Meet Mike Cox?

So Michigan has another recruit for the 2008 class. His name is Mike Cox. He's from Connecticut. He's got one Scout star, two Rivals stars, and he plays... running back? WTF?

I'm stumped.

Cox did have offers from UConn, Maryland, Boston College, and, er, Duke plus interest from running-back hungry Penn State and participated in the Michigan summer camp this year, but, um... McGuffie? And stuff? ESPN rates him a 77($) -- not particularly good -- and says:

he currently lacks the speed to turn the corner against Division 1 defenders. We question his fluidity at the next level to avoid the initial trash at the line of scrimmage. To keep production as a between the tackles runner in college, he will need added bulk and strength, particularly through his hips and lower-body. Cox's top-end speed and elusiveness may not allow him to run away from many college defensive backs, but he possesses the natural tools and upside to be workhorse type back.

Such a weird offer. At this point Michigan has somewhere between 17 and 19 open scholarships for next year, depending on the statuses of James McKinney and Carson Butler and has given out 10 of them to offensive players. I assume they'll add another wideout at some point; they'll probably pick up Christian Wilson, and with Schifano's departure another interior lineman is probable, which would be 13 guys on that side of the ball. If we take a full class, that's fine; if we end up with 20 scholarships or something it's going to be tighter than a steer's tuckus.

Hypothesis. Maybe Cox is position flexible? He's usually listed at six foot even and around 200 pounds; he could project to safety.

Sidenote. Here's a great indication that you are attending a shmancy private school in Connecticut:

1	Helstowski, Chet	K	'08	Bridgehampton, NY
2	Brechbueler, Tim	WR/S	'09	Gillette, NJ
3	Higginbotham, Jon	TB	'07	Winthrop, MA
5	Cox, Michael	TB	'07	Dorchester, MA
6	Cheyne, Corey	RB/DB	'09	Simsbury, CT
7	Driscoll, Blaise	QB/DB	'07	Avon, CT

That's right, kids, a "Chet" and a "Blaise" amongst the first six names listed. Also a good indicator: when the name of the school is "Avon Old Farms School For Boys."

Sidenote II. AOFSFB, being a shmancy private school in Connecticut, has a killer website. It also has a student newspaper. One issue has an article. This article (c&p because PDFs are annoying):

Springer Inspires Rap Battle Trend

For any students who find themselves bored on Friday nights, stuck in the halls of the quad wishing they had something fun to do, try this on for size: quad based rap battles are becoming increasingly popular among Avon Old Farms students.

On any given Friday evening, one could easily find Mike Cox ’08, Sam Emmes ’07 or freshman Anthony “Problems” Springer in the quad gearing up for a freestyle rap battle. In recent years people have battled in the Hawk’s Nest during the School’s famous “Open Mic Nights,” but this year the battles happen organically and frequently. Rap battles are typically judged informally by the audience watching the battle. The audience looks for originality, delivery, vocabulary used and rhyme scheme. In battle, the freestyler’s objective is to simultaneously win the crowd and dishearten his opponent using a variety of verbal weaponry. The most famous battle yet this year was the notorious Mike “One Million” Cox vs. Anthony “Problems” Springer. The upstart Springer came out on top, employing some particularly original tactics to disarm his fearsome opponent.

Rap battles at Avon were originally sparked by Charlie “Sun Zoo” Custer ’05. He sparked interest in local rap with his song “Avon,” which is well known to many current Avonians .

He used the basement of his house on Faculty Row as a recording studio to cut a lot of tracks, and his influence as an musical pioneer at Avon cannot be overstated. Custer, a freshman at Brown University, performs regularly in the Providence, R.I. area.

Though there are many different freestyle rappers at Avon, none of them can come close to testing the talents of Avon’s new “rap king”: Anthony “Problems” Springer. Once one hears his rhymes one is immediately convinced that he is Avon’s best. “We rap battle because hip- hop is very competitive,” Springer said. “ You can’t have two people screaming they are number one without them eventually bumping heads to find out who really is the best.” Springer, of course, proved himself by taking out former frontrunner Cox.

For all those young battlers trying to improve their game, “Problems” has some tips to offer. One is “be yourself” and don’t put up a front of you. Springer said, “Originality is something hard to find in the rap game right now. So if you are not about punch lines, just be original with what you do say and it’s likely that people will respond to it.”

Rap battling has become a intriguing facet of the Avon culture and interest will likely expand as long as Springer’s title is contested. More rappers will surely come to Avon, and, recognizing with Avon’s natural competitive spirit, battles will certainly ensue. As Springer says, “Where there are rappers there are sure to be battles.”

So many conflicting emotions! It's good he has a pre-fab nickname; it's very, very bad that anyone at Avon Old Farms School For Boys can even touch his flow. Also: I would pay money to see this.

Update: Hey, Varsity Blue broke this at 5. Too bad my feed reader is (re-)tardy.