Michigan Offers 2015 Corner

After decommitments left Michigan with Tyree Kinnel as their lone member of the 2015 class who projects to play in the secondary, further offers were inevitable. Afforded time by the bye week, the coaches came through with one to Long Beach (CA) Poly three-star Colin Samuel, per 247's Barton Simmons. The Wolverines weren't alone, however, as UCLA and Washington State offered Samuel yesterday; while Michigan should get serious interest, the Bruins offer looms large for a California prospect who'd previously gone under the radar.

Steve Lorenz posted an updated list of cornerback targets that's worth a read if you've got access to 247. Previous top targets Iman Marshall and Marcus Lewis are longshots at best at this point. Two more California prospects, three-stars Octavius Spencer and Malik Psalms, have each fielded Michigan interest with an offer as of yet; same goes for three-star Wake Forest commit Amari Henderson. I'd bet at least one of those three pulls in an offer before long.

The other defensive back recruit to watch is Oak Park's John Kelly, who got his coveted Michigan offer last month and is seriously considering the Wolverines after previously narrowing his recruitment to Michigan State and Minnesota. Kelly recently told Scout's Allen Trieu just how much that offer meant to him:

A lot of people might say, Michigan has not had a great year, why's he looking at them so hard? 
Michigan is a really prestigious school, and although the year is not going as planned, they're always going to pretty much be a dominant program, and another thing was, I've been getting recruited by those guys since like ninth grade, so for an offer to finally come was amazing. I still was happy. Even if they still went [winless] I would have been just as happy. 

Kelly will use his three official visits on Michigan, MSU, and Minnesota. According to Rivals' Josh Helmholdt, he's set the Minnesota official for December 12th, and while he hasn't set his official visits to the two in-state schools, he's got plans to hit campus in the very near future ($):

"With Michigan, I am going to be up at the game when they play Maryland (Nov. 22). That will probably be an unofficial," Kelly said. "I have been in contact with Coach (Chris) Singletary just about every week. It's really the connections and atmosphere up there."

It certainly wouldn't be a bad sign if Kelly takes a couple visits to Ann Arbor over the next month or so before making his decision.

[Hit THE JUMP for several new 2016 offers, the latest on Darrin Kirkland, and a couple of hoops updates.]

Several New 2016 Offers

Michigan utilized the bye week to evaluate and offer a lot of 2016 prospects. Per Scout's Kyle Bogenshutz, M's offer to four-star FSU DE commit Josh Brown should result in a visit, although Brown says he's "solid" in his commitment to the 'Noles:

“Any school is kind of in my eyes for a visit,” Brown said. “I’ll pretty much visit any school but one I know for sure that will happen in the coming year is I’m going to of course get up to Michigan, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Virginia.”

Another four-star with a new offer who should eventually get to campus is CA LB Darrian Franklin, who told Tim Sullivan that he plans to see Ann Arbor in the spring ($). Franklin's father is a Detroit native and his grandmother still lives there.

Per Sullivan, Michigan also offered a pair of juniors from Baltimore Gilman, the school that produced Henry Poggi and is coached by his father Biff: four-star OT Devery Hamilton and three-star OT Stephen Spanellis. Hamilton says he'll be in for a visit this weekend. Another offensive lineman, four-star MD OG Terrance Davis, earned an offer as well, per The Wolverine's Brandon Brown.

Sullivan also reported two more offers to a pair of Jacksonville (FL) Trinity teammates, four-star CB Shaun Wade and unranked OLB Dominique Ross, whose offer sheet suggests he'll get a solid ranking when evaluated. 

Finally, Michigan offered four-star PA CB Damar Hamlin, per Lorenz. Hamlin says he'd like to take "a couple visits" to Ann Arbor, though the feeling around his recruitment is Penn State probably leads.

Not Happening

There was some conflicting word after 2015 four-star LB Darrin Kirkland decommitted about whether or not he'd still consider Michigan. If this list from Josh Helmholdt is complete, and I believe it is, you can let go of whatever hope you may have held that Kirkland could end up back in the fold ($):

Three more official visit slots remain for Kirkland, and he has already scheduled one of those dates with another Big 12 program.

"I did today schedule the weekend of Dec. 6 going to Texas," Kirkland reported. "They have really been recruiting me hard. Coach (Vance) Bedford and Coach BJ (Brian Jean-Mary) have been pushing me hard to get on a visit, so I am very excited to get down there."

Other schools that also remain under consideration include Kentucky, Missouri, Oregon, Tennessee, USC and Virginia Tech.

Oklahoma and Ole Miss are the two other schools he's considering; he took his first two official visits to those schools.

Hoops Updates

A couple quick hoops updates. Five-star 2016 F TJ Leaf moved up his decision date to this Friday following visits to Arizona and Florida, per The Wolverine's Chris Balas ($). Michigan previously appeared to be the leader, but the feeling is Arizona has moved in front, and the change in plans—he'd previously said he'd take an official to Michigan in February—supports that notion. Duke and UCLA are also finalists.

In better news, five-star 2015 point guard Isaiah Briscoe committed to Kentucky, which could help Michigan land 2016 five-star PG Derryck Thornton down the road; the Wildcats, along with Duke, likely represent M's toughest competition to earn his commitment.