Here is a look at our projected class:

Name	Position	City
Kevin Sousa	QB	Orlando, FL
Demetrius Hart	RB	Orlando, FL
Shawn Conway	WR	Birmingham, MI
A.J. Jordan	WR	Trotwood, OH
Jake Fisher	OT	Traverse City, MI			-
Tony Posada	OT	Tampa, FL
James Elliott	OG	Pensacola, FL			-
Jack Miller	OG	Scottsdale, AZ
Anthony Zettel	DT	West Branch, MI
Brennen Beyer	DE	Plymouth, MI
Chris Rock	DE	Columbus, OH
Kris Frost	LB	Matthews, SC
Antonio Kinard	LB	Hyattsville, MD
Kellen Jones	LB	Houston, TX
Greg Brown	CB	Fremont, OH
Delonte Hollowell	CB	Detroit, MI
Dallas Crawford	CB	S. Ft. Myers, FL
Daren Kitchen	CB	Houma, LA			-
Avery Walls	S	Union Grove, GA

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With the advances in technology college coaches, scouts and recruits have a new way to communicate. One player in particular took advantage of the social networking site Facebook to market himself and his athletic ability in an effort to become recognized and earn scholarships. 

Kevin Sousa, a QB out of Orlando (FL) Lake Nona High School, had one offer from FAU before he joined the Facebook network. During a conversation with Lake Nona QB Coach Paradiso, the idea of creating a website to promote Sousa's abilities came up.  With the ability to post links, videos and other information on Facebook, Sousa and Paradiso decided to start the Kevin Sousa Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/kevinsousaqb). Sousa said, "it was his idea and he thought it was a great way to get people to learn about me. He didn't want it to be used as a social thing, just for recruiting purposes or for people that are interested in knowing about me.”

The goal of the Facebook page was simply to promote Sousa and give others the opportunity to see how he was competing, how often he was competing and to spread the word about his growing skills and offer list. In an interview with UMGoBlog, Sousa went more in-depth saying, “the goal we had for creating the page was to give everyone a chance to learn who I was, see what I'm doing, how I was performing at camps and combines and to have another link to email coaches with video,” which he did. After his Facebook page was created he earned many offers from schools such as Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, UCF, West Virginia, South Florida and Michigan. Sousa also has 248 friends on Facebook, many who are fans but most importantly some who are college head coaches, scouts and writers for blogs and recruiting sites Rivals.com and Scout.com. 

With the technology and hard work Sousa has put in he has verbally committed to the University of Michigan. However he is still hard at work posting information about all the camps he attends, how he is doing on the practice field as he searches for every article written about him. I would expect many players to take Sousa's lead and use Facebook to create a free and easy way to promote themselves to college coaches, scouts and website writers. As always, Sousa gives all of the credit to his mentor and QB Coach Paradiso saying, “I have said it before, and will say it again, Coach Paradiso has helped open doors I never thought possible.”

Last Thursday the Michigan coaching staff extended an offer to Orlando Lake Nona QB Kevin Sousa.  Sousa then flew up to Ann Arbor on Tuesday with QB coach and mentor Coach Paradiso to check out the campus.  Sousa and Paradiso were so blown away they decided that Michigan was the perfect fit and committed. 

The 6'4" 222 pound QB said that his visited started out with tours of the athletic facilities, including the Big House.  An excited Sousa said that the Big House was "one of the greatest things [he] has seen."  Sousa got tours of the locker rooms and indoor practice facilities.  After his tour Sousa was able to sit down with Coach Frey, Coach Magee and Coach Smith.  He as able to see how the QB's get coached in the film room.  He then got to talk with Rodriguez and decided to commit.  "Coach Rodriguez was very excited and had a sense of relief that I did. They didn't know if I would consider them since they came in late."  Sousa said that the most impressive part of his visit on the athletic side of things was the tour of the Big House.  "To know that my first ever game as a Wolverine will be during their first ever night game, on prime-time, vs. Notre Dame with 110K plus gave me chills. It was just an amazing sight", said an excited Sousa.  Academically Sousa was equally impressed with the alumni base and feels very comfortable earning his degree from the University of Michigan.

