While Mother Nature won Signing Day in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference — wiping out most ceremonies, except in places where there was little snow, or where snowmobiles sit in the driveway — Grand Valley has won almost everything else of late. Wednesday's early announcements were no different, as the Lakers brought in 23 recruits — including a pair of local skill-position players. The remainder of the league's teams will announce their classes either Thursday or Friday.


GRAND VALLEY

Dondre Adams, RB, 5-9, 175, Plainfield (Ill.) South

Mitch Bredberg, PK, 5-9, 150, Grand Rapids West Catholic

Coty Brown, OL, 6-6, 271, Elkhart (Ind.) Concord

Aaron Cox, TE, 6-4, 236, Utica Ford

Derek Deluca, DL/LS, 6-4, 212, Allen Park

Ninlo Diarrassouba, DL, 6-1, 220, East Kentwood

Marquez Gollman, LB, 5-10, 174, Ypsilanti

Conner Gould, OL, 6-4, 240, Battle Creek Harper Creek

Darius Hardin, DB, 6-1, 181, South Bend (Ind.) Washington

Josh Harris, QB, 6-1, 200, Birmingham Detroit Country Day

Deondre Hogan, LB, 6-1, 235, Livonia Clarenceville

Brad Horling, DB, 6-2, 205, Zeeland East

Dan Hummel, WR, 6-4, 177, Valparaiso, Ind.

Montae Jackson, DL, 6-1, 216, Muskegon Orchard View

Brett Johnson, DB, 6-2, 179, Grand Ledge 

Andrew Klompstra, OL, 6-5, 250, Cedar Springs 

Kyle Matthewson, LB, 6-1, 205, Churbusco, Ind.

Jeff O’Brien, QB, 6-0, 215, Stockbridge 

Jamie Potts, TE, 6-2, 205, Muskegon Oakridge

Brandon Revenberg, DL, 6-3, 259, Essex, Ont.

Thomas Sellers, WR, 6-4, 183, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 

Robert Shelby, WR, 6-1, 176, Stevensville Lakeshore

Jim Walsh, OL, 6-5, 282, Howell

MICHIGAN TECH
Tanner Agen, DL, 6-3, 250, Kaukauna (Wis.)
Matt Bautch, PK, 6-0, 200, Wausau (Wis.) West
Jake Bednard, DL, 6-1, 220, Clinton Twp. Chippewa Valley
Chris Berndt, OL, 6-4, 245, Kingsford
Quinten Boddie, DL, 6-1, 220, Detroit Renaissance
Andrew Clark, WR, 6-3, 190, Green Bay (Wis.) Ashwaubenon
Conor Cocking, DL, 6-1, 240, Elk Rapids
Brandon Cowie, QB, 6-3, 185, West Bend (Wis.) West
Ethan Deshetsky, DL, 6-1, 240, North Branch
Derek Ferris, QB, 6-3, 210, Cheboygan
Spencer Firlik, OL, Gilbert (Ariz.) Perry
Johnny Foss, LB, 6-0, 190, Muskegon Reeths Puffer
Brett Gervais, DB, 5-11, 165, Lake Linden
Drew Janer, WR, 6-2, 165, Bay City All Saints
Brandon Kuc, DL, 6-2, 215, Northville
Paul Kuoppala, LB, 6-2, 220, Iron Mountain
Tyler Lendzion, QB, 6-0, 190, Birmingham Brother Rice
Matt Mateer, OL, 6-2, 230, Mt. Pleasant
Phil Morrow, OL, 6-2, 270, East Kentwood
Bradley Plec, WR, 6-1, 175, Sterling Heights Stevenson
James Roath, DL, 6-2, 230, Lansing Waverly
Anthony Root, WR, 5-10, 160, Montague
Kyle Schober, OL, 6-1, 275, Mequon (Wis.) Homestead
Eric Schwenk, DB, 5-9, 170, Midland Dow
Brian Steinbrink, TE, 6-5, 220, Pleasant Prairie (Wis.) Kenosha Tremper
Sonny Sullivan, DB, 5-9, 180, Mt. Pleasant
Ben Tauchen, LB, 6-2, 205, Bonduel (Wis.)
Nick Vieau, OL, 6-2, 270, Midland
Andrew Viviano, OL, 6-3, 270, Warren Cousino
Frank Vruwink, OL, 6-3, 250, Wisconsin Rapids (Wis.) Lincoln
Ian Weinke, TE, 6-5, 230, Kingsford

