -2011 class. One of the remaining targets is State of Michigan prospect Isaiah Sykes, a 6'5 200 pound small forward who is considered a slasher/scorer. He is not known as a strong outside shooter but a talented young man.

As of right now, Isaiah has two offers one from Michigan and one from University of Central Florida. He is also being recruited by Arkansas and Memphis but they have not offered yet.

The strange part of his recruitment is that we are nearly a month past signing day and Isaiah hasn't made a decision yet. He has a Michigan offer in hand but questions still remain about the young man and finding a fit in Ann Arbor.

1. He seems to enjoy the recruiting process, even though it's late in the game.

2. Is he a good fit for the Michigan system?

3. He transferred a number of times in high school. Is his transcripts a mess and would he qualify?

With the loss of Manny Harris and Trey Zeigler to CMU. Beilein and staff are scrambling to fill a few holes in this class. One strategy might be to bank the scholarships and have a big 2012 class. We will see how this one shakes out.

• The Michigan Football staff has offered DT Micky Johnson from Louisiana.

• Congratulations to DeShawn Sims for graduating this weekend. It will be a special day in the Big House for him and his family with President Obama speaking.

• Slippery Rock to the Big Ten! Why not? They are the only team that hasn't been rumored to be heading to the Big 11. I hope this was the Big Ten's strategy to get a ton of press, because if it wasn't this has become a huge nightmare. Do something already!

• Michigan Basketball's new assistant coach Bacari Alexander will wear shorts and bang with the U of M big men during practice. "That's exciting and sometimes you have to show them better than you can tell them, so they can get a visual," Alexander said of mixing it up with the players in practice. "You've got some student-athletes who are visual learners and coach is right you've got to be able to demonstrate that. "I think people are still surprised, and coach will be, too, that I can still dunk the basketball off the vertical. We'll be able to show him some things."

• The construction on the new basketball practice facility with start construction on Sunday. They expect to have if fully ready sometime in 2011.

Michigan Thursday: Recruiting Blitz

The Michigan coaching staff is on the road for what is considered a 4-6 week Spring evaluation period. Look for a number of Michigan offers to increase this month as are kids visited in their high schools.

Some visits already completed include: WR DeAnthony Arnett, RB Justice Hayes and LB Trey DePreist.

• Roy Roundtree is helping recruit WR AJ Jordan from his former high school Trotwood-Madison in Ohio. AJ now has an offer from Michigan.

• TomVH at Mgoblog continues his strong recruiting position updates. Today is the Defensive Line.

• Sam Webb reports on a 2011 QB Cardale Jones who plays in "The Vests" backyard at Cleveland - Glenville. Both Michigan and MSU have offered Cardale.

• Both Detroit News papers have seen subscriptions go way down. The Detroit News has seen a 24% up tick in their on-line version. The other paper (yes, the one that threw RR and the Michigan program under the bus) is down 13% in subscriptions and the web visitors are only up 2.2 %. I guess it doesn't sell more newspapers when they attack the local University. Oops! (HT: Mgoblog)

• The Wolverine.com lists the things they have learned from Spring Ball. Tidbits include: most improved: JT Floyd and Big Will and freshman expected to contribute Cullen Christian and Josh Furman.

Wolverine Wednesday: Players Transfer From Other Programs?

When Rich Rodriguez took over the Michigan program a number of media outlets went crazy when players started transferring to different programs. This must directly relate to Coach Rod and staff and their lack of family values, right? If you remember that was Justin Boren's famous line when he headed out the door to "pay his own way" at Ohio State. Other big names that left the program include Ryan Mallett, Sam McGuffie and back up QB Stephen Threet.

How could this happen at Michigan? Is what the media continued to voice. A player would leave and it would be one of the lead stories on ESPN's College Football Live. Well, folks it happens everywhere and mostly when a new coaching staff comes in. The latest example is Syracuse were this newspaper estimates that 28 kids have left the program. That's right 28 kids! Now that's some serious depth issues! So the point is, when a new coaching staff comes in: losing kids is not alarming, it's the norm.

• TomVH from Mgoblog has an excellent write up on the Offensive Line prospects in the 2011 class. I would say Michigan stands in the best position for Andre Yruretagoyena who is a former teammate of Taylor Lewan and State of Michigan prospect (West Branch) Anthony Zettel.

• Jamie Morris has left his role in the Michigan Athletic Department.

• There has been some recent talk from AD David Brandon about replacing the scoreboards at Michigan Stadium which might add a few seats.

• UMGoBlog runs down the list of 2011 Michigan prospects in the State of Florida.

Michigan Tuesday: 2010 QB Election

With President Obama at the Big House this weekend, I thought it would be interesting to do a 2010 U of M QB Election at the Big House Blog. 329 of you voted and the results were interesting to say the least. When I run these polls, I usually can predict what the results will be, this weeks poll surprised me a bit. Nearly 60% of you are ready to have Denard start in 2010 with only 30% voting for Tate. Even, "The President" Jack Kennedy got more votes to start over Devin Gardner.

Why was I surprised? I thought it would be closer to 50/50 split between Tate and Denard. I fully understand how impressive Denard was in the Spring Game and I also understand that he can take a small opening all the way for a touchdown. My only concern is, Denard doesn't have a full year under center running the full offense. Sure he played last year but that was in a very limited role. So my vote went to Tate just on the fact he has a full years experience running the offense and seeing 12 different defensive packages from the opponents. Hopefully the competition in the Spring will push both of them to better quarterbacks.

Either way, this could be a great 1-2 punch from the Wolverines next year.

Here is your winner: (btw: you have to feel for JB Fitzgerald #42 having to chase him - hopefully the end of the video will get your blood pumping a bit for the season)

• Stephen Threet Update: Steve didn't exactly tear up the ASU Spring Game. He was 9-27 for 117 yards with 3 picks. Yikes! Maybe the 3rd team isn't a charm.



