U Recruit

Brady Hoke and his staff have Michigan back atop the Big Ten recruiting rankings.

The national signing day for the 2011 class was only 5 months ago, but in today’s world coaches are often recruiting one, or even two years ahead of time. The 2012 class has yet to play out their senior seasons on the field, but already many prospects have been offered, visited, and committed to various schools.

A few weeks ago we broke down the current SEC recruiting race. Today, we’ll take a look at the Big Ten.

Last season, the Ohio State Buckeyes signed the Big Ten’s top class, which ranked 11th in the nation according to rivals.com. But with recent allegations of player benefits, and the firing of Jim Tressel, a new, or to be truthful, old player has emerged in the Big Ten recruiting race in 2012.

Michigan.

Since Brady Hoke and his staff took over in January, the Wolverines have been absolutely relentless on the recruiting trail. Thus fair, the Wolverines have 16 known commitments, including a number of highly-regarded prospects, according to various recruiting sites. The Wolverines are doing work close to home as well, as Hoke promised, with 14 of 16 commitments from Michigan and Ohio.

Among the Wolverines top commits are Linebackers James Ross, Joe Bolden, and Royce Jenkins-Stone. One the defensive line, they have two great  Ohio ends in Lyndhurst’s Pharaoh Brown and Mentor’s Tom Strobel.  Illinois CB Anthony Standifer has terrific size at 6″2, 175 lbs, while Detroit CB Terry Richardson has speed that coveted offers from LSU, Notre Dame, USC, and others.

Behind the Wolverines, the Wisconsin Badgers are off to arguably their best start ever in recruiting. In the past the Badgers have taken a number of two and three star prospects and turned them into NFL players. This year, the Badgers have four four-star players among five commitments. Offensive Lineman Dan Voltz (OG) of Illinois, and OT/OG Kyle Dodson, of Ohio, are both excellent prospects. In-state LB Vince Beigel is a legacy player, but another huge pickup, and West-coast QB Bart Houston, at 6″4, 200 lbs, has great size and a very good arm as well.

In third place in our rankings are the Ohio State Buckeyes. Yes, the Bucknuts have fallen on hard times with the loss of their head coach, and while there is a lot of talented players leaving the state, the Buckeyes are still picking up some solid prospects. Their class is headlined by five-star OT Kyle Kalis. New Head Coach Luke Fickell was able to re-secure Kalis’ commitment, but he still may visit other schools in the summer and fall.

Along with Kalis, the Buckeyes have a terrific duo at running back in bruiser Brionte Dunn, and Warren Ball. Ball will be a Buckeye through and through, but Dunn has been rumored to be looking at Michigan and Penn State for some time.

Checking in at #4 in our countdown is Penn State. After a somewhat down recruiting year in 2011, the Nittany Lions have literally come roaring back. The Lions class is headlined by five-star mammoth DT Jarron Jones. Jones is joined by more talented defenders like DT Jamil Pollard, OLB Camren Williams, and DE Brent Wilkerson, who are all Atlantic and East Coast products. The Nittany Lions need to hold onto Jones, who may visit more schools this summer, but they’ve got a terrific foundation to build on.

Behind Penn State there is a bit of a drop-off. Michigan State is our #5 team, and once again the Spartans will not blow you away in the rankings category. QB Connor Cook headlines the group of five commitments as an Elite 11 candidate with good size and a very good arm to boot. With Michigan dominating in-state this year, the Spartans have taken two quality offensive linemen from Ohio in Benny McGowan and Zach Higgins. Indiana TE Evan Jones is a bit of a project but with great athleticism and proven tight end coaching he should be just fine at the next level.

Our #6 team is a surprise, the Minnesota Gophers. Former Head Coach Tim Brewster was let go, and new Head Coach Jerry Kill and his staff have taken over to try and revitalize the Gophers program. With four-star WR Andre Mcdonald headlining a solid 6-man class so far, the Gophers are off to a good start. In-state QB Philip Nelson was a solid pickup for the Gophers, and the staff continues to recruit Florida, a key talent pool, by adding Sunrise, FL DB Dinero Moss.

Watch for part 2 of our list tomorrow!