Michigan Friday: Basketball Class Locked?

Juwan Howard had a very good first class, it was almost great.  That is the life if your going to recruit 5 star's and not named Duke or UK.  With the G-League now offering an NBA development program and $500K, recruiting a ton of these guys is going to be a fools errand.

The 2020 Class:

• Hunter Dickinson C 7'2 255 #32 player in the nation 
• Zeb Jackson PG/SG 6'2 160 #69 player
• Terrance Williams F 6'6 215 #86 player 
• Jace Howard F 6'8 210 #351 player 

The latest news is Hunter has signed and Jace is now a scholarship player.  So Juwan just got a raise. 🙂

Is the 2020 class completely done?  Probably, there are two Hail Mary's that could still happen.   5 Star Greg Brown has yet to commit anywhere and might be headed to either Texas or G-League.  I wouldn't hold my breath on this one.   Another one with a low probability is 4 star Illinois SG commit Adam Miller who is close to Juwan due to his Chicago connections.  Adam has not signed yet.  

• DD is transferring to Cincinnati, good luck to him and enjoy the Skyline Chili. 

• Former Michigan recruit USC QB JT Daniels has entered the transfer portal.   I don't see him interested in the Wolverines crowded QB room. 

Michigan Friday: Luke Keeps Digging The Hole

Luke Fickell is very popular with Michigan fans.  He is the only head coach at Ohio State that Michigan has defeated in recent memory.   He was the interim head coach at the time but has gotten passed over twice for the full time gig in Columbus.   So he packed up his things and headed South  about an hour and now coaching The University of Cincinnati.

Now he is upset because he believes Jimmy didn't support James Hudson's waiver to get immediate playing time at UC.  Jimmy fired back that wasn't true and Luke still believes it is.

Tom Mars the lawyer for Shea Patterson's transfer and now a member of an NCAA Committee, has come out and said that Michigan had zero influence over the NCAA's decision.

Another example is Drew Singleton who transferred to Rutgers from Michigan.  His waiver was granted by the NCAA in May and will play this year for the Scarlett Knights.   Similar to UC, Rutgers also has a head coach who was an assistant coach at Ohio State.   The difference is, Rutgers is on Michigan's schedule this year.   Meaning, if Jimmy were going to try to block any transfer, this would probably be the one.

Luke needs to worry about his own team and stop blaming Jimmy for the NCAA's strange decisions.  I hope this is over now.

• Michigan has received the most impactful injury of training camp as potential RT starter Andrew Stueber has gone down with a leg injury.   We are not aware of how significant the injury is at this point.   This now pencils in Jalen Mayfied as the starter with Ryan Hayes as the back-up.    Jalen and Andrew were in competition for the starting spot, so at a minimum this hurts the Wolverines depth on O-line.   

• Another MSU trainer has been charged with domestic violence.

• Saturday night well be 2 weeks away from Michigan Football! 

Wolverine Wednesday: Jimmy Speaks a Lot

We haven't heard much Michigan's head football coach since camp started.   Yes, a few players have spoke and even the coordinators, but not much (as former head coach of the AAF Champion Orlando Apollos Steve Spurrier likes to call the position) from the head ball coach.

Until Tuesday, when Jimmy spoke to the BTN crew, dropped his podcast, and did a press conference.  That is a waterfall of information.   I will do my best to summarize new information for you.   We don't need to re-cap the guys are in great shape and that Josh Gattis is doing a wonderful job running the offense.

• The highlight of the press conference is when Jimmy took Cincinnati Head Football Coach Luke Fickell to task over the James Hudson transfer.  Jimmy said, he told the truth about the position switch and had nothing to do with his waiver being approved or denied for immediate playing time.  The NCAA denied it, by the way.   Luke had mentioned to the ESPN's Athletic that Jimmy was "cold" when they spoke and inferred that Michigan didn't support the waiver.   Jimmy called that stance by Fickell "erroneous".

• Jimmy likes the Freshman: Mazi Smith as lost 25 pounds of fat, David Objo has put on 25 pounds of muscle, Giles Jackson, Dax Hill, and CJ Johnson are doing great as punt gunners.  "Zach Charbonnet is coming on like a freight train"

• The coaches review the depth chart and each player at 10:00 PM each night. 

