TheWolverine.com

The three-month long saga that was Michigan's recruitment of Terrelle Pryor ended on Wednesday with the nation's top prospect in the 2008 class signing with Ohio State. That now officially gives the Wolverines the opportunity to move forward at the quarterback position in the class of 2009 and one of their top targets is Chesapeake (Va.) Western Branch's Kevin Newsome.

When we had spoken to the 6-3, 215-pound Newsome earlier this month the four-star prospect mentioned he would be keeping an eye on Pryor and the decision he made because it involved a couple schools Newsome himself was considering, including Michigan. With Pryor signing with the Buckeyes, Newsome said that will help Michigan's chances at securing his services.
"Of course it is going to change it because of Pryor," said Newsome. "With him not being there it really puts Michigan up there on my list."

Michigan's chances with Newsome took another step forward last week Saturday when an official offer letter from the Wolverines arrived in the mail.

"Right now I have the piece of paper in my hands," said Newsome. "I'm greatly honored to have been offered by Michigan. I was just smiling and it was a great honor. I think it is a great program and a great school. It's Michigan, the Big Ten and a very legendary school."

Before receiving the official offer, Newsome had received regular correspondence from the Wolverines, especially from assistant coach Fred Jackson who is his primary recruiter. Earlier this week, though, Newsome was able to speak on the phone with Jackson and Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez.

"I've talked to Coach Jackson and Coach Rodriguez and they are very intelligent men. They obviously know what they are doing there. I like them a lot," said Newsome. "I talked to them probably Monday or Tuesday and we were talking about the different offensive schemes and just Michigan itself. He asked me about hurdles and they both congratulated me on my achievements in track."

Newsome's total offer count is nearing 20 with the most recent coming from Kansas State. At this stage of the process he is still just seeing who comes through, but he expects the time to start making decisions about the future of his recruitment to come soon.

"Right now I am still a little laid back and waiting for whomever wants me, but it's almost evaluation time," Newsome said. "I am looking at the colleges one-by-one and looking them up on the Internet."

Part of Newsome's evaluation with involved visiting the campus on his own, something he expects to do later this spring.

"We should be up there pretty soon," he said. "I'm not sure when, but we are going to especially visit Michigan. It will probably be this spring."

Besides picking up the mail everyday, Newsome is also heavily involved in track where he is one of the top hurdlers in the country. He recently finished his indoor track season and is getting ready to move into outdoor track.

"I won state in the high hurdles and I placed fourth at nationals," Newsome added. "At the state meet it was the 55 [meters] and at nationals it was the 60."

Thanks for posting that I have been wondering all day what he had to say!! Thats great news also he sounds like he is really interested in being a Wolverine and sounds like he really like the coaches and our tradition. GO BLUE!!

I saw some video of him on rivals and although his throwing mechanics look funky, to say the least, this is a really impressive kid.  Another plus is that his high school wears the same helmets as UM!  

that worked out well with Mike Hart

BEWARE the South Side Stench of Colonbus!!!


So this is what Duncan McCloud feels like.

Sound like the type of kid that could commit at summer camp, seems like he likes Michigan a lot. Question is do we like Tate Forcier better?

"When you coach at Michigan, you walk on water, period. There's a difference."-Don Nehlen

Question: If a player gives us a verbal, can we still withdraw the offer ... like if a better prospect accepts later?  I know that would not be a good idea PR-wise, just wondering.  Does it ever happen?

ORIGINAL: GoBlueToday

Question: If a player gives us a verbal, can we still withdraw the offer ... like if a better prospect accepts later?  I know that would not be a good idea PR-wise, just wondering.  Does it ever happen?

Yes we can pull an offer, but highly doubt it would happen. Most of the time offers get pulled if a commit visits another school after commiting(and both sides have agreed no more visits), or they have off the field trouble. My guess is if someone like Newsome commited, Forcier's interest level would drop. Whats likely to happen if Michigan wants Forcier more than Newsome, but Newsome wants Michigan is that we'll string Newsome along while putting the full press on Forcier. Set a goal date, if Forcier hasn`t commited by then go full out after Newsome. Or we could go after both, and bring Newsome in as an athlete. Its risky and teams that do that often get burned, but recruiting isn`t always a pretty business. My guess though is that RR would take the first player that wanted to commit between Forcier and Newsome(bird in the hand type of thing).

