2018 Recruiting Update: The Dump

2018 Recruiting Update: The Dump


February 12, 2018

Leesburg (GA) Lee County LB Otis Reese

A couple days ago, I was hit with the annual $1,300 bill for web hosting from Flywheel. It reminded me how few site issues I’ve had since changing to Flywheel. Anyway, if you are capable and so inclined, please consider using the Paypal button on the sidebar to donate a few dollars to keep the site running. As always, you can also click on the Amazon links and buy something within 24 hours, and TTB will get a percentage. I appreciate all the support you can give. Thanks!


COMMITMENTS

Rochester (MI) Adams cornerback Vincent Gray committed to Michigan (LINK).

Northville (MI) Northville kicker Jake Moody committed to Michigan as a grayshirt.

DECOMMITMENTS

Washington (DC) St. John’s quarterback Kevin Doyle decommitted from Michigan (LINK).

Leesburg (GA) Lee County linebacker Otis Reese flipped from Michigan to Georgia. He’s a 4-star, the #5 outside linebacker, and #87 overall. Michigan’s coaching staff found out that he was flipping when he announced on the morning of National Signing Day, which is a . . . uhhh . . . less than ideal behavior from someone who has been committed to you for 1.5 years. Michigan’s coaches took heat for yanking offers late in the process previously (see: Erik Swenson), but at least those players had a chance to make other plans. If you wait until the last day to decide, somebody’s getting screwed.

Hit the jump for all the guys who committed elsewhere, along with some random bits.

OFF THE BOARD

Washington (DC) H.D. Woodson cornerback Noah Boykin committed to Notre Dame. The former Maryland commit was apparently going to choose Virginia until about 30 minutes before his announcement, but something changed in the final stretch to make him choose the Fighting Irish.

Arlington (TX) Lamar defensive tackle Bobby Brown flipped from Texas A&M to Alabama to Texas A&M during his recruitment.

Schertz (TX) Samuel Clemens wide receiver Tommy Bush committed to Georgia. He was offered by Michigan late, but he nixed the Wolverines from his list shortly after the offer.

Ft. Lauderdale (FL) American Heritage cornerback Tyson Campbell committed to Georgia. He’s the #2 corner and #12 player overall.

Metairie (LA) Archbishop Rummel wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase committed to LSU. He had shown interest in Michigan at one point, but it’s almost impossible to get highly ranked recruits to leave Louisiana for Michigan.

Rome (GA) Rome defensive end Jamarcus Chatman committed to Florida State. He had been committed to Tennessee until early December.

Pensacola (FL) Escambia wide receiver Jacob Copeland committed to Florida. This was one of the more noteworthy commitments of the day, because Copeland’s mother – wearing Alabama and Tennessee gear – got up and walked away from the table when Copeland picked Florida. She came back later and hugged and made up, but it’s safe to say that Copeland didn’t have 100% support in his decision.

Rockledge (FL) Rockledge running back Jashaun Corbin committed to Texas A&M. He had been committed to Tennessee at one time.

Los Angeles (CA) Hawkins safety Aashari Crosswell committed to Arizona State. Score one for Herm Edwards!

Tampa (FL) Cambridge Christian running back Andrew Cunningham committed to Georgia Southern. He reported 67 offers altogether, including from much bigger programs than Georgia Southern, so something curious occurred.

Cedar Hill (TX) Cedar Hill defensive tackle Shabazz Dotson committed to SMU.

Tampa (FL) Jefferson wide receiver Jermaine Eskridge committed to Iowa Western Community College. He named Michigan to his top 7 at one point and also had offers from some other big-time programs, so this is a big get for IWCC, since he’s the #40 athlete and #548 overall.

Colony (CA) Colony tight end/wide receiver Michael Ezeike committed to UCLA.

New Orleans (LA) McDonogh 35 safety Joseph Foucha committed to Arkansas.

Lee’s Summit (MO) West cornerback Mario Goodrich committed to Clemson.

Mission Viejo (CA) Mission Viejo cornerback Olaijah Griffin committed to USC. Griffin was supposed to visit Michigan in January but never did. That may have had something to do with teammate Jarrett Patterson eliminating the Wolverines.

Seattle (WA) Garfield wide receiver Tre’shaun Harrison committed to Florida State. Harrison had the most impressive highlight film of any recruit I saw in the 2018 class (LINK).

