Michigan Late-Week Recuiting Update

• Michigan gets its kicker: Brendan Gibbons from West Palm Beach, Fla., verbally commits to the Wolverines for the Class of 2009. Michigan loses both of its kickers next year and really needed a quality recruit. I applaud Rich Rod and staff for willing to give a kicker a scholarship. Brendan was 8-for-8 in field goals this past year with a long of 51 yards. He was also the top-rated kicker at Michigan's Kicking Camp this summer. Both recruiting services have him around the top 10 nationally for kickers in this class.
• Prized five-star Michigan recruit/recent de-commitment "Big" Will Campbell is heading to Alabama this weekend for somewhat of a surprise "official" visit. Let's hope Sabin doesn't pull some of his recruiting magic out and convince Big Will to head south.
• Taylor Lewan is a four-star, 6' 7", 272-pound Offensive Tackle from Scottsdale, Ariz., who is starting to get a lot of attention from major programs across the country (20 offers). Taylor was planning a Michigan official visit this weekend but had to cancel due to his teams playoff game. Two fun facts on Taylor: His teammate, Craig Roh, is a verbal Michigan commit at Defensive End and Taylor's favorite NFL player is Jake Long. Come to Ann Arbor, Taylor! Michigan needs you!
• Jamal Patterson a 6'2" WR verbal commit to Stanford, will be taking an official visit to Michigan.
• With many recruits still in the playoffs, this weekend won't have the number of visitors Coach Rod and staff had hoped for. Look for Dec. 6 to be a big recruiting weekend with Duke in town to play Michigan.
• Vlad Emilien, Safety from Florida, will Not take an official visit to OSU for the Michigan game. He is announcing his decision between Wisconsin and Michigan the day after the game (his birthday) on Nov. 23. Vlad is also taking an official trip to Stanford this weekend.
• Michigan is expected to still be in five star MLB Jelani Jenkins' top 5 when he makes his latest cut known. There is also a pretty good chance Jelani takes an official to Ann Arbor as well.
• Current Michigan Defensive Tackle verbal commit, DeQuinta Jones, is also looking at Oklahoma State and Alabama.
• With a coaching turnovers at Clemson and Tennessee, look for the Michigan staff (mostly Tennessee) to contact a few recruits that would be a good fit on the offense or defensive side of the ball.