Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Ypsilanti Eleven. If you’re an Eastern Michigan football stan, you might be interested in keeping up with the recruiting side of things. I published my first list of players offered by EMU over a week ago, but now there are more names to get familiar with for the new cycle. And with a week before signing day, EMU’s getting more players committed to the program, but not on scholarship.
2020 Regular Signing Period
The Early Signing Period’s three-day window open and closed in December, and football teams will be able to accept National Letters of Intent for scholarship players again starting Feb. 5 — next Wednesday (closes April 15). The Eastern Michigan signing class of 2020 is just about all set and players are either already in Ypsilanti working out, or they’re gearing up to move in and compete this summer.
The December signing period is almost exclusively about taking care of all or most of the scholarships available. Getting ready for the February signing period usually means an extra scholarship player or two will get to join, but a lot of the new names tend to be walk-on targets. Right now, EMU’s got six players committed to pay their way through school and play football for Creighton, including five receivers. All five of them are from Michigan and Ohio —Mikah Coleman, Evan Furtney, Jent Joseph, Kolton Malinczak, and Zach Walling — and then there’s a walk-on long snapper from Indiana — Peyton Knight.
One junior college receiver EMU extended an offer to very recently was Zion Bowens, a Long Beach, Cali. native with two years to give. He graduated high school in 2016, went to Air Force for a year on scholarship, then elected to come home and take the junior college route. EMU was his second offer. Albany was his first offer back in November.
If Bowens signs, then that might be the final player to sign a National Letter of Intent with the team this cycle. (Walk-ons don’t sign NLIs.) He hasn’t committed, which means that there’s a chance that Creighton could use that scholarship on another junior college transfer, or award it to a current walk-on.
EMU lost 10 wide receivers (scholarship and not), so it’s not too surprising that there are so many receivers coming in this recruiting season. Four high school seniors already signed with EMU in December, now five more receivers are set to join the team as walk-ons with maybe one more receiver to come. There are still eight receivers that return on the roster including a pair of proven starters in Dylan Drummond and Quian Williams.
Names to watch
(Notes: A ++ means that player was offered as a preferred walk-on. Bold means committed.)
WR, Zion Bowens — Long Beach, Cali. / Long Beach Poly HS, Long Beach City College
++ WR, Mikah Coleman — Reynoldsburg, Ohio / Reynoldsburg HS (Committed!)
++ TE/WR, Evan Furtney — Milan, Mich. / Milan HS (Committed!)
++ WR, Jent Joseph — New Philadelphia, Ohio / New Philadelphia HS (Committed!)
++ LS, Peyton Knight — Indianapolis, Ind. / Indianapolis Lutheran HS (Committed!)
++ WR, Kolton Malinczak — Saline, Mich. / Saline HS (Committed!)
++ WR, Zach Walling — Toledo, Ohio / Whitmer HS (Committed!)
RB, Eric “E.J. Wilson — Seffner, Fla. / Armwood HS
Wilson’s a 3-star running back who, before the early signing period, narrowed his list of schools down to three — Eastern, Central, and Florida International — but did not sign anywhere.
LS, Bryant Worrell — Dublin, Va. / Pulaski County HS
Visited EMU in early December, but it doesn’t look like an offer was made.
New 2021 & 2022 offers
Since my last recruiting update, 14 high school players have received offers from Eastern Michigan including the first quarterback offer for the 2022 class.
