14May 2012
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| Six degrees of Kevin Bacon: Maurice Hurst, who spawned 2013 defensive tackle Maurice Hurst, Jr., tries to tackle former Michigan running back Leroy Hoard |
COMMITMENT
Harper Woods (MI) Chandler Park wide receiver Csont’e York was offered by and committed to Michigan. (Commitment post here.)
ADDED TO THE BOARD (2013, 2014)
Seffner (FL) Armwood wide receiver Alvin Bailey was offered by Michigan. The 5’11”, 170-pounder has also been targeted by Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Penn State, and South Carolina, among others. He plays quarterback for Armwood, passing for 872 yards and 12 touchdowns, rushing for 872 yards and 6 touchdowns, and catching 22 passes for 404 yards and 3 touchdowns. Bailey is the teammate of fellow Michigan target Leon McQuay III, a safety.
Piscataway (NJ) Piscataway cornerback Nadir Barnwell was offered by Michigan. The 5’11”, 180-pounder is a lefty quarterback for his high school, but his quarterback days are likely over when he hits college. He also holds offers from Florida, Georgia, Notre Dame, Penn State, and Rutgers, along with many others. During his junior season, he passed for 1,364 yards, ran for 452, and made 40 tackles to go with 3 interceptions. (Highlights here.)
Brooklyn (NY) Poly Prep offensive tackle Jay Hayes, a 2014 prospect, was offered by Michigan last week. The 6’5″, 270 lb. athlete, who could also play defensive line, holds offers from Connecticut, Rutgers, and UCLA, too.
Westwood (MA) Xaverian Brothers defensive tackle Maurice Hurst, Jr. was offered by Michigan. Hurst is a 6’2″, 285 lb. lineman with offers from Nebraska, Ohio State, and many others. He is the son of former New England Patriots cornerback Maurice Hurst, who had 27 career interceptions from 1989 to 1995. As a junior in 2011, “Junior” had 65 tackles and 11 sacks.
Mansfield (TX) Timberview safety Edward Paris, a 2014 prospect, was offered by Michigan. He stands 6’2″ and 188 lbs. and claims a 4.4 forty. Teams like Clemson, LSU, Notre Dame, and Oklahoma are already after him. He carried the ball 12 times for 179 yards (14.9 yards per carry) and 3 touchdowns, but he also broke up 20 passes and notched 8 interceptions. That’s pretty good production for a sophomore defensive back. (Highlights here.)
Tuscaloosa (AL) Northridge athlete Bo Scarbrough, a 2014 prospect, was offered by Michigan. The 6’1″, 215 lb. is projected by some sites as a running back and as a linebacker by others, but after I watched his highlights, he looks like a running back to me. He also doesn’t look like he’s 215 lbs. unless he’s put on some serious weight since football season, but oh well – he’s only a sophomore. Scarbrough already holds offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Clemson, UCLA, and a few others, but since he’s in the Crimson Tide’s back yard, I won’t hold my breath that he’ll head to Michigan.
Olathe (KS) South offensive tackle Braden Smith, a 2014 prospect, was offered by Michigan. The 6’6″, 285 lb. lineman also shows offers from Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Stanford.
Chandler (AZ) Williams Field wide receiver Dionte Sykes, a 2014 prospect, was offered by Michigan. He’s currently about 6’1″ and 175 lbs. As a freshman in 2010, he was timed at 4.69 seconds in the forty and had a 245 lb. bench press, both of which are very impressive numbers for a freshman (and maybe too good to believe). He also has offers from Arizona State, Colorado, and UCLA. (Highlights here.)
Saluda (SC) Saluda defensive tackle Dexter Wideman, a 2014 prospect, was offered by Michigan. He’s 6’3″, 276 lbs. as a sophomore and also holds offers from Clemson and South Carolina. As a sophomore in 2011, he had 61 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery.
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| Jordan Cunningham looks like a man already. |
ADDED TO THE BOARD (2013, 2014)
Wyomissing (PA) Wyomissing Area linebacker Alex Anzalone decommitted from Ohio State. Anzalone was offered by Michigan several months ago, but was eventually turned away from visiting in light of the balls-to-the-wall recruitment of E.J. Levenberry. Shortly afterward, Anzalone committed to the Buckeyes. However, in the past several days, it was revealed that a Buckeye fan who is a sex offender had made contact with several Ohio State recruits, including Anzalone and Joey Bosa. That situation seems to have contributed to Anzalone’s decommitment, although there seem to be some other issues between him and OSU, too. He is not expecting the Buckeyes to stay in the mix. Michigan already told him they were full at linebacker, but I guess there’s a chance that Levenberry’s commitment to Florida State could reopen avenues to Ann Arbor.
Fort Lauderdale (FL) University School defensive tackle Maquedius Bain was offered by Michigan. He is currently committed to Florida State. The 6’3″, 308-pounder also has offers from Alabama, Florida, LSU, Miami, and USC, among others. (Highlights here.)
