Since the last recruiting roundup, there has been quite a bit of news for both Michigan and Michigan State. The majority of the activity revolves around Michigan due to changing coaches and both losing and adding a number of recruits, but the Spartans' activity has picked up in the last week or so as they continue building their class with signing day nearing.
Michigan Football
- The following players decommitted from Michigan right before or immediately after Rich Rodriguez was fired: Florida RB Dee Hart, Michigan OL Jake Fisher, Florida DB Dallas Crawford and California K Matt Goudis. Hart ended up committing to Alabama at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, where he won both the player of the year award and MVP. Fisher is still considering Michigan, but he did take visits to Michigan State and Florida in recent weeks, so the Wolverines definitely have some competition. Finally, both Crawford and Goudis ended up committing to Miami (FL) after dropping Michigan. (Miami also ended up getting Ohio LB Antonio Kinard, who signed with Michigan a year ago but failed to qualify. He had hoped to enroll at Michigan this year, but the belief is he didn't get in, so he chose Miami instead.)
- Kris Frost, who many believed was a silent verbal or at the very least Michigan's to lose before Rodriguez was fired, ended up committing to Auburn.
- On to the good news for Michigan ... Brady Hoke got his first commitment last Thursday when Ohio CB Tamani Carter committed. Carter is a three-star recruit on both Rivals and Scout and a two-star on ESPN.
- Hoke hosted his first recruiting weekend the past few days and got a total of three commitments: Ohio TE/DE Keith Heitzman, Michigan ATH Raymon Taylor and California K Matt Wile. Heitzman is a consensus three-star recruit and was previously committed to Vanderbilt. Taylor was once committed to Indiana and has four stars on Rivals and three stars on Scout and ESPN. Finally, Wile, who fills Michigan's need for a kicker, is a two-star recruit on Rivals and ESPN and is unrated on Scout. Wile is amazingly going to be a fifth-generation University of Michigan student.
- With a week and some change until signing day, Michigan has 14 commitments. The hope for Hoke is to add at least a few more before signing day in order to better fill out the class.
Michigan State Football
- At the start of the month, Ohio CB Doran Grant committed to Ohio State over Michigan State.
- New Jersey DE Shilique Calhoun committed to the Spartans back on Jan. 10. He is a three-star recruit on Rivals, Scout and ESPN.
- New Mexico DT Matthew Ramondo joined Michigan State's recruiting class last week after decommitting from Arizona State. He is also a consensus three-star recruit.
- Last Friday, Florida WR Juwan Caesar committed to MSU. He has four stars on ESPN and three stars on Rivals and Scout.
- Finally, Michigan State got a commitment from Pennsylvania OG/DT Brandon Clemons on Sunday. Clemons is a four-star OG on Rivals, a three-star DT on Scout and a three-star OG on ESPN.
- With these four commitments, Michigan State is up to 20 players in its 2011 recruiting class.