The good old days were in 2003. Recruiting news wasn't all that big at the time, and I'd look in the State News in February to see who we signed for the fall. Fast forward to 2010, and if a coach doesn't have a few recruits by April, the fans head to the shed to hand out pitchforks and torches. Dantonio opened up the 2011 class with Lansing Sexton RB Onaje Miller, and now he's landed quite possibly the best Michigan recruit in the 2011 class, Detroit Renaissance LB Lawrence Thomas. Here are his measurements:
HEIGHT: 6'4"
WEIGHT: 16.57 Stone (that's 232 lbs.)
40: 4.62 seconds
VERTICAL JUMP: 34 inches
The Detroit Free Press is calling him the state's best player, which means MIchigan fans will take that as evidence that he's not. There's no denying that this is a huge pickup though - in terms of momentum, this could be as big as the Gholston commitment from last year. Thomas is a great pickup for Michigan State, and now we only have to wait a short 11 months before he can sign his letter of intent. In the meantime, I've heard of games called "basketball" and "football" that can help make the waiting easier.
UPDATE - And Steve and I posted simultaneously. Here's the best part of his story.
If your heart is not yet sufficiently warmed, check out this quote from Thomas, which comes from an interview with Sean Scherer at SpartanInsider.com: I dreamed at playing at Spartan Stadium since the first time I walked onto the field. I wanted to be a Spartan and I felt it was only right not to disrespect other coaches. I know the one thing in recruiting that you hate to waste is time. I don't feel it would have been right of me to have my ego stroked knowing in my heart I wanted to go to State and maybe have another kid lose an opportunity to play for all these great programs. So I just got it out of the way.