The latest edition of INSIDE THE FORT, including plenty of football, basketball and recruiting information. Make sure to check out our EJ Holland’s INTO THE BLUE segment on Mondays, as well, the football recruiting portion of ITF.
Starting this weekend with football …
Many close to the program believed Michigan was going to beat Penn State in Happy Valley last weekend. Obviously, PSU’s strong start hindered the effort, and those same people are lamenting how a winnable game got away from them.
They are encouraged, however, by the effort they saw and feel a “light bulb might have gone on” for many, especially on offense. It needs to be sustained, of course, but they’ve put in the work this week for Notre Dame. The seniors have made it clear they don’t plan on going out with losses to rivals, three total, all that’s left on the home schedule.
This is still a red-letter game tonight, and it’s no surprise it’s being treated as such. Former Michigan All-American Ty Law will be honored tonight by the administration at a function in Ann Arbor, as will former All-American Tom Mack. There will be some huge names in as a surprise to address the team, several sources have told us, to let the players know what’s expected and how much this rivalry means to them.
On the latest ‘Jim Harbaugh to the NFL’ rumors — there’s plenty of eye rolling going on in the building, not just because of the sources behind them (they are convinced they’re driven by one adversary in particular), but also the response to it.
Harbaugh has made it clear he plans to win championships at U-M and that he doesn’t want to leave. He’s said it publicly and privately, and those spouting off about “where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire” … well, this place would have burned four times by now if that were the case.
Though the season has been disappointing in some respects, there’s still football to be played. They love the underclassmen, too, both as leaders and players, and believe there are great days ahead. They’ve got decisions to make on a few of the freshmen, whether or not to redshirt them — defensive tackle Chris Hinton is one — so it will be interesting to see how much they play down the stretch.
One who has seen Hinton hit the sled says he’ll be a beast in a few years when he adds some weight. He’s just like his father in that respect, a former Northwestern late bloomer and then NFL tackle. “When he hits the sled … it’s different,” our source said. “He’s explosive.”
When he’s ready, he should be an impact player.
We told you in last week’s ITF we expected a few more to hit the transfer portal, including a defensive back. J’Marick Woods was the guy, and the junior safety’s departure was no surprise. We believe there could be two more on offense, one offensive lineman and a skill position player, before the year is up.
On the injury situation, we don’t expect linebacker Josh Ross to go, and senior tight end Sean McKeon is “hopeful.” Notre Dame, coming off a bye week, is quite healthy heading into tomorrow’s game, with only two significant injuries of note. Blue & Gold Illustrated writer Lou Somogyi provided the latest on the Irish’s banged up athletes, and which ones fans should expect to see.
“[Redshirt sophomore] running back Jafar Armstrong has missed virtually all of this season after undergoing surgery for an abdominal tear incurred in the opening series of the opening game,” Somogyi explained. “He played four snaps against USC and, having had a bye last week, should be good to go for more action this week to possibly complement [redshirt junior] Tony Jones Jr. in the backfield.
“Starting [redshirt junior] cornerback Shaun Crawford dislocated his elbow and tore four ligaments in it versus Virginia on Sept. 28. He possibly could help this weekend but it might be a stretch. He was cleared to do some practice work.”
Where Notre Dame ranks on the list of Michigan’s rivalries probably varies depending on who is asked the question, but the general consensus seems to be that both Ohio State and MSU have moved ahead of the Irish in recent years.
Somogyi was also asked to give his take on where the Wolverines check in among Notre Dame’s rivals from the coaches’ and players’ viewpoint.
“Just like Ohio State will always be Michigan’s top rival, so will USC be for Notre Dame because of the longevity,” he explained. “But it’s always a marquee matchup between two of the top winners in college football who are in such proximity.
“ND has played USC and Michigan 33 times in its history and defeated both in the same season only seven times. In six of those seven it either won the national title or had a chance to win it going into its final game or was in the College Football Playoff (like last year).”
Finishing with a bit of recruiting …
Michigan is set to host an impressive list of visitors on the recruiting trail this weekend, including one of its top in-state targets in the 2021 class in Belleville (Mich.) High four-star outside linebacker Jamari Buddin.
Buddin is rated as the No. 187 overall player nationally, and provided a brief update on his recruitment and what he’ll be looking forward to seeing this weekend in Ann Arbor.
“After the loss at Penn State, their ability to bounce back [is what I’ll be watching for],” he explained. “I’m pretty excited to watch them go to work. I’ll be keeping an eye on that viper position as well and what they do with their linebackers. Michigan is recruiting me as a viper — it’s a pretty free spot and I know they do a ton of different things with it. I just want to see if they use a lot of zone traps and how they attack Notre Dame.
