Part II of this week’s INSIDE THE FORT, including plenty of football, hoops and recruiting …
Here’s Part I from yesterday on Tim Drevno and more, for those who missed it:
Starting Part II with football recruiting …
The case of Michigan commit Stephen Herron has been an interesting one over the last few days. Some highly respected guys in the recruiting industry predicted that Herron would flip from Michigan to Stanford and immediately sent Wolverine fans into a tizzy.
The 6-4, 225-pounder has always been extremely high on the Cardinal and said that he was waiting for an offer before making a decision last spring. Eventually an offer from Stanford came through and the No. 51 overall prospect nationally still picked the Maize and Blue. Now, people are saying that a flip is inevitable, and while it certainly could happen (anything can in recruiting), Herron himself is saying otherwise.
“Stanford has been on me hard but I’m still committed to Michigan!” Herron emphatically said in a text. “[Others predicted a flip] just because I said that Stanford has been coming down a lot. [Saying a flip is inevitable] is just silly.”
Herron caught wind of some of the rumors not long ago and tweeted out a message that got some attention.
“My recruitment is my recruitment; don’t speak on my future, and don’t speak of me poorly as a young man. #GoBlue,” the tweet read.
Of course there’s always the Michigan side of things. The U-M staff has been offering a lot of prospects in 2019, including several at Herron’s weakside defensive end spot. He’s taken notice of it but isn’t worried.
“They have expressed interest in a lot of other weakside defensive ends and I’m a little unsure of their feelings, but I feel Michigan is still a great place for me,” he said.
The Michigan staff likes Herron and considers him a definite take. The offers, however, do indicate that they like several other defensive ends, as well. The overall feeling is that the staff hopes to hang on to Herron but wouldn’t travel to the ends of the Earth to make sure it happens should Herron decide he’d like to head elsewhere.
Dublin (Ohio) Coffman 2020 running back Michael Drennen II looks like the real deal as a sophomore, and he proved it last week by winning the running back MVP at Under Armour’s regional camp in Cleveland. The 5-11, 170-pounder (definitely looks bigger than that now) was impressive in open field drills and also showed the ability to catch the ball well out of the backfield.
He’s been to both Michigan and Ohio State in the past and is very high on both Big Ten powers, but doesn’t have an offer from either at this time. Cincinnati, Indiana, Kentucky and Louisville have extended scholarships to the sophomore back but he’s waiting on some bigger opportunities.
The sophomore’s father indicated that an offer from Michigan might be a game changer. Despite being an Ohio kid, Drennen loves the Wolverines. His father said bluntly, “He’s all about the Maize and Blue” when giving a quick, passing update on his son’s recruitment.
Time will tell if Drennen will be a Michigan-level recruit but he’s well on his way as an impressive 10th grader with four solid offers. As he continues to develop physically, put up impressive numbers and dominate camp circuits, watch for his profile to grow and possibly jump onto Michigan’s recruiting board.
More recruiting …
We spoke to Rice offensive tackle grad transfer Calvin Anderson yesterday afternoon … he has been primarily recruited by Tim Drevno. He said that he is definitely surprised by Drevno leaving the school, but that he doesn’t think it will play a large role in how he views Michigan.
He needs to think about it more, but it doesn’t sound like it changes too much for the U-M target. He views Texas, Michigan, Auburn and Oklahoma all equally, and is sticking with that … at least publicly.
“I don’t really have a reaction to it. I don’t know how I’m going to process it, so I don’t know how it plays into how I feel about Michigan at all. I was surprised,” he said.
The feeling from many in Texas … it was always going to be hard to get him away from Texas, his hometown school, and this wouldn’t help U-M.
Perhaps the two most intriguing recruits for Michigan fans in the 2019 class is the four-star duo from Belleville — offensive tackle Devontae Dobbs and athlete Julian Barnett.
Both are top 100 players nationally, but only recently has Michigan picked up interest in both of them.
We spoke to each of them last summer when they held impressive offers from all around the country, and they both echoed a similar sentiment — Dobbs said he was hearing from U-M minimally, and Barnett said he was literally receiving no contact at all. Barnett, especially, seemed truly baffled by it at the time, and was legitimately disappointed. Dobbs, on the other hand, didn’t seem affected by it.
We spoke to each of them once again last weekend, and they were singing a bit of a different tune.
Both confirmed they were hearing from Michigan quite a bit over the last few months, but it was Dobbs who seemed more interested in the Wolverines this time around, not Barnett.
The lineman said he had really started to build up a relationship with Pep Hamilton, and talked at length about how close the two had become.
