Victors Voice Pre-Signing Day Top 10 Recruiting Class Rankings:

With two more days before signing day here is a quick roundup of what teams made the cut to be in the Top 10 for the 2011 Recruiting Class. 

1.  Texas Longhorns:  Despite missing out on a bowl game last year and the departure of defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, the strangle hold they hold on the State of Texas didn't loosen up one bit.  Texas is currently sitting at 22 verbal commits.  9 of them hold Top Ten rankings for thier position.  They hold verbal commitments from the #2 RB in the country Malcom Brown, #2 MLB Steve Edmond, #3 FB Joe Bergeron, #5 DT Desmond Jackson, #6 CB Josh Turner and the #6 WR Jaxson Shipley who is supposed to be just as good as his older brother fromer WR Jordan Shipley.   Texas has verbal’s from 5, 5 star players and 10, 4 star players.  Texas was able to barley able to edge out Florida St. due to 21 of 22 commits are from within the State.  With so many different college teams in Texas their success in recruiting within the State places them at #1. 


Click read more to find out what other teams made the Victors Voice Top 10!


2012 Michigan Prospect Profile: OLB Royce Jenkins-Stone


Royce Jenkins-Stone - OLB - 6'2" 215
Detroit, MI - Cass Tech
Star Gazers- 3 ***  Scout Ranking/ 5 ***** Rivals Ranking
Interested In: Auburn, Cincinnati, Iowa, LSU, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Toldeo, Michigan 

CLICK READ MORE TO FIND OUT ABOUT OFFERS, JR STATS, ANALYSIS AND HIGHLIGHT VIDEO:






Wolverines Travel To East Lansing, Hope To End Skid

bildeAs you may or may have not heard, the Michigan Wolverines are struggling as of late. They have dropped their last 6 contests, which include a 7-point loss to Kansas in overtime and a 4-point loss to the rival Buckeyes. In short, the month of January hasn’t been kind to the Wolverines with only one win since the New Year on Jan. 2nd vs. Penn State.

Despite the struggles though, the Wolverines have given us a few glimpses of hope for the future since this team is mostly made up of freshman and sophomores (Zack Novak and Stu Douglass are juniors). The play of the second year player, Darius Morris, has been the most enjoyable for me this season. Morris has catapulted himself into the Big Ten’s elite as far as talent goes by averaging 15.5 points a game along with dropping 7 assists a game as well. That may not seem elite in some peoples eyes given the scoring droughts that this team suffers from every game, but consider that Morris averaged 4.4 ppg and 2.6 apg, and your jaw has to hit the floor. Also factor in that Morris shooting 10% better than he did last year and you see why I’ve been impressed with his game thus far this season.

In looking at Thursday’s match-up with the Spartans, two things stands out to me if the Wolverines want to pull off the upset at the Breslin Center and it has to be eliminating those scoring droughts and rebounding better. Too many times this season have we seen the Wolverines start slow and get hot before it’s too late or start hot and sputter. The Wolverines have also done a PITIFUL job at rebounding as of late. Look, I understand that this team is undersized, but the coaching staff has to find a way to get these guys at least trying to fight for rebounds or bang in the post for rebounds or else MSU is going to run away with this one early and fast. In any instance, the Wolverines have to pray they come out focused and don’t force too many young mistakes or this Spartans team will capitalize in an instant. Their backs are against the wall and I’m sure aren’t interested in being beaten by a team far less superior.

I’m going to avoid picking a score or who is going to win in this match-up as I really think the Wolverines could pull the upset, but could also see them being beaten like the ugly stepchild and being nearly ran out of the building by halftime. The key player for the Wolverines will have to be the play of Jordan Morgan in my opinion though. He will have to find a way to slow down Draymond Green whether it be taking control of the paint on the defensive end or playing well around the hoop on the offensive end, there is no question that he will be the key if the Wolverines look to upset MSU.

Drop me a line via Email or leave your predictions or thoughts in the comments!

GO BLUE!

Jeff Wickman - Jeffw@thevictorsvoice.com

Michigan Fever Spreading...CB Blake Countess comes a Wolverine once again

On December 17, 2010 a 5-10, 175 lbs Army All-American corner back from Our Lady Good Council in Olney, Maryland by the name of Blake Countess committed to Michigan.  At the time of his commitment it had been no secret Michigan was in dire need of defensive recruits.  Garnering a commitment from the #20 ranked CB in the country got Michigan fans fired up.  That fire started to dim when a few weeks later former head coach Rich Rodriguez was fired.  On Jan 8, 2011 it was reported by Blake's parents their sons status had changed from committed to "committed but looking."  To the fanatical Michigan recruiting fan it was as if the sky was falling.  Just a few days after officially losing stud RB Demetrius Hart, the loss of Countess was like getting a right hook to the mouth in rapid succession.   

