I well what uh okay.
A recruiting addendum left out of this morning's post by oversight: a number of commits are taking visits elsewhere. TX RB Sam McGuffie was at A&M last weekend. PA FB Christian Wilson was at UNC. NJ LB Marcus Witherspoon was at Tennessee. JB Fitzgerald was supposed to visit Michigan State but apparently did not. How serious is the threat posed here? Depends on who you ask and whom you ask it about. McGuffie doesn't seem like a serious threat to leave since Michigan retained Fred Jackson, and Fitzgerald didn't even take the trip he was supposed to.
Witherspoon and Wilson are tougher to read, though. Witherspoon's coach thinks this is no big deal:
Walsh said Michigan is still Witherspoon's top choice. "He's just exploring other options," Walsh said."Other options" include six coaches, including ones from Penn State and USC to go along with Tennessee, slated to visit Witherspoon's school this week. Witherspoon himself is saying things that are less positive, though those quotes remain locked behind paywalls. Wilson's got another trip set up for BC and seem concerned about his role in the Rodriguez offense. Probably 50-50 with both at the moment.
So with a couple linebackers wavering, a surprise commit from Cardinal Mooney linebacker Taylor Hill would be a nice bonus. This remains unconfirmed at the moment, but mods over at Recruiting Planet are usually reliable about these things, especially when it comes to Ohio. RP is an offshoot of Buckeye Planet. Scout is now listing Hill as a Michigan commit.
Hill is a low four-star top 250 type to Rivals (Scout gives him three stars) who committed to Oklahoma over LSU in the summer, then had the misfortune to switch his commitment to WVU two days before Rodriguez took the Michigan job.
You might think that a couple early offers from the likes of Oklahoma and LSU would warrant a higher rating than Hill's currently sporting, but a quick glance at the Pitt combine numbers listed on his Scout page clear that up: 6-2, 190, 5.00 40 yard dash. The 40 isn't that big a deal. Camp 40s are notoriously unreliable and difficult to compare to other times and places. Plus , a 5.00 has to be the result of an injury or some freak occurrence. 190-pound guys who run a five second forty don't get recruited by D-I schools, let alone Oklahoma and LSU. But "190" is kind of a red flag, especially since the kid plays DE at Mooney and will have to switch positions in college. There's a lot of projection here -- he has to get bigger, much bigger, he didn't run that well in the limited time gurus saw him, and he's switching positions -- thus the lowish ratings for a kid with some impressive offers.
Amateur scouts can judge for themselves; video of his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons is available.
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