hi bennie! /Upchurch
It's an annual rite of fan dorkiness each year to try to be the first to guess which numbers the incoming freshmen will be given by obsessively google stalking them. Sometimes I have some inside knowledge from a recruit who was promised his digit, or tweeted his preferences or something. Here's how I did last year:
| Name | Pos. | # in HS | 2012 Guess | Actual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A.J. Williams | TE | 88 | 88 | 84 |
| Allen Gant | S | 7 and 14 | 14 | 12 |
| Amara Darboh | WR | 15 | 15 | 82 |
| Ben Braden | OL | 51 | 51 | 71 |
| Blake Bars | OL | 67 | 72 | 62 |
| Chris Wormley | DE | 47 | 84 or 68 | 43 |
| Dennis Norfleet | RB/KR | 21 | 21 if available, or 31 | 26 |
| Devin Funchess | TE | 5 and 15 | 85 | 19 |
| Drake Johnson | RB | 2 and 18 | 32 or 6 or 23 | 29 |
| Erik Magnuson | OL | 77 | 78 | 78 |
| James Ross | LB | 6 | 36 | 15 |
| Jehu Chesson | WR | 5 | 82 | 86 |
| Jeremy Clark | S | 2 | 29 | 34 |
| Kyle Kalis | OL | 67 | 67 | 67 |
| Mario Ojemudia | DE | 53 | 53 | 53 |
| Matthew Godin | DT | 62 | 62 | 99 |
| Ondre Pipkins | NT | 71 | 56 | 56 |
| Royce Jenkins-Stone | LB | 10 | 10 | 52 |
| Sione Houma | FB | 35 | 41 or 32 | 39 |
| Terry Richardson | CB | 3 and 6 and 9 | 9 | 13 |
| Tom Strobel | DE | 36 | 63 or 93 or 86 | 50 |
| Willie Henry | DT | 74 | 74 or 68 | 69 |
Four out of 22 ain't…well yes it is. It was bad. This article is useless. Let's continue it anyway; I swear to do better.
Getting to know you. Each coach has his own tendencies with this so we'll get better at it in time. With Hoke, he seems to like having consecutive numbers in the same position group, perhaps for mentoring purposes because they sit next to each other in the locker room. It's far from a rule, but it's a trend. Carr rarely let a player share a specialist's digit, but Hoke doesn't seem to have a problem with it, for example Wormley and Hagerup share a number, and walk-on tight end Alex Mitropoulus-Rundus (I'm gonna just start calling him "Alex M-R") has the same digit as backup punter Kenny Allen. Rich Rodriguez was far more apt to share numbers, and the single digits were nearly always doubled up; Hoke has said in the past that he doesn't like doing that, and the practice has been limited—as of spring just 5, 12 and 34 had scholarship recruits in both numbers, adding 54 and 56 to those double-occupied by players on the two-deep.
The roster lies. The official MGoBlue.com roster still doesn't have DeAnthony Hardison, that nifty RB you saw in the Spring Game. He's #18. Also a practice insider told me Anthony Capatina is playing slot receiver, not "DB" as he's listed on the depth chart. Also weirdly missing from that roster is #79 right tackle Dan Gibbs (a Seaholm Mape!!!), a 2012 preferred walk-on whose twitter profile pic is him riding an oliphant:
Legends/Special #s: 1 because Braylon's scholarship killed the fun, unless Gallon gets it. It won't come as much of a surprise to you that 2 will probably be entering the Legends program this season. There will also be some push for 16, and I doubt it'll be assigned to an offensive player immediately. 11 for the Wisterts, 21 for Desmond, and 87 for Ron Kramer are currently open; it is likely they'll be assigned to veterans whose digits might then be made available if it happens before the season. Bennie's 47 and Jerry's 48 remain occupied by current players and there's no way a second guy will get them. And I've been told they're still working on the Harmon family with 98. Anyway they won't go to freshmen.
Already worn on both sides: 5 (Courtney Avery and Justice Hayes), 6 (Raymon Taylor and Brian Cleary), 12 (Gardner and Allen Gant), 13 (Terry Richardson and Alex Swieca), 15 (James Ross and Shaun Austin), 34 (Jeremy Clark and Brendan Gibbons), 43 (Chris Wormley and Will Hagerup), 54 (Richard Ash and Jareth Glanda), 56 (Ondre Pipkins and Joey Burzynski), 69 (Willie Henry and Erik Gunderson), and 95 (Anthony Capatina and Michael Jocz).