• Practices 6-9 will have more scrimmage time built in.  Just completed practice #5. 

• The rumor of Ambry Thomas having Mono was incorrect, he has Colitis and is now gaining his weight back and getting back his conditioning.  There is no timetable for his return as he heals.  Expect Vincent Gray to replace him in the starting lineup. 

• Jimmy likes the depth on the defensive line?  CMU transfer Mike Danna is also a starter right now on the DL. 

• ESPN GameDay will do the it first location of the season at Disney World, next week for the Gators - Hurricanes match-up. 

How Good Is Your Bad?

Det News - David Guarlnick

There is saying in golf, "it's not how good your good shots are, it's how good your bad shots are".


Michigan's bad yesterday was pretty bad but good enough to beat the Bearcats.  This game looked more like the first game of the year then the second.    It seemed every time Michigan did something good, they combined it with a mental error.  

Cheers:

• Ty Isaac has clearly become the #1 RB with 133 yards on the ground.
• DPJ had a nice 44 yard gain on the ground
• The Michigan defense scored two TDs (3 in 2 games!)
• Grant Perry is becoming Michigan's #1 WR

Jeers:

• I'm pretty sure the Michigan offensive line had two solo tackles on Michigan RB's
• Wilton has no rhythm on offense and missing 5 yard crossing routes
• The offensive line struggled to run and pass block
• So we can't punt now? 
• The defense even struggled at times to stop the Bearcats big plays
• 7 penalties for 68 yards
• Wheatly has one catch on the year and Bunting has 0
• Bad mistakes at bad times for example:

-Punt hits Michigan defender when it looks like its about to be a blowout.
-Hill gets an interference call to set up the Bearcats first TD.
-Isaac breaks a long run to be called back for a WR holding call.
-Wilton fumbles in the red zone to stop a TD drive.
-Wilton and Crawford miss on a sweep handoff and turn the ball over.
-Bad call on Grant Perry's scoop catch.
-Wilton making multiple over throws or missed passes to end drives.
-Gary had a questionable call on a late hit to the QB
-The Bearcats missed some open throws or had game changing drops.


All of these things happened at the wrong time and all but the bad call on Perry's catch was mental mistakes by the Wolverines.   If you don't watch this game you might have thought the Wolverines had an easy time with the Bearcats, which just isn't true.   The Wolverines played some ugly football on Saturday which kept Cincinnati in the game for 3+ quarters.   The coaches have plenty of things to work on and maybe a decision on who takes snaps for the Wolverines under center.   Wilton is struggling with his accuracy, hand offs and to my eye leadership on offense.    I wish we had more data on O'Korn or Peters in real game action.


Side Note:  Love a night where both ND and OSU lose! 

University of Cincinnati Preview

Time: Noon
Location: Big House
Weather: Low 60's Sunny
TV: ABC
Stream: ESPN App
Line: Michigan -34.5


It's hard to believe this is the first time the Bearcats have traveled 3 hours north to play the Wolverines.  If UC who had been rumored to be added to the ACC or Big 12 had happened it would have been a nice conference match-up.   That didn't happen and UC is still stuck in the American Athletic and fired their famous head coach Tubby Tuberville after a very bad season last year.  Tubby works for ESPN now and Ohio State's former DC and interim Head Coach Luke Fickell is running the show in the Queen's City.    Luke will try bring the Refs and the luck he had at OSU against the Wolverines to this game.   He probably doesn't want the result that he had when he was he was head coach for a year.

Tale of the Tape
UC offense vs. M Defense = Michigan
Michigan Running Game vs. UC D = Michigan
Everything M vs. Everything UC = Michigan

UC was terrible last year and barely got past a terrible FCS team in Austin Peay at home last week.  In fact, the Governors out gained UC 313 to 248.  UC offense seems to struggle as they ran for less then 100 yards and passed for 151.   We know Luke likes defense and if UC has any chance of staying in the Big House, they will have to play some incredible defense and Wilton will have to throw a boatload of picks.


Yell, Did you bring any Montgomery Inn BBQ with you? if...............................

• Michigan is motivated to play its home opener
• Michigan gets 300+ yards on the ground
• Wilton doesn't take any chances and O'Korn & Peters plays in a laugher
• The defense is close to pitching a shut out
• Michigan is the team that gets Interceptions

Yell, Does Luke Fickell have some type of Michigan voodoo doll? if..................

