Recruiting +3
I don't think #60 is gonna catch him. [Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal]
Michigan landed three new commitments over the weekend; if you missed the action, click the names for the full Hello posts on DE Reuben Jones, QB Zach Gentry, and OL Nolan Ulizio.
Gentry's commitment post focused a lot on his athleticism and mechanics, so this quote Scout's Greg Biggins gave to MLive's Nick Baumgardner about his arm strength proves useful:
"He's got an NFL arm, I've seen him flick the wrist and it's effortless, he doesn't have to wind up, the release is tight and he can throw it," Scout.com national recruiting analyst Greg Biggins said Sunday. "A lot of times you see young quarterbacks try to get more velocity by winding up, and they lose accuracy. With him, it's effortless. He just flicks the wrist and the accuracy and mechanics stay the same.
"Mechanically he's strong, and I love his arm strength."
Three of the four recruiting services rated Gentry as a four-star—Rivals and ESPN have him just outside the top 100—with the only holdout being 247. That doesn't mean 247 doesn't see his potential; when running down the best of the 2015 class, Barton Simmons pegged Gentry as a boom-or-bust candidate with serious upside:
3-star that could play like a 5 – Zach Gentry
A recent Texas decommit and Michigan commit, Gentry is the single most unique talent in this class. He’s huge at 6-7, he has a big arm, he doesn’t have good footwork but he is also extremely athletic, he’s extremely raw, plays shoddy competition in New Mexico but he’s got a world of potential. Still following? Bottom line: Don’t be surprised if Jim Harbaugh turns Gentry into a first-round draft pick as a quarterback, but also don’t be surprised if Gentry goes the Blake Bell route and ends up at tight end either.
Nolan Ulizio's commitment post was a little light on scouting reports; since that published, ESPN gave Ulizio a three-star rating and posted an evaluation ($):
Ulizio is an OL prospect with good size and a physical, lunch pail type style. Little better football player then he is overall athlete and ceiling may not be real high, but with some continued development good prospect that has flown under the radar some and can be a productive contributor to an FBS OL potentially as a RT or could very well see a move inside to OG.
Ulizio's high school coach also discussed his game with The Wolverine's Tim Sullivan ($):
"The great part about Nolan is he's a very physical, aggressive player," said Cox. "He plays with a nasty attitude and enjoys being an offensive lineman. He takes his job of protecting the quarterback and running backs really seriously. He's 6-5, 285. For a high school senior, that's pretty special. He plays with a chip on his shoulder, he plays to the whistle, and he finishes really really well. Secondly, I think Nolan does a great job of conceptualizing what you're trying to do offensively. He can think on his feet, with the defense a moving object that he reacts to quickly.
That last bit is important—a big part of a lineman's job in Harbaugh's offense is identifying the right man to hit when pulling, which isn't always easy to do on the fly.
The Wolverine's Brandon Brown caught up a position coach at Reuben Jones' school—former M OL Ricky Barnum ($):
"He's one of the players that I love to coach against and coach with," Barnum said. "He's an extremely hard worker and he's very strong. I'm not just saying that either. In games, he gets double and tripled-teamed and he manages to fight through it. You can watch his highlight where he runs plays down from the backside. I'm talking 40 or 50 yards down the field. On the field he really has a motor. That's the one thing I'd say about him, he has a motor."
With the three additions, Michigan's 2015 class jumped 22 spots in the 247 Composite team rankings to #69 overall. That's still well off the pace M would like to be at, obviously, but they're poised to push into the top 30 if they round out the class as expected, which would be quite acceptable given the small group of commits compared to other schools.
[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]
Up Next?
Three-star Wisconsin DE commit Jake Pickard went into the weekend as one of the most likely official visitors to commit, and while he didn't pledge on the trip, he told GBW's Kyle Bogenschutz it was a "very good visit," and the atmosphere at Crisler was "electric." ($) Per 247's Steve Wiltfong, Michigan seems to have pushed in front of Wisconsin, and a final decision could come very soon ($):
While a commitment was certainly on the family’s mind. Syracuse will make an in-home visit on Monday and Wisconsin will be in Tuesday. A final decision could then come Wednesday.