• The Ohio North - South Classic: Michigan's class of 2010 played very well: Defensive lineman Jibreel Black (Cincinnati Wyoming) won the Defensive MVP with at least three sacks and as many pressures. “It feels good,” Black said. “I’ve been working hard in the off season to get ready, and it just paid off today. I tried to come out in the second half and make some plays for my team and get the win.”---- The North scored a late touchdown on an Antonio Kinard (Youngstown Liberty) interception to make the score interesting, but they couldn’t do anything further.



• Speaking of Cincinnati it seems Michigan is starting to recruit Cincinnati LB Antonio Poole, who currently has 9 offers from the likes of Cincinnati, Illinois, Louisville, Michigan State, and many more.



• Michigan is also visiting 5 star RB from NJ this week Savon Huggins. Savon has offers from everyone including Michigan.

Michigan Monday: A Lesson in Leaving Early: Donovan Warren

If you follow this blog you know I have a few topics that I burn on regularly; concussions and Wolverines leaving early for the NFL or NBA Drafts. Now don't get me wrong, if your a first or second round player, I don't have any problems with you leaving early for the professional ranks. I agree the risk of injury and your window to make Millions is too hard to pass up.

My problem lies with these young men who are getting terrible advice on where they are projected in the draft and make a poor decision to leave early. My first example was Adrian Arrington who left Michigan early two years ago after one of his best games of his career in the Citrus Bowl win over Florida.

He was drafted in the 7th round by the Super Bowl Champs New Orleans Saints and has basically just been hanging on to a roster spot via the practice squad. He hasn't sniffed the field in two years in the NFL. He does have a Super Bowl ring, which his is only bright side of his professional career so far.

The most recent example of leaving early is Donovan Warren who was not drafted this weekend and reportedly signed with the Jets as a free agent on Saturday. There were 33 cornerbacks taken in the NFL 2010 draft including the likes of Jeremy Ware of MSU and Ray Fisher from Indiana. Were there really 33 cornerbacks better then Warren in 2009? No, IMO there was not. The problem is Warren was rated a 3rd or 4th round draft pick when he announced and then he ran a poor 40 yard dash at the combine. When your a first round talent and then you run a poor 40 you drop to the 3rd or 4th round. When your a 4th round talent and ran a poor 40, you drop out of the draft. That is what happened with Donovan.

Was it his ankle? I don't know but if the people close to Donovan gave him really good advice he should have stayed another year, worked with Barwis and improved his draft stock. If his ankle wasn't 100% that is another reason to stay in school. Either way, good luck DW with the Jets. I understand his godfather Mark Carrier is a coach on the Jets staff. We are all pulling for you to make the team!

Other Michigan Draft News:

• Zoltan gets drafted by Patriots in the 5th round. Many experts thought it was a reach but how can you pass up a punter with the name Zoltan? Brady and Zoltan on the same team is pretty intriguing. I wonder who will sell more jerseys?

• Stevie Brown got drafted in the 7th round by the Raiders. Congrats Stevie!

• David Mooseman signs with Cardinals as a free agent.

• Carlos Brown signs with the Saints as a free agent.

• The Chicago Bears sign both Greg Mathews and Brandon Minor as free agents.

• Mark Ortmann signs with the Carolina Panthers as a free agent.

• BG will wear #94 for the Eagles.

Michigan Friday Continued: Picture

Want to know what it feels like to enroll early in college, be thousands of miles away from home, play in your first Spring Game with college athletes when you could be in high school attending your prom?

The below picture of RB Stephen Hopkins speaks a 1000 words.

via: thewolverine.com

Good Job Stephen, keeps those eyes wide open!

Michigan Friday: BG Goes High in the Draft

If your Brandon Graham you have to love going to a team that was 11-5 and in the playoffs with Philly.

I also like how the ESPN panel raved about BG. Gruden "loved" Brandon and thought it was a great pick for the Eagles. It has to make Brandon feel welcomed since Philly gave up two 3rd round draft picks to move up to get him. Well done BG!



HT: Mgoblog


We are not expecting to see any Wolverines drafted in today's 2nd and 3rd rounds.

• Sad Situation for Chris Perry: He was recently arrested and his Mom is not doing well in a New York hospital.

• The Rumor Mill is rumbling that Demar Dorsey will not make it to Ann Arbor this summer due to academics. At this point, these are just rumors and it seems strange to me to find out his academics are not in line before the end of the school year.

• Lions fans have to like their picks in the first round with Suh and Best. This might be the best first round for the Lions since they picked Barry Sanders. Reading body language, I'm not sure Suh was all that excited about becoming a Lion.

• With the number of CB and Safeties taken in round one, I'm guessing that has to be good news for Donovan Warren to get drafted in day 3. That's just my opinion.

• Lou Holtz sees a return to glory for ND under Kelly. Or Weis, or any other guy they get to coach the Irish.

• Michigan State is going to introduce their new uniforms on Friday. I'm guessing they are hoping these don't have the .500 curse.

Michigan Thursday: Preps for Tonights Draft

Michigan has a strong 1st round player in tonight's "primetime" NFL Draft. Brandon Graham has been impressing scouts this winter and spring and is expected to be drafted anywhere from the middle to the end of the first round. I'm expecting to see him go closer to the middle then the end. I'm predicting Brandon to be being one of those guys someone takes early so their division rival doesn't get him. Good luck tonight BG!

Update: Here is a great update from all the NFL Experts on where BG might go.

Donovan Warren that left school early to enter the draft is expected to be drafted anywhere from the 5th round to not drafted at all. I'm hoping he didn't make a mistake by leaving early. As of right now, it looks like he did.

The other Wolverines hoping to be drafted, Zoltan, Greg Mathews, Brandon Minor and Stevie Brown are expected to be free agents.

• Sam Webb from Det News, WTKA, and Scouts says that the Florida pair Sammy Watkins and Dallas Crawford enjoyed their "cold" visit so much they are hoping to do an official back to Ann Arbor before they make their decision. If they are taking any advice, I would visit during Fall Practice in August. It's a bit warmer.

