Michigan Football: Commitments Everywhere!

What a crazy Tuesday, it's all most like a mini-Signing Day with  commitments all over Michigan.

We'll start with the good news and then move to the not-so-great news.

Michigan gets its second QB of the 2010 Class with the commitment of Spartanburg, S.C., quarterback Cornelius Jones. Cornelius had offers from Stanford, Wake Forest, and Duke before deciding to go Blue at Michigan's camp. He is 6'2", 195 pounds, and carries a 3.5 GPA. Last year Jones had 1,756 total yards including 1,100 passing yards.

Here is the write up from Varsity Blue:

Recruiting Notes

Aside from the obvious prospects like Devin Gardner, Jones was one of the first players to enter Michigan fans’ collective radar for the class of 2010. Despite not playing football his freshman or sophomore year, apparently due to a disciplinary issue (or problem with the previous coaching staff; it’s never really been cleared up), a spring scrimmage highlight tape of Jones found its way into the hands of Michigan’s coaching staff.

Rich Rodriguez and company liked what they saw, and extended a verbal offer (which the Detroit media, in full anti-Rodriguez mode at the time, spun to indicate that Rod was clueless or something). As it turned out, the offer did not come through at that time, but Michigan offered him in January, and was still among his first offers.

It was that early interest that helped Michigan stay in the forefront of his recruitment, as the Wolverines led wire-to-wire. Jones always maintained that he was trying to work out a visit to Michigan, and that visit eventually ended up taking place at the Wolverines’ 2009 summer camp. At that time, he realized Ann Arbor was the place for him, and he committed to don the maize and blue.

Player Notes
Jones is a dual-threat quarterback in the same mold as Devin Gardner, who can really hurt you with his feet, but has some improving to do in the passing game (certainly understandable for a high school junior). Jones isn’t quite the physical specimen that Garnder is, but might be a slightly better passer at this time. That’s an exciting prospect for Michigan fans, as he’s only played football (and quarterback) for one year thus far! With further coaching at both the high school and college levels, he should blossom into a true threat in both phases of the game.

Good News #2: Cedar Park, Texas Outside Linebacker/DE Holmes Onwukaife also committed to the Wolverines but has not spoken with Coach Rod yet. Holmes verbally committed to Coach Jackson. Holmes had 17 offers from everywhere from UCLA to Harvard. He is rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals and is 6'3", 220 pounds. He runs a 4.51 in the 40-yard dash and has a 3.3 GPA and a 1340 on his SAT. He's also a great addition to the "all 2010 name team". More to come on Holmes when it goes official. Here is a video to wet your appetite:






Now on to the not-so-good news: Two highly-ranked state of Michigan players go to State.

• Mgoblog is reportingthat Will Gholston has committed to MSU.
• Mylan Hicks, a DB from Detroit Renaissance has also committed to become a Spartan.

Neither one of these are a surprise and Will Gholston is maybe the highest-rated player ever recruited by Mark Dantonio to Michigan State. These players are the 3rd and 4th players to commit to MSU for the 2010 class. The above commitments to the Wolverines are number 14 and 15 for the Maize and Blue.

More bad news for a small business in Ann Arbor:

• The MDen loses the Big House contract and will no longer be able to sell Michigan gear at Michigan Stadium.