Michigan Tuesday: In-State Prospect is Announcing This Week

As expected there wasn't much of anything coming out of Schembechler Hall this holiday weekend. So hearing one of the State's top prospect is going to announce his decision is definitely news worthy.  
4 Star St. Joseph's SDE Corey Malone-Hatcher is going to announce his decision on Thursday at 3:30.  It's expected to be a Michigan-ND battle for this talented 6'3 246 pound pass rusher.

His offer list is an impressive one and includes the likes of Alabama, Iowa, Louisville, MSU, Minnesota, Nebraska, OSU, Oklahoma, ND, Tennessee, Wisconsin and UCLA. 

Rivals ranks him #13 SDE nationally and 7th player in the state of Michigan.

• Michigan made the top 6 for 4 Star Vegas DT Greg Rogers.  The others include OU, USC, Colorado, UCLA and Arizona State.

• Michigan also made the top 12 for 4 star Alabama DE Ryan Johnson.

• Michigan is making strides with 5 star CA CB Darnay Holmes, he is good friends with 2016 Michigan commit David Long.  Holmes is expected to visit Michigan this fall.

Michigan Friday: Thinks Out Loud On Baylor

Winning in college football is important.  As Michigan fans we had gotten comfortable with our 10+ wins a year and a New Years Day Bowl.   Many including myself thought if we put in a innovative coach and recruit a few more athletes we would be playing for National Championships. 

Well, we know that didn't work out and Michigan has been digging itself out of a deep hole of dysfunction.   That hole now seems behind us and were finally moving in the right direction.  

What if you don't have that tradition and support? 
What if your trying to build a winning program at a school not known for winning?
Do you cut corners? 
Do you get wealthy supporters to help the cause with $10K hand shakes? 
Do you play kids who get in trouble?  
Do you even try to intervene in a police matter and "convince" people not to press charges?  
Do you cover up that there is a sexual assault problem on your team?

Have we really gotten to that place?  Places like Baylor and Ole Miss have struggled to put a winner on the field for decades.   It's hard to compete with the likes of Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, LSU and Florida when it comes to recruiting.   So how do they build a winner?

They take chances and sometimes even make un-believable decisions to keep guys on the team that have done un-speakable things.   Baylor's case is more Penn State then Ole Miss.   When Ole Miss started to reel in 5 stars in a class 3/4 years ago, all the whispers started.    They even pulled 5 star WR Laquon Treadwell from Michigan who quickly posted a photo of himself with a ton of cash on social media.   When you think about it, paying kids to come to your school is not even in the same universe as what happened at Baylor. 

I wasn't shocked that Jim Harbaugh's new friend Art Briles was fired yesterday.    Jim and Art seemingly became new friends as Art spoke at Michigan's coaching clinic recently.  Michigan and Baylor had also agreed to do a joint Satellite Camp together.   I'm guessing that camp is now in doubt.

Art had to go and will probably receive a "show" clause from the NCAA.    He might even be looking at criminal charges.   What he is accused of doing for winning football games, should make you sick.  

How did we get here?  Winning football games is not worth it.  I don't care how much money your program is making or how much the head coach is making.    There is a way to do the right thing and still have a good football program.   Why risk everything to put a criminal on the field?  Or even worse, try to cover up those criminal charges by intimidating a victim.   I guess these guys didn't learn anything from the Penn State situation. 

For a long time, I thought concussions were the biggest risk to the sport we love, I'm starting to think these "cover-up" coaches will take down college football just as fast.

 

Michigan Thursday: NJ Paramus Camp Is Blowing Up

This come from our favorite media outlet (freep alert) but it sounds like the Paramus Satellite Camp is really attracting a ton of kids:

Paramus president James Vail announced today that the Next Level Elite Camp on June 8 has had to cap registration at 600 kids. The original allotment of 400 filled up in just eight days.

It quickly expanded to 450 campers with the planned use of fields, lawns, the school gym, tennis courts, and chalk talk in classrooms. Plans for represented colleges moved from seven or eight to 37, plus one NFL head coach, the Baltimore Ravens' John Harbaugh.

