Tag: Jason Hatcher

Recruiting Update: January 28, 2013

Detroit (MI) Cass Tech running back Mikey Weber (image via Michigan Citizen)

COMMITMENT
Richmond (VA) Hermitage running back Derrick Green committed to Michigan.

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2013
Louisville (KY) Trinity defensive end Jason Hatcher decommitted from USC.  Hatcher is not considering Michigan, but he is now open to Louisville (where his teammate James Quick is committed) or Kentucky, the new head coaching home of former Florida State defensive coordinator Mark Stoops.

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2014
Cleveland (OH) Glenville safety Erick Smith was offered by Michigan.  Smith is a 6’1″, 185 lb. prospect with offers from Georgia Tech, Louisville, Ohio State, and West Virginia, among others.  Michigan has also offered his teammate, wide receiver Marshon Lattimore.  Like a lot of Glenville products, Ohio State seems to be the leader.

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2015
Detroit (MI) Cass Tech defensive tackle Joshua Alabi was offered by Michigan.  The 6’5″, 245-pounder doesn’t hold any other offers.  He doesn’t get off the ball very well defensively, but the athleticism is apparent.  He moves like a future left tackle, but I’m not sure he’ll have the height and length to play that position; if he can get more aggressive, he’s the type of athlete you would want at strongside end or 3-tech defensive tackle.  Alabi has visited Michigan a couple times, including for last season’s Michigan State game.  He played defensive end, defensive tackle, and offensive tackle for Cass Tech, and is the teammate of 2013 commits David Dawson, Delano Hill, and Jourdan Lewis.

Detroit (MI) Cass Tech running back Mikey Weber was offered by Michigan.  The 5’10”, 195 lb. running back also has offers from Illinois and Syracuse.  As a sophomore in 2012, he had 1,700 yards rushing and 21 touchdowns.  Weber’s body type looks a lot like Fitzgerald Toussaint’s, but Weber’s more of a slasher and doesn’t show the same kind of lateral movement.


OFF THE BOARD
Phoenix (AZ) Brophy Prep wide receiver Devon Allen committed to Oregon.  Allen flirted with lots of teams out west, and even seriously considered Michigan and Notre Dame for a while.  But he always coveted an Oregon offer, which came recently, and the choice seemed to be pretty easy at that point.

Avon (IN) Avon defensive end Elijah Daniel committed to Ole Miss.  Daniel had previously been committed to Clemson along with the consensus #1 defensive end nationally, Robert Nkemdiche.  Now that Nkemdiche appears to be headed for Oxford sooner or later, Daniel seems destined to be a Rebel, too.

Hamilton (GA) Harris County defensive tackle Jay Ellison committed to Georgia Southern.  That’s an odd development for a player who listed offers from Auburn, Georgia Tech, Michigan State, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Santa Monica (CA) Santa Monica wide receiver Sebastian Larue committed to Texas A&M.  After decommitting from USC in recent weeks, Larue flirted with the idea of visiting Michigan.  He is now one of about eight wide receivers committed to the Aggies.

Belton (TX) Belton tight end Durham Smythe committed to Notre Dame.  Smythe had previously been committed to Texas, but since he decommitted, it has mostly been a race between the Fighting Irish and Stanford.  He was originally scheduled to take a visit to Michigan this past weekend, but he rescheduled in order to visit South Bend with a bunch of other visitors.  Now it looks like next weekend’s visit to Ann Arbor won’t happen after all.

Euless (TX) Trinity defensive end Gaius Vaenuku committed to Utah.  The 6’6″, 260-pounder pickes the Utes over offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Missouri, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, and UCLA.

Tempe (AZ) Marcos De Niza cornerback Priest Willis committed to UCLA.  Michigan was never strongly in the running.  The Wolverines were recruiting him as a cornerback, but most teams project him to safety.

MISCELLANEOUS
There were some rumors that Saginaw (MI) Heritage wide receiver Brian Cole, a 2015 prospect, was offered by Michigan.  However, that is not a solid offer, and he was apparently told he’ll have to wait until his junior year for an offer.

