Monday Recruitin'

Update 5/28: Linked to articles on TX WR Daryl Stonum, NJ LB JB Fitzgerald (lolacronym), IL OL Garrett Goebel, MO LB Spencer Ladner, MI WR Fred Smith, IL OL Graham Pocic, GA DT Omar Hunter. Also linked to what seems very solid speculation on NC S Robert Blanton: ND. Added CA S Rahim Moore, AL LB Jerrell Harris, OH DB DJ Woods, CT LB Jonathan Meyers, AZ LB Kurt Mangum, OH RB Michael Shaw. Removed KY DT Brandon Newman (ND).

Backed OH TE Kevin Koger down from blue to green after the Brandon Moore commit. Another article on Goebel. McGuffie is going to be on ESPN2 this fall. Bumped GA DT Omar Hunter to blue; article header encourages. Bumped CA RB Darrell Scott from red to yellow... maybe green? Naw.

Editorial Opinion: Not quite as thrilling as last week's dual commit salvo, but some news of note.

Robert Blanton. Early in the year, Michigan fans were confident about NC S Robert Blanton, who attends the same high school Michigan senior Jamar Adams did and had camped multiple times. Then Notre Dame fans began talking about him like he was an Irish lock for unknown reasons. I initially wrote these off, but now I think the ND fans are legit. The source of the rumor appears to be Blanton's dad or stepdad or, whatever, some sort of paternal Blanton-guy. He's taken up posting on the premium section of the ND Rivals site, all but assuring them that Blanton is in the bag. Internet nut factor? Seemingly very low:

Pete Samson from Irish Illustrated was able to get in contact with the man this afternoon during RJ's track meet, and is now able to report that the guy is completely legit.

RJ took 2nd in the and he also competed in the 300m hurdles, plus he is scheduled to run in the 4x400 relay. Also RJ will now be comming back on another visit next month to be able to hang out with the current players, and gain a better feel for the campus.

According to RJ's step-dad his parents would rather have him stay close to home by going to VT, UNC, or another school in the region, but RJ has his heart set on ND.

There is also this in a Rivals roundup article:

Matthews (N.C.) Butler safety R.J. Blanton is all but committed to Notre Dame. He’ll take a visit to South Bend in June and make sure that it’s the place for him

I buy it and expect Blanton to commit to ND sometime soonish. Moderate bummer.

Also ND bound is KY DT Brandon Newman, but he didn't have a Michigan offer and wasn't likely to get one. In fact, non-ND offers were "Kentucky, Louisville, Stanford, Indiana, Cincinnati and Mississippi," i.e. nobody. This one is no loss unless unexpected disaster happens in the Omar Hunter and Mike Martin recruitments.

Speaking of Omar Hunter, most expect he'll end up a Michigan commit fairly soon after some articles earlier in the year in which he said some very positive things about Michigan before he even had an offer. A recent local newspaper article highlights his impressive offer list...

LSU, Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama have all already offered a scholarship to the Buford star.

...and re-iterates his desire to get his recruitment over with before the end of the summer:

“I’m going to try to know by September,” said Hunter, who had 85 tackles and 13 tackles-for-loss last season for the Wolves. “I want to be able to focus on my senior season.”

This is good. Also good is this teasing header from GBW:

Georgia defensive tackle Omar Hunter has had all the big programs offering and pursuing him -- from Michigan to Florida to USC -- and he is coming down to one final unofficial visit and an impending decision.

Ah, but you tease too blatantly! Anyone with a lick of sense can infer that unofficial is to Michigan and will, in all probability, result in a commitment.

JB Fitzgerald is another player Michigan fans are confident on. He's already visited a couple times and has a third trip scheduled for June according to a recent Scout article. He claims to not have a top five in it, but the interest he's shown belies that claim. His opinion of Michigan...

"That's a first class program. They're always in the top five, top 10. Academically, they're a great school. I visited them in the spring and felt really comfortable there. I'm going back in early June to check it out. Plus, they have great coaches."

... would seem to bode well when his criteria for making a decison are these:

"My relationship with the coaches will be real important just having a good feeling beind around the guys there will be big."