Barnett, who didn’t receive his Michigan offer until Jan. 12 and had committed to Michigan State in the meantime, didn’t seem as enthusiastic.
When asked if the Michigan offer changes anything, Barnett laughed and simply said “no,” and basically disregarded the question. He explained it’s a blessing to have an offer from them, but that nothing is changing in regards to his commitment to MSU.
Barnett seemed turned off at how long Michigan waited to get involved with him, and actually made an interesting comment about it.
“I think they do that [get involved late] with a lot of their recruits,” he said.
The four-star athlete insinuated the damage has already been done.
The outlook is more positive with Dobbs, but he’s tough to get a read on because he doesn’t say as much.
He and Barnett are not a lock to be a package deal in college, like some may think (the two admitted they’ve talked about it, but Barnett said “some things are going to have to change” for it to happen).
Dobbs likes Ohio State as well, and plans to be at its spring game April 14, not Michigan’s.
It’s fair to hold out hope on him, though, while the Barnett ship appears to have sailed.
****
To basketball and recruiting …
While Michigan head coach is saying all the right things about Charles Matthews, the redshirt sophomore struggling mightily recently, there’s no question freshman Jordan Poole’s rise is earning him more playing time and makes him a potential ‘X’ factor down the stretch.
Beilein noted it wouldn’t have been fair to the other kids on the team to start Matthews over Poole in the second half of the win at PSU when he was struggling so badly.
This is somewhat reminiscent of the lift Mitch McGary gave when he entered the lineup for Jordan Morgan several years ago. McGary was a big reason Michigan made a deep run, and there are some close to the program saying they expect Poole could have a similar impact at a different position.
Matthews has been a great teammate while struggling, and he understands what’s up. Michigan coaches also still love Matthews’ potential, and they’d be the first to say Morgan’s demotion didn’t ruin his career — he came back strong as a senior and was a big reason U-M made another deep run.
On the Joe Girard III … the Glens Falls (N.Y.) three-star and 50-PPG scorer was blown away by his Duke offer, and even with his dad’s ties to Beilein (he played for him and the two remain friends), the Blue Devils could be tough to beat here.
This one feels like Luke Kennard’s recruitment in some ways, but there’s no question U-M is still right there. Plus, should Duke get pinched in the recent FBI hoops scandal well …
As always, thanks for visiting The Wolverine.com!
Here’s Part I from yesterday on Tim Drevno and more, for those who missed it:
Starting Part II with football recruiting …
The case of Michigan commit Stephen Herron has been an interesting one over the last few days. Some highly respected guys in the recruiting industry predicted that Herron would flip from Michigan to Stanford and immediately sent Wolverine fans into a tizzy.
The 6-4, 225-pounder has always been extremely high on the Cardinal and said that he was waiting for an offer before making a decision last spring. Eventually an offer from Stanford came through and the No. 51 overall prospect nationally still picked the Maize and Blue. Now, people are saying that a flip is inevitable, and while it certainly could happen (anything can in recruiting), Herron himself is saying otherwise.
“Stanford has been on me hard but I’m still committed to Michigan!” Herron emphatically said in a text. “[Others predicted a flip] just because I said that Stanford has been coming down a lot. [Saying a flip is inevitable] is just silly.”
Herron caught wind of some of the rumors not long ago and tweeted out a message that got some attention.
“My recruitment is my recruitment; don’t speak on my future, and don’t speak of me poorly as a young man. #GoBlue,” the tweet read.
Of course there’s always the Michigan side of things. The U-M staff has been offering a lot of prospects in 2019, including several at Herron’s weakside defensive end spot. He’s taken notice of it but isn’t worried.
“They have expressed interest in a lot of other weakside defensive ends and I’m a little unsure of their feelings, but I feel Michigan is still a great place for me,” he said.
The Michigan staff likes Herron and considers him a definite take. The offers, however, do indicate that they like several other defensive ends, as well. The overall feeling is that the staff hopes to hang on to Herron but wouldn’t travel to the ends of the Earth to make sure it happens should Herron decide he’d like to head elsewhere.
Dublin (Ohio) Coffman 2020 running back Michael Drennen II looks like the real deal as a sophomore, and he proved it last week by winning the running back MVP at Under Armour’s regional camp in Cleveland. The 5-11, 170-pounder (definitely looks bigger than that now) was impressive in open field drills and also showed the ability to catch the ball well out of the backfield.
He’s been to both Michigan and Ohio State in the past and is very high on both Big Ten powers, but doesn’t have an offer from either at this time. Cincinnati, Indiana, Kentucky and Louisville have extended scholarships to the sophomore back but he’s waiting on some bigger opportunities.
