Senior Highlights: Alex Malzone

Tag: 2015 recruiting


20Nov 2014
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Visitors: Michigan vs. Maryland

Tampa (FL) Wharton wide receiver Auden Tate

Here’s a list of players who will be visiting Michigan for their game against Maryland this weekend, the final home game of the season.

2015
Jack Dunaway – DE – Bloomfield Hills (MI) Brother Rice:
 Dunaway is committed to Michigan as a preferred walk-on defensive end. He’s the son of former Michigan tight end Craig Dunaway.

John Kelly – S – Oak Park (MI) Oak Park: Kelly is a 5’10”, 194 lb. prospect with offers from Michigan, Michigan State, and Minnesota, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #62 athlete, and #656 overall. Michigan offered him after cornerback Garrett Taylor decommitted, but the Wolverines are looking at Kelly as a safety. Kelly averaged 10.7 yards/carry as a senior this year, ending up with 1,321 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Alex Malzone – QB – Bloomfield Hills (MI) Brother Rice: Michigan’s quarterback commit for the 2015 class (LINK), Malzone was 211/325 (65%) for 2,998 yards, 38 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions.

Grant Newsome – OT – Lawrenceville (NJ) Lawrenceville School: Newsome committed to Michigan in June (LINK). He’s now rated as a 247 Composite 4-star, the #21 offensive tackle, and #209 overall. This will be his official visit.

Grant Perry – WR – Bloomfield Hills (MI) Brother Rice: Perry is a 6’0″, 185 lb. prospect with offers from a bunch of MAC schools and is angling for a Michigan offer to follow his quarterback teammate, Malzone. Perry is a 247 Composite 3-star, the #130 wide receiver, and #1047 overall.

Auden Tate – WR – Tampa (FL) Wharton: Tate is a 6’4″, 215 lb. prospect who committed to Florida State in August; he also has offers from Florida, Georgia, and Michigan, among others. It always looked like a Michigan vs. Florida State battle with the Seminoles leading. An official visit, this will be Tate’s first time in Ann Arbor.

Hit the jump for 2016, 2017, and 2018 prospects.

2016
John Fitzgerald – WR – Baltimore (MD) Gilman: Fitzgerald is a 6’3″, 210 lb. prospect with no offers at this time.

Devery Hamilton – OT – Baltimore (MD) Gilman: I wrote a fairly comprehensive blurb on Hamilton the other day (LINK) after he was offered by Michigan.

Ellison Jordan – DT – Balitmore (MD) Gilman: Jordan is a 6’0″, 255 lb. prospect with offers from Maryland, Penn State, and Virginia Tech, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #13 defensive tackle, and #167 overall.

Jeremy Larkin – RB – Cincinnati (OH) LaSalle:

Dorian Maddox – RB – Baltimore (MD) Gilman: Maddox is a 5’11”, 205 lb. prospect with no offers at this point. He could also be a strong safety at the next level.

Brian Manuel – DT – Washington (DC) St. John’s Collegiate: Manuel is a 6’5″, 320 lb. prospect with no offers at this time. He is a massive human being who could probably afford to shed a little bit of weight, but he will definitely earn some FBS offers soon.

Shamar Shanks – LB – Baltimore (MD) Gilman: Shanks is a 6’1″, 205 lb. prospect with no offers at this time.

Stephen Spanellis – OG – Baltimore (MD) Gilman: You can read more about Spanellis in the Hamilton link above.

Korey Stevens – CB – Baltimore (MD) Gilman:

Abdullah Yaseen – CB – Oak Park (MI) Oak Park: Yaseen is a 5’9″, 166 lb. prospect with no offers at this time.

2017
Troy Brown – WR – Flint (MI) Beecher: Brown is a 6’1″, 200 lb. prospect with no offers at this point. He plays wide receiver, but he also looks like a pretty physical safety for being just a sophomore. He claims a 4.56 forty, a 215 lb. bench, and a 315 lb. squat.

