Big Ten Football: Weekly 2013 Recruiting Roundup

Every Wednesday here at The Big Ten Blog, we will update you on the latest commits, decommits and rumors in the recruiting world.

Commitments

It was a slow week for Brady Hoke and Michigan, who "only" landed 3-star tailback DeVeon Smith over the weekend. At 6'0" and 210 pounds, Smith looks like a classic Big Ten between-the-tackles tailback with great vision for his age.

Smith, who hails from Warren, Ohio, had an offer from Ohio State on the table, as well as some other BCS-conference offers, but he chose Michigan in part because he always liked Michigan and their colors. Hey, good enough for filling out brackets, good enough for fandom.

Penn State followed up its early March headliner commitment from top TE Adam Breneman with a verbal by big guard Brendan Mahon from Randolph HS in northern New Jersey. Mahon's already listed at 6'5" and 300 pounds, so depending on how "good" that weight is, he could see the field early for the Nittany Lions.

Illinois picked up the services of 6'5" offensive tackle Jesse Chadwell last week. Chadwell had offers from various MAC programs, but Illinois' early offer and the subsequent commitment indicate the Illini are high on Chadwell. Chadwell, for his part, took a particular liking to Luke Butkus and new coach Tim Beckman.

Decommitments

None.

News and Rumors

As mentioned this morning, Penn State and Ohio State are battling for four different top tailbacks, most of whom have enough offers to name their destination. Ty Isaac is the true prize of the crop, but all four should be able to see the field early in the Big Ten.

Alex at Eleven Warriors "feels best" about Ohio State's recruitment of WR Shelton Gibson (who is basically down to Auburn and OSU), Florida TE Mike Heuerman and the unfortunately-named Courtney Love (an outside linebacker from Youngstown, Ohio) at this stage of the process. 

Brian at mgoblog isn't exactly concerned with the Texas corollary to Michigan's slew of early commitments, citing the fact that aside from the recent meltdown, that formula worked really, really well for the Longhorns for several years.