nathaniel devers

Today's recruiting roundup covers Michael Ferns' touching gesture for a teammate, Derrick Green's latest visit plans, updates on a few key 2014 targets, and more.

Michael Ferns, Extremely Decent Human Being

Grab your Zyrtec and tissues, because pollen levels are about to get unusually high. This Facebook post, along with the above picture, made the rounds earlier this week regarding 2014 Michigan commit Michael Ferns:

"Teammates. In one of the most unselfish acts I can ever recall in high school sports, last Friday in St. Clairsville's game at Edison High School, No. 10 Michael Ferns took off on a 52 yard run and intentionally ran out of bounds at the 1 yard line. Logan Thompson, No. 17, took it from there...Thompson, who had lost his father, Paul on Wednesday of last week, was then handed the ball and ran through a giant hole to score in his father's memory. This pic was shot after Logan's TD run behind the St. C. bench. Please excuse the lack of complete clarity, but I think I might have been a little shaky... Thanks, Michael and Logan for sharing the moment and for teaching what it means to be a Teammate!~ God's Speed, Paul Thompson!~"

Sports, man; they can really bring out the best in people. Tremendous caught up with Ferns to get a few more details, and you really get an impression of just what kind of quality young man the Wolverines have committed to their 2014 class [emphasis mine]:

"It was a pretty tough week. Everything happened so unexpectedly and after we found out what happened, we knew we had to do what we could as a team to try to ease the pain; at least for a moment. We weren't really sure the opportunity was actually going to arise, but I pretty much made it my mission to get us into position to do it. Late in the game, I took a 23-iso up the middle and broke it. I immediately angled towards the sidelines and went out of bounds at the 1. Logan was on the sidelines and I don't think he knew what was going on. Coach called him to go in. I played fullback on the play and helped lead him into the endzone. After we got back onto the sidelines, I gave him a hug and told him I was proud of him. That's what I like about my team: we will do anything for each other. As a group, we'll help out anyone else on the team in any way we can".

The next time someone tells you sports contribute nothing to society, feel free to pass along that story (also, feel free to disassociate with that person entirely, because they sound like a total drag).

[Hit THE JUMP for the latest on Gareon Conley, Derrick Green, a potential backup plan at wide receiver, and a few 2014 prospects.]

Today's recruiting roundup covers upcoming visitors, Gareon Conley's status, and more. Apologies for the lack of content from me this week—in the midst of an ill-timed move. Things will be back to normal next week.

McDowell Takes All Of The Visits?

2014 MI DE Malik McDowell is perhaps the top in-state recruit in the junior class, and both Michigan and Michigan State are in hot pursuit of the Detroit Loyola prospect. Tremendous reported on Tuesday that McDowell would visit Ann Arbor for this weekend's UMass game. Great news, right?

Not so fast, my friend.

Scout's Allen Trieu quickly refuted that report, saying he'd talked to multiple sources close to McDowell who said that he's actually be at Saturday night's Michigan State-Notre Dame matchup. Bad news, right?

Not so fast, my friend.

As it turns out, Ann Arbor and East Lansing are rather close, and not all college football games begin at the same time. Trieu cleared the air this morning, posting on the GBW's message board that McDowell will make it to both games this weekend ($). I'm guessing McDowell will have to leave the Big House a little early to get to EL in time for kickoff, but it's a very encouraging sign that he's willing to see Michigan play freakin' UMass at all, let alone go out of his way to check out the game.

McDowell isn't the only big-time 2014 recruit slated to visit this weekend, as Tremendous reports that 247Sports five-star FL RB Sony Michel will make the trip to Ann Arbor. Michel holds offers from a laundry list of national powers and will likely add one from Michigan when he's on campus. Again, anybody willing to visit for a game against UMass likely has serious interest, so this is big news. Michel missed last season with an injury, but played on varsity starting in 8th grade(!)—you can see his impressive freshman highlights above. There's also a short reel from his first game back from injury this season; let's just say he hasn't lost a step.

EDIT: Tim Sullivan gave me a heads up—as did several of you in the comments—that Michel's brother plays for UMass, which is the main reason he'll be at the game this weekend. Probably best to dial down expectations regarding his interest. Carry on.

