Recruiting Update: October 23, 2011

Arik Armstead sitting down.  Because that's the only way you can fit him in the frame.

ADDED TO THE BOARD

Elk Grove (CA) Pleasant Grove DE Arik Armstead decommitted from USC.  His older brother, Armond, has had some shady dealings at USC and the Armstead family seems pretty peeved at the coaches and administration.  Despite being 6'8", which is almost unheard of for a defensive player, Armstead wants to play defense in college.  It seems he would be better suited to play offensive tackle in college, where his length would be a positive.  Regardless, there's very little chance that Armstead comes to Michigan.  Alabama, Cal, Notre Dame, and Texas look like strong contenders.

Wheaton (IL) St. Francis OT Kyle Bosch, a 2013 prospect, received a verbal offer from Michigan this week.  Bosch is a 6'5", 275 lb. lineman with offers from Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, Stanford, and West Virginia, among others.  Rivals' midwest recruiting analyst Josh Helmholdt named Bosch one of the top seven prospects he's scouted so far this year, in the same company as LB Joe Bolden (Michigan), WR Aaron Burbridge (Michigan State), 2013 CB Cam Burrows, and DE Adolphus Washington.  Bosch visited Michigan back in August and again for the Notre Dame victory in mid-September, so the interest level on his end is pretty high.

Columbus (IN) East QB Gunner Kiel is exploring his options.  Kiel is regarded by many as the #1 quarterback in the class of 2012, and he surprised many by picking the home state Indiana Hoosiers back in July.  That decision seemed largely based on the chance to play with his older brother Dusty, also a quarterback.  Indiana is 1-7 on the year under new head coach Kevin Wilson, with that lone victory coming against FCS team South Carolina State.  More recently, though, the Hoosiers have been losing in blowout fashion to Big Ten teams; they have been outscored 131-61 in their four Big Ten contests.  The 6'4", 220 lb. signal caller was rumored to have strong interest in Alabama, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Oklahoma before committing to Indiana.

San Diego (CA) Westview TE Taylor McNamara decommitted from Arizona this past week.  Alabama, California, Colorado, Notre Dame, Oregon, and Stanford were also high on his list before committing to the Wildcats, who fired head coach Mike Stoops and caused some of their commits to go looking elsewhere.  McNamara showed some early, passing interest in the Wolverines, but nothing strong enough to suggest that Michigan will get a second look now.

NEW ESPN 150 RELEASED

Just in case you missed it, I broke down the new ESPN 150 for the class of 2012 that was released last week.