But with Jim Harbaugh, when it becomes a competition, it's never enough. Now the Paramus camp is up to 600 participants from 200 schools and also will utilize the Bergen Community College fields across the street. There will be 80 college coaches from 40 teams in 10 states and Washington, D.C.

• The OSU/Rutgers camp that conflicts with the above Paramus camp will have Brian Billick.   Current vs. former Raven coaching camp stand off!

• Rivals is reporting that Jimmy and Staff will be holding 50 camps in the month of June.   Get that jet fueled up.

Wolverine Wednesday: Drake Johnson Forklift Accident Details Released

The Detroit News got the police report from the Drake Johnson forklift accident.   To quote Jimmy: “I can tell you this, it would have killed a lesser man, but he is blue twisted steel, very flexible and amazing,”

According to the police report, the driver of the forklift / utility vehicle, Matt Johnson, said he was “moving a large cabinet and was traveling with the cabinet about eye level. He stopped at the large garage door and a co-worker opened the door for him.”

In the report, Matt Johnson said he drove into the building “and felt a bump, stating he thought he ran over a starting block, when he saw Drake Johnson, a student-athlete, roll from under the forklift. And M. Johnson realized he had ran over Drake Johnson who was sitting on the track floor stretching.”

Drake Johnson was examined at the scene by an athletic trainer, then examined by a University of Michigan doctor at Schembechler Hall, the football building, and then was transported to the U-M Hospital emergency room by athletic staff.

Drake seems to be fine and ran track this Spring.   He even mentioned that he feels his legs are stronger from running track.  This is un-believable and I'm very happy he wasn't seriously injured.   He has had more than his fair share of injuries as a Wolverine (2 ACL's). 

• James "Biggie" Ross will sign a free agent contract with the Chargers.

• After his visit last weekend, VA WDE Luiji Vilain will make his final decision next month between Michigan, Virginia Tech, and USC.   I mention this to you in a low "silent" voice.   :)

• Future Michigan QB Dylan McCaffrey hasn't done any interviews after committing to Michigan.  Here is a quick one after his Elite 11/Opening camp in Oakland this past weekend.

• Michigan just offered a name you may recognize:  Robert Porcher IV a 2017 DE from Orlando.  Yes, he is the son of former Detroit Lions pass rusher Robert Porcher.  

• Instate DB Ambry Thomas got offered by UCLA yesterday

• Speaking of UCLA, they are the latest University to leave Adidas.  They are going to Under Armour.

Michigan Tuesday: Wolverines Making Progress with Ambry Thomas

The State of Michigan has some solid prospects in the class of 2017 and one of the most talented is 4 star CB Ambry Thomas from Detroit King.   Thomas visited Ann Arbor again this past weekend with his cousin Jaylen Kelly-Powell.  

“The visit was good,” Thomas told The Michigan Insider. “I got to sit and talk to the coaches. I talked with like the whole defensive staff. They asked me what I was I waiting on (laughter).”

“I’m taking my time with this process, so I still got to weigh my options and make sure I pick the school right for me,” said Thomas.

Thomas is ranked the #77 player in the nation and #9 CB by Scouts.  Michigan off course would love to get commits from Thomas and Kelly-Powell. 

• Speaking of JKP he received an offer from Illinois yesterday.

• Michigan will host Virginia Tech for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge

Michigan Monday: Another Future Wolverine Heading To The Opening

Michigan is having another strong recruiting class and many guys are heading to Nike's Opening this summer.   If you don't know, the Opening is a Nike event made for the elite football prospects high school seniors (and some juniors).  Nike does regional combines/camps to identify the invitees and brings them on the Nike's campus in July to learn from some football legends, train, and play in a 7 on 7 tournament. 

The latest future Wolverine to get an invite to the Opening and Elite 11 is 5 star QB Dylan McCaffrey.  He got an invite at the Oakland Nike event this past weekend.   He is the 5th Wolverine commit heading to Oregon this summer.   The others include:

• A.J. Dillon
• Josh Ross
• Benjamin St-Juste
• O'Maury Samuels
• Dylan McCaffrey

Of course other prospects attending the Opening include: WR Donovan Peoples-Jones, OG Jordan Reid,  TE Matt Dotson, CB Ambry Thomas, and CB Jaylen Kelly-Powell.

