Michigan cornerback/safety Terry Richardson is using the graduate transfer exception to look for other opportunities to play football. He will be a fifth year senior in the fall and eligible to play immediately.
Richardson committed to Michigan in May 2011 (LINK) as part of the 2012 class. A highly touted high school recruit, I thought at the time that he was a very good get for the Wolverines. He was a bigger playmaker in high school than a lot of other Cass Tech cornerbacks of the era. It should be noted that none reached high levels of success in college, and now Jourdan Lewis appears to have taken over that mantle.
Hit the jump for more on Richardson’s departure.
Richardson burned his redshirt in 2012 while barely playing on special teams and defense. Then he took a redshirt year in 2013, played in eight games in 2014, and appeared just once this past season. He accrued no statistics whatsoever in four years at Michigan. Richardson was playing some safety in practice this past season, but he couldn’t get on the field. Listed at 5’9″, 174 lbs. this season, it took him a few years to even get out of the 160s. Size was a major limiting issue in his development as a football player.
As for the future, it’s unclear where he will end up. He had a lot of big-time offers coming out of high school, but schools like LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and USC aren’t going to be interested at this point.
Richardson’s transfer means Michigan has trimmed its roster to 91 scholarship players for the fall (including incoming freshmen), so now the Wolverines only need to lose 6 more players to get down to the limit of 85 (LINK). He joins Ross Taylor-Douglas today in announcing his transfer. Of course, more 2016 prospects are bound to commit, so the number of departures will also have to increase.
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” Cass Tech cornerbacks of the era. It should be noted that none reached high levels of success in college”
Just flat-out incorrect. Here is a list of recent Cass Tech DBs (just from the 2012 and 2013 class).
Jordan Lewis is an all-conference, potential all-american, and likely top 2 round NFL pick. It doesn’t get much higher level of success wise.
Delano Hill starts at Michigan. He has played well and has another year to achieve whatever “high levels of success” means.
DeJuan Rogers is multi-year starter at Toledo and was named Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week when they beat Arkansas on Sept. 12. High level of success, especially for a MAC-caliber recruit.
Brandon Berry (Buffalo) was all-conference (albeit after converting to LB).
Yes, Richardson was a massive bust. A 5-star who couldn’t get on the field at Michigan. Yes, Michigan has had some other disappointing recruits from Cass Tech, especially the notorious Boubakar Cissoko – who was actually pretty good for a freshman – before off-field issues became a problem.
But Cass Tech has been a recruiting gold-mine for Michigan and other programs. Thomas Gordan was a multi-year starter at Michigan. Delonte Hollowell was a quality nickel-back and special teams player. etc.
This long-standing anti-PSL bias needs to be put to bed. If all the moderately productive recruits didn’t convince people, Jourdan Lewis should be more than enough.
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For the record, I was referring to Richardson’s class and earlier. The classes after him have not really had enough time for me to come to a conclusion.
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I think it’s time to conclude that Jourdan Lewis is pretty effing good.
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True, but the jury is still out on some others in that class.
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That said, Richardson is one of the biggest busts Michigan’s ever had. He’s a true 5-star recruit that could have played at literally any school he wanted to. Err…I shouldn’t say “played” because it turns out he wasn’t very good. He could have gotten a scholarship anywhere and was a recruit everyone from Nick Saban to name-your-best-DC wanted.
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He wasn’t a true 5-star. His highest ranking was #68 overall (4-star) to ESPN.
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Good point. His offer list was 5-star and I’m a guy who values that more than the recruiting rankings – but that information isn’t always accurate either. Richardson is a kid for whom the recruiting rankings were closer to reality (lower) than the offer sheet indicated.
Nice logo BTW.
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Thanks regarding the logo. I posted some directions for getting an avatar on the forum, in case you’re interested. There’s also a link on the two newest front page posts.
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I’m thinking that there’s a reasonable likelihood of carpal tunel in Thunder’s immediate future from these posts alone.
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