TX WR Daryl Stonum is another guy like Hunter who confused and thrilled when he said things like "I'm going to Michigan, basically" early in the year. Of late he had backed off those exuberant statements and claimed a level top five, which made me jittery. So it's good news that he has once again narrowed his choices: Florida, USC, and Michigan. Now, usually when you see "Florida" and "USC" as Michigan's competition you grumble and move on to the next recruit, but sometimes recruits basically know where they're going and choose "the competition" based on how flashy it sounds. E.G.: A couple years ago, PA WR Dorin Dickerson chose between Pitt and Michigan having never visited Michigan. Given Stonum's connections to Michigan -- two teammates, Troy Woolfolk and Brandon Herron, in the previous class and a friendship with Sam McGuffie -- and previous sentiment, I remain confident.

Speaking of Sam McGuffie, he is going to be on the tee vee October 18th; hopefully by that time he'll be a commit and we can all watch enraptured as he runs for one million yards.

CA RB Darrell Scott was sporting a Nefarious Eduardo after an article in which he declared a top three that did not include Michigan, but apparently that report was false:

“I don’t have a top three; you’re going to have to scratch that one,” Scott said. “My top 10 was practically forced on me, so I won’t say I have a top 10 either. The truth is, I don’t really have a list of favorite schools yet. I have a lot of schools I’m looking at, but I need to take some visits before I can make a decision. I will take five official visits and then decide right after that. It may happen early in the year, but I’m taking five visits."

The good news for Michigan is though Scott doesn't have a top ten he knows some teams that, presumably, would be on it and we are one of them:

“Right now, I have three schools locked into visits. I have LSU, Florida and Michigan. I haven’t figured out what other two schools will get visits. But that’s not even a top three. Those are just three schools I need to see more of.”

It's back to yellow for Scott. It does appear that we've got as good a shot as anyone.

New guys! AL LB Jerrell Harris lists Michigan in his top five with all southern schools; extremely doubtful he ends up here. CA S Rahim Moore is a big-time player who is a "commit" to UCLA but intends on taking official visits in the fall. Michigan will be one of those visits. Optimism is also low here. AZ LB Kurt Mangum attended local feeder OLSM, home of Morgan Trent, Jermaine Gonzalez, and Grant Mason, until last year when he (obviously) moved to Arizona. He might get a look at fullback or linebacker. He's good friends with AZ RB Covaughn Deboskie, one of the three-count-'em-just-three running backs with confirmed offers out; that might help his cause.

I added a couple of mid-level Ohio prospects based on tips. DB DJ Woods (right) has a father who wears Michigan jerseys around Ohio, a brave and thick-skinned fan. Most recruiting services have Woods a wide receiver, but given his speed (reportedly in the 4.35 range and at a combine, not self-reported), agility (silly shuttle), height (under 6'), and Michigan's strong standing with three or four different wideouts, if he picks up a Michigan offer it will be as a defensive back, IMO. Will he? Well, he's got offers from Iowa and other second-tier Big Ten powers (no offense, Iowa, but the Hawkeyes don't recruit on the level of Michigan or Ohio State) and Ohio State is taking a serious look at him, so maybe. He'll camp and is a guy to keep an eye on. I bet he's fighting PSL CBs Troy Tidwell and Anthony Hollis for an offer there.

The other Ohioan is Trotwood-Madison running back Michael Shaw. I received some information from a guy close to the program that Shaw, a teammate of TE commit Brandon Moore, was likely to end up a Michigan commit sooner or later... pending an offer. I haven't heard much about Shaw but am looking into it.

And then there's CT LB Jonathan Meyers, who you can read all about at his official website, JonathanMeyers.com. There is copious video of Meyers on both sides of the ball and a word-for-word republishing of anything that's been written about him by anyone, including premium articles from the recruiting sites. Not sure how they feel about that, but I give it two thumbs up. So we can get really detailed here: Meyers' father played for the Gators in the 80s but he seems geniunely interested in Michigan:

"I think Michigan and Florida will be the two guaranteed in my list," he said. "Both of them are championship programs and national contenders. They are high caliber universities as well and show dominance you don't see in other places. They also are great academic schools and the coaches are great people.

"I've been to Florida and met coach Meyer. I'm looking forward to getting to Michigan and meeting coach Carr and Szabo. I'm getting a good vibe from them."

Earlier in the year, Meyer named Michigan and Florida a top two despite lacking a Michigan offer (he has one now). Michigan is recruiting him as a WLB; he is also under the misconception that an M linebacker went in the first round of the most recent NFL draft (shhhhhhh!). I would think Florida has the advanage what with the legacy and all, but I think we've got a legit shot.