Michigan Picks Up Two 2010 Commits, One 2011 Commit

This past weekend was perhaps Michigan’s biggest of the offseason recruiting-wise, with the UConn game playing the role of one of the final events planned for visitors.  Aside from hosting many already-committed players, Michigan’s coaches welcomed quite a few prospects to Ann Arbor and came out of the weekend with three new commits.  Hopefully they are the start of a big finish (quality-wise rather than quantity-wise) to the 2010 class and a big start to the 2011 one.

The first commitment on the docket actually happened last week but only became publicly known this past weekend.  It came from Delonte Hollowell, a 2011 cornerback from Cass Tech.  Michigan didn’t land anybody from Cass Tech for 2010 after putting a small streak together with Boubacar Cissoko in 2008 and a trio of Technicians in 2009, but with Hollowell’s commitment a new streak can be started in the future.  Since he is an ’11 commit, Hollowell hasn’t been rated everywhere, though he is a 3-star on Scout.  So far his offer list includes only Michigan and Central Michigan, but he has a pretty impressive list of schools that are showing interest in him (HT: mgoblog).

The next commitment came from Davion Rogers, an outside linebacker (and potential defensive end in college) from Warren, Ohio.  He was a teammate of fellow commit D.J. Williamson and hails from the same high school (Warren G. Harding HS) as Mario Manningham, Prescott Burgess, and Carl Diggs.  He is universally rated as a 3-star OLB and shows offers from Michigan, Michigan State, and West Virginia.  Actually, he was committed to West Virginia for around a year before changing his mind after visiting Michigan over the weekend.

Rounding out the weekend, Jake Ryan, another outside linebacker from Ohio, also committed to Michigan.  He hails from St. Ignatius High School and is a 2-star on Scout and a 3-star on Rivals.  His offer list includes Michigan, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and other MAC schools.  Ryan is another sleeper, joining a list that already includes players like Ray Vinopal and Carvin Johnson.  While the recruiting services may not necessarily be sipping the Kool-Aid for those players, the Michigan coaches obviously see something in them, and their films do offer a glimpse at their potential.  (Side not: Ryan’s St. Ignatius team beat Devin Gardner’s Inkster team 49-20 last October.

The recent commitments bring Michigan up to 2 verbals for 2011 and 26 for 2010.  The 26 number comes from how many recruits are currently committed to Michigan, not how many will actually make it to Ann Arbor.  In reality that number is more accurate as 25 if you take Tony Drake off the list since he likely won’t qualify.  I’m sure there are others who are on the fence, which is probably why so many uncommitted players are still being recruited despite the fact that Michigan appears to be at its maximum of 26 for the class of 2010.

Assuming Tony Drake will not be part of the class when all is said and done, and assuming there are no unforeseen decommitments from now until signing day, Michigan has room for one more recruit.  Who that will be is unknown, but there is a very good chance Florida cornerback Rashad Knight or California safety Sean Parker will fill that final spot.  Knight visited this past weekend and sounded like he had a great time.  He isn’t in the bag by any means considering he has a couple visits left, but Michigan appears to be in good shape.  As for Parker, it seems like it’s going to come down to Michigan and USC.  The main issue with USC seems to be depth at the safety position, but with a new coaching staff now in place who knows how all of that will shake out.

One player who will not be filling out Michigan’s 2010 recruiting class is Miami offensive lineman Torrian Wilson.  Wilson had Michigan near the top of his list, but he decided to commit to Louisville, likely because of new head coach and former Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong and the fact that a couple teammates are also committed to the Cardinals.