Commit #12

As expected, Detroit Cass Tech CB Terry Richardson announced his pledge to the Wolverines this morning on WTKA.  Rivals profile.  Richardson actually gave his commitment to the coaches on a visit to A2 over the past weekend.  This makes a clean sweep of the "Big 3" recruits from the state of Michigan by Coach Hoke and staff.  Well done gentlemen.

Terry is another in the seemingly endless parade of talented but extremely small cornerbacks to come out of Cass Tech in the last several years.  The previous Technicians to come out fitting that mold include Dior Mathis, former Wolverine Boubacar Cissoko, and 2011 commit Delonte Hollowell.  I have heard that he compares most favorably with Mathis of those three but he may be the best yet.  Specifically, Terry is listed at 5'9" and 165 pounds although he's probably closer to 5'8".  He may grow a little before he gets to campus but I'm not going to hold my breath.  If he grows at all, he'll come in at the 5'9" he's currently listed at for real.  Now for some film:

So, yeah.  There's that.  Not the most impressive highlight reel I've seen but he does show some good things.  Good reaction time and decent route recognition.  Shows good speed and ball skills as well.  Other than that it's hard to tell from that reel.  I don't mean to sound down on the guy (I'm not) because everyone that's seen him play and/or evaluated him has said he's a great player.  In fact the only thing that I've really heard in the bad or "to work on" department is his size, which, well not much he can do about that y'know?  I guess I'm just being a little cautious because the highly touted Cass Tech guys that have come out the over last several years have, quite frankly, been overrated.  It's clear the program has some superior athletes, but the coaching/development of those athletes seems to be lacking.  I've never met any of the Cass Tech coaches and I don't like to make blanket statements like that without knowing so maybe the kids are just extremely raw when they come in to Tech and they have a ton of work to do fundamentally.  I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt and maybe I'm wrong.  Wouldn't be the first time.  

His offer list suggests that he is a stud and that I should shut up:  Alabama, Iowa, LSU, MSU, ND, OSU, Oklahoma, PSU, Pitt, UCLA, and USC highlight a very long list of suitors.  Wow.  It's been a while since U-M has gone up against a list like that and won out.  I like it.  A lot.

Regardless (sidebar:  irregardless is not a word.  Don't use it, it makes you sound dumb.  Sorry I just hate that non-word), Richardson is a highly ranked prospect and I'm excited about his commitment.  Rivals rates him as a 4-star and #195 overall.  Scout has him as a 4-star also and their #10 CB prospect.  24/7Sports (a publication that I really don't put much stock into yet, mostly because they are new and I have no idea of they know what they are talking about) rates him as a 4-star, the #3 CB, and their #31 overall player.  That is high praise indeed.  Welcome to the family, Terry.

In other related news, RJS has been tweeting cryptically that there is more good news to come and that it is from unexpected sources.  I don't have anything further than that, so I'll leave that as a tease and we'll see what happens.  Stay tuned and Go Blue!