“Michigan is for sure up there [in my recruitment] because of my relationships with the coaches. I’m the closest with [defensive coordinator] Don Brown, [head] Coach [Jim] Harbaugh and [tight ends] Coach Sherrone Moore. Coach Brown and I talk a lot, about how the school would fit me and what it all has to offer. We don’t always talk about sports, but anything in general. He tells me what makes Michigan one of the standout schools, and about their schemes and how they can change in the future.”
U-M also has a commitment from Buddin’s senior teammate at Belleville in four-star cornerback Andre Seldon, with the linebacker admitting the defensive back has been in his ear about the Wolverines ever since he committed in June of 2018.
“Andre always talks to me about them,” Buddin laughed. “We hang out with each other every day and talk about what Michigan all has to offer, so I hear it from him a lot. He’s my guy and I trust him 100 percent, and I’m sure whatever he says is right because he’s my best friend. He loves Michigan, and he committed early for a reason. His family loves it there too, and they’re glad to have locked him up.”
As for a potential Buddin commitment on Saturday night…
“I don’t know,” he laughed. “Even if I were going to, I’d want to keep it a surprise.”
****
To basketball and recruiting now, and the latest on the team and prospects …
We’ll start with the Hunter Dickinson saga, which has taken so many twists we’re just ready for it to end (positively, of course).
We posted rumblings two days ago that Dickinson’s top two might now be Duke and Notre Dame. We received backlash and removed it when it was reported Dickinson would be visiting U-M this weekend with his girlfriend, a track athlete being recruited by the Wolverines.
We followed up and yes, it does seem Dickinson might have had plans at one time to be on campus. He has not returned messages for some time, however, so we had to go to a different source for the information. At that time, we still acknowledged Notre Dame was making a push, and we believe (strongly) that Mike Brey and his staff have.
Brey has strong ties to the four-star seven-footer’s school at Hyattsville DeMatha, from there and having coached Dickinson’s coach. Even the folks at DeMatha aren’t sure where he’s leaning know, but Rivals.com’s No. 37 prospect nationally is expected to announce after four-star Mark Williams does — the Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy big man is set to pledge to Duke next week, we believe.
Notre Dame coaches were stunned at the news Dickinson would visit U-M again, feeling they were in a pretty good spot with him and that they’d done a great job putting themselves in position. Though not overly confident, they felt they had as good a shot as anyone based on Dickinson’s “mum’s the word” approach.
We should know shortly after Williams’ announcement where Dickinson will end up, and U-M still has a great shot. Duke believes Michigan is its top competition, while behind the scenes Dickinson seems to talk more about those two (and ask more questions) than any others.
Some coaches, meanwhile, are trying to convince other recruits to delay their pledges/signings until the later period, hopeful new U-M coach Juwan Howard will struggle in the early going and give their programs a better shot. Moses Moody might, and whether it’s related to that or not we don’t know … we do know Moody, a Rivals.com four-star prospect out of Montverde (Fla.) Academy, enjoyed his trip to home state school Arkansas and is contemplating holding off.
We also know he’s still very interested in the Wolverines.
Nothing has changed with five-star pledge Isaiah Todd, either. He has said all the right things, and Juwan Howard and the Michigan staff seem confident he’ll play a year in Ann Arbor based on what he and his mom are saying. There’s still the strong possibility, however, that the right offer will come along, and Todd will end up playing overseas. We’d still bet on it, in fact.
Five-star guard Nimari Burnett, meanwhile, still seems likely to go somewhere other than Michigan. The Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep star has been to Alabama, while Texas Tech and Oregon are among those very much in the hunt.
Michigan is one of three probably at the top for Khristian Lander, meanwhile, the five-star point guard out of Indianapolis. Many believe Indiana leads, and he’s been there a number of times, but one of our guys believes Lander isn’t “feeling” IU right now. Louisville has put in a ton of time with him and Michigan is the dream school for the 2021 prospect.
Some are trying to convince Lander to reclassify and enroll a year early, but we don’t believe he will. U-M wants him as its 2021 point guard, and he’s being recruited as such.
On the team, Michigan was good in stretches in last night’s scrimmage. Our MHoops1 did a nice write-up here: https://michigan.forums.rivals.com/...e-hoops-secret-scrimmage.292141/#post-5064182
The takeaways — the tempo is about what we expected given how we’ve heard they want to play, but the defense was a bit disappointing. That needs to be tightened up. As the same time, wing Franz Wagner didn’t play, and he’s been outstanding defensively. Sophomore Brandon Johns was out, too, though expected to be back by the season opener (ankle injury).
We told you last week sophomore guard David DeJulius was really starting to “get it,” and his 7-for-9 from three-point range last night would indicate that yeah, he’s really coming along. Sophomore Eli Brooks battled his way to 11 points, as well — both of these guys are going to play, and DeJulius is the candidate for biggest sophomore jump at this point.