• Don't Panic! The Big Ten moves as quickly as a 90 year old driving on a Florida Highway. The plan is still 12-18 months away. The Big East is very scared and hired former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagilabue to help with up coming Big Ten Fishing Trip.

• TomVH from Mogblog interviews Florida TE Jeff Heuerman who now has a Michigan offer.

• Michigan has offered Madison Heights athlete Valdez Showers. He is 6'0 and 185 pounds.

Wolverine Wednesday: Stand here if you want to join the Big Ten

The Big Ten expansion talk is getting out of control. People are now talking about 16 teams in a mega conference. Is that the intent? Does it make sense? Would ND jump on board? Right now we have more questions then answers with The Big Ten office in their own quiet period.

What I do know, is everyone and their brother from the Big East wants to jump on board the Big Ten train. ESPN's Colin Coward says UConn wants in, it seems Syracuse wants an invite, Rutgers and Pitt have already been rumored. From a first glance this would be great for basketball and not too bad for football either with Pitt, UConn and Rutgers showing real improvements over the past few years.

Again, more questions then answers at this point but if the Big Ten looks to fish the Big East. The Big East is in big trouble.

• Brandon Graham takes a little verbal jab at OSU and Vernon Gholston: “I don’t know what has happened with him. It might be the program he came from,” Graham told The Post yesterday — either purposely or inadvertently tweaking Michigan’s rival school. “Right now everyone looks at him as a bust, and I understand that. They’re paying him all this money and he hasn’t done anything.” BG recently visited the Jets.

• Michigan signee Courtney Avery will play cornerback in this weekend's Ohio High School Football Coaches Association North-South Classic at Ohio Stadium. This is news because he is not playing QB where he was very successful: "It's going to be a little different, because I'm not playing quarterback," said Avery, a two-time All-Ohio first team defensive pick and the owner of virtually every Lexington passing record. "It will be nice to focus just on defense. It will give me a taste of what I'll be doing at Michigan." Joining Courtney on the North team are Michigan signees Jake Ryan and Antonio Kinard. The South Team also has 3 Michigan signees; The Talbott brothers and Jibreel Black. I hope these boys get used to winning in Ohio Stadium.

• Boubacar is in trouble again. This is sad.
  


• Big Plans for the Big Chill.

Michigan Tuesday: Looking Good for a New Hart!

We all know Michigan has had a bit of a gap in the backfield since Mike Hart graduated and headed to the NFL. I guess you could say Michigan needed some "Hart" in the backfield again. Well, the big news today is that Sam Webb from WTKA Radio and Scout says he has a strong "gut feeling" on Demetrius Hart becoming a Wolverine. Michigan insiders expect him to publicly commit to the Wolverines during the BBQ at the Big House in May when he visits with his father.

Demetrius is rated the #26th running back in the nation and he plays his high school football for Dr. Phillips High in Orlando (former high school of Ricardo Miller when he lived in Florida). He is 5'9 165 pounds (Rivals has him listed at 5'8 190) and runs a 4.5 in the 40. Hart was named All Florida Centrals First Team Running Back his Junior year. His current offer list looks like: Auburn, Alabama, Miami, Georgia, Florida State, Ohio State and so on.

• Trey DePreist the top linebacker in the nation did not make it to Ann Arbor for the Spring Game. Which isn't a good sign for the Wolverines.
  
  
• Another piece of bad news is that Kevin Williams a defensive tackle from Ohio has committed to Nebraska. Kevin had been to Ann Arbor a couple of times but his final two were Nebraska and MSU. Kevin's high school coach and Bo Pelini are close friends.
  
  
• There were reports that John Beilein had offered Dane Fife head coach of IPFW an assistant coach role at Michigan. Dane reportedly turned down the offer.
  
  
• The Big Ten's Waist line could be expanding by a lot! The USA Today says maybe 3-5 teams. Question, will they still call it the Big Ten with 16 teams in it? Maybe it would be the Selected 16? Super 16! One thing we know for sure, the Big Ten is trying to get it the secret 16 for now.

Michigan Monday: Post Spring Game Recruiting Blitz

Editors Note: A ton of info today with videos as well. Please see three other posts regarding the spring game below.

We all know that the Spring Game every year is a great chance to showcase Michigan's program to instate and out of state prospects. This year was no exception with a number of highly rated guys in Ann Arbor. Michigan even landed a big commitment on the eve of the game from 4 star DE Brennen Bayer.

So what are the initial reactions? First, let's get this out of the way. All the Florida kids thought it was cold. I wish Mother Nature could have saved the 84 degrees in April for Saturday and not during the week. Oh well............

• We all know the positives things that Demetrius Hart's Mom had to say about the program in the earlier post. It seems the coaches made a good impression on her regarding her questions on the NCAA and their job security. More good news for the Hart camp. Demetrius is planning a return trip to A2 next month for the BBQ at the Big House with his father. The return trip is a good sign, since Hart's mom expects a decision in the next month.

• The top rated recruit at the Spring Game was 5 star WR Sammy Watkins from Florida. Sammy reportedly had a great time and could see himself in RR's offense.

• Sammy's teammate is Dallas Crawford a high school athlete (plays everywhere) that would like to play DB in college loved his visit to Ann Arbor.

• DeAnthony Arnett State of Michigan WR was in town and enjoyed watching the offense. He was impressed by Denard's arm and how Michigan continued to stretch the field vertically. At this point, DeAnthony is planning a decision after his senior year football season.

• Spring Game visitor Philadelphia defensive end Deion Barnes received a Michigan offer this weekend.

• Other visitors this weekend included: Olney (Md.) Good Counsel defensive tackle Vincent Croce, Glen Ellyn (Ill.) Glenbard West offensive lineman Jordan Walsh and Ogemaw Heights (Mich.) guard Anthony Zettel.
  
  

• 2010 Ohio State recruit Jamel Turner has been shot in Youngstown. It seems he was hit in the hip and the ankle and neither wound is life threatening. Turner has had some issues since signing with OSU. He was thrown off the basketball team and recently has left Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia. Let's hope his injuries are not serious and Jamel is on the right track.

