zach robertson

Iman Marshall To Take Official To U-M

Five-star CA CB Iman Marshall, who'd previously mentioned interest in both an official and unofficial visit to Michigan, placed the Wolverines among the group of schools he'll check out on official visits this fall:

Had To Put A Twist To It #HereYouGo pic.twitter.com/9Lc6TN0sU9

— Biggie (@iman_marshall8) August 21, 2014

I'm sure Oklahoma and Texas fans will handle this responsibly and non-creepily. Yup. Definitely.

It's worth noting that doesn't constitute a top six for Marshall. He's quite familiar with the California in-state powers, and won't need to use officials on those schools—they're very much in play.

Five-star Iman Marshall will not take official visits to #USC #UCLA or #Stanford but he's well-versed on all three programs.

— Adam Gorney (@adamgorney) August 21, 2014

Michigan does have something going for them: Marshall and Freddy Canteen are "good friends" according to Steve Lorenz; they worked out together before Canteen enrolled at U-M. That said, while getting an official visit is a big step, it'd be a pretty major upset if Michigan ended up landing Marshall.

More Top Lists/Officials: Wheatley, Robertson, Bates

While four-star NY TE Tyrone "TJ" Wheatley Jr. doesn't have a timetable for his decision, he's whittled down his list to five finalists, per The Buffalo News: 

TJ Wheatley begins his senior season of high school football with five finalists among the many Division I powerhouses who recruited him: Alabama, Michigan, USC, UCLA and Miami.

Wheatley, a 6-foot-6, 260-pound defensive end/tight end who put on 15 pounds of muscle since this time last year, said Monday that he has no timetable for making his final decision on where he'll attend college.

"No, I'm not sure, I'm just going with the wind," Wheatley said, before commenting on any possible official recruiting visits he will take to schools. "I don't know when I'll take my officials; I don't even know if I'm going to go on officials to all five of those schools."

Wheatley has been so quiet on the recruiting trail that any guess as to where he'll end up is purely conjecture based on the fact that his dad is, you know, Tyrone Wheatley. Which that certainly means something, how much it'll affect Wheatley's decision is unknown, and there's another factor at play: Michigan's small class size means the longer he waits, the greater the potential that U-M runs out of room in the class. We'll know a lot more when he determines where he'll take his officials.

Michigan recently offered four-star CA OT Zach Robertson—who plays at the same school as top QB Josh Rosen—and will receive an official visit from him for the Penn State game, though it's likely he'll be a UCLA commit by then, per Rivals' Adam Gorney ($):

"UCLA is still my top," Robertson said. "I'm still open. I'm definitely going to be committing soon even in the next couple weeks. Even after I commit I want to take my officials."

Robertson called Michigan a "huge offer," so it looks like he'll give them a fair shot even if he's committed elsewhere when he visits. For what it's worth, Rosen reportedly enjoyed his U-M visit quite a bit, even though it wasn't enough to sway him from pledging to UCLA; this could end up working out in similar fashion.

Three-star LA DE Jalen Bates has a top five and two official visits scheduled, per Scout's Chad Simmons: 

"My top five are Texas Tech, Arizona State, Mississippi State, Louisiana Lafayette, and Michigan in no order," said Bates.

"I am going to Texas Tech for an official visit on September 13 and I am going to take my official visit to Arizona State on August 30."

Bates said he is unsure if he'll take all five officials; you can safely count Michigan out if they don't receive one. As evidenced by the presence of Louisiana Lafayette on this list, pulling recruits to the Midwest out of Louisiana is hard.

[Hit THE JUMP for updates on an early enrollee, Michigan commits in the new Rivals250, Brian Cole's future role, and more.]

Happy Trails, Definitely

ack (also, PROTIP: do NOT do a GIS for "happy trails")

After Michigan nabbed a top-100 receiver, Brian Cole, away from Michigan State the week before, the Spartans returned the favor on Friday when they landed 2016 four-star Cameron Chambers. Point, MSU. Several negative points, meanwhile, to these guys.

Unfortunately, the bad news doesn't end there. The Damien Harris saga appears to be over for Michigan, as the former Wolverine commit announced on Twitter that he'd narrowed his list to five finalists: Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Ohio State, and Texas A&M. Michigan's made a big push for Cass Tech four-star RB Mike Weber in the last couple months, and their efforts to land him should only intensify with this news.

Happy Trails, Probably

Two major U-M targets will announce their commitments to Schools Other Than Michigan soon, though both will remain on the board thanks to their future visit plans.

