Lemming's Mailbag

Oklahoma, LSU, Notre Dame and Miami all land impact recruits

June 8, 2007

By Tom Lemming

CSTV.com

	TOM LEMMING Tom is CSTV's college football recruiting analyst, and writes for CSTV.com regularly. E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- RANKINGS 1/23: Final Class Of 2008 Top 100 1/11: Stock Watch - 2009 Potential All-Americans 1/5: Stock Watch - All-American Bowl 1/4: Stock Watch - All-American Practice Week 8/2: 2008 Top 100 Overview 4/9: 2008 Updated Watch List 2/8: 2008 Early Watch List 2/5: Top 100 Latest 1/29: 2007 - Final Rankings 1/23: 2006 - Final Rankings 2008 TOP 25s 11/15: Inside Linebackers 11/14: Outside Linebackers 11/13: Athletes 11/13: Cornerbacks 11/12: Fullbacks 11/08: OGuards/Centers 11/01: Offensive Tackles 10/20: Defensive Ends 10/14: Tight Ends 10/04: Safeties 9/19: Defensive Tackles 9/12: Tailbacks 9/5: Pro-Style QBs 8/28: Dual Threat QBs ROAD TRIP 2007 12/16: Ten With Tom - Rich Rodriguez Edition 11/29: Ten With Tom - Recruiting Road to the BCS 6/7: Mailbag 5/23: History Lesson 5/11: Ten With Tom 3/29: North Carolina 3/16: East Coast Swing 2/28: Setting Up Shop 2/26: Texas NFL DRAFT 4/27: From Five-Star to First Rounder CONFERENCE BREAKDOWNS 07 2/13: SEC Breakdown 2/12: Pac-10 Breakdown 2/11: Big Ten Breakdown 2/10: Big East Breakdown 2/9: Big 12 Breakdown 2/8: ACC Breakdown SIGNING DAY 2/7: Winners and Losers 1/22: Countdown to Signing Day 1/15: Best Available BCS BOWLS 1/5: BCS Championship Game 12/31: BCS Orange Bowl 12/30: BCS Sugar Bowl 12/30: BCS Fiesta Bowl 12/30: BCS Rose Bowl CONFERENCE BREAKDOWNS 06 4/28: Pac-10 4/25: Big East 4/19: ACC 4/14: Big 12 4/12: Big Ten 4/6: SEC ROAD TRIP 06 7/14: Part IX 6/22: Part VIII 6/2: Utah 5/26: Colorado 5/16: Illinois 1/19: Part IV 1/12: Part III 1/06: Part II 12/30: Part I

Tom Lemming just wrapped filming his first 'summer school' episode of Generation Next that will air June 14 on CSTV. Come July, Lemming will release his first Top 100 for the Class of 2008. He takes your questions this week in his Mailbag - feel free to file more and just Ask Tom.

1. Defensively, Notre Dame is finally getting some talent and depth at DT. Is there one stud DT left out there that can be considered a good bet to commit? - Anonymous (Round Lake Beach, IL)

Omar Hunter is that stud defensive tackle. He's the No. 1 nose tackle in the country, and I list him at nose tackle because he's built like one. He's got the high strength and quickness to compete as a true freshman. Hunter's a huge pick-up this week for the Irish.

2. Hey Tom, what's your take on Notre Dame commit Dayne Crist? Likely a red-shirt his first year considering the three-quarterback race happening this year? - Brad (London, UK)

I think for sure Dayne Crist should red-shirt and give himself a fifth year, especially with Clausen being only a year ahead of him. But he does look like the real deal on film.

3. What are your thoughts on Michigan's class so far? Any big fish Michigan can still catch? Top three class possibly? - Thurgood (Harrisburg, PA)

The Wolverines did just land Marcus Witherspoon. I liked him when I saw him in person and would say he's a four-star linebacker with good size and quickness. They also got Mike Martin who's a good pick-up. He's the best nose tackle in the state and they got a good one to make up for losing Omar Thomas to Notre Dame. But for big fish, they're in on a lot of national guys and in good shape with Steven Filer from Chicago and Will Hill from New Jersey.

4. Michigan seems to lose the top recruits. Do you think it's because of them not winning the "Big Games" or a conservative style they play? - Norm (Fort Wayne, IN)

Michigan isn't alone. Everyone loses recruits and they're getting more than their share this year and are off to a fantastic start. They lost Omar Hunter to Notre Dame, but all teams will lose more than half the players they recruit.

5. Will Notre Dame end up with a Top Five class and what top players are they close to nabbing? - Kevin (Chicago, IL)

Right now they definitely have a Top Five class and are in on a lot of top guys, like Michael Floyd, Ryan Williams and Ethan Johnson.

6. Where do you see Will Hill going? - Andrew (Metuchen, N.J.)

It's a USC-Florida battle as it stands right now, but Ohio State and Notre Dame are still there. If he chose today he'd choose USC, but he's going to take his time.

7. What do you think of the daily-double Miami hit with Jordan Futch and Thearon Collier? Is it safe to say Randy Shannon is dominating South Florida? - Diego (Pompano Beach, FL)

It's a typical Miami catch. Both are athletes, but no, Randy Shannon isn't dominating South Florida yet. No, not yet. If he can land Northwestern H.S. kids Marcus Forston and Aldarius Johnson, then he can make that claim.

8. How about Oklahoma landing DeJuan Miller? How big of a get are they? - Blake (Norman, OK)

There are a lot of big-time wide receivers around this year, but Miller's one of the best. He's 6-foot-6, athletic, sure-handed with speed, can play right away and can be a go-to guy. It's very uncommon for the Sooners to get somebody from New Jersey, and it's a unique catch that could open up a pipeline for them. On the other hand, it could be not a good sign for Rutgers.

9. Thomas Parsons coming to play for the Tigers, do you like him? - Clarence (Baton Rouge, LA)

He's a guy I interviewed and liked his attitude. He's a Top 10 guy at his position in Texas, toward the second half of that number. Parsons is a good catch as an out-of-state kid.

10. With the talk of an early signing period, was there a particular moment or a team that changed its recruiting that spurned the recruiting process to speed up? - Billy (Hattiesburg, MS)

It was 13 years ago when Penn State lost Ron Paulus to Notre Dame, and after that, a majority of the top kids in Pennsylvania started getting offered early to help ensure that wouldn't happen again.