Thursday Recruitin' Makes Surprise Visit Comment Count

Ace

T-Minus Six Days

As we reach the last week before Signing Day, Jim Harbaugh and Co. don't seem to be sleeping, and they're being sustained by meals eaten on in-home visits. (Sorry, guys, but Bryan Mone is already on the roster.) Steve Lorenz published a free rundown of everything that happened just in the last 24 hours, and it was necessary.

I'll start with the latest round of offers. Michigan went after a trio of committed running backs, and while two—Texas Tech pledge Corey Dauphine and future Arizona Wildcat Orlando Bradford—politely declined to take official visits, Wisconsin commit Titus Booker will be on campus this weekend. Booker is one of the few prospects whose 40 time contains no FAKEs; he ran a 10.68 100-meter dash to finish second in the state of Illinois last year. He's a solid all-around athlete, as well—the Badgers recruited him as a cornerback.

Michigan also convinced two committed receivers to take officials this weekend. Four-star TN WR Van Jefferson received interest from the previous staff, and while he's an Ole Miss commit now, the Wolverines aren't as unlikely of a choice as one might expect from a recruit with his profile—Jefferson is a Detroit native who didn't leave the area until his junior year, per Lorenz. The coaches also offered CA WR Deontay Burnett, a Washington State commit. Given what he told Rivals' Adam Gorney, Burnett may be harder to convince to flip than Jefferson ($):

It could be tough to pull Burnett away from Washington State especially since he likes the pass-happy offense so much and that he's been committed for months. The three-star sees a lot of opportunities in Pullman so a late push even by Michigan might not be enough.

"I love the offense there," Burnett said. "As a receiver it's pretty attractive that their offense throws the ball a lot."

Finally, M also offered three-star AL CB Keith Washington, who committed to Cal just four days ago. I haven't seen any indication regarding whether he'll visit.

[Hit THE JUMP for news on Ty Wheatley Jr. Chris Clark, Iman Marshall, Mike Weber, and more.]

Other Visitors, Past And Future


L to R: Tim Drevno, Jay Harbaugh, Moe Ways, and Ty Wheatley Jr. [Fuller]

Tyrone Wheatley Jr. has been very quiet about his intentions with Michigan, so it was both surprising and not that he appeared on campus Tuesday for an official visit that lasted all the way until this morning. I can confirm that, from a distance, he appeared to be having a good time at the Nebraska game Tuesday night with player host Moe Ways. There should be a lot more optimism on this front now that Wheatley has made it to Ann Arbor.

Michigan will host three-star FL CB Jarius Adams for an official this weekend. Adams took an official to Rutgers, where he's currently committed, last weekend, and while he told NJ.com that "as of now" he plans to sign there, he also admitted that Michigan has long been a school he'd like to go to:

"I just wanted to check [Michigan] out since it was pretty much a dream school growing up," Adams said. "I just want to check out the stuff that I've never seen. That's pretty much it."

We'll see if that's enough to overcome his current commitment.

The coaches are still making the rounds for in-home visits, too. Michigan's top two remaining targets on the board, Chris Clark and Iman Marshall, both met with Harbaugh this week. Clark told TomVH he's still very much up in the air after officials to both Michigan and UCLA ($):

“I guess I’m just going to follow my heart and go where it wants me to be,” he said. “Either school would be a good decision, so that will give me peace with my decision. I can’t really tell you what it will take to sway me, but I have to decide soon.”

Marshall, who's expected by just about everyone to ultimately choose USC, cleared an important hurdle for a surprise commitment to Michigan, per Lorenz ($):

"The visit with Michigan went great," [Marshall's father] said. "It was very informative and enlightening. I do feel comfortable with them as a staff now. You can tell they're first class coaches, but more importantly they're first class men and fathers. I would have no issues sending my son to Michigan and attending that program because I know they have his best interest both on and off the field."

Marshall still has one more official visit left; he'll see Oregon this weekend.

Back In It With Weber?