Michigan's Top 10 Plays From the Spring Game

Rich Rod's Post Spring Game Presser

RR spent some time with the media after the Spring Game/Practice on Saturday. Here's some highlights:

• It's clear RR doesn't want a QB controversy and didn't make the QB's available to the media. He continues to say it's an open competition and both Tate and Denard have improved.
• The redshirt year helped Jeremy Gallon get his body ready for Big Ten Football. He is the leader right now for kick off and punt return.
• Called out Taylor Lewan and Michael Schofield for young guys who have played well on the line.
• He also mentioned he expects Jerald Robinson and Stephen Hopkins (early enrollees) to play in the Fall. Look for Stephen to be the short yardage tailback.

Michigan Weekend: Some Spring Game Answers

photo courtesy of Det. News

I'm sure many of you watched the BTN replay or was there live in the Big House. I know the weather wasn't exactly 84 degrees like it was a few days before but here are some of my observations from the game.

Field goal and punting practice was not only boring but very scary. It seems Michigan has a serious problems at both. The punters could barley get the ball past 10 yards. I'm not sure I can remember a true freshman having a job locked up before they hit campus in the summer but it's crystal clear that Will Hagerup has this job. Right now, Tate Forcier is the best punter on the team.

Now I try to answer the questions I had on Friday:


1. Does the defense show any improvements? Do they tackle better and less blown assignments. I would say I saw some improvements, but this unit has a long way to go to see the improvements that we are expecting. I thought the D-Line played pretty well, the linebackers seemed to be better, but the defensive backfield looked slow and pretty bad.


2.Who should be the starter at QB? Is Denard really taking steps on getting the #1 job? Denard was the MVP of the entire Spring Game. He showed he was a real QB passing and running the ball. The highlight of the day, was his 97 yard strike to Roy Roundtree for a TD. Denard is a defensive coordinators nightmare if he is accurate passing the ball. The defenders don't know what to do, because he can throw over you or run by you. Tate was Tate, looked good sometimes and was too fast to leave the pocket and made some poor throws other times. I give the UConn first snap edge to Denard right now. Tate was in against Michigan's 1st defense and Denard was in against the #2's.

3. Justin Turner, is he a 5 star cornerback or should he be playing safety? The concern over Turner is accurate. He was a non-factor at CB and it seems he will be moved to safety in the fall. Let's hope he is a play maker there.

4. Big Will, has he improved and a force on the defensive line? I would say yes, Big Will was running with the 1's and seemed to be making an impact and pushing the pile.

5. Who will step up at the running back position? Nobody. This continues to be a wide open position battle going into the Fall. Each guy showed promise but I didn't see anyone grab the position.

6. Is the buzz on the Gordon's accurate? Cam won a Spring award but I didn't see him make too many plays. He did have a nice hit on the sideline. I did see Thomas making a few tackles. Jury still out on both of them for now.

7. Should Devin redshirt or is he an option to help in the Fall? Devin looked like a high school senior on many plays but on others looked very promising. The future is still very bright for Devin. If I had to make a call today, it would be to redshirt.

8. How does the offensive line look? Is Taylor Lewan the real deal? I thought they looked pretty good without Molk in there. (Got Molk?) I have high expectations for Taylor Lewan, he did look like Pro Bowler Jake Long out there (in his uniform) and I expect him to start or play a lot early and often this year. My excitement meter has Denard #1 and Taylor #2.

9. Does Michigan have any wide receivers that are game breakers? If the USFL was still around I would think Roy Roundtree would be a star in that league. Why you ask? Because, he loves playing in the Spring. This guy has had 2 solid spring games in a row. Odoms also looks like a legit WR now (even though he dropped a perfect bomb that Devin threw) and Gallon made some plays as well. Stokes and Miller also made some catches. There were some drops, but Michigan seems pretty loaded at the WR position and hopefully a few of these guys will be really good.

10. Does this look like a program with 7+ wins in them next season? Wow, that is a tough question to answer right now. I think the Michigan offense is again improved and will have a lot of weapons when healthy. My biggest concerns are the special teams and defensive secondary. Troy Woolfolk was out due to a finger injury and he will be Michigan's best corner. Speed at safety continues to be a concern as does the non-Woolfolk corner spot. The defense looked better against the run and was putting pressure on Tate and Devin. Michigan will need "some help from above" if games are decided by a field goal of any distance. I also wonder who will be returning punts this fall.

Other side notes:

• It seems D. Hart's visit to Michigan this weekend is going well. TomVH from Mgoblog interviews his mom. MRS HART: The amount of support from everyone, the coaches, academics, and fans is amazing. The environment, everything that Michigan has to offer has been really great. Michigan seems to be the total package in my mind. This is my first time at Michigan, so I was overwhelmed. I’m looking for the total package for my son, and that seems to be here.
  


• The Big Ten could be meeting on expansion today in Wash. DC.

Michigan Spring Game Preview

Thanks to a BHB reader Terry for this copy of the Big House in the sand that he found while on Spring Break.

Michigan Blue vs White Spring Game Preview

Date: Saturday, April 17th
Time: 1:00 PM
Weather: Poor, Mid 40's maybe some rain
Line: Michigan -21
TV: BTN 8:00 Tape Delay or live at bigtennetwork.com for $3

There are lots of fun events before the scrimmage which can be found here. (there will even be an 8 foot Charles Woodson at the game) Here are the top questions in my mind and what I will be watching on Saturday.

1. Does the defense show any improvements? Do they tackle better and less blown assignments.
2. Who should be the starter at QB? Is Denard really taking steps on getting the #1 job?
3. Justin Turner, is he a 5 star cornerback or should he be playing safety?
4. Big Will, has he improved and a force on the defensive line?
5. Who will step up at the running back position?
6. Is the buzz on the Gordon's accurate?
7. Should Devin redshirt or is he an option to help in the Fall?
8. How does the offensive line look? Is Taylor Lewan the real deal?
9. Does Michigan have any WR's that are game breakers?
10. Does this look like a program with 7+ wins in them next season?