Although Mike Barwis was not around during his visit, Sousa recognized some numbers on the board in the weight room.  He saw the all time record for bench press by a QB is 320 pounds and that the current record is 315.  Sousa expects to have his name on that board early in his career.  The Orlando native obviously is a physically impressive QB and Coach Smith agrees telling Sousa he is  "already more physical then every QB there."  Sousa expects to red shirt knowing he'll have two experienced upperclassmen ahead of him but he is ready to compete.  "My work ethic is of a veteran and my willingness to succeed is second to none."  That quote by Sousa describes him perfectly!  Sousa reports a 2.95 GPA and already scored an 18 on his ACT making him qualified.  He'll work hard on keeping his GPA up and will take the SAT.  Sousa is not in position to enroll early and will join the Wolverines in the summer of 2011. 

2011 Michigan Football Recruiting Board

2010 Depth Chart

Corners:

1. Troy Woolfolk  (Red Shirt Senior)	2. J.T. Floyd (Red Shirt Sophomore)	3. J.T. Turner (Red Shirt Freshman) – Could Move to Safety
4. James Rogers (Red Shirt Junior)	5. Cullen Christian (Freshman)	6. Demar Dorsey (Freshman)

7. Courtney Avery (Freshman) – Expected Red Shirt	8. Terrence Talbott (Freshman) – Expected Red Shirt

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Highlights of Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson during his freshman year:

2011 Michigan Football Recruiting Board

2010 Depth Chart

Outside Linebackers:

1. Jonas Mouton (Red Shirt Senior) – Starting WILL LB	2. Craig Roh (Sophomore) – Starting SAM LB	3. Kevin Leach (Red Shirt Junior)
4. Brandon Herron (Red Shirt Junior)	5. Mike Jones (Red Shirt Freshman)	6. Isaiah Bell (Red Shirt Freshman)

7. Davion Rogers (Freshman) – Expected Red Shirt	8. Jordan Paskorz (Freshman) – Expected Red Shirt

Middle Linebackers:

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2011 Football Recruiting Board

2010 Depth Chart

Defensive Ends:

1. Ryan Van Bergen (Red Shirt Junior)	2. Adam Patterson (Senior)	3. Anthony LaLota (Red Shirt Freshman)
4. Greg Banks (Senior)	5. Kenny Wilkins (Freshman) – Potential Red Shirt	6. Jibreel Black (Freshman) – Potential Red Shirt

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2011 Football Recruiting

Michigan’s strong presence in Florida continues as they have offered many of the top sunshine state prospects in the 2011 class.  Here is a rundown of the uncommitted prospects from Florida who have interest in the Wolverines. 

Offered:

Tim Jernigan – DT – Lake City, FL – Columbia HS – Many believe he is a lock to attend the University of Florida.  Jernigan may still look around but it may take more than a miracle for Michigan to land the scout.com 5 star defensive tackle.

Sammy Watkins – WR – South Fort Myers, FL – South Fort Myers HS – This spring game visitor enjoyed his visit so much that he already committed to an official visit this fall.  Watkins is the best WR on my board.  Florida will be tough to beat here as his brother plays for the Gators.  Also watch out for Miami who he and his teammate Dallas Crawford are very high on.

Wayne Lyons – S – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Dilliard HS – Offered by the Wolverines but not being recruited too hard it is safe to say that Lyons will not be a part of this class.  Ohio State, Florida and Notre Dame among others are in position to land the star safety. 

Aaron Lynch – DE – Cape Coral, FL – Island Coast HS – Lynch is a very raw prospect but has elite size and strength as either a DE or TE.  He is very open at this point but look out for Notre Dame, Alabama and Florida.

Nick Waisome – CB – Groveland, FL – South Lake HS – A very talented CB prospect Waisome has offers from many major programs.  The big three Florida schools will be tough to beat but Waisome definitely has interest in the Wolverines. 

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2011 Michigan Football Recruiting Board

2010 Depth Chart

LT1. Perry Dorrestein – (Senior)	LT2. Taylor Lewan – (Red Shirt Freshman)
LG1. Steve Schilling – (Senior)	LG2.  Ricky Barnum - (Red Shirt Sophomore)
C1. David Molk – (Red Shirt Junior)	C2. Rocko Khoury – (Red Shirt Sophomore)
RG1. Patrick Omameh – (Red Shirt Sophomore)	RG2. Quinton Washington – (Red Shirt Freshman)
RT1. Mark Huyge – (Red Shirt Junior)	RT2. Michael Schofield – (Red Shirt Freshman)

1. 2011 Offers (Ranked using Scout.com's Rankings as – 3/25)
   OT's
   1.  Christian Westerman - Chandler, AZ – Early Commit to Texas.

