M-Borg vs. THE Flavortown U Thread, Orig. by Buckeye Paul, absconded w/by talent.

[Rob F]

They're from Massachusetts. Camren, obviously, was OSU's entry point to Reeves. Otherwise, I think he's probably M. Either way, I think the decimation of PSU's recruiting class continues.

anybody have a link to a nitlion forum of any kind? I'm sure the PSU faithful are now very very fearful for their team's future success with all the bailing out of recruiting verbals

[iam416]

BWI, I think, is their Scout forum. It is pretty active. Search Penn State scout forums and you'll find it. They are beyond delusional. Pretty bad even by mass fan forum standards, which are very low.

[Rob F]

thanks talent, found one of the Scout PSU forums; here's an interesting take from there regarding the recruitment of Reeves, they're saying Hoke has an in-home with him today, Frank Monday, and Mattison Tuesday.

It is looking more and more likely that Reeves has narrowed it down to either Michigan or ohio

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=157&f=1395&t=8601772

[Paul L]

Wrong thread; sorry

Read elsewhere that Caleb Stacey decommitted?

[WM Wolverine]

Confirmed (Cincy), he was #5 of 5 OL commits in talent... Getting Garnett, Kozan and/or Diamond just became more important.

[lineygoblue]

My opinion only, but I think we're looking good for both Diamond and Garnett. Especially with this departure. The spot is there and you know that both guys know it.

[Rob F]

The decommitment of Stacey is the 3rd in this class, and the 2nd one that involved someone realizing that Michigan had other recruits lined up that were likely be ahead of them in the depth charts. The 3rd, Pharoah Brown---he lost his spot by thinking he could sneak around and get away with it. Turned out well for him, didn't it?

[iam416]

Guys who have no chance to play; filling up early and missing out on, apparently, tons of top talent. Hoke may want revise his recruiting philosophy.

[SeattleLionsFan]

He should just lie to recruits instead.

[iam416]

Predictable. What a tool.

[Rob F]

Guys who have no chance to play; filling up early and missing out on, apparently, tons of top talent. Hoke may want revise his recruiting philosophy.

Says you.

Let's see how the rest of the recruiting season plays out, both the run-up to and signing day itself, before passing judgment, then let's re-visit this class 2, 3 and 4 seasons down the road to see how they pan out over time. Who (someone less biased than you or I) is saying that Hoke is "missing out on tons of top talent" due to early commitments?

Is it possible, too, that Hoke sees things in a different way than you do, than what some other coaching staffs do, that Hoke identified early not only what positions were positions of need, but also who he and his staff wanted, based on factors such as character, love of Michigan, and academic ability to be a true student-athlete at Michigan?

Truth is, this is Hoke's first full recruiting season, his first full recruiting class. And no doubt, after going thru an initial (albeit successful) season without recruiting to his own system, he saw this recruiting season to be one where it was important to get an early jump-start to show other potential recruits what he is trying to build in Ann Arbor, to create a "buzz" among potential recruits by getting some early momentum to go along with the early success on the field. (Not unlike what the Detroit Tigers did several years ago by signing then-free agent Pudge Rodriquez right after coming off the worst seasons in Tiger Baseball history. That signing, BTW, sent the Detroit Tiger organization 180 degrees in the opposite direction, as other free agents soon followed, and the Tigers came to within a few pitchers errors and wild pitches of a World Series Trophy just 2 years later, in 2006).

[iam416]

All good points. My comment was mostly a needle at M fans. Apparently, a number of recruits who signed elsewhere "would have been M" -- highly regarded ones, too, except, of course, M wasn't interested or was full or whatever. And, of course, anyone who leaves isn't good enough to play, and is running away.

I think Hoke has done a nice job. Given where he was, I think his early offers made tons of sense and he got a good core. I think he'll probably be a little more focused early on the process this year b/c he's not worried about building momentum and getting kids in.

[SeattleLionsFan]

I don't think M fans say the recruits would have been blue, just that M stopped recruiting them. Who knows if Yuri Wright would have been blue if they kept recruiting him. But they didn't.

[lineygoblue]

I agree re: Yuri Wright. I don't think he was coming to Michigan even if Hoke didn't end his recruitment.

[iam416]

FTR, it's a standard approach -- every fanbase does it. It's what gave rise to the "BG/TC" schtick at the Megasite when any recruit signed with a school that wasn't yours.