WAYNE STATE
Jon Alandt, WR, 6-1, 185, Northville
Zak Bielecki, S, 5-11, 185, Macomb Lutheran North
Christian Burks, RB, 5-8, 175, Detroit Cass Tech
Raafat El Hage, DT, 6-1, 312, Dearborn Edsel Ford
Ryan Hankins, DT, 6-1, 265, Davison
Jamel Hicks, WR, 5-9, 170, East Cleveland (Ohio) Shaw
Taven Howell, LB, 6-0, 220, Columbus (Ohio) Westerville South
Brandon McKay-Lee, CB, 6-0, 180, Detroit Southeastern
Carl Roscoe, QB, 6-3, 230, Wyoming Kelloggsville
Mike Sawchuck, S, 6-2, 190, Lapeer East
Mike Smith, LB, 6-2, 230, Holt
Nate Theaker, OT, 6-5, 285, Lakeland
Ethan Walsh, TE, 6-3, 250, Canton Salem
Will Wheat, WR, 6-1, 170, Grand Blanc
Jamil Williams, CB, 5-11, 175, Lima (Ohio) Shawnee

Perhaps no conference is as star driven as the MAC, where getting a top-notch player or two — i.e. Chester Taylor, Garrett Wolfe, Ben Roethlisberger, Randy Moss, Nate Davis or Josh Harris — can catapult you to the top.

None of the state of Michigan's three MAC schools were anywhere near that lofty perch last year.

According to one scouting service, however, at least one of them — Central Michigan — at least reloaded enough to be considered a possibility to head upward again. Scout.com ranked the Chippewas' 26-commit class as the second-best in the conference behind Toledo's — and just outside the top 75 in the nation.

CMU's class is headlined by Ithaca quarterback Alex Niznak —a consensus top-20 player in the state, and an early enrollee — and includes a whopping 15 in-state players, including five from Oakland County alone. Southfield Christian defensive tackle Shafer Johnson, one of the final additions to the class, and Birmingham Brother Rice linebacker Tim Hamilton, one of its first members, are both three-star prospects. The class also includes University of Michigan transfer Austin White.

The recruiting classes for Western and Eastern are both ranked near the bottom of the league by most of the scouting services, and neither of them include nearly as many in-state recruits — just four for WMU and three for EMU. The Broncos continued to milk their pipeline to Florida, though — the same one that brought them players like the Lions' Louis Delmas — getting seven of their 17 commits from the Sunshine State. The Eagles picked up seven JUCO players among their 19 commitments.

CENTRAL MICHIGAN (26)
Ramadan Ahmeti, OL, Lansing Waverly, 6-5, 280
Stefon Armstead, DB, Southfield-Lathrup, 5-10, 170
Nick Beamish, OL, Riverview, 6-5, 260
Josh Carter, RB, South Haven, 5-11, 195
Jarret Chapman, DB, Port Huron, 5-11, 180
Titus Davis, WR, Wheaton (Ill.) Warrenville South, 6-2, 180
Dorian Dawson, DE, Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco, 6-1, 243
Andrew Flory, WR, Plantation (Fla.) Heritage, 5-11, 164
Anthony Garland, RB, Ferndale, 6-1, 215
Tim Hamilton, LB, Birmingham Brother Rice, 6-1, 247
Curtis Huge, PK, Bakersfield (Calif.), 6-0, 190
Shafer Johnson, DT, Southfield Christian, 6-1, 300
Jesse Kroll, WR, Algoma (Wis.), 6-3, 195
Cody Lopez, LB, Plainfield (Ill.) North, 6-1, 215
Matt Losiniecki, Ath, Waukesha (Wis.) West, 6-3, 261
Ben McCord, WR, 6-3, 196, Warren Cousino
Dennis Nalor, DB, Miami (Fla.) Central, 5-10, 175
Alex Niznak, QB, Ithaca, 6-3, 226
Ryan Petro, LB, Winter Springs (Fla.), 6-3, 205
Ben Randle, TE, Big Rapids, 6-4, 250
Kenny Rogers, OL, Holt, 6-6, 255
Blake Serpa, Ath, Maple Park (Ill.) Kaneland, 6-3, 230
Austin White, RB, Livonia Stevenson (Michigan transfer)
Courtney Williams, WR, Melvindale, 6-1, 205
Jason Wilson, WR, Farmington, 6-0, 178
Denzel Wimberly, Ath, Ft. Lauderdale (Fla.) Cardinal Gibbons, 5-9, 198