• Michigan is over looking Cincinnati
• Luke's defense is better then we think
• Michigan's offense continues to turn the ball over
• This game is close in the 2nd quarter

If you run into this guy before the game, make sure to ask him, if he would like to place a bet on who wins this game.  If he agrees to the bet, put as much money as you find on it!  If you have a house, car, boat throw it all in!


Michigan has an advantage in every aspect of this game: coaching, talent, home field, special teams, the list goes on.   This would have been interesting game if Butch Jones or Brian Kelly was still in role.   They have moved on and UC really hasn't.   Luke will turn the ship at some point but it will take a few years.   I'm more interested in what Michigan does and doesn't do, like not turning the ball over and the defense trying to shut out the UC offense.    I also think John O'Korn needs more reps and we all would like to see Peters play.   Give me over a 100 yards for 2 out of 3 Michigan RB's and some big plays from the freshman WR's.

Michigan 48 Cincinnati 3

Wolverine Wednesday: Quick Look At Cincy

Usually, I do this on Monday and got side tracked this week.   So we will take a mid-week look at Michigan's next opponent the University of Cincinnati.  


Record:1-0
Last Week: Beat Austin Peay 26-14

Notes:  QB Hayden Moore threw 3 TD's and was 17/28 for 151 yards.  RB Mike Boone ran for 100 yards on 19 carries.  Austin Peay outgained UC 313 yards to 248 yards.  UC did not turn the ball over in the game.

Coaching:  Luke Fickell the former DC in Columbus is now the head coach of the Bearcats. 

This is the first ever match up between UC and UM in football.   UC played on Thursday last week and has had a couple extra days to prepare for the trip to Ann Arbor.

Line: Michigan -34.5

• TE Luke Ford is now trending towards Alabama.

• TX TE Mustapha Muhammed took in the game at Jerry World on Saturday.  That has to be a good sign, as he had to be there on his own dime.   Coaches are not allowed to see recruits at away or neutral site games.

• CA S Bryan Addison will take an official visit to A2 for the MSU game.
• Carlo Kemp is playing with a broken hand
• Michigan now #8 in the AP
• Ben Gedeon is now the starting LB for the Minnesota Vikings

Early NSD News: Thomas Rawls is Blue

So a question for you?  If your a running back from Flint, Michigan and you break Heisman Trophy winner and former Alabama running back Mark Ingram's (who's from Flint) local rushing records, how many offers and stars would you be expecting?  4 or 5 stars and I would say 20+ offers. 

Not the case for Thomas Rawls, which is too bad for other schools but a big break for the Wolverines.  The reason other programs were not recruiting Thomas very hard was the lack of a qualifying test score on one of the standardized tests.   Thomas had offers from CMU, Cincinnati, and Toledo.  But today he is a Michigan Wolverine with a qualifying score.  (the rumor mill is saying that Thomas has some more work to do in the class room but there is line of site to qualifying)

Thomas is 5'10 and 214 pounds and ranked 3 stars by both Rivals and Scouts.  His head coach is Fred Jackson, Jr, the son of Michigan's running backs coach and brother of Michigan WR Jeremy Jackson.

Senior Stats are 150 carries for 1,585 yards and 19 touchdowns. (I also saw a report of 21 touchdowns)

Michigan Tuesday: More Recruiting Trail Information

In yesterday's post I talked about 2 players in Cincinnati that Michigan was visiting on Monday.  You might remember in 2010, Michigan picked up a late commitment from the Cincinnati area in Jibreel Black.  Mr. Black contributed to Michigan's defense this year and got a number of snaps at DE.  Now it seems Michigan is well positioned to pick up a couple of more Queen City prospects:

• Cincinnati 4 star LB Antonio Poole is set to announce his decision tonight.  He has offers from Cincinnati, Kentucky, Kansas, Purdue, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Michigan State and others.   He also visited Miami of FL last weekend as well.  Things are looking good for the Maize and Blue in this one. 

 

• Cincinnati FB Trayion Durham was offered last night and is expected to visit U of M this weekend.  Trayion is one of the top 5 FB's in the country to both services.