2.  Matt Hegarty - Azterc, NM - Unofficial visitor in March shows he has high interest in UM
3.  Tyler Moore - Clearwater, FL - Early commit to Nebraska
4.  Tony Posada - Tampa, FL - UM in good shape at this point, may get interesting if/when Florida gets involved
5.  Tony Springmann - Fort Wayne, IN - Notre Dame in good shape here.
6.  Trai Turner - New Orleans, LA - UM in great shape
7.  Aundrey Walker - Cleveland, OH - Glenville kid with a Buckeye offer...

Interior Linemen (OG's/OC's)
1.  Jordan Walsh - Glen Ellyn, IL - Open but has interest in Notre Dame
2.  Greg Robinson - Thibodaux, LA - LSU in great shape
3.  Cyrus Hobbi - Scottsdale, AZ - Wide open at this time
4.  Andre Yruretagoyena - Scottsdale, AZ - With two former teammates in Ann Arbor UM sits in great shape
5.  Anthony Zettel - West Branch, MI - UM in great shape
6.  Jonah Austin - New Orleans, LA - UM in good shape, especially if Turner turns blue
7.  David Andrews - Norcross, GA - Georgia Bulldog commit

After taking only one offensive linemen in 2010 the Wolverines will need to really hit the recruiting trail for the big fellas.  The Wolverines have a nice group of young linemen in Christian Pace, Quinton Washington, Ricky Barnum, Patrick Omameh, Taylor Lewan and Michael Schofield.  With that said, Michigan will look to add depth this recruiting season.  Michigan is looking out west after offering four kids in Arizona and New Mexico.  Chandler, Arizona offensive tackle Christian Westerman. Andre Yruretegoyena has two teammates in Ann Arbor (Roh, Lewan) which could only help the Wolverines chances.  In-state star Anthony Zettel has the athletic ability and size to thrive in the spread offense.  Zettel has been favoring the Wolverines for some time now.  Watch out for the New Orleans duo as Trai Thomas has shown very high interest and Jonah Austin already has his offer from U-M.  The Sunshine State has some great linemen of their own in Tampa Plants Tony Posada.  Posada will visit U-M.  U-M has a great shot here however grew up a Gator fan.  An offer from Florida may end it but have they waited to long?  These kids are all very big, very athletic and simply good.  U-M is doing a great job in terms of identifying talent up front handing out 14 total offers so far.

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• Name: Dallas Crawford
• Position: Cornerback
• Height & Weight: 5’10” 175 lbs.
• High School: South Fort Myers Wolfpack (FL)

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INTERVIEW

HIGHLIGHTS

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• Name: Kent Turene
• Position: Middle Linebacker
• Height & Weight: 6’2” 225 lbs.
• High School: Boyd Anderson Cobras (FL)

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HIGHLIGHTS

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Re-watched the spring game this morning, here are a few things I got from it:

1.  Denard is our starting QB – he and Devin showed a great ability to stay in the pocket and scramble only when needed. Tate gets flustered to easily and does not understand how to step up into the pocket.  Instead Tate scrambles outside and puts our OT’s in bad position and also puts himself in bad position when DE’s running him down from behind while he is holding the ball at his knee.

2. Our running backs looked solid.  I saw great power out of Hopkins, Toussaint, Cox and even Gallon.  Shaw is still a bit tentative while running and I think that will cost him a starting job.  In all honesty, I think Hopkins is our starter against U-Conn unless Toussaint catches him.

3. Slots are great.  Roundtree, Gallon and Odoms played great all day.  Even Terrence Robinson had a few great plays (1 catch, 2 or 3 plays where his blocking were key).  I liked Gallons ability with the ball in his hands and the fact that he lowered his shoulder and plowed through Teric Jones was impressive.  Roundtree and Odoms had two wide open drops though.

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