It will be great to see the boys in the Big House again. Enjoy the day, go to the Big House, spend the $3 or watch it on the BTN at 8:00.

Michigan Friday: Michigan Lands 4th Commitment for 2011

Michigan landed it's 4th commitment for the class of 2011 with the verbal from Brennen Beyer from Plymouth, Michigan which is about 20-30 minutes from Ann Arbor. BB is a 4 star 6'4 222 pound strong side defensive end.

There are number of very good reasons why this verbal commitment is important to Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Football Program.

1. Need to protect home turf. Brennen is a Michigan fan and one of the top players in the state of Michigan.
2. Beyer is the first commitment since the NCAA letter came out.
3. BB had an impressive offer list from the likes of: ND, MSU, UCLA, Stanford, Louisville, and Northwestern.
4. Position of need for Michigan at defensive end.

With the 2011 class being a small one (estimated under 20 kids), Michigan will be looking to fill positions at linebacker and offensive line. Look for RR and staff to be pretty picky on the rest of the class.

Michigan Thursday: Beilein Inks 1 and Tate is Banged Up

So the news on Wednesday was that Tate was seen on crutches and that John Beilein went .500 in his targeted recruits.

First we will hit basketball: Jon Horford signed his LOI yesterday and faxed it into Ann Arbor. Here is what Coach Beilein had to say about Jon: “We are pleased to announce that Jon Has become a part of the Michigan Basketball Family and believe he is a great fit for our program moving forward,” said Beilein. “At 6-9, 215 he is explosive and highly skilled. I love his length, wing span and his ability to rebound the basketball and as his strength improves he will help us in several areas. He can block shots, he has a nice touch and he has a huge upside and tremendous hunger and desire to improve.”

Coach Beilein still has some work to do since they have two open scholarships with the loss of Trey Zeigler to Central and Manny heading to the NBA Draft. He could sign one or two more guys to this class or bank them for next year.

Now on to football, Michigan's starting QB Tate Forcier was seen walking in crutches with a cast/boot on his foot attending class on Wednesday. The injury is considered a minor ankle sprain and Tate was practicing on Wednesday.

• Here is the updated Spring Visitor list courtesy of TomVH at Mgoblog.

• No Trey DePreist for the Spring Game right now. Tough week for Michigan and the Trey's they were/are recruiting. Trey is the top LB in the nation out of Ohio and a Michigan fan growing up.

• Michigan is in D. Hart's Top 4 right now with Florida, Auburn and Alabama. He is visiting this weekend, which will be a do or die for Michigan in his recruitment. Michigan's ace in the hole is Ricardo Miller who played a few years of high football together in Florida. Clinton-Dix a current teammate of Hart is pushing him to attend Alabama with him.

Wolverine Wednesday: Rich Rodriguez and WVU

I understand that ESPN and Newspapers are looking for eyeballs and increased sales. They can take a story and spin it anyway they want to make it sound interesting to their audience.

The latest effort to exaggerate a story is the: NCAA contacts West Virgina. ESPN is reporting that it involves Rich Rodriguez but doesn't give us anymore details. Many have speculated that the NCAA is trying to prove that Rich Rodriguez has a pattern of over working his players or having Quality Control members watch off season non-official practices.

Even ESPN radio is now saying that if the NCAA does find a pattern they could even give Michigan a more severe penalty and RR could lose his job before the start of the season.

So let's diagnose what is wrong with those statements:

• #1 AD David Brandon has made it crystal clear that RR is the coach for 2010. He even said it again yesterday.
• #2 ESPN has no idea what the NCAA contacted WVU about. They just had a source tip them off it's somehow related to RR.
• #3 Have you ever heard of coaches named Lou Holtz or John Calipari? Both left jobs right before their institutions were hit with some type of NCAA penalties. It seems John is doing pretty well at Kentucky and Lou had a nice career at ND and South Carolina.

So I know it's fun to punch the RR Punching Bag these days and if your not a RR supporter this gives you more "smoke" for your fire. But let's be realistic and think about things before we write them or say them in the media.

Enough is enough folks, it's time to start driving the speed limit and stop looking at the accident. If you really want to see a crash, see what happens if Michigan puts another losing team on the field in 2010.

IMO, This is clearly the NCAA trying to make their case and U of M feeling pretty confident with theirs. I guess we will see which is better in August.

Breaking News: Trey Zeigler to CMU Today

So the Trey Zeigler recruitment and mystery is over. He will announce his intentions to play for his father and "The Chips" today on ESPNU. Congratulations to Central Michigan on landing a Blue Chip prospect and just another disappointment for John Beilein and staff.

I guess you could say, this is just another disappointment in a year of disappointments for the Michigan Basketball team.

On a side note: Former Michigan player and current Baylor basketball player Ekpe Udoh has decided to enter the NBA Draft. Udoh is expected to be picked in the first round just outside the lottery. Which would be higher then Sims or Harris.

So bascially: Ekpe was a role player at Michigan, transfers to Baylor, sits out a year and works on his game, has a solid year with Baylor and now is a first round NBA prospect.

BTW: Today is the signing day for the late period. We will see if Jon Horford sends in his LOI to Michigan. There is a rumor that Izzo might be interested in him now.

Michigan Tuesday: Recruiting Blitz

Today we have a light Recruiting Blitz, more like a middle linebacker or a run blitz. :-) Enjoy

• Ryan VanBergen makes Whitehall High School Hall of Fame
  


• Michigan 2011 commit Delonte Hollowell has been nominated for Army All American Game. (he has yet to receive an offer to play in the all star game)
  


• Michigan has a new list of 2011 offers out which include: OL Brandon Shell (6-8, 295), DB Laquentin Smith (6-1, 210), OL Brandon Shell (6-8, 295), DB Blake Countess (5-10, 174), LB Antoine Pozniak, DE Deon Lee (6-4 210).
  