EASTERN MICHIGAN (19)
Tyler Allen, RB, Lansing Eastern, 5-9, 175
Dylan Brooks, TE, Stevensville Lakeshore, 6-3, 233
Ryan Brumfield, RB, Pottstown (Pa.) Roberts, 5-10, 180
Sean Cotton, DB, Melrose Park (Ill.) Walther Lutheran, 6-2, 197
Justin Cudworth, LB, College of the Canyons, 6-1, 230
Chris Dunlap, DB, East Los Angeles College, 5-8, 183
Devin Henderson, DE, Palatine (Ill.) Junior College, 6-4, 275
Bronson Hill, RB, Grand Rapids CC, 5-10, 200
Mark Ianotti, QB, Schaumburg (Ill.), 6-4, 215
Kevin Johnson, DB, McKeesport (Pa.), 6-0, 185
Sean Kurtz, LB, Santa Ana Community College, 6-0, 235
Bryan Pall, DB, Orange Coast Comm. College, 6-1, 205
Blake Poole, LB, Santa Ana Comm. College, 6-3, 230
Demarius Reed, DB, Chicago Simeon, 5-10, 155
Tyreese Russell, TE, Melrose Park (Ill.) Walther Lutheran, 6-4, 220
Darius Scott, DB, Chicago Simeon, 5-9, 145
Kris Strange, DB, Pickerington (Ohio) Central, 5-11, 185
Tyrone Taylor, DB, Cerritos Comm. College, 5-11, 190

WESTERN MICHIGAN (17)
Rontavious Atkins, S, Pahokee (Fla.), 5-11, 169
Eric Boyden, TE, Lawrenceville (NJ) Notre Dame, 6-3, 236
Devon Brant, ILB, North Marion (Fla.), 5-11, 212
Donald Celiscar, S, Winter Haven (Fla.), 6-1, 185
Justin Currie, S, Big Rapids, 6-1, 190
Nicholas Dance, OLB, Nashville (Tenn.) Pearl-Cohn, 6-0, 210
Ben Davisson, OT, Rensselaer (Ind.) Central, 6-9, 290
Tyler Hrycak, QB, Valley Forge (Pa.) Military Academy, 6-2, 186
Trevor Ishmael, S, North Miami Beach (Fla.), 6-0, 185
John Jackson, OG, Detroit Cass Tech, 6-3, 290
Joe Keels, DE, 6-2, 219, Kenosha (Wis.) Bradford, 6-2, 219
Timmy Keith, WR, Manassas (Va.) Osbourn Senior, 6-0, 206
James Kristoff, OG, Barrington (Ill.), 6-3, 297
Jarell McKinney, OLB, Detroit Cooley, 6-5, 220
Dustin Pringle, OG, Beaver Falls (Pa.) Blackhawk, 6-5, 260
Kendrick Roberts, WR, Flint Southwestern, 6-3, 180
Cleveland Smith, MLB, North Miami Beach (Fla.), 6-2, 230
Damian Thomas, DT, Pace (Fla.), 6-2, 260
Travis Turner, OT, North Miami Beach, 6-4, 265

While the Spartans' Signing Day was a bit understated — weather washed out the planned press conference to introduce the class, and most of the potential last-minute surprise additions fell through — that doesn't mean that it wasn't successful.


The Spartans loaded up on defensive linemen (6), offensive linemen (4) and linebackers (4) in this class, nabbing one guy for the trenches — JUCO OL Fou Fonoti — on Signing Day. Reactions to the class were mixed — ESPN rated it third, fifth by both Rivals and Scout — but for the second straight year included the state's best player, five-star linebacker Lawrence Thomas, as well as a good mix of local (six in-state players) and national talent. Traverse City St. Francis OL Kyle Lints turned down MAC scholarship offers to come to MSU as a preferred walk-on.


