Buckle Up

As reported on multiple outlets, including this one, Michigan is in line to get a commitment sometime this week. Brandon promised the prospect he wouldn't mention his position, class, or location (or name, obviously), so I'll say that he is a football player, and his pledge will come as welcome news. This post will self-destruct in 3... 2... 1...

[EXPLOSION]

Darn, I was really hoping that would get me out of writing the rest of this post. The above was the good news. Here's the bad, per Scout's Allen Trieu ($):

Michigan also recently offered Williams and he was considering a visit to Ann Arbor but he now says he is ready to shut things down.

"As far as right now, I'm done with recruiting. My top two are Notre Dame and Missouri and just want to decide between those two. I'm just trying to figure it out."

That's 2014 Berrien Springs (MI) DE Jhonny Williams, whom Michigan offered immediately after they missed out on Da'Shawn Hand. Williams took an official visit to Notre Dame last weekend, had a great time, and decided he'd either stick with his current commitment to Missouri or flip to the Irish. So it goes.

A potential backup option to the backup option is WI TE/DE Gaelin Elmore. Elmore is a Minnesota commit; 247's Steve Lorenz reported that Michigan's coaches got in contact with him last week ($). Brandon caught up with Elmore to get more details, and for now he doesn't sound like a realistic option:

I'm not sure exactly what the coaches are planning with Elmore but he was pretty clear with how he is currently feeling. "I'm not really interested in Michigan at this point. It'd just be interesting to see what they had to say."

I don't know if the coaches were caught completely off guard by Hand's commitment to Alabama; it sure looks like they're scrambling to find a suitable replacement in the class.

[Hit THE JUMP to see which pair of highly-ranked 2015 targets have Michigan among their top schools, updates from last weekend's high school football action, and where Wolverine commits and targets stand in the updated ESPN 300 for 2015.]

2015 Prospect Updates

2015 four-star DL Hjalte Froholdt has moved his recruitment along at a brisk pace despite having to return to his native Denmark for his junior year; he recently named a top three of Arkansas, Florida State, and Michigan, telling TomVH that a decision should come soon ($):

“I’ll probably [make a decision] soon,” he said. “I’m not really sure when because we keep postponing it to what my needs are. It’s very tough to pick a school since they’re all so great.”

Your guess is as good as mine here; Froholdt has visited all three schools on his list, maintains touch with their coaches via Twitter and Facebook, and likely won't get to see his future school again before making his decision if he sticks to his timeline of "soon."

247's Ryan Bartow reports that four-star 2015 CA WR Equanimeous St. Brown named UCLA as his favorite; he rounded out his top four with Alabama, Michigan, and Oregon ($). I'd love to get my hopes up about a player with such a spectacular name; considering he's a California prospect with an in-state favorite and two powerhouse programs also among his leaders, however, it's difficult to be optimistic here.

Michigan made the cut for MN DE Jashon Cornell's top 15, per TomVH ($):

"After a lot of hours we narrowed it down to Cal, Florida, Florida State, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Stanford, USC and Wisconsin," he said.

Cornell says that there are five other schools – Arkansas, Nebraska, Penn State, Texas and Vanderbilt -- that aren't officially on the list, but he calls them dark horse candidates.

Cornell is the #1 overall player in the updated ESPN Junior 300, which features Michigan commits George Campbell (#2 overall), Damien Harris (#17), and Shaun Crawford (#73). Campbell (athlete) and Harris (RB) are both the top players at their respective positions. The M Block has the full rundown on where Michigan's various targets stand in the new rankings.

Per TomVH, last week Urban Meyer himself offered Shaun Crawford, who said he's committed to Michigan and focused on finishing out his high school season. Steve Lorenz got in touch with Crawford's father($), who said "He loves Michigan!"; Crawford grew up as a Michigan fan in a Michigan household, despite his Ohio roots, so unless he visits Columbus there's little reason for concern at this point.

Commit Updates

Paramus Catholic tallied their first victory over rival Don Bosco Prep since 1999, avenging a regular-season defeat when Bosco's game-winning field goal attempt sailed wide, giving the Paladins a 21-20 victory and a berth in the state title game. Jabrill Peppers played a huge role in the win over his former school, returning the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown and giving PC a 14-3 lead with a 32-yard touchdown catch. Unembeddable highlights are available at the link above.

Top-ranked Lakewood St. Edward shut out Austintown Fitch, 28-0, to earn a spot in Ohio's Division I state semifinals; Shaun Crawford starred on both sides of the ball in the victory:

"@crawdad_66: @me Shaun Crawford had 11 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, and 1 reception for a 70 yard TD in a 28-0 playoff win last night."

— Steve Lorenz (@TremendousUM) November 24, 2013

East Lake (Mason Cole, George Campbell) stayed perfect on the year and advanced to their third straight regional final with a 45-0 pasting of Pinellas County. Also continuing an undefeated season was Kenton (Noah Furbush), which held on for a 46-43 nailbiter over Bryan to advance to the state semifinals.

Despite getting 17 carries for 149 yards and two touchdowns, including a 76-yard score to open the fourth quarter, from Damien Harris, Madison Southern fell 32-28 to Pulaski County and missed out on a chance for the school's first-ever regional title.

Per Scout's Dave Berk, Tyree Kinnel tallied ten tackles in a losing effort for Huber Heights Wayne, whose four turnovers doomed them to a 37-7 playoff loss to Hilliard Davidson ($).

Moe Ways posted his final season stats—55 catches, 1,261 yards (22.9 ypc), and 16 total touchdowns—on his Instagram page. Wilton Speight took home Virginia player of the year honors—no small feat in that talent-laden state—after posting 2,900 passing yards, 34 passing TDs, 11 interceptions, and six rushing TDs, according to TomVH. Speight has a fan in fellow commit Jared Wangler, who's by far the leader in the clubhouse for best recruit tweet of the year.