Personally its hard for me to choose between Newsome and Forcier, both are good players but with different skill sets. I like Forcier a little better than Newsome because of his passing ability and he`d  be more ready from day one to play IMO because of how well he's been coached.

"When you coach at Michigan, you walk on water, period. There's a difference."-Don Nehlen

He has said he want to enroll early, so if he visits this spring and wants to verbal, we of course take it, If he comes in early and can do winter workouts and spring training, it's a big plus. RR will still take another QB in this class anyway.

Scout

Kevin Newsome
Ht: 6-3 Wt: 215 40: 4.4
Pos: QB - Pos Rank: #5

Rivals

Kevin Newsome Ranked 18 overall
Ht: 6-foot-3
Wt: 210 lbs
Forty: 4.57 secs (scout has his 40 at 4.4)
GPA: 3.7

Free videos

http://rivals100.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=50973&Sport=1

He sounds like a commitment in the making to me. On tape it looks like he is a pass first and run later type of QB. He has sort of a long release, but he can definitely bomb it. I was hoping we would be looking at passing QBs who can run, not running QBs who can sort of throw. With Newsome and Tate in the mix, we are getting just that.

ORIGINAL: MaizeRage6320

He sounds like a commitment in the making to me. On tape it looks like he is a pass first and run later type of QB. He has sort of a long release, but he can definitely bomb it. I was hoping we would be looking at passing QBs who can run, not running QBs who can sort of throw. With Newsome and Tate in the mix, we are getting just that.

Forcier is a passing QB that can run IMO, to me he's much better passing than he is running.

"When you coach at Michigan, you walk on water, period. There's a difference."-Don Nehlen

ORIGINAL: MichFan4Life

ORIGINAL: MaizeRage6320

He sounds like a commitment in the making to me. On tape it looks like he is a pass first and run later type of QB. He has sort of a long release, but he can definitely bomb it. I was hoping we would be looking at passing QBs who can run, not running QBs who can sort of throw. With Newsome and Tate in the mix, we are getting just that.

Forcier is a passing QB that can run IMO, to me he's much better passing than he is running.

Yea, that's what I meant about Newsome and Tate.

Wow, I need to work on being a little more specific...

He and tate are the future.

I know I've read that RR wants to sign 2 qbs, but I can't recall a time where two 4 star qbs signed in the same class. It would be great though. Have either Tate or Newsome commented on being one of 2 qb's in the class?
 
Newsome or Tate along with a less recruited player, or an "athlete" like McGee sounds more likely.

“If we’re not committed 100 percent to everything we do in our lives, we start to fall short of our dreams.”
Mike Barwis

From Scout...
 
Newsome says that he and his family will be at Michigan for their Spring Game. Academics, style of play, and depth chart will all be important factors.
 
Looks like we can offer him everything he is looking for I hope he feels the same way..

Someone finally put him on youtube

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ExJDDlWeJz0

Looks strong and throws well on the move.

Good gawd, and I thought Da Bears offensive line stunk....

That's the same thought that I had.  On most of the plays he only had a few seconds before there was a DL in his face.  It seems that he is pretty good at backfield evasion as a result

eck he floated quite a few passes. I'm a little worried about his arm strength. Most of those passes would have been picked in college. Oh well I'm sure we could coach him up.

ORIGINAL: Michiganpsycho7

eck he floated quite a few passes. I'm a little worried about his arm strength. Most of those passes would have been picked in college. Oh well I'm sure we could coach him up.

Yeah he didn`t show the best arm in that clip, I`m hopeful that those passes were a result of knowing his WR couldn`t catch bullets. Might be a pipe dream on my part though. Personally I`ll still take Tate Focier over Newsome at this point, seems RR doesn`t agree though so I`ll defer to him.

"When you coach at Michigan, you walk on water, period. There's a difference."-Don Nehlen