• The #3 WR in the nation Sammy Watkins (6'1 180) from Florida is planning to be at the Spring Game on Saturday.
  


• Two big Michigan recruits are confirmed for Saturday as well: Demetrius Hart and DeAnthony Arnett.
  


• Defensive Lineman Darian Cooper won't make it A2 on Saturday but is planning a trip for the BBQ at the Big House.

Inside Michigan Football

An update on the scrimmage this past Saturday, the early enrollees, and what to expect for the Spring Game...................

Michigan Monday: Recruiting and Spring Practice Updates

The reports from Spring Practice is the team is really improving on both sides of the ball. The offense seems to be a bit more dynamic with Denard running the offense and adding a passing game to his electric game breaking speed. The defense seems to have more depth and improved tackling. It will be intresting to see what happens in the Fall when the freshman get in. Michigan still has depth and youth concerns at corner.

• The Gordon's at the Big House: Two guys making noise in Spring Practice is Cam Gordon at Safety and Thomas Gordon at the Spinner, Bandit or the Stevie Brown position from last year. Both are said to be making great progress at those positions and the position change from offense for Cam, is said to be the right move. The buzz from practice is that Cam is a big hitter and that Thomas made a number of plays at Stevie's old position on Saturday.

• Trey Zeigler to CMU? The rumor this weekend was that Trey had made his decision on going to Central Michigan. The reason for the rumor was that his father had agreed on a contract extension at Central. Trey has debunked those rumors but it seems The Chips are now the team to beat.

• Doran Grant a 5 star CB from Akron was in town this weekend to visit Ann Arbor again. He was also in town for the OSU game last Fall. It seems Doran was again impressed by his visit, but there is still a long way to go.

• The Sporting News talks to Brandon Minor.

• A couple of 2012 recruits made it to Ann Arbor on Saturday to watch the scrimmage. James Ross, Jr. and Terry Richardson.

• Mgoblog recruiting insider gives us an update on Ohio DT Kevin Williams. Kevin was at MSU last weekend and had a great visit and plans on attending Nebraska's Spring Game next weekend (his HS coach and Bo Pelini are good friends). Neither visit is good news for the Wolverines recruitment of Kevin.

Michigan Weekend: Saturday Scrimmage Updates

Mgoblog had some message board posters attend Michigan's scrimmage on Saturday and came away impressed. Here are some of the highlights that I found valuable:

• Taylor Lewan is making a lot of noise for a starting role at left tackle.
• Devin Gardner is making a push not to red shirt
• The QB race seems wide open, Denard has improved and Tate continues to be an accurate passer but not a dynamic runner.
• The defense and tackling looks much improved.
• Justin Turner has gotten too big for corner. Looking more like a safety or the spinner role.
• Stephen Hopkins is really doing a good job at running back and mostly at the "big" running back role (example is a healthy Minor).

All and all good news. If you had to find bad news, it sounds like Tate has not progressed and Turner isn't looking like the shut down corner that we all hoped he was. Then again it's just the Spring and Spring Buzz doesn't get you anything on Saturday's in the Fall.

Michigan Friday: Mr. Magee and DG goes for 60

Calvin Magee former candidate for the South Florida's head coaching job and current Michigan OC answered some questions yesterday: Here are a few highlights:

QUESTION: How do you think Tate played last year as a true freshman?

Calvin Magee: Like a freshman. He played just like a freshman. He had a lot of stuff going at him every week, a lot of different looks, a lot of different coverage’s. It’s a progression of teaching kids those coverage’s. I thought he played competitive, so that was a good thing, but now he gets time to settle down and really understand more structure of the offense and that’s what he’s doing this spring which is a lot better, so. But he did play like a freshman.

QUESTION: The last year Denard did a lot with the zone option, was that his comfort with the offense and is that something you’ll look at this year?

Calvin Magee: No, Denard is learning the entire offense, so he’s going to run everything we have in the offense. It wasn’t a plan last year with what happened with Denard, that just may have been how it happened.

QUESTION: Talk about Michael Cox’s spring and what he’s done well and what he (indiscernible)?

Calvin Magee: Mike is a powerful guy. Mike is a guy we went into spring saying we got to get him going because he’s a very talented guy. Last year I think those guys had the mind set that those seniors were right there, some of these kids get the mindset that it’s not my turn. We try to get them to understand it is your turn if you compete for it and get the job. But now he knows, those seniors are gone and we know we need him to get ready to play because he’s a big physical, talented young man, he really is. And he’s been getting better each day through spring, so that’s been exciting to watch.

QUESTION: You mentioned the red-shirt freshman lineman, can you just expand on the battle that’s going on there?

Calvin Magee: Yeah, Taylor Lewan and Schofield, we saw the talent last year on scout team and it was going to be fun to watch them compete in our offense and things like that, but for freshman, they’re mature but they’ve got a lot to learn. But they’re competitive. It’s just been fun to have that competition there with last year the injuries, just to have more people there it’s been fun for us. Quinton Washington was doing really well but then he got banged up so it’ll be fun when we get him back also.

Full transcript is located here at Scout.com

• TomVH from Mgoblog updates the Spring Game Visitor list.

This is not the first team defense, but it looks good anyway...........

Michigan Thursday: The Recruitment of Trey Zeigler

Many of you that follow basketball recruiting know that Trey Zeigler out of Mt. Pleasant in Michigan is one of the top un-committed prospects left in the 2010-2011 class. Trey is 6'4 185 pound shooting guard and is rated #26 in the nation by rivals and #7 at his position by Scout. Trey is a 4 star recruit to both services and ESPN ranks him as the #30 player in the nation.

Signing day for the late period in basketball is coming up in a month and Trey has made it pretty well known that he will make his decision some time in May. His finalist are: (in no particular order) Michigan, Central Michigan, UCLA, and Arizona State. Some of you reading this might wonder what a MAC school is doing on a list with ASU, UCLA, and Michigan but Central Michigan is located in Mt. Pleasant and his father Ernie Zeigler is the head coach.