New Orleans (LA) McDonogh 35 wide receiver Lawrence Keys III committed to Notre Dame.

Memphis (TN) Harding Academy offensive tackle Will Lawrence committed to Memphis. He had been committed to Virginia at one point.

San Bernardino (CA) Cajon defensive end Jeremiah Martin committed to Texas A&M.

Yoakum (TX) Yoakum wide receiver Joshua Moore committed to Texas.

Cincinnati (OH) Winton Woods linebacker Chris Oats committed to Kentucky.

Cypress (TX) Cy Springs safety Leon O’Neal, Jr. committed to Texas A&M. He decommitted from the Aggies shortly after Jimbo Fisher was hired, so Fisher did a good job of reeling him back in.

Mission Viejo (CA) Mission Viejo offensive tackle Jarrett Patterson committed to Notre Dame. The former Arizona State commit was down to Notre Dame and UCLA after eliminating Michigan.

Tampa (FL) Berkeley Prep offensive tackle Nick Petit-Frere committed to Ohio State. He’s the #1 offensive tackle and #7 overall. Nobody expected him to go to Michigan, but OSU came a little bit out of nowhere to steal him.

Phenix City (AL) Central wide receiver Justyn Ross committed to Clemson. I expected him all along to pick the in-state Crimson Tide, so this was a surprise.

Washington (DC) H.D. Woodson running back Mychale Salahuddin committed to Pitt. He was committed to USC at one point.

Concord (NC) Concord defensive tackle Rick Sandidge committed to South Carolina. He was supposed to visit Michigan in February but did not end up taking the trip.

St. George (UT) Desert Hills offensive tackle Penei Sewell committed to Oregon.

Fort Lauderdale (FL) American Heritage cornerback Patrick Surtain, Jr. committed to Alabama. He was expected by many to end up at LSU, so this was a good late pull for Alabama.

Montgomery (AL) Park Crossing wide receiver Cam Taylor committed to Nebraska. He started off at Prattville, which sent players like Kingston Davis and Keith Washington to Michigan.

San Diego (CA) Helix cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart committed to USC. Combined with Olaijah Griffin (see above), the Trojans have quite a cornerback duo in this class.

Leesburg (GA) Lee County wide receiver Ty Terrell committed to Marshall. A teammate of Otis Reese’s, Michigan brought Terrell up for an official visit in January.

Dayton (OH) Dunbar running back Tavion Thomas committed to Cincinnati. He was committed to Oklahoma earlier in the cycle.

St. Louis (MO) Parkway North defensive tackle Michael Thompson, Jr. committed to Oklahoma. He had named Michigan to his top five at one point, but Michigan couldn’t close the deal and didn’t take any defensive tackles in the class.

Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei linebacker Solomon Tuliaupupu committed to USC, which is standard fare for Mater Dei products.

Bellaire (TX) Episcopal wide receiver Jaylen Waddle committed to Alabama. He was one of the stars of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Las Vegas (NV) Arbor View defensive end Elijah Wade committed to UCLA.

Waldorf (MD) North Point offensive tackle Rasheed Walker committed to Penn State.

Miami (FL) Northwestern cornerback Rachad Wildgoose, Jr. committed to Wisconsin.

MISCELLANEY

I handed out recruiting grades for the offense (LINK) and defense (LINK).

Here’s a list of preferred walk-on offers and commitments for 2018 (LINK).

8 comments

  1. Comments: 1356
    Joined: 8/13/2015
    Roanman
    Feb 12, 2018 at 7:38 AM

    Kevin Doyle to Arizona.

    He’s their highest rated kid.

  2. Comments: 400
    Joined: 12/24/2016
    INTJohn
    Feb 12, 2018 at 9:10 AM

    I’ve got to comment a little on your inference that Reese has somehow ‘screwed’ Michigan………

    The University of Michigan is an absolutely HUGE conglomerate prestigious entity with an internationally reknown GLOBAL reputation and for you to infer that an 18 year old high school kid somehow ‘screwed’ this University is to me the equivalent of hitting a sleeping elephant with a pebble. Its an absolutely ridiculous conclusion.