• Sam Webb got a gut feeling from a recruit on campus this weekend.   Which means someone has silently committed.

• One of those visitors was Alexandria (Va.) Episcopal 4-star DE Luiji Vilain who know has Michigan in his top 3.  Love the name!

Michigan Friday: Jimmy Can See The Future

I heard someone say that a good college coach can see a high school RB and know he will be effective at the next level. A great college coach can look at a high school RB and see an All American linebacker.  

To me this is a perfect way to describe Jim Harbaugh.  I also believe this is why he wants to spend most of his summer vacation looking at every HS prospect in the nation.    We have seen a ton of positions changes under Jimmy including - 4 star QB Zach Gentry's move to TE.    Something you might have missed is the Benjamin St-Juste story.   BSJ was an under the radar Canadian CBthat committed to the Wolverines out of nowhere last summer.   He re-classified to the 2017 class so he could get his international documents and Canadian transcripts in order.   He wasn't ranked by any of the services and when they got around to it, they gave him a 2 or low 3 star ranking.      BSJ just lit up one of the Nike Opening Regional events and now has an invite to Finals.    Let's watch him quickly rise to a 4 star CB in this class.

• Some good news on five-star Cass Tech WR Donovan Peoples-Jones recruitment.   He has been shadowing some Dr.'s at the U of M Hospital.   That is a great sign he is really thinking about coming to A2.

• VA WDE Luigi Vilain has a great name and is expected to visit this weekend.

• OH SDE James Hudson is also expected in and just de-committed from UK.

• You might recognize this last name:  Michigan is recruiting Jacksonville 2018 WR Will Mallory who is 6-5 and 200 pounds. 

Michigan Thursday: Rutgers Believes They Are Now A Big Michigan Rival

When you have the most wins in college football history everyone is your rival.  Michigan is used to teams playing a bit harder the week the Wolverines come to town.  

Michigan's latest rival seems to be Rutgers who seems very un-happy with the Wolverines of late.   They did hire an OSU assistant to be their head coach.  So he has the rivalry already built in. 

Let's look a bit deeper at these hurt feelings and why Rutgers is so mad at the Wolverines: 

• Michigan is a brand name college football program and has a long storied history.   Rutgers likes to say they are they're "The Birthplace of College Football" for having hosted the first-ever intercollegiate football game on Nov. 6, 1869.

• Michigan tried to hire their famous coach, Greg Schiano when they were wining games in the Big East.  Greg said, yes to Michigan, then no, and if you believe the reports he tried to say Yes again, but Sailboat Bill wasn't having it.   He left for the NFL a few years later and is now an assistant coach for Ohio State.

• Michigan has been pulling some of the nation's top players out of Rutgers backyard in NJ.   It started with Peppers and this past year with Gary.  

• Rutgers did win the first match-up as Big Ten teams against Michigan when the program was on fire under Hoke.  So that gave them some confidence.   Michigan won 49-16 this past season.

• The Big Ten saved Rutgers athletic department from serious debt.   Rutgers is making money off of the Big Ten's history and accomplishments.   With Michigan as one of those storied Big Ten programs, Rutgers has a little bit of jealously.

• Jim Harbaugh is in tight with one of NJ's top high schools in Paramus Catholic High School.  He hired their former head coach and is even doing the graduation commencement speech.

• Jimmy is running a satellite camp at Paramus this summer,  Rutgers and OSU are doing a competing camp on the same day.

• Rutgers is now going to "stripe the stadium" when Michigan comes in for a night game this fall.   Meaning they will have people wear Red in certain sections and Black in others.  

I tip my hat to Rutgers as they are trying to re-build their program that still many people wonder out load how they got into the Big Ten.   They also won a game when Michigan was lost for a few years.    With that said, Michigan is on the rise and Rutgers is trying to be.   

Good luck with this strategy, usually you don't want to poke the bear. 

Wolverine Wednesday: Quick Bullets

• Former Wolverine and NFL veteran, Jon Runyan has been named the NFL vice president of policy and rules administration.  Congrats Jon!

• Chris Spielman is leaving ESPN for Fox.  He will be doing college and NFL.

• Michigan junior offensive lineman Mason Cole is on the watch list for the Rimington Award, which goes to the top center in the country.   That is a bit funny since he hasn't played center yet but is a quality offensive lineman and a two year starter.

