terrell lucas

Visit Reaction: M Leads For Jackson

While the game itself didn't have the desired outcome, last weekend proved to be a good one for Michigan's recruiting efforts. Four big-time official visitors took in the game and the Wolverines look to have a great shot with at least three of them.

Top-100 CA ATH Lamar Jackson, who could be a corner or safety at Michigan, told 247's Steve Lorenz that the Wolverines now lead after his official ($):

"Yeah, I'd say Michigan leads," he said. "The Michigan experience kind of spoke for itself. The atmosphere at the game was incredible, the academics at Michigan are great and I learned a lot about the program, the players and the leadership of Coach Harbaugh was really impressive to me. I wasn't sure heading into the visit because it's a long ways away and I was not familiar with the weather, but the visit definitely changed my mind on things."

Michigan is clearly in great shape. This was Jackson's fourth official and he hasn't scheduled his fifth; while many considered USC the odds-on favorite, he has no plans to see them on an unofficial before announcing his decision at the Under Armour game.

Five-star GA TE Isaac Nauta is right up there with Rashan Gary as the top overall target on the board, and he told Scout's Chad Simmons he was "very surprised" by how much he liked Michigan ($):

"Coach Harbaugh told me and showed me that there is a both, a need for me, and a want for me at Michigan.  We looked at film, we had a talk, and I saw a lot.  at the end of the visit, I was just surprised more than anything else.  

"I just did not expect it to be that way.  My mind about Michigan has definitely been changed."

Lorenz chatted with us on MGoRadio yesterday and said the visit couldn't have gone much better; that said, he also thinks Nauta still ends up at Georgia, though Michigan has made this a tough decision. Nauta plans to announce at the Army All-American Game.

Top-100 WR Dylan Crawford spoke to Rivals' Adam Gorney after his official visit and discussed his potential role at Michigan ($):

"I really like how it went," Crawford said. "I could see myself fitting in there. I feel like I could play there. I like the coaching staff and obviously the Michigan education is solid and the networking there is unreal. "They don't really have a slot player who could take the fly sweep. They were showing me all the footage about how they have to bring Jabrill (Peppers) on offense to do the bubble screen routes and stuff like that. They said if I was there they wouldn't need to do that."

After talking to a couple sources close to Crawford's recruitment, Lorenz put in a Crystal Ball pick for Michigan ($). One team to watch is Oregon; they haven't offered Crawford yet and could become a major factor if they do.

Finally, after taking officials to both Notre Dame and Michigan, top-100 CB David Long told Scout's Greg Biggins he isn't certain about his Stanford commitment:

"I think there's still some question if they want me more  for receiver or corner," Long said. "Notre Dame and Michigan both are recruiting me 100% for corner but I think that's still in question a little with Stanford.

"I'm still committed but I'm also thinking about maybe opening things up a little to make sure I'm doing the right thing. It's such a huge decision and I want to make sure I'm 100% comfortable with it. You can't go wrong with Stanford and I know that but I just want to be totally sure about this."

Long said he "got a little better vibe and felt more comfortable at Michigan" compared to Notre Dame. He's still a Stanford commit and the other California schools will be in the mix as well.

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Speedy Eaglet Update

Yup, still want.

Commits Taking Visits

Three-star AL RB Kingston Davis has taken a couple visits since his Michigan commitment and plans to take at least one more, but his dad told Sam Webb his pledge is still solid, and there's vehicular-related evidence to back that up ($):

“We visited LSU and we visited Florida and he liked both spots,” Davis’ father Leroy said.  “Florida he liked more than he liked LSU I guess you could say.  His top three is Michigan Florida and LSU.  I think Louisville was #5 from what I remember. I think Nebraska was one of those schools.  So he wants to visit Nebraska.  He wants to visit Michigan, of course.  He is excited about Michigan’s game that is going to be played next Thursday.  We’re all going to be sitting down watching attentively to see what Coach Harbaugh and company are doing.  But he is still solid about where he wants to go to school.  He is bugging me now about a four-wheel drive vehicle.  Do you need a four-wheel drive in Michigan? (Laughter)”

In case that doesn't assuage your fears, he added he "can't think of anything" when asked what it would take for his son to change his commitment before launching into a list of reasons why the whole family likes Michigan.

In other commit visit news that shouldn't be too concerning, four-star IN ATH Chris Evans plans to take an unofficial to Indiana, per 247's Steve Wiltfong ($). Evans says he's "still all Michigan." The day the Hoosiers flip a commit Michigan wants to keep will be the same day they have a good offense and a good defense simultanously.

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Coach Plastic Man

The satellite camp tour certainly can't produce anything stranger than shirtless Peruballing Harbaugh, right?

Had some fun in the Sun today with the man of #UM @CoachJim4UM #GoBlue !! pic.twitter.com/1SjRV2N3o8

— Chris Brown (Chrissoo_valid) June 9, 2015

Old school hip hop in the house at #Michigan’s Socal satellite camp. @LindseyThiry and I just bumped into Warren G ( @regulate )

— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) June 10, 2015

Never mind!

Michigan has made their way through two stops in Texas and is now in California; meanwhile, the Sound Mind Sound Body camp (TomVH preview here) is underway in Michigan, and many of the participants in that camp are expected to drop by Ann Arbor this weekend.

The satellite camps are moving so quickly—and the visitor lists have been so fluid—that I can only say I'm doing by best to hit the highlights here. Coverage of all this is certainly going to bleed into next week as reporters are able to catch up with the various high-profile participants.

Top performers from the Houston camp included four-star OLB Jeffrey McCullough and 2017 five-star DT Marvin Wilson, who has Michigan in his top five, per Steve Lorenz. Four-star TX DT Jordan Elliott, a Houston commit, also dropped by to connect with the coaching staff, per Scout's Ahmard Vital.

The Dallas camp featured a lot of talent, including top-100 OT Jean Delance, who told Lorenz that he's got a "great relationship with the staff," and he plans to visit Ann Arbor soon. Three-star DE Rahssan Thornton, whose recruitment has seemingly become a Michigan/LSU battle, told 247's EJ Holland($) it was "the best camp I've gone to that I can remember." (He also said "Jim Harbaugh is like someone's cool dad.") 2017 five-star QB Shawn Robinson called Harbaugh "a quarterback genius."

Michigan leads for a couple prospects from their camps in Florida. Three-star DE Terrell Lucas told Steve Lorenz that Michigan "is on top" in his recruitment ($). He laid out a timeline for The Wolverine's Tim Sullivan ($):

"I like the whole thing about Michigan," Lucas explained. "When I hear 'Michigan,' I hear 'family.' You think of Ann Arbor, the town, you don't just think of the football team, you think of the city itself.

"Right now I'm open and trying to keep my options open. I'm considering all the colleges and trying to evaluate. I don't think it should take me that long to make my decision on which college I'm going to go to. Well before the end of the summer, I will have made my decision. End of the month or two I'll be done with it."

If he sticks to that timeline, Michigan is in very good shape. The Wolverines also emerged as the leader for DE/TE Rashad Weaver, who was offered as a jumbo athlete a few days after performing in front of the coaches, whose promise to uphold their end of the bargain stood out to Weaver, per TMI's Brice Marich:

“I would have to say yes (Michigan leads),” said Weaver. “At first when they offered, I had no leader, but when he said they would honor my commitment even if I got hurt, then that put them at the top of my list. They are the only coaches that have told me that.”

That's all from the camp tour for the moment; with SMSB this weekend, there will be much more next week.

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