“The players for sure,” the elder Pickard said of what impressed his son. “He thought the coaching staff was incredible, obviously the campus and the academics. All the four point were chalked off.”
I'd expect Pickard to end up in the class.
Three-star GA ATH Chris Williamson ran down the aftermath of his visit with Scout's Chad Simmons, mentioning he was impressed with the Big House, M's academics, and the coaching staff ($):
"Michigan has one of the most prolific coaching staffs out there right now," said Williamson. "Nine of the coaches have either played or coached in the NFL, so that is pretty impressive.
"The coaches had a message for me and that was; Michigan is going to win. It is easy to believe that too because everywhere Harbaugh has been, he has won. I am a believer."
Williamson visited UNC the previous weekend and said the Michigan visit was "comparable"; he currently doesn't claim any leaders, and is back home figuring out whether to take officials to Florida and Georgia. Cal, UNC, and Michigan are all scheduled for in-home visits with him this week.
There are a couple prospects we can scratch off the list at this point. UCLA CB commit Will Lockett made it to campus and had a good trip, but it wasn't enough—he told 247 that while Michigan made it "extremely difficult" to choose, he's sticking with UCLA. TN LB Joshua McMillon had planned on visiting over the weekend, but cancelled after talking to Alabama's coaching staff.
A New Flip Candidate Arises
Michigan just offer! #GoBluepic.twitter.com/P5xFzbgm0l
— DJ (@DaishonNeal90) January 26, 2015
That's three-star Nebraska SDE commit Daishon Neal, who dropped two big-time schools from consideration before getting an in-home visit from Greg Mattison and receiving a Michigan offer:
Neal has yet to give any official comments about his visit to Lincoln, but the long time Husker commit tweeted on Sunday night that he will not be attending Oklahoma.
Neal also confirmed to HuskerOnline.com that he will not be visiting Oregon this upcoming weekend, but Michigan will be in Omaha on Monday for an in-home visit.
247's Steve Lorenz expects Neal to visit Michigan this weekend.
More 2015 Updates
Chris Clark will get an in-home visit from Jim Harbaugh on Wednesday. Clark raved about last weekend's visit to UCLA to Scout's Brian Dohn ($):
“L.A. was just so nice. It was like 75 degrees when I got there and I get back home and a blizzard is coming,” Clark said. “It was so much nicer there, and the campus is awesome. It’s really pretty and all the people I met were unbelievable. I enjoyed all the people I got to talk to. The coaching staff is just so chill. It’s such a cool staff.
“I loved (the campus). I thought it was awesome. L.A. is really, really cool. I never saw it before. It was an unbelievable first impression. Coach (Jim) Mora’s house is awesome.”
They're definitely a factor, so that in-home will prove critical.
A couple cornerbacks are strongly considering changing their current commitments to Michigan. Three-star Rutgers commit Jarius Adams, coming off his official visit to Piscataway, will take an official to Michigan this weekend, per Dohn ($). Three-star South Carolina commit Damon Arnette, who visited two weekends ago, either has Michigan in a dead heat with SC, as he told Sam Webb ($)...
“It’s a dead tie right now,” said an exasperated Arnette. “I think that everybody has shown me… it’s just a dead tie right now.”
...or he's got SC a little out in front, as he told 247's Ryan Bartow ($):
South Carolina cornerback commit Damon Arnette (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) said 'we're good, we're good right now' about the Gamecocks and his status following his weekend official visit to South Carolina.
Arnette, who officially visited Michigan last week, said he still plans to officially visit Ohio State January 30.
"I should have my final decision after that," Arnette said.
He said Michigan is still his "number two" school behind South Carolina.
Michigan will drop in for an in-home later this week.
Etc.
Michigan offered 2016 four-star FL CB Trayvon Mullen, per Scout's Corey Bender ($). Mullen is a consensus top-100 prospect who may be tough to pull out of the South.
How's recruiting going at Vanderbilt? Not great, Bob.
I like your style, Soso Jamabo. Not so much, creepy Alabama fan.