Recruitaholics: Athletically Elite

This week: Elite 11, 2013 (Bad) News, 2014 News, Couple-a-visits, and your favorite, Sayonara Suckas



Elite 11

Taking place in Southern Cali, the Elite 11 finals brought together 25 of the top quarterbacks in the country.  Competing in a whole mess of activities, this camp puts not only your physical attributes to the test but also correlates in the mental aspect of the game.  '13 QB commit Shane Morris was part of this rich, talented group of '13 QB's and proved once again why he deserves to be considered a top 3 QB in this deep class.  He has an elite arm and he wasn't shy about putting his athleticism on display over the weekend.

 Rival's Mike Farrell provided some good analysis of why Shane is such a "rare" talent around the 1:00 mark:

Video via here

ESPN's Tom Luginbill also commented about how talented and special Morris is talent wise.

Scout.com's Scout Kennedy provided day to day analysis over the weekend.  Here is his recap of day 2, which was a good one for Shane.  He also had this to say about the gun-slinging quarterback's performance on day four:

"The second group to throw was led by rifle armed quarterback Shane Morris. Morris is one of the few guys who isn't phased by the wind. While he was victimized by several drops, he threw the crispest, most accurate passes in his group."

Kennedy also had him right at the top of his list for best performance of the week:

I'll go ahead and kill the suspense, my top 2 guys from 30 or so throws this week have been Shane Morris and Kevin Olsen #goblue #canes
— Scott Kennedy (@ScoutKennedy) July 22, 2012

As did the rest of the staff at The GoBlueWolverine .

Getting the picture here?! Morris has the ability.  There's no question about that.  He has a very high ceiling with some learning to do, but I don't see how this kid won't turn out to be a great quarterback at the next level.  He will fit the mold perfectly for Coach Hoke's new pro-style offense and will thrive in the position.

Lastly, Greg Biggins of Scout.com, was able to get a reaction from Morris on not being selected in to the top 11:

"I struggled the first day, and I think it really cost me. Plus, everyone was good here, the competition was incredible and I'm disappointed, but it still was a great experience."

Biggins hits it on the nose when he describes Morris as a "class kid."  He proves more and more that he can handle defeat and criticism, and seems to use it as motivation for the upcoming season to improve.  That being said, as you can tell in all the information above, Morris wowed the media and crowd with his quick release and rocket arm over the course of the week.  His talent is one of kind here, that is without a doubt.

There were a lot a different mental challenges putting the QB's minds to the test and Shane's name was mentioned much, if at all and this seemed to have cost him a spot in the final 11.  While this is something that does worry me a little about his progression so far as a quarterback, it is something that can be taught and he will pick up once he's in the Maize and Blue.  Morris was able to come away with the "Golden Gun Award", an award presented to the QB displaying top, pin point accuracy.  Pure talent is evidently his strong point and his elite athletic ability is something that really excites me about this kid. 

I mean really though, think if your car came to life one day?!  How awesome would that be?! Just sayin'

2013 (Bad) News

Shane Morris is everywhere!  Earlier last week, Top DB prospect Vernan Hargreaves III said that he was going to make a trip up to see Ann Arbor for himself "thanks to Shane (Morris)."  This one came out of nowhere and seemed to good to be true.  And like every other time you say that, you were right.  Later on in the week he announced his top 5 and the Wolverines didn't make the list.  His top 5 are Florida, Clemson, Vanderbilt, Miami, and Notre Dame.  Ahh so bittersweet (sweet and then bitter to be correct).

Not much going on last week unfortunately about '13 prospects.  Maybe there will be tons of info this week and we can all rejoice and be happy!! Sarcasm anyone? Anyone? Bueller, Bueller?



2014 News

Detroit Cass Tech has been one of the top teams in the state Michigan and they have produced more D-1 talent then American Idol has superstars (or so it seems as of late).  This year is no different.  CB Damon Webb, LB Garey Hosey, and LB William White join LB Deon Drake as top players this year, and Drake had this to say about Cass Tech being a pipeline school for the Wolverines courtesy of  Matt Pargoff of Maize & Blue News:

Despite that history, Drake does not want the connection between Cass Tech and Michigan to play a role in his recruitment.

“I don’t think that will really affect me,” he explained. “I’ve thought about it and it sounds great, but I like to be an individual. Not an individual I guess, but with Michigan having all the Cass kids, I just want to overlook that. I just want to go somewhere that has the best fit, and not just have it be something where all the Cass Tech kids go there, so it must be easy.”

This sounds a little iffy.  And somewhat confusing.  On the other hand, Drake did attend one day session of Michigan's Annual summer camp and the pipeline connection is something that will be  hard to ignore when it comes time for him to make his college decision.  I see this staff having a hard time pulling in this foursome (not because they can't recruit, but Webb will be a top national recruit and the others will receive notable national attention; Plus that's a lot of LB when we are in on so many other top LB's)  but a combo of any two would still be great news for Michigan's future.


Couple-a-Visits
 
'14 OL Sam Mustipher, who attends Good Counsel (MD), has decided he would like to come see the art that is "The Big House" experience during one of his bye weeks and seems to have a date picked out according to Mark:

2014 OL Sam Mustipher told me he hopes to visit Michigan the weekend of Sept. 29. He called the visit one he "needs to make"
— Mark (@Mgobluegr) July 19, 2012

Mustipher is a very good player and will be a top OL when all is said and done.  A visit is a good step for the Wolverines.

'14 IN WR Dominique Booth put out a list of games that we "may catch him at this year," and he will be up to Ann Arbor for the game against Michigan State in mid-October.

Image via here

Seems as though Booth will see a couple UM games in action and a lot of Big Ten games in general. He doesn't currently have an offer from Michigan, but does currently hold 11 offers (Wisc. and MSU to name a few) and whether or not the current freshman and future commits preform on a high level at the WR position, could play a big role in his offer.  

'14 IL OL Jamarco Jones stated that he will be making an array of visits over the weekend.  And you guessed it...a visit to Michigan is in the mix (I wouldn't have added this news if they weren't, come on now).  Anyways, he will be up to see Ann Arbor on Sunday for an unofficial visit.

Sayonara Suckas

'13 MD WR Paul Harris committed to Tennessee.  Michigan was in his top 3 and some believed he would be a good fall back guy if Treadwell goes somewhere else.  Not anymore.

'13 DB Jalen Ramsey committed to USC.  This is good news for Michigan's chances in landing S Leon McQuay since Ramsey is the 4th DB in USC's impressive class.  Could just be down to Vanderbilt and Michigan at this point.

'14 OT Casey Tucker committed to USC last week as well.  He had an offer from the Wolverines, but committed to the Trojans soon after they extended an offer.