signing day is upon us (wed, 2/2).

things have been quite interesting since coaching has been settled and hoke (or more accurately, mattison) was hired.

the two biggest losses of the coaching switch are rb dee hart and LB kris frost, both of whom have been graded as 5stars and would be blue if RR were still here.

theres also a fairly highly coveted offensive lineman, jake fisher, who decommitted but michigan is still in on... but is visiting oregon this weekend.

tonight, michigan got its 5th hoke recruit (17th overall), cris bryant, a mammoth offensive lineman.

i cant speak for how good these recruits are vs what rivals/scout think, but i can say hoke is batting a very high percentage of targets/recruits. i think he's gotten all but 2 so far, and one was a cb who would have been the 6th of the class. so in that sense, its been a huge success for hoke. and also, i think rivals might like what hoke has done, as well. right now UM would have the 3rd best star avg of the big ten teams (including nebraska), and its apt to raise as the likelier remaining committs are 4 stars, i believe. and the recruits we're getting now arent holding offers from only mac schools, like RR's sometimes were prone.

17 now, i think we'll finish with 22.

Thanks. I don't follow recruiting, so I'm using this thread to keep up.

Someone has to fill Zips shoes.

So....the question is....which recruits are the likeliest to commit now?
Willingham?
Barnett?
Fisher?
Rawls - if he's truly eligible?
Cooper?

Oh, I forgot about Clark as well.
Funny how a few weeks ago it seemed there could be available scholarships that were banked for next season - now there are more potential commits than available schollies. Impressive work for Hoke, Mattison, & co. Notice the ratio of defense vs. offense in this class? Hmmm....can you guess which side of the ball is in need of desperate repair?

sounds like barnett is a very good bet to be blue.

i think rawls is blue if he makes grades. seems like the general vibe on him is that the scouting services are very wrong on, and that he's much better than a 3 star. also is the type of runner that hoke's offense will need.

no clue on wllingham but obviously a 4 star lb would be nice.

i think we get cooper, dont think we get fischer. just basing that on final weekend visits. you would think you'd use that visit just to make sure.

it'll be interesting to see if hoke tries to snake oil a recruit off the radar. RR seemed to do it. not that it always worked out. i think, since theres a good chance some of RR's guys will transfer when they see hoke's offense, they'd like to take the most guys this class they can: 22. it'd be pretty optimistic to assume we get to 22 just by sticking with the guys we seem to be targeting.

i'd personally like to see a possession receiver type get picked up.

Who do you anticipate transferring? Denard was the biggest question and he's staying. Really the only other threats would be slot receivers. But I don't think Roundtree is going to go sit for a year. It would likely be guys like Terrence Robinson or Jeremy Gallon, who think more of themselves than they've shown on the field. But so far indications are that potentially no one (aside from Forcier) is leaving.

I'm not as optimistic as you on Cooper, but not quite as pessimistic on Fisher. I think Fisher used the last two weekends because until late in the game he had no reason to take free trips. As for Cooper, it's a last shot but might be like saying "I'll give you a 100 bucks if you can make it from full court". The possibility is always there, but it's also not as likely as hitting a free throw (like Rawls is).

I also haven't gotten the vibes on Barnett either. Somehow you seem pretty certain.

I think Rawls is the surest thing. He has wanted the offer forever and apparently got it this weekend (which probably indicates he got his eligibility worked out). Willingham may be the closest to a sure thing after that.

But signing day ALWAYS has surprises. I think at least one of these guys has said they plan to wait a few days. Maybe it was Barnett.

Oh, and as for WR, not going to happen. When the staff told Devin Lucien he was being recruited as a DB only, that was essentially an indication that they aren't adding any WR's at this point.

rawls is in. apparently he had to work his ass off to make grades. i think the expectations are he is a contributor in 2011, maybe even the feature back.

rb should be interesting next year. i think vincent smith is one of the big losers of the rodriguez ouster. wont miss his constant fumbles. between fitz, hopkins (love this kid), cox, shaw,smith (i guess), and rawls, competition here should be very competitive. i dont think hayes will see much time at RB. i believe he'll be used more in a percy harvin type role.

someone we forgot about is frank clark. he'll announce tonight, and is a good bet to go blue.

also, i said i expected the class to go up to 22. it can go higher than that, even up to 25, but it gets more complicated the higher we go. i think 23 is where they'd like to settle, unless a real hotshot player realizes UM is the greatest school imaginable.

and if your skeptical of this 3 star rawls kid, consider http://www.maxpreps.com/news/tZViF8OcEd-YiQAcxJSkrA/rawls-breaks-mark-ingram-flint-(mich)-record.htm

But does he jump over tackles?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OtFr9EiP0o

I think the class will end up smaller. Clark is in, Barnett may add as well (though he's not deciding until Saturday), and Willingham looks to be wavering a bit. Fisher is gone to Oregon, and Cooper isn't looking likely. So 20-21 is probably it.
It's a shame on the last two because OT and DT are probably the biggest holes in this class.
So while it's never good to lose solid guys who fill needs like that, having those extra scholarships for a 2012 class that is said to be the best in a while in the midwest is a good thing. I really wouldn't mind if a few guys transfer at the end of the year (or before) if it's guys that aren't difference-makers, to give us a larger recruiting class next year. As it stands, it should only be in the mid-upper teens. I would prefer 20+.

UofM presser on signing day or something. Starts at 2pm est.

http://www.mgoblue.com/allaccess/?media=225377

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTAJCwy6lirYZ6fIyjoPf1ec83EYKMIQ T_tSRDQZhAKIj51HAeu

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTkwPzEP1QjH1KKsph6J4HL8k1SsaiCp 6JwCF3nSqpfZ4UoKjjn

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSwXzrYrWYpT4Y-CIf2t-cqu7KXx6WhbuvNwc_HZvGQi-I5QNERABpwNS6d

I stand by my heart attack prediction.

Brady: "When you're recruiting, you look at shoulders and you look at butts."

http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/020211aab.html

hoke said michigan could have a "few more" after bennett signed.

cooper had already committed to iowa, leaving willingham and .... ?

also some reports dont sound good for willingham to UM. but its a guess to how reliable it is.