Tuesday Morning Brews: Feelin’ Alright

Happy Tuesday, folks. Welcome to this morning’s Brews. With football satellite camp season well underway we’re heavy on recruiting news this morning. We also bring you the story of Michigan’s latest National Championship, and we check in with an old friend from John Beilein’s coaching staff.

Let’s hit the links:

Big time 2018 safety prospect Quindarious Monday was recently on Michigan’s campus, reports Sam Webb of Scout ($). The 4* prospect is a top-10 ranked ATH and the #224 prospect in the 2018 class, according to the 247Composite. Monday is taking part in the Elite Talent Football Academy bus tour, where high school prospects training with the academy travel to attend various camps put on by college programs. Following Grand Valley State’s Best of the Midwest camp, the bus swung by Ann Arbor. Quindarious told Scout that he would be making his way back to campus with his parents for another visit a little later in the summer.

One recruiting practice that has become more prominent under Jim Harbaugh has been offering and taking increased numbers of preferred walk-ons. These athletes are guaranteed roster spots, but they don’t receive an athletic scholarship. They qualify for whatever student aid they would receive as if they were a non-athlete student. The latest PWO offer went to Michael Geraci, a 2018 WR from New Jersey’s Don Bosco Prep. Geraci is unranked by the major services, and will be taking visits to Yale, Princeton, and Columbia, according to Evan Petzold of Scout.

Top-5 2018 TE Luke Ford has received an offer from the Wolverines. The 4* 6’7” 250lbs prospect is the #90 recruit in the cycle, according to the 247Composite. Ford has 24 offers, mostly from B1G and SEC schools, with the Crystal Balls favoring Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Alabama thus far. With visits scheduled later this month for LSU and Alabama, it remains to be seen what kind of impact Michigan can have in Ford’s recruitment - though there is still plenty of time before National Signing Day. This one will play out over the next several months so stay tuned.

Michigan coaches attended USC’s camp on Sunday and one attendee who walked away with an offer was Bryan Addison, according to Brice Marich of Scout ($). The 4* ATH added several offers on Sunday, in fact - including one from Ohio State. The 6’3” 172lbs prospect now has 15 offers, including most of the Pac-12. Addison is the #221 prospect overall and the #9 ATH in the 2018 class, according to the 247Composite. Regarding Michigan, Addison told Scout, “They are going to end up in my top . . . . I do (plan on visiting) and I will visit officially.”

Michigan’s newest National Champion is Jaimie Phelan, and she did it in impressive fashion. The Senior runner won Michigan’s first ever National Championship in the Women’s 1500 meter, and was the first B1G woman to win it since 1995. Phelan’s win was also Michigan’s first outdoor track title since 2009. Entering the final lap of the race, Phelan found herself in 11th place. Over the ensuing 400m, Phelan went from second-to-last to first; winning the race by two hundredths of a second, the second closest race in NCAA history for the Women’s 1500m. The National Championship puts a cap on a stellar career for Phelan, which included four All-America honors, four All-B1G first team honors, and three B1G Championships.

Former Michigan Basketball assistant coach LaVall Jordan is on the move again. This time, he appears poised to become the next head coach at Butler. Jordon left Beilein’s coaching staff after the 2015-2016 season to take the head coaching job at Milwaukee. The Butler opening was created by former coach Chris Holtmann being hired away by Ohio State. Despite Jordan’s head coaching premiere at Milwaukee having its bumps (11-24), his squad made it to the Horizon League championship game and he’s regarded as an up and coming coach in NCAA Basketball. Scout reports that he was the runner up for the Butler job in 2013 when Holtmann’s predecessor Brandon Miller was hired.