The Highs and Lows of Michigan Wolverines Football Recruiting

Don't you just love this time of year? No, not for the national championship game tonight or the NFL playoffs. It's the final month of recruiting for the 2010 class.

All the ranked un-committed high school football players are getting more attention than Paris Hilton at a Star Trek convention. Coaches are calling them and trying to get them to take official visits where they can serve them the local "kool-aide" and trying to get them to sign on February 3.

They put in their heads the dream of the NFL, playing as a freshman, and being a champion and holding that crystal trophy someday. It's like Christmas in January for these kids. It's also like a rollercoaster if you follow it closely.

Dateline Yesterday:

• Michigan is expecting nine players to enroll early.


• Six actually make it in, with two having to wait until this summer.


• One is a holdover for the 2009 class that was working hard this offseason to get his grades up, but for some reason (most likely) isn't going to qualify.


• One player that wasn't going to enroll early, also has grade issues and won't be in Ann Arbor even this Fall.


• An instate prospect on the defensive line picks Ohio State over Michigan and Florida.

Today:

MSU, Saline QB, and Army All American Joe Boisture has not made it to practice this week in San Antonio. The word "is" that he has an injury (he did suffer a serious concussion in November). A reporter from Mlive believes it's because he threw four touchdowns with eight picks his senior year and got benched but still got an invite to a game that only takes the top high school players in the nation. (this has nothing to do with Michigan recruiting—just interesting). Joe is an MSU verbal.

A Michigan prep CB, Dior Mathis, who is at the Army All American game and has a final three of MSU, Oregon, and Michigan, is expected to announce for the Ducks or the Spartans on Saturday. But this ESPN reporter believes he will announce for Michigan.

Many recruiting insiders believe that Michigan has stopped recruiting Mathis. The reason why? Well, he is 5-foot-9 and 166 pounds. He can cover, but we all saw the issues Boubacar had early in 2009. So the ESPN insider really is out of touch or really has inside info.

Michigan prep safety prospect Earnest Thomas de-committed from UCLA today to stay closer to home. Does this have anything to do with Michigan? Don't know yet. He is rated a three-star prospect from Rivals and the No. 47th ranked safety in the country.

Tony Grimes, a CB from Florida that is part of a package deal that RR is working on for signing day is playing in another All Star Game in late January.

The Numbers Game:

How many kids can Michigan sign in this class? I have heard numbers as high as 29 with the loss of Warren to the NFL. If you now take out the current losses of Witty and Drake, that leaves Michigan with 23 committed players for the 2010 class (with six already enrolled/locked). That leaves Michigan with two players for a full 25-player class and maybe four more to fill out the roster.

Here are the current players "in play" for the Wolverines:

• Teammates from Florida Tony Grimes, CB and Clarence Murphy, DE


• Teammates from Miami Torrian Wilson, OL and Todd Chandler, DT


• California Safety Sean Parker (playing in the Army All American game this weekend)


• Florida Safety Rashad Knight


• Michael Taylor, LB and current Tennessee verbal


• Jibrell Black, DE and current Cincinnati verbal

Michigan will want to fill as many spots as possible with this class and getting the above list on campus for one of the remaining weekends will help Rich Rod and staff close the 2010 class. Similar to last year, this is going to come right down to the finish line.