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Tuesday Quick Hits: Josh Furman Commits to Michigan
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Leave a Comment- Maryland linebacker/safety Josh Furman committed to Michigan last night. Well, actually, he announced his commitment to Michigan last night. In reality he had committed to Michigan a month or so ago, but he was waiting to make the decision public. Now that it is out in the open, though, Furman is Michigan’s 24th commit of the 2010 class. He is a 3-star recruit on Rivals and ESPN and a 4-star on Scout. Each site evaluated him at a different position, though. In college he probably will play linebacker for Michigan. He has great athleticism, which could allow him to see the field even if it’s not on defense in his first year in Ann Arbor. Furman also had offers from Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia, among others.
- Rich Rodriguez wanted Donovan Warren to wait to make a decision about going pro until his evaluation from the NFL advisory committee came back. Warren decided to declare for the draft before that information became available, though.
- Eric Puls is leaving the Michigan basketball team to focus on getting his engineering degree.
- Some players no longer have a green light to shoot for the basketball team.
- Michigan plays Coppin State tonight to wrap up the main part of the non-conference schedule. There is still a game at home against UConn in January, but the Big Ten portion of the schedule gets started when Michigan plays again after tonight on December 31. Tonight’s game starts at 7 p.m. and can be seen on BigTenNetwork.com for $2.99.
Monday Quick Hits: Josh Furman to Announce Decision Tonight
- Josh Furman was originally going to announce his college decision — Michigan or Virginia Tech — on Saturday, but a snow storm pushed it back until tonight.
- Boubacar Cissoko is apparently working to rejoin the football team. It would certainly be nice to get him back now that Donovan Warren is headed to the NFL.
- AnnArbor.com has a close-up picture of what’s left of the old press box.
- Devin Gardner and Rich Rodriguez were interviewed on WDFN last week.
- Notre Dame hasn’t changed its mind about joining the Big Ten.
Thursday Quick Hits: Richard Ash Commits to Michigan
- Florida defensive tackle Richard Ash has decommitted from West Virginia and committed to Michigan. Ash is from Pahokee, as are current players Martavious Odoms, Vincent Smith, and Brandin Hawthorne. Ash is a 4-star on Rivals and a 3-star on Scout and ESPN. He has a pretty impressive offer list that includes Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma State, Rutgers, South Carolina, South Florida, Tennessee, UCLA, and USC, among others. Ash is Michigan’s 23rd commit of the 2010 recruiting class, and another one could be on the way on Saturday when Maryland linebacker/safety Josh Furman announces his decision (he will choose either Michigan or Virginia Tech).
- Brandon Graham and Zoltan Mesko were named to the AP All-America second team.
- Roy Roundtree said yesterday that Brandon Smith missed a recent team meeting and is probably going to transfer.
- The Big Ten released a statement earlier this week saying that during the course of the next 12-18 months it will look into expansion. I really don’t think anything will come of it, but the debate about expansion has certainly been reignited this week. My personal opinion on the matter is that the Big Ten shouldn’t expand just for the sake of expanding. Some possible 12th teams that have been tossed around include Missouri, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Rutgers, among many others. Out of the list of schools that would realistically consider jumping to the Big Ten, none really excite me. I wouldn’t have a problem with adding a school like Missouri or Pittsburgh (I don’t think Syracuse would leave the Big East), but Rutgers, for example, just isn’t all that appealing. Obviously the best case scenario would be to finally add Notre Dame, but the chances of that happening are beyond slim.
I guess what it will boil down to are these things: 1) Is there a team out there willing to join the Big Ten that also fits the conference’s criteria? 2) Is expanding going to be a smart business decision? 3) Can the Big Ten fairly divide up the teams if a 12th team does join the conference? The Big Ten will spend the next 12-18 months trying to answer those questions, and once this “evaluation” is complete, there will either be an invitation sent to a possible 12th school or nothing at all will happen. My guess is the result of this evaluation will be the latter, but anything could happen I suppose.
- Both mgoblog and Crimson Quarry took a look at what schools would be realistic candidates to join the Big Ten.
- Missouri’s chancellor actually released a statement basically saying that if the Big Ten were to contact MU, it would be willing to listen. I don’t know if that is mainly just a bargaining move with the Big 12 regarding issues with revenue sharing and bowl selection, but Missouri is the only school to actually go ahead and release a statement about the Big Ten’s statement.
- Bill Martin said that Michigan is “open-minded” about the issue of expansion.
- Former Michigan defensive line coach Steve Stripling has been named Central Michigan’s interim coach, replacing Butch Jones, who left for Cincinnati.
- Illinois’ Arrelious Benn is going to leave school a year early to enter the NFL Draft.
- ESPN has apparently made the Michigan-Kansas matchup on Saturday its “green game.” What that means is that rather than simply watch a basketball game, we will get this stupid promotion shoved down our throat by ESPN.
- Zack Novak’s trip to Utah last week really sucked.
- UM Hoops did another Q&A with David Merritt to get his thoughts on what the team has done since the Old Spice Classic.
