Michigan Thursday: Gets a Weber on the Field and a Robinson on the Court

Chris Webber and Denard Robinson?  Not quite, but it was still a very good day for the Wolverines. 

Football first:

Michigan received a commitment from instate/Cass Tech RB Mike Weber on Wednesday evening.   Mike was scheduled to visit MSU but changed his mind and headed down to Ann Arbor.   He found he had enough information and made the decision for the Maize and Blue.   Michigan has now received commitments from the top two players in the state in Brian Cole and Mike Weber in less then a two week span.

Mike's recruitment has been a unique one.  Michigan was on him early with Big Al but it looked like Tennessee was leading for him as Michigan seemed to be favoring Damien Harris.   Damien then committed early to the Wolverines and Michigan continued to stay in contact with Mike but probably weren't recruiting him too hard.   At that time, MSU jumped up as the leader for Mike's services.  Big Al hit the bricks, Damien opened up his recruitment and Coach Nuss jumped on board and everything changed for Mike and the Wolverines.   Coach Nuss made Mike's recruitment a priority and he seemly wanted Mike even over Damien as his recruitment clearly started to move away from Ann Arbor.  

Then there were two clear signs this past weekend at the BBQ.   Mike took a redeye back from his visit to USC and the West Coast to make the BBQ and Damien cancelled.    Damien released a top 5 without Michigan in it and Mike committed this week.   

Mike is 5'10 and 210 pounds.   He is rated a 4 star RB to all the services and is ranked the #10 RB in the nation by Rivals and # 103 player overall.  Rivals has Mike as the #1 player in the state.   Weber had offers from USC, OSU, Miami, Wisconsin, MSU, Nebraska and many others.

This is a great pick up for the Wolverines for many reasons.  Michigan needed a top notch RB in this class and they now have one.   MSU won the Rose Bowl last year and Michigan was still able to land the top three players in the State (Weber, Cole & Malzone per Rivals).

This class is starting to fill up and might only have 4 or so more spots left.   I'm betting some of the recruits still on the board are going to start to feel some pressure to commit before the season starts. 



BBall:

John Beilein will go anywhere to find great basketball players.  He and his staff must recruit 24/7.   Michigan's Basketball Program took a commitment/transfer from D3 player Duncan Robinson yesterday.   He played last year for Williams College where he averaged 17 points and 6.5 rebounds a game.   As you might expect, he is a shooter and shot 45% from the 3 point line. 

“Right now I’m about 6-foot-8, and 195 pounds maybe pushing 200,” he said. “I’ve gotta get bigger that’s for sure, but I think I’m still growing to be honest with you.”

Duncan is listed anywhere from 6-6 to 6-8 shooting guard and seems to be a perfect fit for Beilein's system.  Is he Nik 2.0?  Hard to say, but it seems Coach B really likes his skill set.  

“I really like to shoot, that’s one thing,” Robinson said. “And I like to take pride in the fact that I’m not just one of those shooters that just kinds of jacks shots. I think I take good shots and I really feel like I work for the best shot and working within a system is when I play my best.”

Duncan will have to sit a year due to his transfer but will have 3 to play at Michigan.    This year will give him a chance to practice a D1 level and get to work in the weight room.   It sounds like he is a good a student and I assume academics won't be an issue.

Duncan was the D3 freshman of the year and made the 4th team D3 All American team.  He was being recruited by a few schools after he decided to transfer (his coach left).

“A whole bunch of schools that reached out,” Robinson said. “No other Big Ten schools, but a couple of ACC schools, Big 12, and then a lot of lower-conference and mid-majors. I’ve kind of narrowed it down to two. I’m going to take a visit to Davidson (this weekend) and I’m going to take a visit to Michigan (Monday).”

• The news wasn't 100% good on Wednesday as Michigan legacy instate LB Tyriq Thompson committed to MSU.

• DB Delano Hill broke his jaw a couple of weeks ago but might be ready for the season.