• Michigan has made the top 10 for five-star OT Jedrick Wills

Michigan Tuesday: LeVert's Injury

Caris's mystery injury has now been exposed.  Per UMhoops:

LeVert revealed to the media for the first time that he suffered a Jones fracture, the same injury that plagued Kevin Durant. LeVert is still a month away from being able to participate in on-court work and probably won’t be able to play full court until July. That isn’t an ideal time frame given that the NBA Draft on June 23rd is just over a month away.

LeVert first revealed his the specifics of his injury in a feature story with Yahoo! on his interactions with Kevin Durant.

“It’s been a grueling process since the surgery, staying stress-free, eating well and getting the right amount of sleep,” LeVert told The Vertical. “We have looked at X-rays, and everything has looked up to date. All the doctors are really encouraged by what they see. I heard all of the first-round projections from last year, but right now, I can just speak well in interviews and show myself in X-rays.

• Michigan vs. Hawaii will kickoff at noon on ESPN.  Love the noon start!

• Ricky Dole is transferring to Florida Gulf Coast.

Michigan Monday: A Couple Recruiting Bullets

• Welcome to the Opening.  These (hopefully) instate future Wolverines made the Openings final at the Chicago regional this past weekend: Josh Ross and Jaylen Kelly-Powell.

• Speaking of Jaylen Kelly-Powell, he also visited Wisconsin this weekend.

• 5 star WR DP-J visited Ann Arbor again this past weekend.   Please visit every weekend!  

• Four-star CA C Brett Neilon, has a top 3 schools of Michigan, USC, and Washington

Michigan Friday: Dicky V Honoring Chad Tough Tonight

Dick Vitale is hosting his annual gala tonight and will be looking to raise $2.5M for cancer research.  He is honoring two children that lost their life recently and one of those two is our own Chad Carr.    Jimmy and his wife will be accompanied by Lloyd at tonight's gala.  

"You know what frustrates me? I work 24-7 on this, sending letters, leaving messages and texts, anything to get the word out," he said. "Yet some of the big football schools could call for a fundraiser for a practice facility or locker room and they would get $15 million easily. All I want is $2.5 million for kids, sick kids."

If your interested in donating here is Dicky's Gala web site.  

• Mgoblog has a quick interview with one of the greatest Michigan Wolverines ever, Charles Woodson.   He is doing a tour for his new wines.  

• Cass Tech 2017 DB Jaylen Kelly-Powell rated his recent visit to Michigan a 10 out of 10

• Michigan coaches were out to see 2017 WR Nico Collins yesterday.

• Tim Drevno visited 2017 4 star FLOL and Alabama commit, Alex Leatherwood on Thursday.  Leatherwood is a great football name.

Michigan Thursday: The State of Alabama Really Doesn't Like Jimmy And His Camps

Alabama really wants to keep Jimmy out of it's state.

A bylaw passed April 12 by the Alabama High School Athletic Association allows its member football coaches to only participate in camps involving their players on the weeks of June 27, July 4, July 11 and July 25.

Student-athletes can attend camps prior to those dates as individuals, and at their own expense.

"We're not going to have it," Patriots coach Kevin Rose said. "To have that many kids, 500 kids, they need 12 high school coaches to help work the camp. And since that's no longer legal, they won't be coming to Bob Jones.

Michigan had planned to do a camp at Bob Jones.  Michigan will be in Alabama on 6/7 doing a joint camp with South Alabama.   This should free up Jimmy to do the 49 other states and every country in the world

• It seems true freshman Dylan now Kekoa (he prefers to be called by his middle name now) Crawford will wear #1.   The countdown to a Braylon meltdown begins in 3...2...1....

• David Long will wear #22

• Rashan Gary will sport #3

The Adidas Michigan clearance is beginning.   MDen has all it's Adidas gear 50% off.    Buy now to save or wait for the Michigan Jordan stuff this summer.  