Carter Dunaway – TE – Bloomfield Hills (MI) Brother Rice: Dunaway is the younger brother of Carter Dunaway and a teammate of Malzone and Perry.

Kasim Hill – QB – Baltimore (MD) Gilman: Hill is a 6’2″, 195 lb. prospect with offers from Michigan State and Syracuse.

Corey Malone-Hatcher – DE – Baltimore (MD) Gilman: Malone-Hatcher is a 6’3″, 225 lb. prospect with offers from Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State. He has visited Alabama several times and has family connections down there, so an Alabama offer may be difficult to ward off.

Camaron Spence – DT – Baltimore (MD) Gilman: Spence is a 6’2″, 275 lb. prospect with an offer from Maryland.

2018
Dan Bolden – LB – Cincinnati (OH) Colerain:

Roman Johnson – LB – Xenia (OH) Xenia:

Taron Vincent – DT – Baltimore (MD) Gilman: Vincent is the son of former Wisconsin (and Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles) cornerback Troy Vincent, as well as the brother of Troy, Jr. (North Carolina State), whom Michigan recruited in the class of 2014.

18Nov 2014
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Recruiting Update: November 18, 2014

Long Beach (CA) Poly cornerback Colin Samuel

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2015
Long Beach (CA) Poly cornerback Colin Samuel was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’2″, 186 lb. prospect with offers from Boston College, Illinois, Purdue, and UCLA, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star but unranked in the position rankings. He has been hit with a flurry of offers the past few days, which indicates that he sent out some impressive senior film. Indeed, Samuel is big, fast, and aggressive with good hips; unfortunately, he is pretty raw and does not have great instincts. Samuel is a teammate of 2015 corner Iman Marshall, who has tentative plans to visit Michigan but seems likely to end up at USC. Michigan has had some success in the past at Poly, which sent Donovan Warren to Ann Arbor.

Hit the jump for a slew of 2016 offers, a 2017 offer, and some miscellaneous tidbits.


ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2016
Charlotte (NC) Mallard Creek defensive end Josh Brown was offered by Michigan. He’s a a 6’3″, 220 lb. prospect who committed to Florida State in September, along with another Michigan offeree, Janarius Robinson; Brown also has offers from North Carolina and UCLA. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #12 weakside end, and #194 overall for his class. Brown plays some linebacker and could stay there in a 3-4 scheme, but he looks more like a weakside end. I really like his athleticism, change of direction skills, and aggression. He has said that he will visit Michigan, and his primary recruiter is ace sweet-talker Roy Manning. Michigan has recruited kids out of Mallard Creek before (Marquez North, D.J. Humphries, Marquise Williams) but unsuccessfully so far.

Hyattsville (MD) DeMatha offensive guard Terrance Davis was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’4″, 305 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, Maryland, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia Tech, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #4 offensive guard, and #164 overall. Davis is a big body with a good frame, but he has numerous technical issues that need to be sorted out, including a need to play lower. DeMatha is a huge talent producer out of Maryland, but Michigan has largely avoided recruiting from the school for some reason.

Downey (CA) Downey linebacker Darrian Franklin was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’0″, 202 lb. prospect with offers from Arizona State, Miami, UCLA, and USC. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #10 outside linebacker, and #147 overall. Franklin is also a wide receiver and has some upside there, but he looks like a more natural defensive player. Some growth would be necessary, but he has the look of an exciting outside linebacker.

Baltimore (MD) Gilman offensive tackle Devery Hamilton was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’6″, 270 lb. prospect with offers from Clemson, LSU, Maryland, Michigan State, and South Carolina, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #18 offensive tackle, and #215 overall. Hamilton also plays defensive end, but he looks as if he’ll outgrow that position, and he plays more like an offensive tackle, anyway. He plays for head coach Biff Poggi, whose son, Henry, is a redshirt freshman defensive end for Michigan. Even so, it appears that it would be an uphill battle for Michigan to secure his commitment.