Fort Lauderdale (FL) University School wide receiver Jordan Cunningham was offered by Michigan. He’s 6’3″, 175 lbs. and the teammate of Bain. Cunningham also has a long list of offers that includes Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Notre Dame, Ohio State, USC, and numerous others. As a sophomore in 2010, he had 59 catches for 1,038 yards (17.6 yards per catch) and 10 touchdowns. As a junior in 2011, his numbers dropped a little to 40 receptions for 700 yards (17.5 yards per catch) and 10 touchdowns. He reminds me a little of Justin Blackmon in this highlight reel:
Lakeland (FL) Kathleen safety Ja’von Harrison, a 2014 prospect, was offered by Michigan last week. Harrison is a 6’2″, 192 lb. safety who also has an offer from Virginia Tech. Last year he had 17 catches for 400 yards and 2 touchdowns, but he didn’t play a whole lot of defense. (Highlights here, but ignore the “2013” thing; Harrison is in the class of 2014.)
Brooklyn (NY) Thomas Jefferson defensive end Ebenezer Ogundeko was offered by Michigan. Ogundeko is a 6’4″, 237 lb. weakside end prospect with offers from Alabama, Florida, Notre Dame, Stanford, and Tennessee, among others. As a junior in 2011, he had 79 tackles and 11 sacks. I could see him growing into a strongside end eventually. (Highlights here.)
Washington (DC) H.D. Woodson cornerback D’Andre Payne, a 2014 prospect, was offered by Michigan. The 5’9″, 172 lb. sophomore also has offers from Arkansas, Maryland, Ohio State, Penn State, and Virginia Tech, among others. (Highlights here.)
Bolingbrook (IL) Bolingbrook cornerback Parrker Westphal, a 2014 prospect, was offered by Michigan. The 6’0″, 180 lb. corner had 56 tackles, 20 pass breakups, 7 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and 2 fumble recoveries as a junior in 2011. His position coach at Bolingbrook is former Michigan cornerback Todd Howard.
OFF THE BOARD
Wylie (TX) East wide receiver Marcell Ateman committed to Oklahoma State. With the Cowboys’ recent record of throwing the ball all over the field and putting out wide receivers, I can’t say that I blame him.
Bastrop (TX) Bastrop cornerback Antwuan Davis committed to Texas. As often happens, Michigan is striking out on Texas recruits. That’s the nature of the beast. I scouted Davis a couple weeks ago, and he’s a very physical corner who could perhaps end up playing safety at the next level.
College Station (TX) A&M defensive end Christian Lacouture committed to Nebraska. Lacouture visited Michigan a couple months ago and thoroughly enjoyed his visit, but it was thought that he would be hard to pull away from LSU. But the Cornhuskers snuck up on everyone a little bit and grabbed a commitment. Lacouture was previously committed to Texas A&M, so I wouldn’t put it out of the question for him to open up his recruitment again.
Mesquite (TX) West Mesquite wide receiver Eldridge Massington committed to USC. He was thought to be a USC lean but he didn’t have a USC offer. That all changed last week when the Trojans came through with the verbal offer. He didn’t wait long before committing. I scouted Massington last week, and they’re getting a good receiver out there in southern California.
Columbus (OH) Walnut Ridge wide receiver Rob Wheelwright committed to Wisconsin. Michigan reportedly backed off on recruiting Wheelwright. That could very well be because Wheelwright is a similar receiver to Michigan commit Jaron Dukes, a tall guy with good leaping ability but without a whole lot of speed. Michigan seems to want an elite big guy who can stretch the field (like LaQuon Treadwell) and a smaller quick guy who can also stretch the field (like Sebastian Larue).
MISCELLANEOUS
Quarterback Shane Morris earned an invitation to the Elite 11 finals when he was in Columbus this weekend. They will be held this summer in California.
Meanwhile, Morris, offensive guard David Dawson, defensive end Taco Charlton, and linebacker Mike McCray each earned invitations to The Opening, the second annual athletic competition sponsored by Nike and held at Oregon. That will also take place this summer.
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| Woodbridge (VA) Woodbridge defensive end Da’Shawn Hand |
247 Sports jumped out to the forefront of 2014 recruiting by releasing its top 25 recruits for the class of 2014 on . . . May 3, 2012. What is this, basketball recruiting?
Anyway, here are some notes on some of the top 25 guys:
1. Da’Shawn Hand – DE – Virginia: Hand already has a Michigan offer, but most expect him to be SEC-bound.
2. Andrew Brown – DT – Virginia: I’ve heard some not-so-flattering things about Brown’s attitude, but he’s a beast of a player. He also seems to be SEC-bound.
3. Jabrill Peppers – CB – New Jersey: Peppers just got a Michigan offer in the last few days.
13. Damian Prince – OT – Maryland: Prince was offered by Michigan a couple months ago. He will probably give Michigan a look, but I’m not too confident on most players from the East Coast.
17. Bentley Spain – OT – North Carolina: Spain was offered by Michigan a few weeks ago. I’m kind of expecting him to go to South Carolina, though.
19. Dante Booker – LB – Ohio: Booker attends St. Vincent-St. Mary’s in Akron, OH. That’s the same school that sent Doran Grant to Ohio State and Lebron James to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
20. Jalen Tabor – CB – Washington, D.C.: He has an offer from Michigan, but seems to be leaning toward Tennessee right now.
23. Malik McDowell – DE – Michigan: McDowell already has an offer from Michigan and could very well end up committing to the Wolverines at any point.