Wolverine Wednesday: Jimmy to Hold Satellite Camp on The Moon

The man doesn't sleep and loves to work non-stop.  I believe one of the reasons it didn't work out for him in the NFL was, there wasn't enough to do everyday.   In college football there is always some offensive lineman to recruit or something for the head football coach to do.   It's a perfect fit for Jimmy.   When the NCAA killed the satellite camps, they pretty much took a month of work off of Jimmy's schedule.    Now, that those camps are back, Jimmy couldn't be happier.   He is even doing a few two camps a day, that are not even in the same state!   Yes, I'm sure private aviation is very nice! 

Now Jimmy is taking his show outside the continental US.   Per Sam Webb, Jimmy is now going to do camps in Samoa, Hawaii, and Australia.  He really is putting the "satellite" in satellite camps.   My only fear is he is going to have a hard time finding new assistant coaches down the line, when they learn their summer vacation is working 7 days a week doing camps.

Jimmy is also doing a camp at Paramus Catholic in NJ.  Which has made the local media and the coaches at Rutgers not very happy.   In response,  Rutgers is teaming up with Ohio State to have a camp within a few miles of Paramus on the same day.   Chris Ash the new head coach at Rutgers came from Urban's staff last year.

• Homecoming against Illinois and Lovie Smith will kick at 3:30.

• Michigan is the current leader for 4 star Alabama WR Nico Collins, he is 6'5 and 195 pounds.  Yes, please.

• Texas 2017 5 Star outside linebacker Baron Browning will visit on June 21st

Michigan Tuesday: Trying To Fill The Holes

The Michigan Basketball roster now has two holes to fill next season.  They would probably like to sign a late 2016 riser and bank the other one.   If a graduate transfer falls into their lap that wouldn't be much of a problem either.  

A guy that could fill one of those spots is 2016 wing Harold Baruti who holds offers from SMU and  a few other small schools.  He is starting to get interest from bigger programs with similar problems as the Wolverines.   Harold is 6'6 200 pounds and could fill the GR3 role in Coach B's offense.  He took an official last weekend but didn't get offered as it seems he has some work to do in the classroom still.

• Speaking of Michigan Basketball, they have signed a home and home with UCLA.  The Wolverines will head to LA next season and then the return trip will be in 2017 or 18.

• ESPN continues to remove talent.  The latest to go is famous Buckeye Chris Carter and Ray Lewis, there are rumors that Trent Dilfer could be next.   Chris and Ray are rumored to be replaced by Randy Moss and we already know Charles Woodson will be joining ESPN's NFL staff as well. Sean McDonough will now do play by play for MNF and will replace A2 resident Mike Tirico.

• ESPN has Michigan ranked #3 and Phil Steele has them ranked #7 is the early (we don't have anything better to do) College Football Polls.

Michigan Monday: Headlines From The Nike Regional Opening Event

• A good article on Rashan and his mom for Mothers Day.  Freep Alert.

CBus Regional Opening Event Headlines:

• Michigan will be getting an official visit from 2017 five-star CA ATH Darnay Holmes

• Cass Tech 2017 OG Jordan Reid won MVP at the Opening Regional in CBus and got an invite to the Opening in July on Nike's campus.

                           

• Other players of interest getting invites includes:  CB Ambry Thomas, CB Jamyest Williams, LB Antjuan Simmons, WR K.J. Hamler, WR Donovan Peoples-Jones, and TE Matt Dotson.

 

• Speaking of Matt Dotson TE from Cincinnati Moeller, he has a final 3 of Michigan, Michigan State, and Penn State.  Everyone knows which school is now TEU.

 

• Cass Tech's Jaylen Kelly-Powell has accepted an invite to play in the UA All American game in January.

 

• Detroit MLK CB Ambry Thomas ran a 4.48 in the 40.

Hickman Touchdown Club

You may view the Hickman Touchdown presentation from the May 5 parent meeting at this link.

To become a member of the Touchdown Club, please complete the membership form.

Thank you for your support of Kewpie Football.

Michigan Friday: News and Notes Edition

• Rick Leach beat Jimmy in a softball home run derby for charity yesterday.  Highlights made Sports Center.   Rock Star head coach.

• Urban Meyer didn't recognize Bruce Judson a 4 star commitment from Florida on a visit and he quickly de-committed.   OSU is saying it was a joke because he was wearing a blue shirt.  On a side note, Urban doesn't recognize the sky or the ocean.