The Michigan State game continues to shape up into the biggest recruiting event of the fall for the Wolverines. 247's Steve Wiltfong details the official visit plans of 2013 FL S Leon McQuay III—his visit for that weekend is set($), and he's also planning to check out Vanderbilt, USC, Oregon, and Florida State. USC is believed to have the edge for McQuay, but there are concerns that they won't have an available spot for him due to their NCAA-mandated scholarship crunch. Also visiting for MSU will be 2014 OH OL Nathaniel Devers, high school teammate of Gareon Conley, according to Scout's Bill Greene ($).

Conley Taking Visits?

2013 commit Gareon Conley caused a stir last week when he posted a couple tweets—which he later deleted—suggesting that he had committed to Michigan too soon and may be looking to take visits. Bill Greene made his way to Massillon Washington to further investigate and was told by both Conley and his head coach that he's still committed to Michigan ($). Not all appears to be settled, however, as Greene says that Conley's family believes he committed too quickly and is encouraging him to take visits—his mother lives on the West Coast and reportedly would like for him to check out some schools out there.

This shouldn't come as a huge surprise; Michigan represented the first major interest in Conley as a recruit and he committed almost immediately upon receiving an offer. Since that time, his stock has exploded, both as a cornerback and more recently at wide receiver. It's entirely understandable that he may be rethinking how he went about his recruitment.

I don't think there's cause for major concern until we get word from Conley directly that he'll take visits—remember, we've been through this before with guys like David Dawson and nothing came about from that situation. That said, Brady Hoke has been steadfast in his policy regarding commits taking visits—if they do, they're no longer a commit—and I don't expect him to soften that stance. It sounds like Conley still wants to end up at Michigan, but he'd like to see a few schools to make sure he didn't rush into a choice—it's entirely possible that a meeting with the coaches is all it takes to settle this issue, as it did with Dawson.

If Conley takes visits and is dropped from the class, McQuay becomes a higher priority—while he projects more as a safety than a corner, Michigan should still be set at CB with Jourdan Lewis, Ross Douglas, and Channing Stribling.

Etc.

Tremendous introduces you to 2014 Detroit Country Day WR Moe Ways, who is 6'3", 185 pounds, and most importantly named Moe Ways. He's received interest from Michigan State and Northwestern and really wants to hear from the Wolverines. Also, Moe Ways. Moe Ways.

Potential high school transcript malfeasance regarding a former SEC commit? Well, I never.

Potential booster malfeasance regarding a former SEC recruit? I'm shocked at the very notion.

Today's recruiting roundup covers Cass Tech's Hell Week, the latest on the Technician juniors, Maurice Hurst's surprising versatility, and more.

All Cass Tech Everything

Dick's Sporting Goods was on hand during Cass Tech's "Hell Week" to chronicle their preparation for the season. Part one is above and you can find the rest of the videos at their YouTube page. Jourdan Lewis features briefly in episode one. Head coach Thomas Wilcher does not seem like the type you'd want to cross, to say the least.

The star of Cass Tech's opening week victory, junior corner Damon Webb, currently has a top four of LSU, Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State (no order), according to ESPN's Jared Shanker ($). Webb will check out the Michigan State-Boise State matchup this weekend and plans to head to games at each of his top schools; expect him to visit the Big House multiple times this year.

Matt Pargoff continues to compile highlights from last weekend's action, and junior LB William White's tape is well worth a watch. White is #6 in, er, white, though you won't have to look hard find him—he's the heat-seeking missile:

White got a little too focused on laying big hits in the middle there, trying to lay guys out with his shoulder instead of wrapping up, but that's an easy fix. If he can learn to play more controlled, Big Ten offers await. According to Tim Sullivan, White is already hearing from Michigan State and Ohio State ($)

Pargoff also has highlights of junior LB/RB Deon Drake from Saturday; he did most of his work on offense and was a load to bring down, even for MSU commit Jon Reschke.

[Hit THE JUMP for Maurice Hurst Jr. doing things no 300-pound man should be able to do.]