Available on offense only: 4, 7, 14, 18, 22, 24, 25, 30, 33, 35, 40, 50, 52, 53, 55, 57, 59, 66, 76, 92, 96, 97, 99
Available on defense only: 3, 8, 9, 10, 17, 19, 26, 27, 28, 29, 38, 39, 42, 45, 46, 49, 51, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 67, 70, 71, 72, 75, 77, 78, 82, 84, 85, 86, 88, 94
Walk-ons with soft claims: Every year there's a Jon Keizer on the roster who thinks his number is safe, then some top running back recruit in the country (right: from Scout) runs him over with star power (dadada, didda-da diddadidda…). Scout teamers without scholarships often have their numbers taken, for example Charlie Zeller was 19 on the 2012 spring roster and Paul Gyarmati was sitting on 99, but Devin Funchess and Matt Godin nabbed those digits last fall. This year they are15 (Shaun Austin—note that Ross has it on D), 18 (DeAnthony Hardison—note that Countess has it on D), 27 (Jon Keizer), 36 (AJ Pearson—note that Kerridge has it on O), 42 (Dylan Esterline), 46 (Clark Grace), 49 (Brad Anlauf), 51 (Bobby Henderson), 59 (Mark Lawson), 63 (Ben Pliska), 66 (Dan Liesman), 70 (Kris Mateus), 79 (Dan Gibbs), (91 (Alex M-R, though Kenny Allen wears it too), and 95 (Anthony Capatina and Mike Jocz). The other walk-ons I didn't mention (Dever, Cleary, Glanda, Burzynski, Reynolds, Allen, Gunderson, Jocz and the Glasgows) are either on the two-deep already or in the mix.
Currently unused: 20, 23, 31, 32, 37, 41, 44, 64, 68, 73, 74, 80, 81, 83, 89, 90, 93, π
You just said Pi. We're Michigan fergodsakes. All the constants—φ, ζ(3), α and δ, Euler's e, γ, λ, K, r, and Ω—ought to be fair game, and if someone takes √-1 and uses the nickname "Impossible" he will be my favorite for ever and ever.
EVERYBODY LET'S ALL BE #7!!!
| Name | Pos. | HS # | Tea Leaves | Best Guess |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Dawson | OG | 71 | Wore 55 in Under Armour game, 33 in Army AA game. | 55* - His Twitter acct is David Dawson 5⃣5⃣ |
| Reon Dawson | BCB | 1 | Wore 13, 24 and 1 in high school. | 31 - seems to fit. |
| Jaron Dukes | WR | 8 | Twitter handle is @Jaron_Dukes8 | 83* |
| Chris Fox | OL | 73 | Wore #13 (?) at Army AA game and #33 at Rivals 5-star challenge | 73* - Guy likes #3 |
| Greg Froelich | OG | 77 | Wore that and 75 in high school (preferred walk-on) | 76 - Not exactly Steve Hutchinson. |
| Ben Gedeon | MLB | 15 | James Ross is already James Ross. | 45 - David Harris's # but precludes punt coverage. |
| Derrick Green | RB | 27 | Wore 27 in Army AA game. | 27* - call it a hunch. Sorry Keizer. |
| Delano Hill | Nk/FS | 11 | Looks like he's 40. | 32 (Kovacs's other #) or 23 |
| Khalid Hill | FB/TE | 32 | Very Kevin Dudley of him. | 32 or 23 |
| Maurice Hurst | NT | 50 | Wore #11 in Semper Fi Bowl. | 68 - Mike Martin's # |
| Da'Mario Jones | WR | 11 | Wore #7 in that photo of recruits in white M jerseys. #15 at MSU camp. Same school as Tony Boles, who wore 42 at Michigan but had 18 touchdowns so... | 14* |
| Patrick Kugler | OC | 57 | Wore 57 at UA game. Dad and bro wore 57. | 57 - O'KUGLER RULES! |
| Jourdan Lewis | CB | 1 | Also wore #17 at Cass Tech, #27 at Army AA game. | 17 or 3 or 37. |
| Mike McCray | SAM | 9 | Wore #9 at UA game. Father wore 99 at OSU | 9* - He and Dileo both likely to be on special teams, but not the same groups. |
| J.J. McGrath | K | 13 | preferred walk-on | 35 - Or some kicker number. |
| Shane Morris | QB | 12 | Gardner switched, so... | 7 - he already tweeted it. |
| Henry Poggi | 3T | 7 | Wore 17 at UA game. Was given #7 locker in May. Plays jazz flute. | 70 - Ross Douglass already took 7. |
| Dan Samuelson | OG | 74 | Photo out there of him wearing a Nebraska 74 jersey. Twitter handle is @dansamuelson74. | 74 - it's available. |
| Wyatt Shallman | FB | 49 | 49 is available on defense. | 33* for his DCC teammate who passed away. |
| Deveon Smith | RB | 4 | Is a 4-star? | 4 - It's open. |
| Blaise Stearns | WR | 1 | Townie: Can't find what he wore at Huron before transferred. Preferred walk-on | 89 - Doesn't exactly get 1st pick. |
| Channing Stribling | FS | 8 | #22 commit to the class. | 8* - It's open |
| Scott Sypniewski | LS | 56 | Wore #45 at his long-snapper camp. | 41 - Who cares. |
| Jack Wangler | WR | 21 | Dad wore #5 at Mich (preferred walk-on) | 16* |
| Csont'e York | WR | 1 | Was #667 at NFTC | 81 - With an eye toward dropping the 8. |
Go ahead and make your guesses. We'll have our answers in a few weeks.
* UPDDATE: After I posted this Magnus alerted me to his post of numbers that have already been revealed. I had some good guesses. I crossed out my comments if the guess was wrong.