carter dunaway

Goodbye: Antwuan Johnson and Carter Dunaway

While early commitments are more like declaring a current leader these days, I had some hope four-star 2018 OH LB Antwuan Johnson would stick based on his comments after Leonard Taylor's decommitment. Nope.

I look forward to getting back into this recruiting process pic.twitter.com/j8tdxIbcwS

— Antwuan Johnson (@Antwuan21) September 9, 2016

Johnson gave the reason for his decommitment to Maize n Brew's Evan Petzold:

2018 4-star LB Antwuan Johnson to @MaizenBrew on why he decommitted from Michigan: pic.twitter.com/AwWeupt84P

— Evan Petzold (@EvanPetzold) September 9, 2016

Johnson set up a long slate of visits before the season; this looks like another case of a player committing as more of a placeholder than anything else. Michigan is now down to one commit in the 2018 class, Georgia safety Otis Reese. It's far too early in the cycle to get worked up about this stuff.

And, when I was just about done with this post, this broke:

2017 TE Carter Dunaway has decommitted from #Michigan: https://t.co/hNqaRxNq8r

— Steve Lorenz (@TremendousUM) September 9, 2016

Dunaway's rankings haven't budged from low-three-star despite being a long-time Michigan commit. The only reason this comes as even a slight surprise is his dad played for Bo.

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It's Defensive End Season, Apparently

Corey Malone-Hatcher (left) announces his decision Thursday. [Fuller]

The next couple weeks should be quite eventful for Michigan on the recruiting trail after a couple top defensive end targets set their decision dates.

Top-100 VA WDE Luiji Vilain has been considered a heavy Michigan lean since his visit a couple weeks ago, and he told 247's Steve Wiltfong his mind is "made up" heading into his announcement on June 12th. Vilain will choose between Michigan, USC, and Virginia Tech; all signs indicate he'll choose the Wolverines.

The prospect of Michigan starting to fill its open spots at defensive end is probably what prompted four-star St. Joseph WDE Corey Malone-Hatcher to set his decision for Thursday afternoon.

Top schools: I will be announcing my commitment on Thursday @ 3:30pm at SJHS. Thanks to all that recruited me pic.twitter.com/E6SA0k59Du

— corey malone-hatcher (@CMH2017) May 31, 2016

While Malone-Hatcher still has ten schools in play, his Crystal Ball reads 100% for Michigan; like with Vilain, it'd be a huge surprise if he went elsewhere.

Michigan has also made a move for three-star OH SDE James Hudson, who decommitted from Kentucky just before visiting campus two weekends ago, and he picked up an offer on the trip. After speaking with multiple sources familiar with Hudson's recruitment, 247's Steve Lorenz put in a Crystal Ball pick for Michigan, and in doing so he clarified M's outlook at DE:

The Wolverines appear to be in great shape with four-stars Corey Malone-Hatcher and Luiji Vilain, both of whom are expected to make a college decision in the very near future. An eventual addition from Hudson would give Don Brown a trio of defensive ends to work with in the 2017 cycle. We would expect Michigan to take at least one more at the position in 2017 after that.

None of these potential commitments would preclude the others from joining the class. The trio of Vilain, Malone-Hatcher, and Hudson would be a great haul at defensive end, and Michigan would still have space to pursue the likes of DJ Johnson and Deron Irving-Bey to round out the group.

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Weekend Visitors: Three Uncommitted '16s To Take Officials

While next weekend's Michigan State game will be a bigger recruiting event for Michigan, there are a few notable visitors coming in for tomorrow's game. Allen Trieu has a free overview of the three uncommitted official visitors set to be at the game tomorrow; those prospects:

• Three-star NJ WDE Quayshon Alexander, a Nebraska commit. While Michigan is sitting pretty for four-star CO WDE Carlo Kemp, they're still making a strong push for guys who could project to the BUCK spot, and Alexander fits the bill.
• Three-star FL TE Jacob Mathis has been near the top of M's board at tight end for a while. Florida appears to be the main competition. One advantage for the Wolverines: former M kicker Garrett Rivas is Mathis' high school coach.
• Three-star TX WDE Levi Onwuzurike hasn't let on much about his recruitment, but he could be another option at BUCK.

Several current commits will take their officials this weekend, including a crew from New Jersey—Brad Hawkins, Ron Johnson, and Ahmir Mitchell—who'll likely work on recruiting Alexander.

This late-breaking news also seems worth mentioning:

Am told 5* #OhioState RB commit Kareem Walker is visiting #Michigan this weekend http://t.co/n3MUSJOPiX

— Marc Givler (@MarcGivlerBG) October 9, 2015

Walker had significant interest in Michigan before the Hoke era drew to a close; he committed to Ohio State in January, when Jim Harbaugh was desperately cobbling together a full 2015 class. Walker visiting Ann Arbor is a sign there's still legitimate interest. Steve Wiltfong reports it will be an official visit ($).

This even-later-breaking news, reported by Wiltfong, will also be of interest:

247Sports has learned that Top247 linebacker Devin Bush Jr. will visit Michigan this weekend for the Northwestern game.

It's an unofficial visit.

That is especially intriguing since Bush is paying his way for a visit from Florida, leaving open the opportunity to visit again on an official visit. Michigan looks to be in very good shape with one of their top remaining targets on the board.

According to 247's Steve Lorenz, several 2017 in-state targets will also be in attendance: TE Carter Dunaway (commit), OT JaRaymond Hall, WR/CB KJ Hamler, WDE Corey Malone-Hatcher, OLB Josh Ross, and RB/CB Allen Stritzinger. Hall's 2018 teammate Marquan McCall, a talented offensive lineman, will also be on campus, as will a pair of promising 2019 quarterbacks in Southfield's Sam Johnson and Belleville's Dwan Mathis.

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