• I was wrong about Texas QB Russell Bellomy visiting Ann Arbor this weekend.  He is on his official visit right now.  I guess a guy with over a 4.0 grade point can afford to miss a few days of schools.

  

• Floyd Raven who is deciding between visiting Alabama and Michigan this weekend and seems to be very interested in Texas A&M.  It was reported yesterday that he committed to A&M but I guess that report was false.  Still no word if he will be visiting Ann Arbor.

• Stefan McClure visited Ann Arbor this past weekend and coach Brady Hoke was in home with his family in California last night.  Stefan is planning to announce later this week.  Michigan has a shot in this one but many expect him to stay closer to home.   It seems Michigan really likes this kid and wants him to come to Michigan.  

Michigan gets another Commitment to the 2010 Class

If your keeping score at home, this is Michigan's 27th or 25th commitment for the 2010 class with signing day just over a week away. Why the 27th or 25th you ask? Well, Michigan has had a strong 2010 recruiting class and a couple of players may or may not have some academic issues that would prohibit them from joining the Wolverines this year. Michigan most likely will take two more players in this class if they want to become "Michigan Man". If your reading this and your name is Sean Parker, Rashad Knight, Tony Grimes, or Demar Dorsey, we are talking to you!!

This latest commitment comes from a defensive line prospect from Cincinnati, Jibreel Black. Jibreel is a player the Michigan coaches have been very interested in for a long time. They have tired since this past summer to get him to Ann Arbor for a visit. He didn't make it up and quickly committed to Indiana where his brother plays. After a few months of seeing Indiana play he changed his "verbal" to Brian Kelly at the University of Cincinnati. Well, we know what happened to Brian and Jibreel open back up his recruitment. UC's new coach Butch Jones met with Jibreel recently and the "thought" by many recruiting insiders was he would stay a Bearcat but Jibreel kept his visits with MSU last weekend and Michigan this weekend.

Black is a 4 Star DT on Scouts and a 3 Star DE on ESPN & Rivals. He is 6"2 and 260 pounds and as you can see, can play inside or outside on the defensive line. This is a good pickup for Michigan on a couple of levels. One: he is an outstanding player and was named the Defensive Player of the Year in Ohio (he shared it with Travis Jackson who is heading to MSU). Two : Michigan needs athletic players on the defensive line and Three: Terry Talbot, DT a verbally committed player to Wolverines took a visit to North Carolina this weekend. It seems Rich Rodriguez and Greg Robinson rolled out the red carpet for Jibreel this weekend.

This pickup is very good news for the Wolverines. The one thing I suggest is not getting too excited, because there are 9 days before signing day and Jibreel lives about 10 miles from the campus he just de-committed from. Michigan is also the third school to earn his verbal.

I guess that's why February 3rd is one of the most exciting days in college football!

Central Michigan - University of Cincinnati Connection (and a former Wolverine rumor)

Editors Note: The below post comes from CMU Insider and Big House Blog reader Augusta J. Michigan fans will be interested in the rumor on the next head coach at CMU.

Brian Kelly Leaves CMU before the Bowl game 3 years ago.
Jeff Quinn coaches CMU in the Bowl Game and wins.
He says hire me ASAP or I am going to Cincy with Kelly. Central hires Butch Jones and says “Don’t let the door hit you In the butt on the way out”.

ND hires Brian Kelly.
Jeff Quinn is set to coach Cincy in the Bowl game VS the Gators.
Butch Jones is hired as Cincy's next coach. No idea who is coaching CMU in the bowl game- Butch or someone else??? editors update: former Michigan assistant coach Steve Stripling (not the hair club for men guy) will coach The Chips in the bowl game and has been named the interim head coach.


To sum up:
Twice, Quinn has been passed over for Butch. Do you think Butch is on Quinn’s Christmas Card List? Is Quinn a candidate for the CMU job now? Is he going to ND with Kelly? I am pretty sure he will not be staying at Cincy. How awkward will it be in the halls of the UC's football offices with both of them there. A little déjà vu I assume……………..

Fast Fact: Butch Jones was a two time letter winner in football at Ferris State University and is a native of Saugatuck, Michigan.


Rumor Mill:

• CMU Insider says Scott Loeffler (the ex UM QB, QB coach and Detroit Lions QB coach) is the favorite to come off the Gator staff and take over the head coaching job at CMU.