Watch for more hoops news in the days to come.
Starting this weekend with football …
Many close to the program believed Michigan was going to beat Penn State in Happy Valley last weekend. Obviously, PSU’s strong start hindered the effort, and those same people are lamenting how a winnable game got away from them.
They are encouraged, however, by the effort they saw and feel a “light bulb might have gone on” for many, especially on offense. It needs to be sustained, of course, but they’ve put in the work this week for Notre Dame. The seniors have made it clear they don’t plan on going out with losses to rivals, three total, all that’s left on the home schedule.
This is still a red-letter game tonight, and it’s no surprise it’s being treated as such. Former Michigan All-American Ty Law will be honored tonight by the administration at a function in Ann Arbor, as will former All-American Tom Mack. There will be some huge names in as a surprise to address the team, several sources have told us, to let the players know what’s expected and how much this rivalry means to them.
On the latest ‘Jim Harbaugh to the NFL’ rumors — there’s plenty of eye rolling going on in the building, not just because of the sources behind them (they are convinced they’re driven by one adversary in particular), but also the response to it.
Harbaugh has made it clear he plans to win championships at U-M and that he doesn’t want to leave. He’s said it publicly and privately, and those spouting off about “where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire” … well, this place would have burned four times by now if that were the case.
Though the season has been disappointing in some respects, there’s still football to be played. They love the underclassmen, too, both as leaders and players, and believe there are great days ahead. They’ve got decisions to make on a few of the freshmen, whether or not to redshirt them — defensive tackle Chris Hinton is one — so it will be interesting to see how much they play down the stretch.
One who has seen Hinton hit the sled says he’ll be a beast in a few years when he adds some weight. He’s just like his father in that respect, a former Northwestern late bloomer and then NFL tackle. “When he hits the sled … it’s different,” our source said. “He’s explosive.”
When he’s ready, he should be an impact player.
We told you in last week’s ITF we expected a few more to hit the transfer portal, including a defensive back. J’Marick Woods was the guy, and the junior safety’s departure was no surprise. We believe there could be two more on offense, one offensive lineman and a skill position player, before the year is up.
On the injury situation, we don’t expect linebacker Josh Ross to go, and senior tight end Sean McKeon is “hopeful.” Notre Dame, coming off a bye week, is quite healthy heading into tomorrow’s game, with only two significant injuries of note. Blue & Gold Illustrated writer Lou Somogyi provided the latest on the Irish’s banged up athletes, and which ones fans should expect to see.
“[Redshirt sophomore] running back Jafar Armstrong has missed virtually all of this season after undergoing surgery for an abdominal tear incurred in the opening series of the opening game,” Somogyi explained. “He played four snaps against USC and, having had a bye last week, should be good to go for more action this week to possibly complement [redshirt junior] Tony Jones Jr. in the backfield.
“Starting [redshirt junior] cornerback Shaun Crawford dislocated his elbow and tore four ligaments in it versus Virginia on Sept. 28. He possibly could help this weekend but it might be a stretch. He was cleared to do some practice work.”
Where Notre Dame ranks on the list of Michigan’s rivalries probably varies depending on who is asked the question, but the general consensus seems to be that both Ohio State and MSU have moved ahead of the Irish in recent years.
Somogyi was also asked to give his take on where the Wolverines check in among Notre Dame’s rivals from the coaches’ and players’ viewpoint.
“Just like Ohio State will always be Michigan’s top rival, so will USC be for Notre Dame because of the longevity,” he explained. “But it’s always a marquee matchup between two of the top winners in college football who are in such proximity.
“ND has played USC and Michigan 33 times in its history and defeated both in the same season only seven times. In six of those seven it either won the national title or had a chance to win it going into its final game or was in the College Football Playoff (like last year).”
Finishing with a bit of recruiting …
Michigan is set to host an impressive list of visitors on the recruiting trail this weekend, including one of its top in-state targets in the 2021 class in Belleville (Mich.) High four-star outside linebacker Jamari Buddin.
Buddin is rated as the No. 187 overall player nationally, and provided a brief update on his recruitment and what he’ll be looking forward to seeing this weekend in Ann Arbor.
“After the loss at Penn State, their ability to bounce back [is what I’ll be watching for],” he explained. “I’m pretty excited to watch them go to work. I’ll be keeping an eye on that viper position as well and what they do with their linebackers. Michigan is recruiting me as a viper — it’s a pretty free spot and I know they do a ton of different things with it. I just want to see if they use a lot of zone traps and how they attack Notre Dame.
