Incoming four-star Michigan linebacker Kellen Jones no longer enrolled; 3 others to miss season
Incoming four-star linebacker Kellen Jones no longer is enrolled at Michigan, an athletic department official confirmed today.
A reason for the departure was not given, although it could be addressed later this week during the Big Ten media days in Chicago.
Jones, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound native of Houston who verbally committed to Michigan an hour after Greg Mattison was hired as defensive coordinator in January, was not included on the team’s official roster that was released Monday.
First-year Michigan coach Brady Hoke said earlier this year he did not expect to have any academic issues with the 2011 class.
Others who were omitted from the roster were running back Teric Jones, defensive tackle Terry Talbott and offensive lineman Christian Pace.
Those three will not play this year due to medical issues, the university official said.
Pace, a redshirt freshman, has undergone multiple knee surgeries since joining the Wolverines; Jones, a junior, sustained a season-ending knee injury Nov. 6 against Illinois last season; and Talbott, a sophomore, has battled back problems.
Jones not joining the team appears to clear room for a 2012 class of 22 recruits. The Wolverines currently are at 20 pledges for that class after the commitment of two-star Utah fullback Sione Houma on Monday. They also have one greyshirt commitment from Kentucky cornerback Jeremy Clark.
Hoke has said he plans to sign around 25 players. How space is cleared to accommodate five additional commitments remains unclear.
Kyle Meinke covers Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2588, by email at kylemeinke@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @kmeinke.
Comments
Tru2Blu76
Wed, Jul 27, 2011 : 6:40 a.m.
Ambition, nutrition, attrition! Submission, tuition, fruition! Attention, suspension, condition! This isn't football: it's ION TV!
Wally the Wolverine
Thu, Jul 28, 2011 : 4:31 p.m.
probation?
braggslaw
Wed, Jul 27, 2011 : 2:15 a.m.
Kellen Jones needed to be kicked off the team.... the reasons will soon become public. Pace was a big loss for a team that needed offensive lineman. The team is also short on DL, I don't know how good Talbott was. I still believe Stonum needs to be gone, 2 DUI's and a probation violation are a big deal. Hoke needs to set an example
ethanblue
Wed, Jul 27, 2011 : 1:08 a.m.
80 scholarships - 17 = 63 - injured/defectors=59. 85 possible max - 63 = 22 for 2012. Plus, because they signed only 20 for 2011, some of those remaining 5 can be used by any early 2012 enrollees. As a reporter who "covers Michigan football" one should really not be "unclear" as to the NCAA rules or how his team applies those rules. In other words, that last sentence is a sign of very mediocre "reporting."
towny
Wed, Jul 27, 2011 : 1:42 a.m.
excellent point.
Hailmary
Tue, Jul 26, 2011 : 10:38 p.m.
Yes, there will be issues both good and bad it's the nature of college ball. There will be painful issues as well as +'s It all comes down to , can the skipper of our ship (Brady) steer the team ship in a straight and steady course? I tend to believe so far that Brady is a solid and steady coach so that leads me to believe that these incidents will be minimal and will be handled in a positive fashion that will minimize adversity and other problems to our team.
heartbreakM
Tue, Jul 26, 2011 : 10:17 p.m.
Too bad about Kellen Jones (though who knows why he is off the roster). But this is one of those things that makes me very leery of looking at any recruiting ranking and making sense of it. There are too many variables involved, like injuries, maturity, how the player will adjust against high level competition and how he will adjust to being on his own away from home. So many first year students overall struggle with all sorts of issues, I can't even imagine what it must be like in a highly competitive sport at a high profile program. It chews some people up. Just as you can't blame former coach for the rash of DB transfers, you can't blame Hoke on this one. It's a gamble all the way around.