UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[lineygoblue]

He was a USC verbal at one time.

Then, he was "blown away" by his visit to Michigan, and was supposedly "minutes away" from committing.

Then he visited Notre Dame and was "blown away", and was supposedly 'minutes away' from committing to the Irish.

Then he visited Oregon, and was "blown away", and was supposedly "minutes away" from committing to the Ducks.

Then he visited Cal and was "blown away", and was "minutes away" from committing. Well, he "committed", and said it was due to so many of his friends already being there.

Now, he's waffling on the Cal commitment because their recruiting coordinator found a job elsewhere.

Brady Hoke is making an in-home visit on Thursday, and Payton is "waiting to see what they have to say".

Like I said, I'll believe he's coming to Michigan when I see him in a Michigan uniform. Even then, I'll consider him a "Forcier family" commit.

[Mackenzie]

[QUOTE=lineygoblue;637678]Rivals is now reporting that Jordan Payton is having second thoughts about his Cal commitment. Seems the recruiting coordinator has left, and that was someone he liked a lot.


While I'm not going to diminish the impact a "recruiting coordinator" can have on a kid, that seems like a pretty lame excuse for de-comming from a school.

[DennisT]

Seems valid enough to me. Recruiter tells you all this stuff about how great the school is and how great the program is and why you should come and we want you so bad and then he ups and leaves? I'd have second thoughts too.

[Mackenzie]

He was a USC verbal at one time.

Then, he was "blown away" by his visit to Michigan, and was supposedly "minutes away" from committing.

Then he visited Notre Dame and was "blown away", and was supposedly 'minutes away' from committing to the Irish.

Then he visited Oregon, and was "blown away", and was supposedly "minutes away" from committing to the Ducks.

Then he visited Cal and was "blown away", and was "minutes away" from committing. Well, he "committed", and said it was due to so many of his friends already being there.

Now, he's waffling on the Cal commitment because their recruiting coordinator found a job elsewhere.

Brady Hoke is making an in-home visit on Thursday, and Payton is "waiting to see what they have to say".

Like I said, I'll believe he's coming to Michigan when I see him in a Michigan uniform. Even then, I'll consider him a "Forcier family" commit.

The kids a flake or maybe just a kid being a kid.

[hack]

Hard to know. Gotta believe in the staff's ability to get kids to buy in once they're here, though.

[SeanB]

It's a monumental decision for a lot of these kids. Hardest decision a lot of them have ever had to make.

I rarely get surprised when a recruit flips, and don't get to bent out of shape for whatever reasoning they come up with. I remember back to when I was 18....sigh. If only I could articulate my decisions and feelings with enough maturity and forethought to impress the adults who were hanging on my every word (which, of course, was never but you get the point) then everything would have been just fine!

Recruiting has become such a beast, it's really getting out of hand for some of these players. I have to admit following it like a guilty pleasure, but it's quite silly in the end the attention it now draws. At least to me.

I can't fault a kid for leaving if the guy who recruits him left, too. I'd love for M to nab him, though!

[Jamie H]

Hell, I remember how hard it was for me to decide where I was going to work after college, and I wasn't getting recruited at 1/100th of the level of these kids. Moving away from home for the first time is a big deal, and their choice of school will have a huge impact on the rest of their lives.

[Chuck Mallory]

I don't see him coming to Michigan at this point. It would be a great bonus yes, but were settled at WR for right now. I hope he makes the best decision for him and his family, best of luck Jordan!

[iam416]

To follow up on the discussion of the various recruiting services.

ESPNU has Michigan with 1 top 100 player (Terry Richardson of all people) and only 4 top 150 players while rating them as the 7th best class. In contrast, Alabama has 6 players in ESPNU's tp 33! (Ohio State now has 5 in the ESPNU 150).

Here's how the other 3 sites break down:

247 -- Michigan 5 top 100 (Richardson is NOT in the top 100)

Rivals -- 3 top 100 (Richardson borderline 3/4).

Scout -- 6 top 100 (Richardson solid 4*, 14th overal CB, not in top 100).

The point about Richardson isn't to knock him or anything, it's just that the idea that he's M's top recruit is a bit crazy, IMO. He's a solid 4* CB; he's not the best player in the class.

Overall, Scout likes M's class the best -- a solid #3. Rivals and 247 like M's class about the same. ESPNU likes it the least.

Personally, I think Scout is closest to being right. Bama and UT have better classes. Florida will if they sign a warm body or two. FSU is sort of in the same boat -- ridiculous quality, but current numbers have them down the ratings a bit. ND, too, to a lesser extent. Of course, M will probably sign a few more players, too.

[Da Geezer]

West Michigan: No commits since 12-21. Are we stuck on 24? If not, who appears to be the most likely to sign?

Also, Hoke's rule that, once a prospect has committed, he may not visit other schools (eg. Pharoh Brown) might make recruits reluctant to name Michigan

[Jamie H]

I'm fine with that. The ones that "name" MIchigan and still take other visits are just holding a spot open for themselves while shopping around. Kinda like telling your girlfriend that you love her while you're still out playinig the field.

Hoke doesn't put a gun to a kids head and make him commit. But he lets him know that if he commits, it a hard commit, none of this soft-verbal crap. And until he's a hard commit, his spot may be filled by someone else.

Not everyone recruits that way. Rodriguez clearly didn't loading up on early soft commits that then changed their mind come signing day. Personally I have no problem with Hoke's approach. Will he lose a few players because of it? Yeah, sure. But he will never get caught with his pants down on signing day when a bunch of fence-guys jump ship and leave his class decimated.

[WM Wolverine]

M continued to recruit Jordan Payton even after he committed to Cal, clash. They didn't give up on him...

M still in on alot of recruits to fill the last few spots in the class; recruiting board hasn't really changed other than maybe adding Jordan Payton to it and subtracting Yuri Wright:

OL: Joshua Garnett, Jordan Diamond, Alex Kozan...
TE: Sam Grant & JP Holtz (plan B)...
CB: Armani Reeves, Kenneth Crawley...
WR: Jordan Payton...

[Mackenzie]

Maybe he's just vocabulary challenged with respect to finding the right words to describe his visits.

[Mackenzie]

I'm fine with that. The ones that "name" MIchigan and still take other visits are just holding a spot open for themselves while shopping around.

Probably the recruit equivalent of "over-signing."

[Mackenzie]

But he will never get caught with his pants down on signing day when a bunch of fence-guys jump ship and leave his class decimated.

I'm not sure about that certainty but I would agree it brings the chances of that happening way down.