I buried the lede a bit here, as arguably the biggest recruiting news this week is that Jim Harbaugh met with Cass Tech RB Mike Weber and his HS coach, Thomas Wilcher, on Wednesday, per GBW's Sam Webb ($). While Weber has stopped talking to reporters about his recruitment, both Webb and Lorenz are cautiously optimistic about Michigan's chances to pluck Weber away from Ohio State. A visit would be a very good sign; even if he doesn't take one, he's seen campus enough times that the bigger key was getting him face-to-face with the new coaching staff.

More Official Visit Reactions

GBW has a couple more reactions from last weekend's slew of official visits that didn't make it into Monday's roundup. Three-star DE Jake Pickard's dad told Webb that the visit got the best of his emotions ($):

Harbaugh laughed because he saw me walking on the sideline.  He said, ‘what’s wrong Pickard?’ And I turned around and I had tears streaming down my eyes.  He goes, ‘what’s wrong with you?’ I said, I just can’t believe that my son is going to have a chance to play on this field and maybe one day help Michigan win a championship.  It’s a true story.  You can’t make that (stuff) up.

Pickard held off on a commitment until he hosted Syracuse and Wisconsin—where he's committed, but looking around in the wake of Gary Andersen's departure—earlier this week for in-home visits; now we wait, though things certainly look promising.

Three-star CA TE Matt Snyder, a Nebraska commit, is weighing his options, per GBW's Josh Newkirk ($):

“I could see myself attending [Michigan],” Snyder admitted. “It’s just a matter of figuring it out and talking it over with my parents. And will talk with coach [Jim] Harbaugh again [Monday]. We’ll see, I’m interested.”

Snyder said he's like to get his decision over with "as soon as possible," so we should get word any day now.

Michigan did miss out on one visitor from last weekend: OH FB Reagan Williams reaffirmed his commitment to Stanford.

2016 Updates

For those that missed yesterday's mailbag, 2016 four-star OH QB Messiah deWeaver decommitted from Michigan late Tuesday night. There's more on his prospective replacements in the mailbag. DeWeaver didn't indicate what prompted the decommitment—though it may have to do with Harbaugh's continued pursuit of other quarterbacks—or whether he'll consider Michigan down the road.

Michigan offered three-star CA ATH David Long, a CB/WR prospect whose offer sheet indicates he's due for a bump in the rankings. Long told Scout's Eric Rutter that he may see Michigan soon—and he may be accompanied by some highly ranked friends ($):

Now that Michigan has come forth with a scholarship offer, Long is looking at scheduling an official visit to Ann Arbor. Joining Long on his trip would be two other members of his passing league—four-star quarterback K.J. Costello and four-star wide receiver Dylan Crawford. 

“Actually I could potentially take a visit within the next month with another ’16 guy, Dylan Crawford,” says Long. “I’m really good friends with Dylan Crawford.” 

Long says that both Crawford and Costello are “really big” on Michigan.

Finally, Michigan is running second for top-100 GA OT EJ Price:

As Lorenz notes, this is especially good news for Michigan given how much they've contacted Price compared to Auburn; Price has been to Auburn three times already, while he's yet to see Ann Arbor ($). That could put the Wolverines in position to jump to the top of his list.

Comments

alum96

January 29th, 2015 at 3:19 PM ^

If they play up to expectations I'd say Marshall.  Nothing like a shut down corner to take away 1/3rd of the field.

Considering we have Lewis on the other side and Peppers at S and a SR at the other S and Blake as a nickel that would be a sick secondary if Marshall is ready to play as a frosh.

And Lewis, Peppers, Marshall would be here of course 2016 as well.

We already have a stud TE in Butt... Wheatley would probably RS as a DE (or as a TE) as we have Butt and Khalid Hill, and Clark would get on the field but again its not like we are lacking a TE.  We are lacking a corner to oppose Lewis if Peppers is on the move (I consider Blake a nickel)

Weber - again we have backs, in theory Green, Drake, and Isaac would all be ahead of him this year.

NoVaWolverine

January 29th, 2015 at 4:58 PM ^

I can see the case for Marshall or Clark as "bigger splashes," and they play key positions (esp. Clark for what Harbaugh wants to do on offense). But to me, getting Weber back to UM would be an important first punch in Urban/OSU's nose from Harbaugh. Messages sent:

* The best players in Michigan go to Michigan, dammit.