• Michigan currently leads for 2017 WR from Waxahachie (Tex.) Kenedy Snell

• News is breaking in the Sandusky Appeal that JoPa had received reports as early at 1976 that Jerry was molesting children.    What is there to appeal here? 

• Nike's Regional Opening camp is in Columbus this weekend.   Will this be in Ann Arbor next year?   I'm sure we will hear about a number of Michigan prospects or commits.

• For you sneaker heads out there, Nike is re-releasing these Michigan classic shoes:

Michigan Dunk Highs

Michigan Thursday: Coach B's Assistants Confirmed.

The Michigan Basketball program filled it's two open position yesterday with the hiring of  Billy Donlon and Saddi Washington.

Billy was the successful head coach of Wright State before he got fired this off-season coming off a successful season.   Local head coach of Xavier, Chris Mack didn't agree with the decision:

“Yeah, it's a bad decision,” he said. “I don't know their athletic director, but we're in a results-oriented business. Unless there was some scandal, which I know Billy and that's not the case, he should not have been let go. The guy wins 22 games this year, 13 conference games, which is the most in the history of the school. Goes to the championship game three years in a row in the Horizon League. He graduated his players. I mean, again, I don't know who Wright State is pretending to be or trying to be, but that's ridiculous.”

Billy has been known for his defense as a coach and will fill that hole on the Michigan staff nicely.

There is not a ton of information on Saddi but he has been at Oakland for 10 years and a guy Coach B has always kept an eye on.   He is known as a good recruiter, which is also a need in Ann Arbor.

Here is a list of the Satellite Camps so far:

June 2 – Cedar Grove Camp at Maynard Jackson High, Atlanta
June 4 – University of South Florida, Tampa
June 4 - Cheshire Academy, CT (Night)
June 5 – Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Va.
June 6 – Bob Jones High, Madison, Ala.
June 7 – South Alabama, Mobile
June 8 – Pearl High, Pearl, Miss.
June 9 - Warren Harding High, Warren, Ohio (morning)
June 9-10 – Sound Mind Sound Body, Detroit
June 11 - Youth Football Camp
June 12 - Waco, Texas - with Baylor staff
June 12 – Baylor University, Waco, Texas
June 13 - Addison, Texas - with Iowa State staff
June 15 – Pittsburg State, Pittsburg, Kan. (morning)
June 15 – Midwest Elite camp, Blue Springs South High School, Mo. (evening)
June 13 – Greenhill High, Addison, Texas
June 17 - Bright Lights Big House Camp
June 18 - A4: Ann Arbor's Aerial Assult Elite Quarterback Training Camp
June 18 - Big Man Football Camp
June 20 or 21 - Shine Time Football Camp
June 22 or 23 - Specialists Camp
June 24 – Oceanside High, Oceanside, Calif


My goodness that is a busy June for the Michigan Staff.   They are going to earn their salary in June for sure!

• EMU has been a punching bag of late for its sports programs.  The bottom line is EMU loses a lot and spends a ton of money on it's sports programs.  Even HBO's Real Sports did a segment on it.   The Michigan Baseball team beat EMU 12-0 last night.     I have a way to help Michigan's neighbor only if the NCAA would allow it.   Michigan Football should have a pre-season scrimmage every August with EMU at the Big House and split the money with our friends from Ypsilanti.    The Big House probably wouldn't be sold out, but you could charge $10 or $15 and fans would come to watch Michigan's new QB or team.  The weather would be nice and I expect it would attract a ton of fans.  Does Michigan lose to Utah last year if they had a pre-season game?  You could name it the Battle For Washtenaw County!

Wolverine Wednesday: Ben is Blue and Michigan Basketball Continues to Lose Players

As expected Ben Mason committed to the Wolverines last night.   He is rated a 3 star LB across the board and is expected to play either LB or FB at Michigan.  Here are some great quotes from him visit to A2: 

“I visited all day on Tuesday,” Mason told The Michigan Insider. “We arrived and (Offensive Analyst and Recruiting Coordinator) Coach Bam (Richards) showed us around the football offices. We saw the weight room, training room, practice fields and indoor facilities. I then got to spend some good quality time with the coaches. (Defensive Coordinator) Coach (Don) Brown and Coach Bam took my family and I over to the Big House after meeting with all the coaches. The view of the field from the tunnel was special. The idea of 110,000 people coming to watch a football game gets me excited.”