Fast forward a mere 17 days later and all seems well again!  Just under an hour ago Blake Countess reaffirmed his commitment to Michigan through his twitter account saying "and I’m staying solid with my decision to go to Michigan."  Countess reaffirmed his commitment just a short while after Greg Mattison spent time in the Countess home this evening. 

The news of Countess staying Blue is just another note of sweet music to Michigan fans ears. The last few days have been filled with sweet recruiting commitment symphony and fanatical fans all over are excited to see who is going to become the next Michigan Wolverine!

Texas QB Commits to Michigan

Martin HS (Arlington,TX) Dual-Threat QB Russell Bellomy made a verbal commitment to Michigan this evening after a long recruiting process that included him de-commiting from Purdue.  Bellomy was in the Top 50 in passing rankings and Top 60 in total offense his senior year in Texas.  Russell recorded 1,546 passing yards and 13 TD's as well as 436 rushing yards and 6 TD's his Junior year. This past fall Bellomy recorded 1,584 passing yards and 15 TD's and 805 rushing yards and 9 TD's.  Thirteen other schools were interested in Bellomy including Big Ten rivals Purdue and Michigan State.  Bellomy verbally commited to Purdue in November but later changed his mind and decided the Wolverines would be a better fit for him.  Look for Bellomy to red-shirt his first year as Michigan figures to give a majority of the snaps this season to Robinson and Gardner.

Top LB Recruit Commits to Michigan

Well Wolverine fans its now a fact, Winton Woods HS (Cincinnati) LB Antonio Poole has verbally commited to play ball for the Wolverines.  As we reported earlier this was expected to happen tonight as Michigan DC Greg Mattison left Poole's home yesterday and convinced Poole to become a Wolverine.  Antonio was recruited hard for over a year by Kentucky head coach Rich Brooks until he retired in January and Coach Phillips took over.  Coach Phillips and his staff continued to recruit Poole hard and according to some Kentucky sources the Wildcats realized yesterday that Brady Hoke was going to win out after only recruiting Poole for 2 weeks. This just goes to show you the level of respect these kids have for Coach Hoke, his staff, and this program.  Poole was a standout LB for Winton Woods recording 19 tackles, 1 INT and a TD his senior year.  Look for Poole to fit in well with DC Mattison's scheme and may be able to make an impact sooner than expected if they don't decide to redshirt him.  Check out the highlights of this new commit below.

Recruiting Update

With National Signing Day set to begin in just 8 days, Brady Hoke and his staff have been hitting the recruiting traril hard.  With 3 commitments last week alone (DB Raymon Taylor, DE Keith Heitzman, and K Matt Wile) this staff is not letting up any.  With the excitment of Michigan's hiring of Defensive Coordinator Greg Mattison recruits are definately looking Michigan more seriously while deciding where to continue their football career's.  Mullen High (Denver) LB Leilon Willingham de-commited from Texas A&M and with his recent visit to Michigan, the Wolverines could be the team to beat.  Glenville High (Cleveland) WR Frank Clark also said recently that he is taking a harder look at Michigan as of late.  In what could be one of the biggest commitments defensively for the Wolverines, sources are saying that one of the best players in all of Ohio, four-star recruit Winton Woods HS (Cincinnati) LB Antonio Poole (see images) could verbally commit to Michigan today.  With this new staff in place for just a couple of weeks now it was thought that they may be behind the 8-ball when it came down to convincing recruits to come to Michigan, but their past records and experience in recruiting top players has proven to be a huge asset to the Wolverine Football Program.

Welcome to The Victors Voice!

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Thus begins the Brady Hoke era by AlanB

On Jan 11, 2011 Brady Hoke became just the 19th head football coach in the 132 years of Michigan's storied football program.  The hiring of Brady Hoke ended a controversial and a seemingly endless coaching search.  The search of 2011 reminded many fans of the circus like atmosphere that surrounded the 2007 search which ended with the hiring of Rich Rodriguez. Just like three years ago fans scoured message boards and plane tracking sites trying to draw some type of conclusion into whom the next coach was going to be from each and every tidbit they received.  When the smoke settled and the 19th coach was to be Brady Hoke the initial fan reaction was that of a guy who thought he was going on a date with Vida Guerra only to open the door to see Snookie from the Jersey Shore standing there.  Luckily for Coach Hoke that disappointment quickly dispersed.