Class of 2021 offers
WR, Markus Allen Jr. — Clayton, Ohio / Northmont HS
S, Malcolm Bell — Burlington, Ontario, Canada / Clarkston Football North
OL, Ethan Boyd — East Lansing, Mich. / East Lansing HS
DT, Esean Carter — Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King HS
WR, Brayden Fox — Akron, Ohio / Archbishop Hoban HS
LB, Jaillen Howze — Clinton Township, Mich. / Chippewa Valley HS
CB, Quillen Howze — Clinton Township, Mich. / Chippewa Valley HS
CB, T.J. Jones — Melbourne, Fla. / Eau Gallie HS
WR, Tristan Michaud — Burlington, Ontario, Canada / Clarkston Football North
OLB, Jalen Riven — Toledo, Ohio / Toledo Central Catholic HS
LB, Kenard Snyder — Rockledge, Fla. / Rockledge HS
LB, Matt Weerts — Batavia, Ill. / Batavia HS
Class of 2022 offers
QB, Dijon Jennings — Reynoldsburg, Ohio / Reynoldsburg HS
CB, Gianni Green — Burlington, Ontario, Canada / Clarkston Football North
While EMU made Dijon Jennings its first QB offered (to my knowledge) to kick things off for the class of 2022, Kentucky was actually the first to offer him on Jan. 12. EMU’s was the second, and his most recent, a week later. Jennings already made a visit in October.
Gianni Green’s already impressed as an underclassman cornerback for Clarkston Football North — a popular Canadian program that EMU (and other schools) frequent for talent. EMU made offers to some of CFN’s players that visited over the weekend, including Green — his first.
As previously advertised, I missed a few names the first time I published the “offered” list, which is now updated below. Prospects previously missed: RB Jaylen Anderson (Perry, Ohio / Perry HS), LB, Jaquarius McKinley (Lakeland, Fla. / Lake Gibson HS), RB Quintell Quinn (Columbus, Ohio / St. Frances DeSales HS).
Class of 2021 players offered, visited
Offense (40 total: 2 QB, 6 RB, 12 WR, 3 TE, 17 OL)
QB, Conor Easthope — Ann Arbor, Mich. / Pioneer HS
QB, Brendan Sullivan — Davidson, Mich. / Davidson HS
RB, Jaylen Anderson — Perry, Ohio / Perry HS
RB, Mar’keise Irving — Country Club Hills, Ill. / Hillcrest HS
RB, Tajheem Lawson — Chicago Heights, Ill. / Marian Catholic HS
RB, Nick Mosley — Pickerington, Ohio / Pickerington Central HS
RB, Quintell Quinn — Columbus, Ohio / St. Frances DeSales HS
RB, Anthony Tyus III — Portage, Mich. / Portage Northern HS
WR, Jaden Alexis — Coconut Creek, Fla. / Monarch HS
WR, Markus Allen Jr. — Clayton, Ohio / Northmont HS
Junior day visit: 1/19/20
WR, Jaden Bray — Oklahoma City, Okla. / Norman HS
Junior day visit: 1/27/20
WR, Deion Burks — Belleville, Mich. / Belleville HS
WR, Vinson Davis III — Plantation, Fla. / American Heritage HS
WR, Brayden Fox — Akron, Ohio / Archbishop Hoban HS
WR, JoJo Johnson — Hammond, Ind. / Morton HS, Merrillville HS
WR, Ezra McAllister — Marshall, Mich. / Marshall HS
WR, Tristan Michaud — Burlington, Ontario, Canada / Clarkston Football North
WR, Will Pauling — Flossmoor, Ill. / Homewood-Floosmoor HS
WR, Andrew Wilson-Lamp — Massillon, Ohio / Massillon Washington HS
WR, Thomas Zsiros — Toledo, Ohio / St. John’s Jesuit HS
TE, Treylan Davis — Jackson, Ohio / Jackson HS
TE, Gunnar Greenwald — Satellite Beach, Fla. / Satellite HS
TE, Jack Pugh — Hilliard, Ohio / Hilliard Bradley HS
OL, Ethan Boyd — East Lansing, Mich. / East Lansing HS
OL, Carson Briggs — Traverse City, Mich. / Central HS
