Not much else happened in the past week regarding Michigan’s recruiting. No new offers, no new commitments, and only one Michigan offeree went off the board. So here’s a look at where the Big Ten teams’ recruiting classes stand:
Illinois: CB Dillon Cazley, OT Jesse Chadwell
Indiana: None
Iowa: None
Michigan: OT Kyle Bosch, TE Jake Butt, DE Taco Charlton, CB Gareon Conley, OT David Dawson, WR Jaron Dukes, OT Chris Fox, TE Khalid Hill, OG Patrick Kugler, CB Jourdan Lewis, LB Mike McCray, QB Shane Morris, RB Wyatt Shallman, RB Deveon Smith, S Dymonte Thomas, OT Logan Tuley-Tillman
Michigan State: OG Caleb Benehoch, RB Gerald Holmes, S Jalyn Powell, LB John Reschke, RB R.J. Shelton
Minnesota: CB Keelon Brookins
Nebraska: CB Tre’vell Dixon, S Marcus McWilson
Northwestern: None
Ohio State: CB Cameron Burrows, RB Ezekiel Elliott, OT Evan Lisle, WR Jalin Marshall, DT Billy Price, S Jayme Thompson, CB Eli Woodard
Penn State: TE Adam Breneman, DE Curtis Cothran, CB Ross Douglas, QB Christian Hackenberg, OG Brendan Mahon, DE Garrett Sickels
Wisconsin: LB Garrett Dooley, LB Austin Ramesh, TE T.J. Watt
The biggest surprise in the above list is that Michigan has 16 recruits by the end of March. This is the earliest Michigan has reached that level since the modern era of recruiting began in 2002, which is when online sources started tracking such info. We’re all probably aware of that fact, though.
The second biggest surprise, though, is the fact that Wisconsin only has three commits, and none of them is particularly outstanding. The Badgers have done a great job of producing talented college and NFL players in recent years, but with their track record of beating up on teams and challenging for Big Ten titles, you have to wonder if they’ll ever consistently compete for big-time prospects. Madison isn’t the most exciting place in the world to play football, but if running backs and offensive linemen are looking to get to the next level, they ought to be pounding down the doors to wear a Badgers uniform.
Ohio State has a good class going and picked up a couple commitments this weekend, in the form of Ezekiel Elliott and Jayme Thompson. Thompson was “offered” by Michigan but most analysts think it was the non-committable form, which is why he committed to West Virginia in the first place. While Michigan has been concentrating on building up depth and talent in the trenches, so far Ohio State seems most interested in getting skill players in this class.
Penn State isn’t taking the world by storm, but they’re doing a pretty good job so far, all things considered. Breneman is the class’s #1 tight end, and Hackenberg is a pretty solid quarterback to get him the ball. I guess you can’t knock out the Nittany Lions with one punch, even though it was a huge punch; regardless of how things went down in Happy Valley, a bunch of these 17-year-old kids grew up wanting to wear the blue-and-white. If I were a parent, though, I don’t know if I would let my kid commit to Penn State right now. On the one hand, you know that the coaches and administration at PSU are going to be walking on eggshells to avoid any further controversy. But there’s so much turmoil and the administration has proved so ineffective recently that if my kid had any other options, I would probably be urging him in another direction.
The other seven recruiting classes aren’t anything too interesting for Michigan fans. No team besides OSU and PSU has grabbed a Michigan offeree, and Michigan State’s best recruit is an in-state kid (Reschke) who was never offered by Michigan.
MISCELLANEOUS
Washington (DC) Gonzaga cornerback Devin Butler has bumped up his decision date from May 12 to this coming Wednesday. The most recent feeling is that he’s going to pick Notre Dame, and the previous favorite seemed to be Penn State. Michigan appears to be on the outside looking in, despite his recent visit to Ann Arbor.
Peoria (IL) Manual offensive tackle Logan Tuley-Tillman is planning to move to Michigan over the summer and play his senior season a little closer to college. If you remember, class of 2010 tight end Ricardo Miller did a similar thing when he moved from Orlando (FL) Dr. Phillips and then played his senior year at Ann Arbor (MI) Pioneer. Tuley-Tillman’s goal is to get out of Peoria, which can be a rough town. I would have to think an Ann Arbor school or one nearby (Chelsea, Saline, etc.) would be a likely destination here, but nothing is set in stone yet.
