*tumbleweed*

Michigan's 2020 class is almost done. High school football players are in fall camp and nobody's taking visits. Things are slow.

Roman Wilson is not:

Catch and run by ‘20 St. Louis WR and Michigan commit Roman Wilson (@Trilllroman) from ‘20 QB Jayden de Laura (@jayden_delaura) vs Kapolei. #808FBClips pic.twitter.com/QTuymgyY9j

— 808 FB Recruits (@808FBRecruits) August 16, 2019

FL CB Henry Gray did confirm that his top three are Michigan, Oregon, and Florida a few days ago. Gray on Michigan:

ON MICHIGAN:

"I really like Michigan and they wanna let me play corner. They run the same scheme we play at my high school, so it fits my playing style."

ON HIS MOST RECENT MICHIGAN VISIT:

"It was sometime in June and i liked it. There was a lot of hospitality there and the players I met were all cool. I liked the campus. "

He's scheduled to announce at the All-America game. The other major secondary target, CA CB Darion Green-Warren, has set up visits to PSU and Michigan this fall; Nebraska is the other team that drew mention in Adam Gorney's recent article. USC is still the heavy crystal ball favorite, but whether they can maintain that in the aftermath of Clay Helton's inevitable firing is the question.

NJ S commit RJ Moten released a junior highlight reel, which is almost all offense. He plays RB, slot, and sometimes QB:

He's fast, and not particularly slippery on offense. Safety makes sense. He does make a number of good catches, so here's hoping his ball skills translate to D.

[After the JUMP: the least bold crystal ball of all time]

Basketball, though

Juwan Howard continues to zero in on dudes for his pivotal 2020 recruting class, which will be at least five strong. OH PG Zeb Jackson is the cornerstone, and occasionally posts some highlights on Twitter:

Blessed @Ballislife @freeEGB pic.twitter.com/XECCtgBudu

— Zeb Jackson (@iamzebjackson1) August 9, 2019

Wait… what?

Just casually driving for a pull-up on Steph Curry. Steph Curry going at about 80% probably, but why is Steph Curry in a gym with a 2020 recruit from Ohio? I don't want to know. I prefer this to be a mystery.

In folks that haven't committed, Michigan offered FL SF Jace Howard, the son of longtime NBA player Juwan Howard. Steve Lorenz put in a crystal ball:

After doing literally no digging on the situation, I have placed a 247Sports Crystal Ball for 2020 forward Jace Howard to Michigan. Howard is the son of Michigan head coach Juwan Howard. This is why I have predicted Howard to eventually commit to the Wolverines.

Airtight.

Howard the younger has some decent mid-major offers (Daytn, St. Louis, and San Diego State) but is currently unranked by 24/7. This means he's the least-touted guy Juwan has offered since he got the job. I'd be that if push comes to shove Michigan will make room for a hypothetical 14th player by moving Jace to walk-on status, but that rarely happens. Having a program guy who will be around for a while and develop is a good idea.

 

Michigan is suddenly in a lot better shape with IL/CA SG Nimari Burnett, who released a top five that's delightfully free of Kentucky, UNC, and Duke:

Four-star guard Nimari Burnett is down to Alabama, Louisville, Michigan, Oregon & Texas Tech. Has scheduled officials to Alabama, Louisville & Michigan.

— Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) August 12, 2019

Rivals analysts Eric Bossi and Corey Evans both believe Burnett's leaders are Alabama and Michigan. Alabama just hired Nate Oats, of course. Michigan has a lot more recent success, a longer relationship with Burnett, and a much better academic situation. Alabama has fewer compunctions.

The next couple months are going to be make or break for five-star dreams in 2020. Orion Sang:

A source with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity expects a majority of U-M’s top targets in the class of 2020 to visit campus for the first two home football games this fall — Middle Tennessee State on Aug. 31 and Army on Sept. 7.

The expectation is that U-M will host five-star center Walker Kessler, five-star wing Jaden Springer, five-star guard Nimari Burnett, four-star center Hunter Dickinson and four-star forward Lance Ware during those first two weeks. Four-star point guard commitment Zeb Jackson will also be on campus for one of the two weekends.

Other top targets, such as 4-star forward Jaemyn Brakefield, 4-star forward Henry Coleman and 5-star wing Josh Christopher are also expected to visit campus, although those visits will likely take place later.

Reasonable goals now feel like a class of Jackson, Burnett, Howard, a highly touted big, and a wildcard.

2021 Items

Via Brice Marich, MA DT Ikenna Ugbaja has a Michigan offer and says Michigan is his leader:

“I would say they are (my leader), but it’s still pretty early for me, you know? I still don’t much know what’s going on, who’s interested and who’s not, who’s going to offer and who’s not."

BC and Syracuse are his other P5 offers, because Massachusetts. 24/7 has him on the fringe of 4-star status.

Meanwhile in Are You Sure You Are Named That, 4* IL OL David Davidkov plans a fall visit. He visited in May and was scheduled to come in for the BBQ but was a late scratch. That's a lot of visits, or planned visits, in a short period of time. 5* IL QB commit JJ McCarthy has already proven effective at grabbing Illinois recruits in the 2020 class, and he's in touch. 24/7 has Davidkov just outside the top 100.

TX WR Latrell Neville was being recruited by Josh Gattis at Alabama and his move to Michigan has piqued his interest. He also is pretty close with Mustapha Muhammad, so he's a guy to keep an eye on. Still have to get him on campus to be a real player.

VA RB/S TreVeyon Henderson was on campus in July and may get back this fall. CA WR Beaux Collins has vague Michigan plans and cites McCarthy. Based on his name I'm declaring this a Michigan-LSU battle.

MI OL commit Giovanni El-Hadi thinks Michigan is in good shape with MD OL Ryan Linthicum and MI DT Rocco Spindler. He self-reports that he's up to 6'6", 297. He does not look like a 300-pound high school junior.