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.

Wednesday Quick Hits: Catching Up on Everything

Apologies for the lack of content lately, but classes got started last week and I’m a little busy, to say the least.

• Michigan opened up the second part of the CCHA season with a sweep of Western Michigan.  This was exactly what the doctor ordered, because Michigan needed a sweep to get things back on the right track and because Michigan couldn’t afford to lose to Western Michigan.  Friday’s game was a little close, with Michigan only winning 4-3 at WMU, but Saturday’s game was a rout, with Michigan winning 6-1 in dominant fashion.  Hockey was finally fun again, and Yost was rocking.
• Michigan will look for another sweep when Alaska comes to Yost on Friday and Saturday.  If Michigan were to sweep Alaska, the Wolverines could conceivably move all the way up to a tie for fourth place in the CCHA.  That alone should tell you how important of a series it is, especially with a home-and-home against Ferris State coming up next week and a series with Michigan State after that.  Believe it or not, but Ferris is tied for first in the CCHA right now with Miami, and Michigan State is currently one point back of the top spot.  This will definitely be an important few weeks for the hockey team.
• Carl Hagelin was named the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week.
• Chuck Heater was rumored to be a candidate to join Michigan’s coaching staff, but he has decided to stay at Florida.  Now the hot name out there is Mark Snyder, Marshall’s former head coach and a former defensive coordinator for Ohio State.  Snyder interviewed for the linebackers coach job on Sunday, so hopefully we will find out something definitive sometime soon.
• The investigation of the alleged sexual assault that took place the night/morning after the Ohio State game resulted in no charges, as the accuser didn’t want to press any.
• Michigan Stadium’s press box is now completely gone.
• Charles Woodson won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award and had a Michigan sweatshirt on during his press conference about receiving the honor.
• I think it’s safe to say Brandon Smith has officially transferred.
• Michigan commit Antonio Kinard talked about his plans to redshirt and the recruiting process (including telling Michigan State to “give it up”) in an article on AnnArbor.com.
• For quite some time it looked like Michigan was going to land Tony Grimes and Clarence Murphy, who were set on being a package deal when they chose their college.  That plan has changed, though, and now it appears that Michigan may not land either recruit.
• Delonte Hollowell, a junior from Cass Tech, is close to committing to Michigan.
• Brandon Graham, Brandon Minor, and Zoltan Mesko were invited to the NFL Combine.
• New athletic director Dave Brandon was interviewed on the Big Ten Network during halftime of last Sunday’s basketball game.
• DeShawn Sims was named the Big Ten Player of the Week.
• Eso Akunne is ineligible for the rest of the season.
• Laval Lucas-Perry is a much better player on the road.
• Wisconsin’s Jon Leuer is out indefinitely after breaking his wrist.
• Notre Dame apparently nearly joined the Big Ten in 2003 but changed its mind at the last minute.
• Ryan Mallett has wisely decided to come back for another season at Arkansas.  Barring a complete disaster in 2010, Mallett should be able to improve his stock to the point where he could be a top-10 pick in 2011.
• Michigan State’s Greg Jones is also returning for another season, unfortunately.
• The World Cup will not be coming to Ann Arbor or Detroit even if the USA successfully brings it to America.