Blakely Interested in UNC

First things first.  I have been working on a recruiting board for both basketball and football.  I hope to have it ready to post soon.  It has turned out to be a little more work than I thought, but it should be worth it.  

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Football Team Participates In Habitat For Humanity Project.  Members of the University of North Carolina football team spent Saturday, May 14 helping to construct a playground at part of the Habitat For Humanity project in Orange County. This is more of a misnomer.  Consider it a picture book because the link to the pics is the best part. 
 

Mike Blakely Interested in UNC

Mike Blakely is in the market for a new school.

After being an early enrollee for the Class of 2012, Blakely has been granted a transfer by the University of Florida.  Blakely was highly recruited.  Rivals has the U.S. Army All-American ranked as the number six running back in the class, Scout.com tenth, and seventh according to ESPN.

Reportedly, Urban Meyer was a significant factor in Blakely's recruitment and he unexpectedly left a few weeks after his commitment.  Additionally, Meyer was influential in convincing Blakely to stick with his commitment and, as a result, Blakely enrolled in December and began taking classes for the spring semester.  Upon reporting to the football team, a full body x-ray revealed a shoulder injury.  Blakely underwent surgery that prevented him from participating in either spring practice or the spring game.  From there, as far Gator fans are concerned, it was a Chinua Achebe novel, i.e. Things Fall Apart. 

 

It has been reported that Blakely does not want to play in a pro-style offense, which is what the new coaching staff is installing under Charlie Weis.  However, this has been down played by those close to Blakely and Blakely himself.  Those close to the situation are being tight lipped about the reason, but do attribute Blakely's discomfort with the situation in Gainsville to the coaching change and magnified by his surgery making him an outsider looking in during spring practice.  It should be noted that he was present for all of the spring practices.

Following his release, Blakely has named three schools of interest:  UNC, USF, and USC.

First the bad news.  Blakely is from Manatee County, FL which is very close to Tampa and USF.  Therefore, it should not be a surprise that Blakely has already visited USF unofficially.  What is a surprise is that Blakely has decided to grant USF one of his five Official Visits.  Each recruit is granted five Official Visits for which the target school picks up the tab for the weekend.  It is highly unusual to use an all-expense paid trip on a school so close to home.  However, there are significant restrictions on the amount of contact that a coaching staff and players in an organized team activity can have with a recruit during this period.  Therefore, Blakely must seriously be considering USF as he wants to get a better feel for the staff and the players and an Official Visit will allow him to do this without causing USF to violate any NCAA rules.

Blakely will be taking an Official to USC the following weekend.

Mike Blakely

UNC definitely has interest in Blakely, but it is unclear whether or not he will be pursued.  In time and after the coaching staff completes it's due diligence, we will know if the staff is comfortable offering Blakely.  We obviously have a need at running back and would love to have an elite-talent like Blakely in the backfield if everything checks out.  For Blakely, UNC is a nice landing spot because we have playing time available, a strong offensive line, and a track record for putting guys into the NFL.  You do remember the obscene number of NFL personnel that was present for our Pro-Day?  Over 130 GMs, head coachs, coordinators, and scouts.  Obviously, this is a nice fit for both parties.

I would love to see him torching it in Kenan Stadium!  Just watch his highlights.  When you are building a football team. You start in the trenches.  The defense line came together a lot faster than the offensive line, but now the offensive line has almost caught up.  We have several NFL prospects on both sides of the line, unlike in 2009 when injuries led to us holding the O-line together with walk-ons and tight ends.  The only thing we are really missing is the big-play home run hitting back.  Hopefully, Blakely can take that to the house.  A live-wire playmaker can be the difference between 8-5 and 10-3!





There is always a curveball!  Before you get too excited, Blakely has expressed interest in getting back into the SEC, but UF has restricted Blakely's transfer to any SEC schools.  However, there is a loop hole.  If Blakely transfered to a D-1 school, he would have to redshirt and sit a year because he enrolled at Florida.  If he goes the JUCO route, like Cam Newton, he can play one year of JUCO and enroll at any school he wants, including the SEC.  UF's restriction will no longer encumber him if he goes the JUCO.  I doubt he goes that route, but time will tell. 

It will be interesting to watch this and see how it plays out.  Today offered another interesting wrinkle.  Storm Johnson was just granted a release from Miami.  He is another highly recruited Florida running back from the 2010 class.  While he is restricted from any ACC schools and most likely UF because they are Miami's schedule in the next few years, USF and USC are possible landing spots for Storm Johnson as well.  Adding to the intrigue for USC is how does Blakely fit into their scholarship reduction numbers.  They are still technically over the legal number now . . . . 

Big time college football is a crazy place and fun to track!

YouTube Song of Week

So this new.  Obviously.  I like a lot obscure music in pretty much every genre you can imagine.  I also like discovering new music.  So this is my thought.  I will post some music that I am into.  Maybe introduce you to some new stuff that you like.  Also, if you have some stuff that you think I may like based on what I post, you can hit me up on twitter or email.  My traffic to the site dwarfs the number of followers I have on twitter, so don't be scared to shoot me an email.  I'll appreciate it as long as you don't recommend Ke$ha or Katy Perry.  I do own a radio.  If I like it and post, I'll credit you for it!