Rivals: U.S. Army National All-Combine Team

Olney (MD) Good Counsel linebacker Dorian O’Daniel

The U.S. Army All-American Bowl is always accompanied by a combine, an event that recruitniks and scouts drool over.  Here’s a look at Rivals’ All-Combine Offense, which includes 2013 offeree Monaca (PA) Central Valley WR Robert Foster and honorable mention in-state prospects like Chelsea (MI) Chelsea RB Berkley Edwards, Howell (MI) Howell TE Pete Cender, and Flint (MI) Powers Catholic OG Vinnie Palazeti.

As for the defense, Michigan has targeted Louisville (KY) Trinity DE Jason Hatcher, Olney (MD) Good Counsel LB Dorian O’Daniel, and Olney (MD) Good Counsel CB Kendall Fuller.  In-state prospects made honorable mention on defense, too: Detroit (MI) Cass Tech DT Kenton Gibbs and Grand Blanc (MI) Grand Blanc LB Luke Maclean.

Recruiting Update: January 4, 2012

Louisville (KY) Trinity DE Jason Hatcher (image via Voice-Tribune)

ADDED TO THE BOARDS (2012, 2013, 2014)
Miami (OH) Norland inside linebacker Keith Brown de-committed from Illinois.  He had previously been committed to Miami, flipped to Illinois before Ron Zook was fired, and now will announce his commitment during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl this weekend.  He is expected to choose between Illinois, Louisville, and Miami, so Michigan is still out of the running.

Louisville (KY) Trinity defensive end Jason Hatcher, a 2013 prospect, received an offer from the Wolverines last week.  He’s a 6’1″, 231 lb. athlete with offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.  247 Sports ranks him at #140 overall for 2013 and the #7 weakside end.  Hatcher had 40 tackles and 12 sacks as a junior.

Salt Lake City (UT) Highland defensive tackle Bryan Mone, a 2014 prospect, was offered by Michigan.  Mone is the first 2014 prospect to be offered by the Wolverines and is the teammate of incoming fullback Sione Houma.  The 6’3″, 255 lb. Mone also has offers from Utah and Utah State.  The 2014 Offer Board has been unveiled!

Louisville (KY) Trinity wide receiver James Quick, a 2013 prospect, has been offered by Michigan.  He’s the teammate of Hatcher, obviously.  Quick is a 6’1″, 180-pounder with a reported 4.41 forty time.  He has offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisville, and others.  This past season he had 82 receptions, 1434 yards, and 21 touchdowns, which was good enough to earn him the #42 overall spot for 247 Sports’ 2013 rankings.  He’s also their #3 wide receiver and the top player in Kentucky.

OFF THE BOARD
Lyndhurst (OH) Brush tight end Pharaoh Brown committed to Oregon.  This was not a surprise, since he went out to Oregon while he was committed to Michigan . . . without telling Michigan’s coaches.  Michigan promptly dropped him from their recruiting board.  I was not impressed with Brown’s attitude at various points throughout the recruiting process, so perhaps this is for the best.

Erie (PA) McDowell running back Greg Garmon committed to Iowa during the Semper Fidelis All American Bowl.  Garmon is a 6’2″, 195 lb. runner with good speed and physicality who will likely present a problem for Michigan in the coming years.  Outside of starter Marcus Coker, there is a huge void at running back for the Hawkeyes (backup Mika’il McCall announced on Tuesday that he was leaving the program), so Garmon’s choice makes sense.  He will likely be able to play immediately as a freshman in 2012.

Columbus (IN) East quarterback Gunner Kiel committed to LSU.  Kiel is widely considered to be the #1 quarterback prospect in the nation.  There was a time back in the spring when people thought he might end up at Michigan, but that flirtation ended a long time ago.  At one point Kiel had committed to Indiana, but the fact that the Hoosiers went 1-11 might have had something to do with him changing his mind.

San Diego (CA) Westview tight end Taylor McNamara committed to Oklahoma.  This is clearly a better option than the school he was previously committed to, which was Arizona.  The new Arizona coach is Rich Rodriguez, obviously, and Rodriguez doesn’t get the ball to his tight ends very much.  Meanwhile, Oklahoma traditionally has a strong passing attack, and McNamara should fit in well there.

Olney (MD) Good Counsel defensive end Ryan Watson committed to Purdue.  The 6’3″, 270-pounder is the former teammate of Blake Countess and the current teammate of Wes Brown (2012), Stefon Diggs (2012), Kendall Fuller (2013), and Dorian O’Daniel (2013), all of whom have Michigan offers.  As one might expect from a kid with his size, the Boilermakers want him to play defensive tackle.