Tuesday Recruitin'

Update 6/9: Linked to articles on OH OL Chris Freeman, FL RB Jamaal Berry (second), FL S Jonathan Scott, AZ DE Craig Roh, SC WR Alshon Jeffery. Noted Scout header that says M leads for FL LB Brandin Hawthorne.

Added FL WR Jeremy Gallon, then moved him to committed. Also added FL S Mike Jones, NV DE Keenan Graham, MA OL Brennan Williams, SC S DJ Swearinger, TN LB Greg King, LA WR Kenny Bell.

Removed OH LB Dan Fox (ND), IL WR Kraig Appleton (dropped us), CA RB Dasarte Yarnaway (not recruiting), TN OL Alex Bullard (ND), OH WR Patrick White (MSU).

Editorial Opinion: Michigan just held a one-day camp for a host of prospects, but no movement came out of it. Michigan appears to be holding on offers until they finish their full camp, which will be this weekend. At this one-day camp the focus was mostly on Inkster WR/S/LB Cameron Gordon, a four-star with only a few offers yet, and an array of three-star-ish offensive linemen. Expect a wave of offers to go out during and after Michigan's summer camp; a couple commits should follow.

And hey, he's a weird name: Tate Forcier. The California quarterback showed up and performed. WTF, right? Well, rumors persist that Kevin Newsome is asking schools to continue recruiting him. Whether that's the product of Michigan's continued pursuit of Forcier and FL QB Eugene Smith or vice versa is unknowable, but be advised that the quarterback situation is not put to bed yet.

As for the gentlemen who were excised: White, Fox, and Yarnaway didn't have offers. Appleton's turning into a pretty big recruit -- LSU is involved with him and he's from Illinois -- and Michigan probably had an offer out, but I don't think anyone's too concerned with wide receiver, especially after Jeremy Gallon's commit this week. Bullard, OTOH, is an offered lineman who isn't going to Michigan. He never seemed like a strong possibility after naming ND, UT, and UF his top three in an article from a month or two ago, but did take an unofficial.

NOW IS THE TIME ON RECRUITING [DAY] WHEN WE FLORIDA.

FL RB Jamaal Berry reiterated how impressed he was with Ohio State in a couple articles. He plans on visiting Michigan...

"I'd also like to go to Michigan and see what they're like," Berry said. "They need some running backs and it would be a good opportunity to play early. I like how they are another school with good tradition and are known for being a running team."

...but that seems like an uphill battle.

Meanwhile, FL S Jonathan Scott has Michigan in his top three. Weird, because:

"I think if I went to Michigan it would be fun to play against my brother [sophomore corner James Scott]," he said. "That's a big rivalry (against Ohio State) and a great game. I haven't really talked to him about how he'd feel about it, but Michigan is a big-time offer so I'm sure he'd be cool about it.

"I really like coach Rich Rogriguez," he said. "He is coming from West Virginia and was able to make them an elite program, so I think he'll be great at Michigan too."

South Carolina and LSU are the other two schools he seems set on visiting officially; childhood favorite Florida State does not appear interested.

Another Florida safety worth keeping an eye on is Orlando Edgewater's Mike Jones. Jones has a weird pair of leaders for a guy from Orlando:

“I really like Michigan a lot. I like Notre Dame too. They are my top two schools.

“Michigan has always been good. They have a huge fan base with a big stadium. It’s crazy. I have not been up there yet and I will go there this summer or maybe the fall. I think I fit in with their defense from what I know. I can fit in just about anywhere because there is versatility to my game.

“Notre Dame is a smart school and you need grades and better be able to handle the academics. They have a great fan base. I love coach (Korwin) [sic] Brown. I would like to play for him. He’s a real fiery guy."

This one also might be a bit of an uphill battle. Jones' father is an old teammate and good friend of Brown. FWIW: Edgewater is the school that provided Michigan with Greg Mathews.

All I've got on this is a header, but it's an encouraging one:

Michigan, USF -- One & Two for Pahokee LB

That's about FL LB Brandin Hawthorne, a teammate of incoming freshman WR Martavious Odoms. That's good -- other than USF, Hawthorne also has offers from Tennessee, Kansas State, and a few others BCS schools -- but Hawthorne plans on visiting a bunch of camps around the south in the coming months. It sounds like he's sniffing around for some big offers closer to home; would not be surprised if Michigan's lead here is temporary. For now, though, that's nice.

A note on rankings: Rivals is revamping their rankings again and two recruits too big hits: both Kevin Newsome and Jeremy Gallon dropped out of the top 100. Gallon's hit was not a big surprise -- 5'8" -- and Newsome apparently had a rough NIKE camp. The company line on that is Newsome was attempting to shorten up his delivery and once he works through some issues with that he will be a combination of Dan Marino and Godzilla. We'll see, I guess. The whole reason Newsome started the year as a top-20 prospect was an excellent performance at the Army All-American camp; now he's one of two.

One last item: remember Larry Caper, the Michigan State commit who caused some minor rending of garments from Michigan fans when he wasn't offered? Dude just got the boot from the Rivals 250.