Tuesday Morning Brews: December crootin’

Happy Tuesday, folks. Welcome to Morning Brews. This morning we’ll be doing a link roundup, again focused on recruiting. With the team well into bowl preparations, most Michigan football related news will be on the recruiting front. With Shea Patterson’s announcement that he will transfer to Michigan yesterday, the Wolverines are off to a good start this week. As you’ll read below, there’s reason to be optimistic that at least one other player will choose Michigan this week.

Let’s get to it:

The early signing period for football is right around the corner, and if you’re a little unclear on the details, well, here they are. The early signing period will open on December 20th and will last for 72 hours (Dec. 20-22). During this period players may sign a National Letter of Intent just as they would when the normal signing period opens in February. A player who signs during the early period may enroll early, but doesn’t have to. According to Steve Lorenz ($), ten or more players in Michigan’s 2018 recruiting class plan to sign during the early period.

Don Brown recently had an in-home visit with Michigan commit Cam McGrone. There has been no indication that McGrone is wavering in his commitment, so this was likely to just check in on McGrone after his season had concluded. The LB prospect holds a four-star ranking, and he’s listed as the No. 181 recruit in the 247 Composite. Notably, however, 247’s rankings rates him considerably higher - having him as the No. 4 LB and No. 31 recruit in the 2018 cycle. McGrone is among those expected to sign during the early period later this month, but he is not expected to enroll early.

Tommy Tremble, a three-star TE recruit, will announce his commitment this coming Thursday. Michigan was a relatively late entrant to his recruitment, but Harbaugh and company have made a big impression in a short amount of time. Tremble was on campus for the Ohio State game, and, despite him most recently visiting UCLA, it is thought that this one comes down to Notre Dame and Michigan. Steve Lorenz has his Crystal Ball in for Michigan, so it looks like the Wolverines may be in for good news on Thursday.

In addition to the ‘Ole Mich’ potential transfers, 2018 OT Jalen Goss and 2018 ATH Michael Barrett were also on campus this past weekend. Goss is a three-star prospect who is listed at both OT and DE. In addition to Michigan, he holds offers from a collection of ACC and SEC schools like Miami, Auburn, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and others. Barrett is also three-star prospect. He holds offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Georgia Tech., Tennessee, and others. All four Crystal Ball predictions have Barrett to Michigan.

Six surgeries and two months after suffering an injury that nearly took his leg, Grant Newsome began walking again. Those (second) first steps were on December 1, 2016. Now, Newsome hopes to start playing football again soon. He recently told Nick Baumgardner that he is, "Trying to get back on the field as soon as possible. . . . I want to play right now. But it's up to the doctors when they'll let me go." For more on Newsome’s road back to football and what he has done this season, check out the feature above.

Since the last edition of the Brews, Women’s basketball has earned two more victories. Last Thursday, Kim Barnes Arico’s squad played Marquette in Ann Arbor, earning an 82-76 victory. In that game the Wolverines were led by Katelynn Flaherty with 27 pts., Hallie Thome with 17 pts., and Deja Church with 12 pts. On Sunday, Michigan topped the Golden Flashes of Kent State 54-41. Both teams struggled from the floor; Kent State shot 33% and Michigan shot 40%. Nonetheless, the Wolverines were able to pull out a victory. The two wins put Michigan at 8-2 on the season. They’ll next play North Florida this evening at 7:00 p.m. on BTN.

Michigan hockey split with Michigan State this past Thursday and Friday. Things got off to a great start for the Wolverines on Thursday with a 4-0 win over the visiting Spartans. After a scoreless first period, Michigan found the net twice in the second and third periods. On Friday, things got ugly early. Michigan State tallied three power play goals, and they didn’t look back en route to a 5-0 victory. The Wolverines are now 7-7-2 (3-5-2) in Mel Pearson’s inaugural season. Michigan will be back in action on New Year’s Day for their first game of the annual Great Lakes Invitational.