    Gimme a break – if this coaching staff was ‘stung’ by Reese’s decision it tells me more about how fukt up this Staff is if they can’t accurately gage the teen whims, antics & decision process of an American High School kid when said Staff supposedly has all of this recruiting experience, knowledge & ‘professionalism ; probably at minumum 10 times more in years than what Reese has even been alive! Just preposterous.
    As I See It…………..INTJohn

    • Comments: 3844
      Joined: 7/13/2015
      Feb 12, 2018 at 9:57 AM

      I respectfully disagree. You don’t commit to someone for 16 months and then back out on the final day when it matters. If you’re engaged to someone for 16 months, you don’t back out on the wedding day. If you accept a job at a corporation, you don’t call on the morning of the first day of work and say “I’m taking a job somewhere else.”

      This goes for coaches and players. It’s a 50/50 thing. You can back out of a commitment, and you can yank a scholarship offer. Things change. But doing it on the morning of the final day is lame. I would say the same thing about Michigan if they yanked Ronnie Bell’s offer last Wednesday, but they didn’t. When they have done these things in the past (to Rashad Weaver, Erik Swenson, Antwaine Richardson, etc.), they have done so with time to spare, and all of those players have ended up in pretty good situations (Pitt, Oklahoma, Maryland, etc.).

      • Comments: 111
        Joined: 10/14/2015
        UM_1973
        Feb 12, 2018 at 11:57 AM

        Thunder, I have to disagree with you on this matter. Everyone knows Reese was looking at Georgia. Lots of crystal balls went Georgia’s way. Reese was a commit by name only. Just because the kid didnt publicly announce he decommited from Michigan did not mean he did not privately tell the coach that he is looking at other schools. Even if Reese didn’t tell the coaches, I am sure the coaches knew that they risk losing him. How can you say the kids did any disservice to Michigan?

        • Comments: 3844
          Joined: 7/13/2015
          Feb 12, 2018 at 12:21 PM

          I mean, Coach Harbaugh literally said on NSD that the staff found out he was committing to Georgia on the morning of NSD. So it caught them by surprise at least a little bit. Even so, when you have a numbers crunch, it’s pretty difficult to wait for another kid to commit at 10:30 a.m. on NSD and only then send out a NLI to another player.

          On the flip side, you have Jarrett Patterson, who was down to ND, UCLA, and Michigan. He told Michigan a couple weeks before NSD that he would not be signing with them. I have respect for that. I’m not a fan of the way Reese did it.

          • Comments: 522
            Joined: 8/12/2015
            DonAZ
            Feb 12, 2018 at 5:27 PM

            What we don’t know is what conversations were had between Reese and the coaches on the run up to NSD.

            If the Michigan coaches simply assumed Reese was solid and didn’t stay in close contact from early signing up through NSD, then shame on them.

            On the other hand, if the coaches *were* in touch, and Reese was telling them emphatically that he was coming to Michigan, then shame on Reese. But if he showed signs of wavering, then the last-second flip should not be that much of a surprise.

          • Comments: 1364
            Joined: 8/11/2015
            WindyCityBlue
            Feb 12, 2018 at 8:39 PM

            I don’t think the coaches were surprised at all here, unless they’re blind, deaf and stupid. I see this as simply a case of them having no better options. They couldn’t have thought that things were solid when Reese didn’t sign early, and they certainly follow the recruiting buzz, which has shown nothing since then except Reese trending hard towards Georgia and away from us. But even if they knew that there was only a 1% chance of Reese ultimately signing here, what else could they do but wait and hope? Were they going to pull the offer from what would have been their top recruit in the class before he even decommitted, and sign another 3 star project with a mediocre offer list? Not likely. If they had a shot at one or two other quality LBs, they might have had some leverage, but as it stood, Reese was in the perfect position. He knew he’d have a safe landing spot here right up to the last minute, on the off chance that things fell through with Georgia.

            Another example of why “commitments” should never be regarded as anything of the kind.

    • Comments: 21
      Joined: 4/21/2017
      crom80
      Feb 12, 2018 at 9:58 AM

      he didn’t say michigan though.

      i think he meant ‘screwed the recruiting goals and prospect of the football team’, not the whole university or the state.

      i don’t know about you but i think it’s almost impossible to gauge the whims of any teenager at that age and based on the post signing day interview it doesn’t seem the coaches were blindsided by reese’s decision.

You must belogged in to post a comment.