Wolverine Wednesday: Is There a Dr. Phillips in the House?

Today is Shoelace's Birthday!  Denard turns 20 today.

We mentioned yesterday that Dee is supporting a number of his teammates on trips to places like Arkansas and Auburn.  Today we list the pure number of Division I prospects currently at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Florida.  I have to tell you this is pretty impressive:

Dr. Phillips Senior Prospects with verbal commitments:

• DB Ha’Sean Clinton-Dix: Alabama
• RB Dee Hart:  Open
• OL Darius Johnson: Colorado State
• LB Darryl Monroe: Washington State
• LB/S LaQuentin Smith: Arkansas
• CB Jared Singletary: Arkansas
• CB Roderick Ryles: Arkansas
• DE Chris Curtis: Starting to get offers
• Kicker/Punter Sean Moffitt: Starting to get some interest
• WR Chris Gallon: Starting to get some interest with four TD's catches this year (cousin of current Wolverine Jeremy Gallon)

I know I mentioned that Auburn might be gaining ground on Dee because they are recruiting some of his teammates.  With the list above, it looks like Arkansas might be trying to recruit the entire team.  

I'm guessing Dr. Phillips has a good shot at winning the state title this year.  That is a lot of talent for one high schools senior class.  As I'm sure you're also aware, current Wolverine Ricardo Miller played for Dr. Phillips before transferring to Ann Arbor Pioneer for his senior year.

Concussions

As you know, concussions in football are something that concerns me.  So when I find new research about this topic, I want to share it with my readers. 

The latest comes from a University of Illinois, where they studied the long-term effects for young children that get concussions.  Here are some excerpts from a NYT article today:

Many of the concussions had occurred years earlier and at the time of the testing, none of the students felt lingering symptoms. Each was performing adequately in college. In the testing itself, the concussed students scored just as well as the uninjured athletes.

But when researchers looked at the electrical activity of the students’ brains, they found that the concussed athletes showed noticeably less activity in portions of the brain associated with attention. ‘‘They had suppressed attentional resources,’’ said Steven Broglio, a professor of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois. He and his colleagues speculated that, as a result, the injured athletes most likely were devoting a greater percentage of their total mental reserves to each task than the uninjured athletes in order to achieve similar intellectual results. The effort wasn’t obvious. ‘‘These were high-performing college students,” Dr. Broglio said. ‘‘They were succeeding in school.’’


Trouble:

• I'm sure we all know by now that Braylon Edwards got a DWI the other night.  I was worried when Edwards was traded to the Jets that NYC might fit him too well.  It's a city that never sleeps and it seems neither does he.  I expect him to get suspended, and he may be in more trouble with the law from his fight in Cleveland.  Let's hope this is a wake up call for him. 

• Dion Sims, a former Michigan recruit and current MSU football player, has been charged with being part of a ring that stole a number of lap tops from the Detroit Public Schools.  I expect that Mr. Sims football days will be over if he is found guilty.

Recruiting

• 2011 RB DeVondrick Nealy will visit A2 on 10/8.  He is a three star prospect and has offers from Auburn, Arkansas, Michigan, and Minnesota.  

• 2012 prospect from Michigan, linebacker James Ross, is going to be one of the top players in the state for the 2012 class.  James has always been a Michigan fan and attended the UConn game.  There are a number of big name programs that are recruiting him:  Alabama, Penn State, and others.  Michigan will push hard to get him to commit early, since it's a big position of need.  Robert Bolden, his former teammate, is the starting QB for Penn State.