Pittsburgh (PA) Central Catholic cornerback Damar Hamlin was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’0″, 175 lb. prospect with offers from Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, and Pitt, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #11 cornerback, and #127 overall. Hamlin claims a 4.5 forty, and he shows some nice speed on film. I don’t know that he has the change-of-direction chops to play corner at the next level, but he is a decent tackler that could play safety.

Jacksonville (FL) Trinity Christian linebacker Dominique Ross was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’3″, 210 lb. prospect with offers from Miami, North Carolina, Pitt, and Wisconsin, among others. Ross looks like a speedy SAM linebacker in an Under defense, or perhaps a weakside end type of player if he gains some weight. Either way, he’s fast and aggressive with good athleticism. He’s a teammate of Jeffery Holland (undecided) and Kevin Toliver II (LSU), two 2015 Michigan offerees.

Baltimore (MD) Gilman offensive guard Stephen Spanellis was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’5″, 295 lb. prospect with offers from Georgia Tech, Maryland, Michigan State, South Carolina, and West Virginia, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #40 offensive tackle, and #494 overall. He claims a 385 lb. bench press and a 395 lb. squat. A little less athletic than teammate Hamilton, Spanellis plays tackle in high school but probably projects to guard in the long-term, with the possibility of playing the frontside tackle spot.

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2017
Jacksonville (FL) Trinity Christian cornerback Shaun Wade was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’2″, 175 lb. prospect with offers from Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, and UCLA, among others. He’s a 247 Sports 4-star, the #2 cornerback, and #14 overall in his class. A teammate of Ross (and Holland and Toliver), I have yet to find any football film on him.

OFF THE BOARD
Clemmons (NC) West Forsyth defensive end Jalen Dalton committed to North Carolina. Things had been trending toward Virginia Tech for a while, so I can only assume that UNC’s insistence that their athletes do very little classwork led to a change of heart.

Thousand Oaks (CA) Westlake quarterback Malik Henry committed to Florida State. Henry was one of the few quarterbacks Michigan offered in the 2016 class, but that pursuit ended when Messiah DeWeaver committed to the Wolverines. Interestingly, Henry joins a list of verbal commits that includes three (3!) quarterbacks for the 2015 class. With four quarterbacks spread across two class, it would not be surprising to see at least one of them decommit or transfer early on. Henry is the #1 pro-style quarterback and #4 overall player in his class, according to the 247 Composite rankings.

MISCELLANEOUS
Over on Recruiting Season, I updated the profile of Detroit Cass Tech wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones, plus I added profiles of Walled Lake Northern WR Chris Cliff and West Bloomfield QB Trishton Jackson.

12Nov 2014
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Recruiting Update: November 12, 2014

How could Darrin Kirkland, Jr. pass on this? 

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2015
Indianapolis (IN) Lawrence Central linebacker Darrin Kirkland, Jr. decommitted from Michigan. He committed to Michigan back in May (LINK), but the tenuous coaching situation obviously unnerved him. Michigan has a small chance to reel him back in if they hire the right guy, but players rarely re-commit. The loss of Kirkland in the class is somewhat mitigated by the combination of facts that a) Desmond Morgan is redshirting to return in 2015 and b) Michigan got a commitment from Dele’ Harding. If Notre Dame were to offer Kirkland, I would not be surprised to see him join his friend Asmar Bilal in South Bend.

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2017
St. Joseph (MI) St. Joseph defensive end Corey Malone-Hatcher was offered by Michigan. Malone-Hatcher is a 6’3″, 227 lb. prospect with offers from Ohio State and Penn State; he has also visited Alabama, partly because his father is from the state. He claims a 5.08 forty, a 27″ vertical, a 315 lb. bench press, and a 535 lb. squat. He plays some linebacker for his high school team, but if his body continues to grow – and considering his current athletic skills – he should be a defensive end at the next level. Obviously, he’s at the end of his sophomore season, so lots of development should be expected – he’s a good athlete and a solid hitter who really needs to learn technique and how to use his hands. Right now he’s a totally raw prospect, but one of the top few players in the state for his class.


