Commit #15 and a Four Seed

Over the weekend, Coach Hoke secured number 15 for the class of 2013 in the form of Ohio CB Gareon Conley.  This was more or less broken by Conley himself on Friday when he tweeted that he would be committing the next day, although it was expected to happen even before that.  Conley is unranked by Rivals, four stars and the #20 CB to Scout, and three stars with an 88 rating from 24/7.  He fits the mold of the taller CB type that Hoke and Mattison have been looking for as he is 6'2", but he will need to add some weight as he is listed as 165-170 pounds right now.

The reel above shows very good speed and excellent length.  I had heard the comparison to Steve Breaston in his stride and it is dead on.  He probably isn't as fast as Stevie was/is, but the running style is very reminiscent.  Shows good leaping ability and timing, as well as the body control to adjust to the ball in the air.  Definitely thin as a rail and will need another 15-20 pounds at least to not get manhandled at the next level by bigger, stronger receivers.  Good use of length and speed to be an effective kick blocker off the edge.

Conley makes two CBs in this class and likely closes the position for this year outside of a super like a Fuller, Hargreaves, or Willis.  The coaches wanted a taller kid for the other CB spot and looks like they got what they wanted once again.  Conley may be an under the radar type of kid that gets a bit more attention in his senior season than he's gotten thus far.  I've read some very promising things from the guys that know Ohio football and they seem to like him a lot more than his current rating may suggest.  Other offers at the time of his commitment were from Northwestern, Toledo, and West Virginia.  Hopefully a diamond in the rough.

Going Forward
Rumors abound about the RB position with Ty Isaac in Ann Arbor all last weekend and Deveon Smith scheduled to come in this weekend.  I'm hearing VA RB Derrick Green may also be in town this weekend for an unofficial of his own.  I truly have no idea what is going to happen there, but if I got to choose it would be Isaac, Green, Smith in that order.  All of them are very good RBs though and I would/will be thrilled with any of them.  Things seem like they will be winding up on the RB front in the next week or two but anything could happen including a much more extended timeline.  It just seems headed for a conclusion sooner than later.  I will get up an expected visitor list in the next day or so.

Tourney Time
To basketball now, as the weekend also held some events of importance on the hardwood.  First, on Saturday the basketball team played Ohio State in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament.  No word on the outcome there, so we'll just assume things went swimmingly.  Seriously though, that was awful and hard to watch (truth be told I shut it off with about eight minutes left) and let's never speak of it again.  Sunday was a new day, however, and the day the Wolverines found out their NCAA Tourney road. 

A four seed in the Midwest Regional originally angered me a bit, mostly because I was expecting a three, but it turns out may be more beneficial than the three in the same bracket.  Georgetown got said three seed and will play 14 seed Belmont.  Those that know more about this than I say that Belmont has a very good chance to win that game and is a very tough draw at the 14 spot.  Michigan, on the other hand, will play 13 seed Ohio.  It seems the tournament committee has a sense of humor in setting up this match-up.  While this match-up is apparently a better one than facing Belmont, don't expect the Buckeyes Bobcats to be a pushover either.  Brian did a Q and A with someone who knows the Bobcats better than any of the rest of us yesterday.  A good read.  The game will be Friday evening on TNT.  Most recent line I've seen is Michigan minus 6.  Thanks for reading and Go Blue.