The sophomore’s father indicated that an offer from Michigan might be a game changer. Despite being an Ohio kid, Drennen loves the Wolverines. His father said bluntly, “He’s all about the Maize and Blue” when giving a quick, passing update on his son’s recruitment.
Time will tell if Drennen will be a Michigan-level recruit but he’s well on his way as an impressive 10th grader with four solid offers. As he continues to develop physically, put up impressive numbers and dominate camp circuits, watch for his profile to grow and possibly jump onto Michigan’s recruiting board.
More recruiting …
We spoke to Rice offensive tackle grad transfer Calvin Anderson yesterday afternoon … he has been primarily recruited by Tim Drevno. He said that he is definitely surprised by Drevno leaving the school, but that he doesn’t think it will play a large role in how he views Michigan.
He needs to think about it more, but it doesn’t sound like it changes too much for the U-M target. He views Texas, Michigan, Auburn and Oklahoma all equally, and is sticking with that … at least publicly.
“I don’t really have a reaction to it. I don’t know how I’m going to process it, so I don’t know how it plays into how I feel about Michigan at all. I was surprised,” he said.
The feeling from many in Texas … it was always going to be hard to get him away from Texas, his hometown school, and this wouldn’t help U-M.
Perhaps the two most intriguing recruits for Michigan fans in the 2019 class is the four-star duo from Belleville — offensive tackle Devontae Dobbs and athlete Julian Barnett.
Both are top 100 players nationally, but only recently has Michigan picked up interest in both of them.
We spoke to each of them last summer when they held impressive offers from all around the country, and they both echoed a similar sentiment — Dobbs said he was hearing from U-M minimally, and Barnett said he was literally receiving no contact at all. Barnett, especially, seemed truly baffled by it at the time, and was legitimately disappointed. Dobbs, on the other hand, didn’t seem affected by it.
We spoke to each of them once again last weekend, and they were singing a bit of a different tune.
Both confirmed they were hearing from Michigan quite a bit over the last few months, but it was Dobbs who seemed more interested in the Wolverines this time around, not Barnett.
The lineman said he had really started to build up a relationship with Pep Hamilton, and talked at length about how close the two had become.
Barnett, who didn’t receive his Michigan offer until Jan. 12 and had committed to Michigan State in the meantime, didn’t seem as enthusiastic.
When asked if the Michigan offer changes anything, Barnett laughed and simply said “no,” and basically disregarded the question. He explained it’s a blessing to have an offer from them, but that nothing is changing in regards to his commitment to MSU.
Barnett seemed turned off at how long Michigan waited to get involved with him, and actually made an interesting comment about it.
“I think they do that [get involved late] with a lot of their recruits,” he said.
The four-star athlete insinuated the damage has already been done.
The outlook is more positive with Dobbs, but he’s tough to get a read on because he doesn’t say as much.
He and Barnett are not a lock to be a package deal in college, like some may think (the two admitted they’ve talked about it, but Barnett said “some things are going to have to change” for it to happen).
Dobbs likes Ohio State as well, and plans to be at its spring game April 14, not Michigan’s.
It’s fair to hold out hope on him, though, while the Barnett ship appears to have sailed.
****
To basketball and recruiting …
While Michigan head coach is saying all the right things about Charles Matthews, the redshirt sophomore struggling mightily recently, there’s no question freshman Jordan Poole’s rise is earning him more playing time and makes him a potential ‘X’ factor down the stretch.
Beilein noted it wouldn’t have been fair to the other kids on the team to start Matthews over Poole in the second half of the win at PSU when he was struggling so badly.
This is somewhat reminiscent of the lift Mitch McGary gave when he entered the lineup for Jordan Morgan several years ago. McGary was a big reason Michigan made a deep run, and there are some close to the program saying they expect Poole could have a similar impact at a different position.
Matthews has been a great teammate while struggling, and he understands what’s up. Michigan coaches also still love Matthews’ potential, and they’d be the first to say Morgan’s demotion didn’t ruin his career — he came back strong as a senior and was a big reason U-M made another deep run.
On the Joe Girard III … the Glens Falls (N.Y.) three-star and 50-PPG scorer was blown away by his Duke offer, and even with his dad’s ties to Beilein (he played for him and the two remain friends), the Blue Devils could be tough to beat here.
This one feels like Luke Kennard’s recruitment in some ways, but there’s no question U-M is still right there. Plus, should Duke get pinched in the recent FBI hoops scandal well …
As always, thanks for visiting The Wolverine.com!