“Coach (Jim) Harbaugh brought my family and I into his office and we talked for a while about life and things other than football. Out of the blue he asked me if I wanted to be a part of the family at the University of Michigan. I was very excited to hear that.”

“(My parents) loved the college town feel of Ann Arbor and impressed with the academics. They also loved the opportunity I have defensively at linebacker or offensively at fullback with Coach Wheatley. I just want to play football. I really don’t care what position.”


Ben is a Don Brown/Jim Harbaugh type of player, old school tough that can play a number of positions.   He even could grow into a DE role down the line.   His offer list is an academic one including the likes of:  Army, Boston College, Cal, Columbia, UConn, Dartmouth, Duke, Harvard, Kansas, UMass, Navy, Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple, Wisconsin, and Yale.

Ben is the 12th Michigan commit for the 2017 class.

----------

Coaches and Players are leaving the Michigan program at a very fast rate.   The day Spike announces he is transferring to Purdue, Kam Chatman decides to leave the program as well.   Kam was a highly recruited player a few years ago and considered a top 30 guy.   His only highlight as a Wolverine was hitting the 3 against IU in the Big Ten tournament to get Michigan into the NCAA Tournament.   Other than that, his time at Michigan has to be considered a major disappointment.  Players ranked that high are expected to come in and contribute right away, Kam never really did that.   He struggled with defense and his outside shot.  

Kam will be missed for depth reasons moving forward, Michigan now finds itself 2 scholarship players down and no real solution for a recruit or graduate transfer.    Add that to the two assistant coaches opening Michigan has, it is going to be a busy off season for Coach B as he tries to fill all these holes. 

As I write this, it seems Coach has hired two assistants in ex-Wright State coach Billy Donlon and Oakland assistant Saddi Washington.  More to come on these guys. 

Michigan Tuesday: A Few Recruiting Nuggets

• CT LB/FB Ben Mason is making his announcement tonight at 6:30, Michigan seems in very good shape to receive his verbal.

• I had mentioned AJ Dillon received his invite to the Opening, what I failed to mention is long time Michigan CB commit also showed well:   Michigan cornerback commit Benjamin St-Juste tested off the charts at 6-foot-3, 189-pounds running a 4.64 laser-timed 40-yard dash with an outstanding 3.93 shuttle and a 34-9 inch vertical. St. Juste is strong, fluid and in the competition portion of the camp got his hands on a few footballs.

• Flint Southwestern 2017 defensive end Deron Irving-Bey is expected to visit A2 today.

• Five-star NY OT Isaiah Wilson is down to six schools: Michigan, Alabama, LSU, Georgia, USC and Rutgers.

• Non-Recruiting Update:  It's now confirmed that Michigan will play two night games on the road:  Rutgers and Iowa.

Update:  Spike to Purdue for his graduate year.

Michigan Monday: Draft and Free Agent Updates

The Wolverines had 3 guys drafted just as expected.   Graham Glasgow (third round) and Jake Rudock (6th round) to the Lions and Big Willie Henry in the fourth round to the Ravens.   Two Wolverines go to the local NFL team and Big Willie gets drafted by Jimmy's brother, not bad.

Blake Countess has his Michigan degree but played at Auburn last year.  He was drafted by
Eagles in the 6th round.

Here are a list of where the Wolverine Free Agents are heading:

• Jarrod Wilson to Jacksonville
• Sione Houma to New Orleans
• Joe Kerridge to Washington
• Mario Ojemudia to Baltimore
• James Ross has been invited to Baltimore for a camp tryout

I will give you updates as more Wolverines sign or get invited to camps. 

• Commit Watch is now in effect for LB/FB Ben Mason.  Ben lives in Sandy Hook, CT (Yes, that Sandy Hook, God Bless those families)  and is 6'3 and 230 pounds.   He is rated 3 stars by Rivals and has offers from Army, BC, CAL, Duke, Harvard, Syracuse, Wisconsin, Navy and others.  Sounds like a very smart kid.   

• Michigan RB commit AJ Dillon was just invited to Nike's Opening in July.