Feb. 02--Certain things related to Michigan recruiting, you just can't dispute.
1. Jim Harbaugh is a social media genius. While most coaches flood Twitter with quasi-inspirational sayings and an abundance of exclamation points, Harbaugh's latest tweet was meaningful -- JFK's "We choose to go to the moon" speech with his tag "Why choose Michigan?"
2. No school, perhaps no athlete (including Cam Newton), will garner more attention from ESPN on national signing day, which is Wednesday.
3. This will be among the highest-rated classes in school history, and it could surge into the national top three if Rashan Gary jumps aboard. Gary would be the biggest get (on paper) for any Big Ten school since quarterback Terrelle Pryor said yes to Ohio State in 2008.
And now here's what we don't know.
1. Will Michigan actually benefit from a signing day extravaganza that will feature an assortment of sports celebs you'd expect to find at a "This is SportsCenter" reunion? The guest list includes, according to SI.com, Tom Brady, Derek Jeter, Jim Leyland, Ric Flair, Mike Shanahan, Desmond Howard, Lou Holtz (wait, didn't he used to coach at ...), Brad Keselowski and ESPN draft expert Todd McShay.
2. Will Harbaugh pay for his policy of "meritocracy," as he described it, where verbally committed players can be dumped if he deems they have slipped "in the classroom, on the field (or) in their community"?
Gary will help answer the first part when he reveals his choice on ESPN2 around noon Chicago time. The entire event will be live-streamed on The Players' Tribune, beginning at 10 a.m. Chicago time. Another genius move.
If Gary picks Clemson, it would be a blow to Harbaugh, who hired Gary's high school coach, Chris Partridge, to his staff and got Gary's friend, a three-star defensive tackle named Michael Dwumfour, to renege on his pledge to Penn State.
As for the second part -- this is the great unknown. Those who analyze recruiting for a living are split.
"As long as he wins," CBS Sports Network analyst Tom Lemming said, "it's not going to hurt him at all. If you win, everyone makes excuses for you.
"I don't think it's the right thing to do (pulling scholarships), but it's done around the country ... more delicately and under the table. He is blatant about it. That's the difference."
ESPN's Tom Luginbill is not moved, saying that highly-rated recruits will not shy from verbally committing to Michigan because they "never think it will happen to them."
Rivals.com national recruiting director Mike Farrell is not so sure, saying there's a "very good chance" that some recruits will be reluctant to commit to Harbaugh.
"He has put lot of eggs in this basket of 2016," Farrell said. "He has gone for broke and will sign (as many as) 30 and has really run some kids off. I don't care who you are. If you get that reputation it can hurt in recruiting -- if you're not winning. I think Harbaugh will win, but if they regress this year, kids might be hesitant to commit early because they would worry about getting chopped.
"I see kids screw over schools every day. The balance of power is out of whack. The timing is the only issue with Harbaugh ... doing it down the stretch."