So Trey has a difficult discussion to make, play for his dad at Central, go West, or play for the Wolverines in Ann Arbor. The wild card in this decision is his dad's future at Central Michigan. Right now, Central is trying to re-negotiate Ernie's contract who has 54 wins in his first 4 seasons. The Chips were 15-15 last season and back to back MAC West Champions. The rumor mill is also saying that UCLA has a spot for Ernie on their coaching staff he wants to move West. If Ernie was to leave Central for UCLA that would pretty much punch Trey's tickets to the Bruins.

Don't give up hope Wolverine fans, there are a lot of positives for Trey to come to Ann Arbor as well.

• Ann Arbor is a few hours south of Mt. Pleasant


• John Beilein has clearly made Trey his #1 priority for this class


• Manny leaving gives Trey a lot of minutes as a freshman


• West Virgina's run to the Final 4 can't hurt with the success of Da'Sean Butler a Beilein recruit. (before his ACL injury of course).


• If Central Michigan extends his fathers contract and Trey wants to stay somewhat close to home. His choices are play for dad or Ann Arbor. (MSU has told Trey he could come to East Lansing but many believe his offer is only valid if Summers heads to the NBA)


• Michigan has been rumored to be at the top of his list or close to it. I believe Trey's girlfriend is heading to Ann Arbor next fall as well.


• Having one of the more powerful NBA executives (Joe Dumars) with a son on the team, doesn't hurt either.

So there you have it. Information out of the Zeigler camp has been pretty quiet during his recruitment but this one will be very interesting as it plays out over the next month or so. Coach Beilein needs a big recruiting win and Trey could provide that W for the Wolverines.

Wolverine Wednesday: RR's Spring Presser Notes

Coach Rod met with the media on Tuesday and here are a couple of highlights.

• Both Tate and Denard are splitting time with the #1 unit. RR said he likes to have two guys that he can win with. Denard is getting better understanding of the offense in his first Spring Ball. The spring buzz is that Denard is looking more and more like the starter in the Fall. We will see how that turns out. Spring buzz doesn't get you much after the ball is kicked off in September.

• The Running Backs are doing well. Mike Cox has been very solid, Shaw has had great days and some average days. "Stephen Hopkins is a big guy, and we needed a big back with Minor and Grady graduating. Even as a true freshman, him coming in early is going to help his chances to play some in that role." Fitz Toussaint has had a productive spring and has gotten bigger and stronger. Kelvin Grady and Terrance Robinson are also getting snaps at running back.

• Safety depth is still a concern with Vlad still banged up. Cam Gordon has done well and that was a good position change.

• The injury report is pretty much of what I reported yesterday with these guys banged up and expected back this week: Martavious Odoms, Junior Hemingway, Je'Ron Stokes, Vlad Emilien, Jared Van Slyke, and Quinton Washington.

Michigan Tuesday: Spring Practice and Injury Updates with a Quick Recruiting Blitz

• Devin Gardner has been seen walking around campus in a sling. It doesn't appear to serious since he is seen above throwing the football.

• It seems Michigan DE Will Heininger has torn his ACL during Spring Practice. This is a tough loss for Michigan on defensive line depth. Will is a junior and had been making a statement for even more playing time.

• Michigan starting LB Obi Ezeh was seen in Grand Rapids with his wrist in a soft cast as well.

• Do you remember a Michigan LB recruit named Marcus Witherspoon? If you don't, Marcus was a highly rated 4 star LB out of NJ and signed a LOI to play at Michigan during RR's first class. Days before Fall practice, Marcus had not been cleared by the NCAA Clearing House academically. So instead of getting his grades in order for a semster or two, Marcus heads to Rutgers and sits out a year. Marcus has not seen the field during his time at Rutgers and now is leaving the team due to personsal issues.

• 2011 Akron CB Doran Grant is planning a Michigan visit this week.

• Michigan has offered Hyattsville, Maryland DeMatha Catholic defensive lineman Darian Cooper.

• The top LB in the nation Trey DePriest from Springfield, OH is getting closer to making a decision. Per Sam Webb, He is planning to cut his list to 5 schools in May and maybe make a final decision before the start of his senior season. Trey who was interested in Michigan early on seems to be leaning towards OSU or Alabama at the moment. Michigan will need to do their best selling job on getting him on campus for the Spring Game and then get him to drink the Michigan "kool aide" while on campus.

5 Things Wolverine Fans Should Consider During Tonight's National Championship Game

Clearly, the Michigan Wolverine Basketball Team did not meet expectations this year, even the new AD thinks so: “I don’t put a disproportionate amount of emphasis on any one year, but clearly this year was a year we hoped for better and certainly lost a little bit of momentum in terms of our improvement,” Brandon said. “But that doesn’t detract from my belief that going forward we can regain that momentum, and our program is going to get bigger and better and stronger when we get those practice facilities in, and we do some things that will afford us to be able to recruit a little more aggressively. It’s going to help both those programs a lot.

“Just in terms of our practice regimen and the resources that we give them to be successful, it will help attract better recruits, because in many instances we are just woefully uncompetitive in what we can show a prospective student athlete, in terms of what support we give our basketball programs.”

With that said, here are 5 things to ponder tonight if your a fan of Michigan Basketball:

5: Feel sad for one of John Beilein's top recruits, DeSean Butler who tore his ACL in his final college game and put his NBA career at risk. Does John now lose the "can't recruit" monkey off his back with a team full of his recruits that made it to the Final 4? It seems they still like the old coach as well.

4: With WVU's run to the Final 4 and Manny Harris leaving early to the NBA, does that have a positive effect on Michigan't top recruit for 2010 - Trey Ziegler coming to Ann Arbor?

3: At least it's not a MSU - WVU final. Not only would one team win the NC they could also win the yearly award for "who hates Michigan the most". Ohio State is always a finalist as well.

2: Is it me or does Butler have a team full of Zack Novak's? I think the Michigan staff should spend more time in Indiana recruiting! I love how Butler plays defense (they also can go on a "Michigan like" cold street from the field and still win!). It's interesting, because you could make a case that Michigan is being being built with a hybrid model between both programs, WVU and Butler.