“Michigan is for sure up there [in my recruitment] because of my relationships with the coaches. I’m the closest with [defensive coordinator] Don Brown, [head] Coach [Jim] Harbaugh and [tight ends] Coach Sherrone Moore. Coach Brown and I talk a lot, about how the school would fit me and what it all has to offer. We don’t always talk about sports, but anything in general. He tells me what makes Michigan one of the standout schools, and about their schemes and how they can change in the future.”
U-M also has a commitment from Buddin’s senior teammate at Belleville in four-star cornerback Andre Seldon, with the linebacker admitting the defensive back has been in his ear about the Wolverines ever since he committed in June of 2018.
“Andre always talks to me about them,” Buddin laughed. “We hang out with each other every day and talk about what Michigan all has to offer, so I hear it from him a lot. He’s my guy and I trust him 100 percent, and I’m sure whatever he says is right because he’s my best friend. He loves Michigan, and he committed early for a reason. His family loves it there too, and they’re glad to have locked him up.”
As for a potential Buddin commitment on Saturday night…
“I don’t know,” he laughed. “Even if I were going to, I’d want to keep it a surprise.”
****
To basketball and recruiting now, and the latest on the team and prospects …
We’ll start with the Hunter Dickinson saga, which has taken so many twists we’re just ready for it to end (positively, of course).
We posted rumblings two days ago that Dickinson’s top two might now be Duke and Notre Dame. We received backlash and removed it when it was reported Dickinson would be visiting U-M this weekend with his girlfriend, a track athlete being recruited by the Wolverines.
We followed up and yes, it does seem Dickinson might have had plans at one time to be on campus. He has not returned messages for some time, however, so we had to go to a different source for the information. At that time, we still acknowledged Notre Dame was making a push, and we believe (strongly) that Mike Brey and his staff have.
Brey has strong ties to the four-star seven-footer’s school at Hyattsville DeMatha, from there and having coached Dickinson’s coach. Even the folks at DeMatha aren’t sure where he’s leaning know, but Rivals.com’s No. 37 prospect nationally is expected to announce after four-star Mark Williams does — the Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy big man is set to pledge to Duke next week, we believe.
Notre Dame coaches were stunned at the news Dickinson would visit U-M again, feeling they were in a pretty good spot with him and that they’d done a great job putting themselves in position. Though not overly confident, they felt they had as good a shot as anyone based on Dickinson’s “mum’s the word” approach.
We should know shortly after Williams’ announcement where Dickinson will end up, and U-M still has a great shot. Duke believes Michigan is its top competition, while behind the scenes Dickinson seems to talk more about those two (and ask more questions) than any others.
Some coaches, meanwhile, are trying to convince other recruits to delay their pledges/signings until the later period, hopeful new U-M coach Juwan Howard will struggle in the early going and give their programs a better shot. Moses Moody might, and whether it’s related to that or not we don’t know … we do know Moody, a Rivals.com four-star prospect out of Montverde (Fla.) Academy, enjoyed his trip to home state school Arkansas and is contemplating holding off.
We also know he’s still very interested in the Wolverines.
Nothing has changed with five-star pledge Isaiah Todd, either. He has said all the right things, and Juwan Howard and the Michigan staff seem confident he’ll play a year in Ann Arbor based on what he and his mom are saying. There’s still the strong possibility, however, that the right offer will come along, and Todd will end up playing overseas. We’d still bet on it, in fact.
Five-star guard Nimari Burnett, meanwhile, still seems likely to go somewhere other than Michigan. The Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep star has been to Alabama, while Texas Tech and Oregon are among those very much in the hunt.
Michigan is one of three probably at the top for Khristian Lander, meanwhile, the five-star point guard out of Indianapolis. Many believe Indiana leads, and he’s been there a number of times, but one of our guys believes Lander isn’t “feeling” IU right now. Louisville has put in a ton of time with him and Michigan is the dream school for the 2021 prospect.
Some are trying to convince Lander to reclassify and enroll a year early, but we don’t believe he will. U-M wants him as its 2021 point guard, and he’s being recruited as such.
On the team, Michigan was good in stretches in last night’s scrimmage. Our MHoops1 did a nice write-up here: https://michigan.forums.rivals.com/...e-hoops-secret-scrimmage.292141/#post-5064182
The takeaways — the tempo is about what we expected given how we’ve heard they want to play, but the defense was a bit disappointing. That needs to be tightened up. As the same time, wing Franz Wagner didn’t play, and he’s been outstanding defensively. Sophomore Brandon Johns was out, too, though expected to be back by the season opener (ankle injury).
We told you last week sophomore guard David DeJulius was really starting to “get it,” and his 7-for-9 from three-point range last night would indicate that yeah, he’s really coming along. Sophomore Eli Brooks battled his way to 11 points, as well — both of these guys are going to play, and DeJulius is the candidate for biggest sophomore jump at this point.
Watch for more hoops news in the days to come.
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