OFF THE BOARD

Evans (GA) Lakeside safety Rashad Roundtree committed to Georgia. Georgia was consistently the presumed leader, but he was also considering Ohio State, which would have been bad news for Michigan. He’s considered the #6 safety and the #95 player overall by 247’s Composite ratings.

MISCELLANEOUS
As always, check out Recruiting Season  for some updated profiles of players from within the state of Michigan.

29Oct 2014
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Recruiting Update: October 29, 2014

Oak Park (MI) Oak Park safety John Kelly (image via Scout.com)

DECOMMITMENT
Richmond (VA) St. Christopher’s cornerback Garrett Taylor decommitted from Michigan. Taylor had committed to Michigan (LINK) this past spring, but in recent weeks, he had set official visits to Ohio State and Penn State. Taylor tore his ACL prior to the beginning of his senior season, so he hasn’t played and won’t play this year. However, he is still getting attention from heavy hitters, and he will not be considering Michigan going forward. He’s currently a 247 Composite 4-star, the #12 cornerback, and #107 overall.

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2015
Oak Park (MI) Oak Park safety John Kelly was offered by Michigan. He’s a 5’9″, 191 lb. prospect with offers from Michigan State, Minnesota, and some MAC schools. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #63 athlete, #661 overall, and #9 in-state. Kelly was offered after cornerback Taylor’s decommitment, but Michigan wants Kelly as a safety. He also plays running back in high school. Kelly claims a 4.6 forty and while he’s not a burner, he is a good all-around player. Initial readings have him leaning toward Michigan State, and his comments upon receiving the Michigan offer were not particularly overwhelming in favor of the Wolverines. He may visit this coming weekend for the game against Indiana.

Lawrenceville (GA) Central Gwinnett outside linebacker Adonis Thomas decommitted from Florida. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #10 outside linebacker, and #171 overall. Thomas has never shown much interest in Michigan, seems to like Alabama, and has scheduled visits to Oregon and LSU.

Hit the jump for players who committed elsewhere and some other miscellaneous tidbits.

OFF THE BOARD
Indianapolis (IN) Ben Davis linebacker Asmar Bilal committed to Notre Dame. At one point he was down to Michigan and the Fighting Irish, but he always seemed to be leaning toward playing in South Bend. The two programs’ diverging trajectories seemed to make the decision pretty clear. Bilal is friends with 2015 Michigan commit Darrin Kirkland, Jr., a fellow Indianan.

Raleigh (NC) Millbrook defensive end Kengera Daniel committed to Kentucky. The Wildcats currently have the #22 recruiting class nationally, based on their relative success (5-3 this year) and second-year head coach Mark Stoops.

Orlando (FL) Timber Creek running back Jacques Patrick committed to Florida State. He was generally considered to be an FSU lean, and the one thing seemingly drawing him to consider Michigan was his uncle, who is a coach in Detroit. However, nobody really seemed to believe he had any chance of being a Wolverine.

Missouri City (TX) Ridge Point outside linebacker Cameron Townsend committed to Texas. The Longhorns are traditionally a recruiting powerhouse, but they’re currently Rivals’ #15 class with 18 commitments, 13 of which are just 3-stars. First-year head coach Charlie Strong has been cleaning house in Austin and trying to get his types of guys in there, which might have something to do with the slightly depressed state of their recruiting.

MISCELLANEOUS
Michigan lost one scholarship for the class of 2015 when it was announced that true senior linebacker Desmond Morgan would redshirt and return next season as a fifth year senior. Of course, it’s probably better to have a fifth-year potential captain returning than a freshman who might wash out, so this is a positive for the Wolverines. This means that the 2015 class is scheduled to include 11 players (LINK) instead of 12, although that number will probably grow with some other early departures.

Here’s a list of players who visited East Lansing for the Michigan vs. MSU game (LINK).

Over on Recruiting Season, I updated the profile of Oak Park’s John Kelly and Plymouth’s Michael Jordan.