OL, Dalton Dueweke — Shelby Township, Mich. / Utica Eisenhower HS
OL, Terrence Enos — Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech HS
OL, Vinny Fiacable — Fort Wayne, Ind. / Bishop Dwenger HS
OL, Kyle Fugedi — Livonia, Mich. / Franklin HS
Junior day visit: 1/26/20
OL, Otto Hess — Oswego, Ill. / Oswego HS
OL, John Hofer — Valparaiso, Ind. / Valparaiso HS
OL, Will Jados — Westerville, Ohio / Westerville Central HS
OL, Weston Jones — Romeo, Mich. / Romeo HS
OL, Keegan O’Neil — Burlington, Ontario, Canada / Clarkston Football North
OL, Justin Pickett — Carmel, Ind. / Carmel HS
OL, Terrence Rankl — Massilon, Ohio / Massillon Washington HS
OL, Jordan Sandlin — Tampa, Fla. / Tampa Catholic HS
OL, Ethan Spoth — Eastlake, Ohio / Eastlake North HS
OL, Josh Thompson — Fenton, Mich. / Fenton HS
OL, David Wohlabaugh — Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio / Walsh Jesuit HS
Defense (31 total: 7 DE, 1 DT, 9 LB, 8 CB, 6 S)
DE, Austin Booker — Greenwood, Ind. / Center Grove HS
DE, Jamarius Dinkins — Columbus, Ohio / Walnut Ridge HS
DE, Elijah Hawk — Pickerington, Ohio / Pickerington North HS
Junior day visit: 1/19/20
DE/LB, Cameron Junior — Middletown, Ohio / Middletown HS
DE, Dierre Kelly — Hammond, Ind. / Morton Senior HS
DE, Kyran Montgomery — Indianapolis, Ind. / Pike HS
DE, Hammond Russell IV — Dublin, Ohio / Dublin Coffman HS
DT, Esean Carter — Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King HS
LB, Jalen Garner — Norcross, Ga. / Norcross HS
LB, Jaillen Howze — Clinton Township, Mich. / Chippewa Valley HS
LB, Connor Jones — Hilliard, Ohio / Hilliard Darby HS
LB, Jaquarius McKinley — Lakeland, Fla. / Lake Gibson HS
LB, Diego Neri — Cincinnati, Ohio / Cincinnati Northwest HS
LB, Jalen Riven — Toledo, Ohio / Toledo Central Catholic HS
LB, Austin Roon — Byron Center, Mich. / Byron Center HS
LB, Kenard Snyder — Rockledge, Fla. / Rockledge HS
LB, Matt Weerts — Batavia, Ill. / Batavia HS
CB, Maxwell Hairston — West Bloomfield, Mich. / West Bloomfield HS
CB, Rishad Hence — Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King HS
CB, Quillen Howze — Clinton Township, Mich. / Chippewa Valley HS
CB, Iesa Jarmon — Cincinnati, Ohio / La Salle HS
CB, T.J. Jones — Melbourne, Fla. / Eau Gallie HS
CB, Jaymar Mundy — Cincinnati, Ohio / La Salle HS
CB, Eric Reese — Macomb, Mich. / Dakota HS
CB, Alan “Taco” Wright — College Park, Ga. / Woodward Academy
S, Malcolm Bell — Burlington, Ontario, Canada / Clarkston Football North
S, Leroy Bowers — Cincinnati, Ohio / Princeton HS
S, Rod Moore — Clayton, Ohio / Northmont HS
Junior day visit: 1/19/20
S, Jaylen Reed — Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King HS
S, Boogsie Silvera — Plantation, Fla. / American Heritage HS
S, De’javion Stepney — Macomb, Mich. / Dakota HS
Class of 2021 players offered, committed elsewhere
QB, Brady Lichtenberg — Toledo, Ohio / St. John’s Jesuit HS (committed to Cincinnati)
TE, Victor Wikstrom —Sweeden (committed to West Virginia)
Class of 2022 players offered
WR, Kaleb Brown — Chicago, Ill. / St. Rita HS
CB, Gianni Green — Burlington, Ontario, Canada / Clarkston Football North
QB, Dijon Jennings — Reynoldsburg, Ohio / Reynoldsburg HS
WR, Troy Werking — Tampa, Fla. / Steinbrenner HS
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