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A college sports blog from The Oakland Press, dedicated to covering Michigan and Michigan State athletics as well as former Oakland County athletes at other schools.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Recruiting wars heating up for Wolverines

While the Sugar Bowl against Virginia Tech is set for just after the new year, the Michigan coaching staff is also fiercely preparing to make the team better for next season.
Newly named Ohio State coach Urban Meyer wasted little time making a recruiting splash when he snagged star recruit Se'Von Pittman away from Michigan State this week. It's representative of something Michigan athletic director David Brandon said was unfair, in that Ohio State is currently allowed to employ two coaching staffs. The current staff led by Luke Fickell is preparing the team for its bowl game against Florida while Meyer's incoming staff is allowed to hit the recruiting trails with no other distractions. However, the Wolverines are recruiting, and recruiting well.
Here's some news from around the web:

Meyer, who was Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison's old boss at Florida — including when they won a national title together in 2006 — called Mattison one of the best recruiters in the country. Brady Hoke has also shared that opinion time and time again since Mattison's hire and Mattison himself said during the preseason that one major factor in him deciding to leave the Baltimore Ravens for Michigan was his love of recruiting. He also expressed full confidence in his, and the entire staff's, ability to recruit top-ranked players to Ann Arbor. Mattison declined to talk about his time working for Meyer in a recent article for AnnArbor.com.

Three prized recruits have indicated that Michigan is at the top of their lists as Signing Day approaches in February. Top 10 recruit Stefon Diggs (Maryland), who is being recruited as an "athlete" could be in a Michigan uniform next season. Diggs has taken just one official visit, which was to California but is far from committed.
Cornerback Yuri Wright (New Jersey) is ranked as the third best defensive back in the country and is a 4-star recruit. Mattison's recruiting skills and system could give the Wolverines an edge in landing him. ESPN.com's recruiting page says Wright is planning on attending the Sugar Bowl.
Offensive tackle Joshua Garnett (Washington) has already taken an official visit to Michigan and would be another great piece to add to an already impressive incoming group of offensive lineman. Read more about these recruits and see game highlights in this article from The Bleacher Report.

According to Scout.com, Michigan has the second-best recruiting class in the national already, behind only Texas. The Wolverines have 23 verbal commits and are expected to land a few more before Signing Day. See more info on Michigan's recruiting class along with additional players the Wolverines are pursing on Scout.com's football recruiting page.

The Wolverines will look a little different when they take the field in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl Jan. 3. Michigan will unveil new uniforms for that game, which will be white-based because the Wolverines are technically the road team. The uniforms are a modified version of the legacy uniforms Michigan wore against Notre Dame and Michigan State. See a photo of the jersey's from The Michigan Daily.

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