1: Before the injuries would Ben Cronin have been like Duke's Brian Zoubek? A 7-1 center, that could get a bunch of boards, kick out to open 3 point shooters, and average about 6-8 points a game. It's really too bad, because I have a feeling the Michigan coaches had hoped Ben was a similar type of player.

Dorsey's Back Up Plan Confirmed

TomVH from Mgoblue ran down FSCC head coach and here are a couple of quotes on Demar:

- "With all of our guys the goal is to get them to Division 1. The plan is to get Demar to Michigan, period. Whether that's right now, or next year, our goal is to get him there."

- "He wants to play at Michigan, and he wants to get right. If he can't get right in the next couple months, then our goal is to get him to Michigan as fast as possible. We're all trying to succeed, and he's doing this the intelligent way. No one picks us over Michigan."

- "He's working very hard to be a Wolverine, but he has to be ready just in case, to recover if he doesn't get in. If he comes here, we'd love to develop him, and get him to his goals. We are his back up plan. He may never end up at our school. If he can't get qualified, then he needs to know that he has a backup plan, and that's us."



Conclusion: Demar is having serious enough academic issues that he has a back up plan if things don't turn out between now and August. Let's hope he makes the grade and is in Ann Arbor this summer.

Michigan Friday: Not much "Good" News for Michigan Fans

The rumor mill is running at full blast this morning that Demar Dorsey might not qualify academically to join the 2010 Wolverines. Since Demar is still in high school, how do we know that he might not qualify? The proof is here. It seems Demar has signed a LOI to attend Fort Scott Community College in Kansas.

What does this mean? It's hard to tell right now but if I had to guess, here are a couple possible scenarios:

-Demar is using FSCC as a back up plan if he doesn't make the grades and doesn't qualify to attend Michigan.

-Demar already knows he doesn't have the grades and needs to work on academics for one year and play football at FSCC.

-This is a huge reach, but maybe Demar's background had too many red flags and somebody in Michigan admissions office put a block on it.

Again, this is all speculation but it seems there are some questions whether Demar will make it to Ann Arbor this Summer. Last point, Michigan's admissions office has trouble accepting JC transfers, so if this is true this might be the end to Demar's recruitment.

Update: Sam Webb, Scouts recruiting insider said on the radio this morning that Demar is still planning to attend Michigan. This would seem to point to the "back up" plan for signing an LOI to FSCC.

Spring Practice Talk:

• There seems to be reports that Tate Forcier is running with the 2's and Denard has showed lots of improvement and running with the 1's. BHB Thoughts: This doesn't really concern me, since this is Spring Ball and both should run with both squads. Let's see in the Spring Game who is preforming better at QB.

• The media spoke to Greg Robinson, Michigan's DC yesterday for 25 minutes. Mgoblog Tim's has some sound bites from Greg: Justin Turner is still a work in progress. He's got a prototypical frame for the position, and JT Floyd is helping him learn the position. BHB: Yikes, we are expecting big things from Turner and this sounds like he is struggling a bit. The defenders are "absorbing" the defense just fine. The offense is adding a few wrinkles, so they're getting tested by some things they have seen before. There's a night and day difference from last spring to now in terms of Robinson's comfort and communication with the staff and players. He knows people's personalities so he can read them better, and the same goes for them knowing him. ---My biggest concern is what I told you. I do not know…I think you got to play 18 or 19 players. I do not know that we really felt good playing 18 or 19 players last year, but we played them at times. Because to try and play at the tempo that we want to play, you’ve got to have that and that’s what we’re striving for right now. We got a lot of guys in there right now that are fighting for spots. We have how many new guys coming in, 15 or 16 new guys coming in, in the fall. So you do not know if you are going to get to count on that. It’s not that easy.”
  
  
  

Michigan Thursday: Spring Game Recruiting

Michigan in late winter and early spring has a number of events to attract 2011 recruits to visit the campus in Ann Arbor. There are a number of junior days, the night of champions, a couple of 7 on 7 tournaments (which are not official U of M events), spring practices scrimmages and regular practices. But we all know that the premier recruiting event is the Spring Game. This year will be no exception to the rule with the Michigan coaching staff hosting a number of recruits on April 17th. TomVH the Mgoblog recruiting insider, gives us a list of high school juniors planning to attend the Spring Game:

Ohio LB Percy Johnson
Instate DE Brennen Beyer
FL RB Demetrius Hart
OH DE Bryan Baird - Maybe
Commit Delonte Hollowell
Commit DB Greg Brown
MD DT Vincent Croce
Instate OL Anthony Zettel
TX RB Jarrell Oliver
LB Kris Frost
Instate RB Justice Hayes - Maybe
TE Ray Hamilton - Maybe
Ohio OL Aundrey Walker - Maybe
Ohio WR Shaq Washington
OL Matt Frazier

• Sam Webb recruiting insider writes in the Detroit News on Plymouth DE Brennen Beyer. His recruitment seems to be down to Michigan and ND. "I still like Michigan a lot," Beyer said. "But I'm really looking hard at Michigan and Notre Dame right now." ---- on visiting Michigan practice last week: "It was great," Beyer said. "It was sweet to see finally hitting full speed and stuff. It was really good because I got to see the coach's coach and the players go at it. So it was good to get a feel for the atmosphere and what a practice was like. The defensive coordinator, Coach Robinson, was fun to watch. He was who I watched mostly because that's where I'm being recruited for. It was really good. I was pretty impressed."

• Michigan recruits from Arizona Scottsdale Chaparral junior offensive lineman Andre Yruretagoyena and Chandler Hamilton offensive lineman Christian Westerman have been invited to the Under Armour All American game this winter. (Chrisitan has also been invited to Army All American game).

• UCLA's Adidas Contract is up for renewal and they have a key deadline set for this Friday. As you know, Michigan has the largest Adidas contract and if UCLA's was to go larger, Adidas would have to give Michigan at least a $1 more.