Thursday Morning Brews: Fame

Happy Thursday, folks. This morning we’re talking about fame, both the notoriety that comes from being a starter for Michigan Football and the prestige of making it to the next level. Both will be bestowed in the coming days, as the NFL Draft begins a week from today and the depth chart starts to form up after the Spring Game. Also in this morning’s Brews is a spot of recruiting news and check-ins with Baseball, Softball, and Women’s Gymnastics.

Let’s hit the links:

Just because Michigan’s Spring Game has come and gone doesn’t mean that the competition is over on the practice field. Ed Kengerski of MGoBlue reports that now is the time that many of the experienced players are looking to cement their place at the top of the depth chart before fall camp begins. Junior Noah Furbush says, “the field is wide open, and guys know that . . . .” Despite having the experience, the older players are still facing stiff competition from the young guys. Sophomore Eddie McDoom says his comfort level has grown and he’s ready to work.

The NFL Draft starts a week from today and the eyes of the Maize and Blue faithful will be on the number of highly-ranked draft prospects that played for Michigan last year. It has been well-reported that Michigan produced one of the deepest and most talented draft classes this year, and here is just one more data point to back that up. NFL Senior Analyst Gil Brandt recently released his Hot 150, and Michigan places the second most prospects with 8. Those 8 include Jabrill Peppers (#21), Taco Charlton (#42), Chris Wormley (#48), Jourdan Lewis (#61), Jake Butt (#118), Amara Darboh (#125), Jehu Chesson (#134), and Ben Gedeon (#148).

A top Michigan target in the 2017 recruiting cycle may be moving up his commitment timeline, reports Scout’s Allen Trieu ($). Ryan Hayes is a 4* OT prospect out of Traverse City and is the #3 prospect in the state of Michigan, according to the 247Composite. Trieu reports that Hayes informed Michigan, Notre Dame, and Michigan State that they are “pretty much the main three.” Hayes also says that he may now make his decision sooner than his original late summer target. It’s all going to come down to where he wants to go to school, who has the best coaches, and who has the strongest academics, Hayes told Trieu. Eleven of the twelve Crystal Ball predictions on 247Sports are in for Michigan.

Michigan Baseball put a whooping on Michigan State Wednesday afternoon, riding an offensive explosion to a 12-4 victory. Senior Johnny Slater led the way for Michigan, contributing four doubles, two runs, and four RBIs to the effort. The win moves Michigan to 30-7 (6-3) on the season. They next welcome Indiana to town this weekend for a three game set to close out an 18 game home stand. There’s still 18 games left in the season, but this is shaping up to be a special season for the Maize and Blue on the diamond.

Michigan Softball also took care of business against Michigan State on Wednesday afternoon, notching a 3-1 victory over the visiting Spartans of East Lansing. Senior Megan Betsa struck out 14 on her way to her 18th victory on the year. Those 14 Ks also put her over 300 for the year, the third straight season she’s crossed that threshold. Softball now has a 32-9-1 (12-2) record and travels to Wisconsin this weekend for a three game set.

Women’s Gymnastics didn’t quite get the finish they were hoping for heading into Championship weekend in St. Louis. Despite some strong performances, Michigan finished fifth in the NCAA Semi-Final (top three from each session advance to the final). Despite coming up just a little bit short, Michigan still recorded a remarkable season - winning the program’s 12th NCAA Regional title, fourth straight Big Ten Tournament title, and a B1G Regular Season title. Nicole Artz, Brianna Brown, and Olivia Karas also earned second-team All-America honors. Go Blue.