(List taken in its entirety from MSUSpartans.com)

Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Hometown (Last School)
Jack Allen	C	6-2	262	Hinsdale, Ill. (Hinsdale Central)
Juwan Caesar	WR	6-4	205	Miami, Fla. (Miami Coral Park Senior)
Shilique Calhoun	DE	6-5	225	Middletown, N.J. (Middletown North)
Donavon Clark	OL	6-4	305	Cincinnati, Ohio (Finneytown)
Brandon Clemons	DL	6-4	265	Milford, Pa. (Delaware Valley)
Arjen Colquhoun	DB	6-1	180	Windsor, Ontario (W.F. Herman Secondary School)
Connor Cook	QB	6-3	197	Hinckley, Ohio (Walsh Jesuit)
Ed Davis	LB	6-3	215	Detroit Southeastern
Fou Fonoti	OL	6-5	295	Lakewood, Calif. (Cerritos College)
Darien Harris	LB	6-1	215	Silver Spring, Md. (DeMatha Catholic)
Joel Heath	DE	6-6	250	Cincinnati, Ohio (Mount Healthy)
Taiwan Jones	LB	6-3	220	New Baltimore Anchor Bay
Damon Knox	DE	6-5	265	Muskegon
Paul Lang	TE	6-5	235	Pittsburgh, Pa. (Mount Lebanon)
Kyle Lints	OG	6-3	275	Traverse City St. Francis
Onaje Miller	ATH	5-10	180	Lansing Sexton
Matt Ramondo	DT	6-4	285	Las Cruces, N.M. (Mayfield)
Mark Scarpinato	DT	6-3	270	Milwaukee, Wis. (Marquette University)
Andre Sims Jr.	WR	5-9	170	Snellville, Ga. (Brookwood)
Lawrence Thomas	LB	6-4	245	Detroit Renaissance
Trae Waynes	DB	6-0	165	Kenosha, Wis. (Bradford)
RJ Williamson	DB	6-1	190	Middletown, Ohio (Dunbar)

The following list includes the 20 players who signed a National Letter Intent to play for Michigan on Wednesday, as a part of new head coach Brady Hoke's first class. (To read more on Hoke's Signing Day, click here.)

At his press conference, Hoke mentioned an intentional emphasis on big offensive linemen (like Tony Posada and Chris Bryant), as well as running backs (Thomas Rawls and Justice Hayes). More than that, though, there was a definitive stress on players to fill out the defense, which will return to the traditional 4-3 scheme under Hoke and coordinator Greg Mattison. Of the 20 commits, 12 are on defense.

Chris Barnett	TE	6-5	250	Hurst, Texas (L.D. Bell)	Gary Olivo
Russell Bellomy	QB	6-3	178	Arlington, Texas (Martin)	Bob Wager
Brennen Beyer	DE	6-3	225	Plymouth Canton	Mike Swachuck
Greg Brown	DB	5-10	180	Fremont, Ohio (Ross)	Derek Kidwell
Chris Bryant	OL	6-4	330	Chicago, Ill. (Simeon)	Dante Culbreath
Tamani Carter	DB	5-11	175	Pickerington, Ohio (Central)	Jay Sharrett
Frank Clark	LB	6-2	210	Cleveland, Ohio (Glenville)	Ted Ginn Sr.
Blake Countess	DB	5-10	175	Owings Mills, Md. (Our Lady of Good Counsel)	Bob Milloy
Justice Hayes	RB	5-10	175	Grand Blanc	Joe Delaney
Keith Heitzman	DE	6-3	237	Hilliard, Ohio (Hilliard Davidson)	Brian White
Delonte Hollowell	DB	5-9	170	Detroit Cass Tech	Thomas Wilcher
Kellen Jones	LB	6-1	215	Houston, Texas (St. Pius X)	Jason Kimball
Jack Miller	OL	6-4	268	Perrysburg, Ohio (St. John's Jesuit)	Doug Pearson
Desmond Morgan	LB	6-1	225	Holland West Ottawa	Jim Caserta
Antonio Poole	LB	6-2	210	Cincinnati, Ohio (Winton Woods)	Andre Parker
Tony Posada	OL	6-4	330	Tampa, Fla. (Plant)	Rob Weiner
Thomas Rawls	RB	5-10	220	Flint Northern	Fred Jackson Jr.
Chris Rock	DE	6-5	250	Columbus, Ohio (St. Francis DeSales)	Ryan Wiggins
Raymon Taylor	DB	5-10	170	Highland Park	Cedric Dertch
Matt Wile	K	6-2	210	San Diego, Calif. (Francis Parker)	John Morrison

(List taken in its entirety from www.MGoBlue.com)