The first is four-star FL WR Auden Tate, who'll choose between Clemson, Michigan, USF, Maryland, Florida State, Florida, and Georgia tomorrow; the decision is expected to go FSU's way, and since Tate hasn't been to Ann Arbor it won't be U-M. Despite the impending decision, however, Tate told 247's Josh Newberg that he has two official visits planned ($):

“I’m taking one to FSU and I’m taking one to Michigan. I don’t know if I’ll take the other three.”

While Tate will commit elsewhere tomorrow, Michigan isn't totally out of it, even if their ultimate chances of landing him probably aren't great.

The second is four-star MD OG Patrick Allen, who informed Wolverine247 yesterday that he'll officially visit Michigan for the Minnesota game on September 27th. Just hours ago, he told 247's Ryan Bartow that he'll make a decision "in a week or two," which bodes unwell since Allen, like Tate, hasn't yet made it to campus; he has, however, taken trips to the other two schools in his top three, Georgia and Oklahoma. Again, Michigan should get the chance to change his mind, as Allen said he'll still take his official visits.

New 2015 Offer

Michigan offered 2015 four-star CA OG Zach Robertson on Saturday, per 247's Clint Brewster. While Robertson holds a laundry list of offers from powerhouse programs, he plans to check out Ann Arbor on an official visit:

Robertson told Wolverine247 shortly after the Michigan offer went out, "It's a great school for sure. An official visit will be set up."

Pulling Robertson out of California will be difficult—UCLA has been a consistent presence among his top schools, and he also holds a USC offer—but getting him on campus would be a good start.

U-M Makes Top Five For HOLY HAIR

Michigan offered 2016 four-star MD WR Steven Smothers in May, and while he hasn't been able to visit yet, he still has Michigan is his top five, per GBW's Josh Newkirk ($):

“I would say my top-five schools are West Virginia, Alabama, Michigan, Florida and Ohio State,” said the four-star wide out.

“The Michigan offer is big,” Smothers said. “That’s a big time school. It’s a long time traditional powerhouse. That’s really big. Them and Ohio State, they are really a big deal to me, a powerhouse that’s been on top a long time. So I’m just ecstatic about the [Michigan] offer.” Smothers, who was offered by U-M back in May, says would like to possibly take a visit when Michigan plays host to Penn State on Oct. 11.

Importantly, Michigan is very much in the mix for one of the top receivers in the 2016 class. More importantly, this is Steven Smothers' hair (photo via above link):

Must-get recruit, obviously.

Etc.

Four-star 2016 OH TE Luke Farrell holds a Michigan offer and was on campus for last month's BBQ, but right now his home-state school tops his list, per Scout's Derek Young ($):

"I'd say Ohio State is out front right now," he admitted. "Overall, they're number one on my list so far. I'm not sure when I will make my decision, yet. I'll take care of it once I feel like I am ready."

While Ohio State is winning that battle, it's a more even race for four-star 2016 GA RB Elijah Holyfield, who holds both schools in very high regard after visiting Columbus for OSU's Friday Night Lights camp and Ann Arbor for the BBQ, per 247's Alex Gleitman ($):

After multiple trips to both programs, it is clear that both Ohio State and Michigan are high on Holyfield’s list. He spoke about where the two schools stand, as well as how they compare to each other with 247Sports.

“I don’t have any leaders right now, but those two are definitely in my top group,” he said. “There are others in there too, but I know when I make a top 10 or top 5, whatever, that both Ohio State and Michigan are going to be in there. I’ll definitely be back to each school this fall to see a game at both.

“The schools are definitely a little different though. Michigan is more laid back and chill. Ohio State is up-tempo and intense. They’re different, but I enjoy both coaches and both styles.

Finally, there's reason to keep an eye on Brother Rice this season beyond QB commit Alex Malzone and '15 WR Grant Perry, who's getting a close look from U-M as a potential late offer candidate. Senior DE Jack Dunaway came to the BBQ with his teammates and left holding a preferred walk-on offer, per GBW's Kyle Bogenschutz ($):

Holding offers from Davidson, Saginaw Valley State, Notre Dame College, Cornell, and Harvard, Dunaway is also receiving walk-on interest from Stanford and Notre Dame.

Michigan’s defensive coordinator is telling Dunaway to simply enjoy the process and see what happens.

“[Greg Mattison] said, for your senior year just have fun, you have us, don’t worry about us,” Dunaway said. “He said just get whatever else you can so what’s best for you but just know you have a preferred walk-on for Michigan.”

Dunaway, who's also getting some MAC interest, said his parents are willing to pay his way to Michigan if he wants to walk on there over taking a scholarship at a smaller school. With a very small number of available scholarships, adding a walk-on of Dunaway's caliber at a position of need would be a great way to add depth to the 2015 class.