* It sucked losing Damon Webb to OSU -- getting Weber back says we aren't going to let Meyer maintain a recruiting beachhead at one of our most important feeder programs. We're keeping the best Michigan players, and we're coming after the best players in Ohio.

I think it's important to score an early victory on the recruiting trail against Meyer, and this is Harbaugh's best chance to do it in the short timeframe he has for the 2015 class, since the kid had already committed to us earlier. (Not to mention, beyond the Green/Smith/Isaac/Johnson quartet, our RB cupboard needs stocking, and Weber looks like a special talent.)

creelymonk10

January 29th, 2015 at 3:17 PM ^

Any news with Roquan Smith? I haven't seen anything about him in this or Monday's recruting roundup, unless I missed it. I hope our chances aren't fading with him, he's one kid I'd be ecstatic about joining this class.

AZBlue

January 29th, 2015 at 3:25 PM ^

Harbaugh is seeing him today, I believe. Per both Sam Webb and Steve Lorenz - Smith doesn't seem interested in building relationships with new recruiting reporters at this stage so they are limited to what info they get from their southern counterparts who also quite busy around this time for some reason.

Webb was supposed to have Scout's south guy on WTKA today to get the scoop on Smith, Tate, et. al. But I haven't listened to the podcast to know if this happened.

FutureOfA2

January 29th, 2015 at 3:55 PM ^

In a matter of weeks Harbaugh has gotten us in the top two for guys like Marshall, Smith, Weber, Clark, and Jefferson. Not saying Mich will even sign any of them, but I cannot wait to see how the 2016 class shapes out. Especiallly with the interest from the 3 CA guys--that would be a dream come true for us all. 

uminks

January 29th, 2015 at 3:57 PM ^

I hope Weber decides to come back to Michigan but even if he decides to stay at OSU, JH will recruit a couple top RB for the 2016 class. It will be interesting to see how many of these kids will choose Michigan on NSD! Just think if JH can win 10 games this season with a couple of big upsets! Michigan will return as one of the top schools in recruiting!

Kfojames

January 29th, 2015 at 4:27 PM ^

Titus Booker could be interesting in that if he puts on 10 LB's he could be an interesting change of pace back for JH's offense. 6' 195-200, while maintaining 4.40 speed. Could be nice

maize-blue

January 29th, 2015 at 4:51 PM ^

I'm not too confident about Weber coming back. New and various RB offers would indicate, to me, that they are looking for other possibilites in that position and they are not completley optimistic about him re-committing. Or to add a little pressure to his decision, or just fall back options......who the hell knows.

a-ph4nkz

January 29th, 2015 at 5:12 PM ^

So 54815 just texted saying I would receive up to 20 texts on NSD!  Surely that means we are getting 18 signees, 1 good morning, and 1 we're done text!

partial /s

getsome

January 29th, 2015 at 7:40 PM ^

really like harbaughs strategy and how theyre attacking the final month.  i noticed the offer to that DB washington and it said hes from pratville alabama which typically has D1 talent every year.   

i recall them also offering 3-4 star kids from dwyer, st thomas aquinas and other florida powers, poly, de lasalle, serra in cali, pratville bama and several more i cant recall - even if these 2015 kids go elsewhere, still really smart to get in now with 2016 and 2017 kids at same schools / 7-on-7 leagues, build relationships with coaches, teachers, etc.  also good sign to offer the houston kids and that RB down near port arthur even if hes not interested, tons of talent in east texas.

bodes well for the future.  those type programs produce numerous D1 prospects each year and theyre all over nfl rosters.  2-stars or 5-stars, its still great to see and it should pay off.  hopefully the next bosa at aquinas (not his bro) ends up dominating at michigan after groundwork laid now

team126

January 29th, 2015 at 10:27 PM ^

from now to end of signing day.

Not gut feeling or anything, I could see we get one of the top targets, and 3 of the latest OV  recruits, and one or two "Norfleets". That would be additional 5 and we will have a class of 14 members.