Goodbye: Antwuan Johnson and Carter Dunaway

While early commitments are more like declaring a current leader these days, I had some hope four-star 2018 OH LB Antwuan Johnson would stick based on his comments after Leonard Taylor's decommitment. Nope.

I look forward to getting back into this recruiting process pic.twitter.com/j8tdxIbcwS

— Antwuan Johnson (@Antwuan21) September 9, 2016

Johnson gave the reason for his decommitment to Maize n Brew's Evan Petzold:

2018 4-star LB Antwuan Johnson to @MaizenBrew on why he decommitted from Michigan: pic.twitter.com/AwWeupt84P

— Evan Petzold (@EvanPetzold) September 9, 2016

Johnson set up a long slate of visits before the season; this looks like another case of a player committing as more of a placeholder than anything else. Michigan is now down to one commit in the 2018 class, Georgia safety Otis Reese. It's far too early in the cycle to get worked up about this stuff.

And, when I was just about done with this post, this broke:

2017 TE Carter Dunaway has decommitted from #Michigan: https://t.co/hNqaRxNq8r

— Steve Lorenz (@TremendousUM) September 9, 2016

Dunaway's rankings haven't budged from low-three-star despite being a long-time Michigan commit. The only reason this comes as even a slight surprise is his dad played for Bo.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]

Solomon Replacement Options: Extant

Michigan appears to have done quite well with their unofficial visit from four-star Flint DT Deron Irving-Bey last weekend, per Sam Webb:

“It blew me away,” Irving-Bey said of the visit.  “It was great.  I was going back in the tunnel after the game and somebody from the crowd called my name. That’s when everybody started calling my name.  They were like “Deron, you’ve got to come to Michigan. We need you! We need you at Michigan. Come on Deron… be a Wolverine!”  I was like, ‘wow… how do they even know me?”

This, in particular, seems telling, as Michigan is recruiting Irving-Bey as a DT while some programs want him as a strongside end:

“I really think I’m going to be a defensive tackle in college,” the 6-4, 280-pounder said. “Whatever it takes for the team to win… I’m cool with anything.”

Irving-Bey isn't naming leaders right now, but 247's Steve Wiltfong said his previous visit for the BBQ "changed everything in this recruitment" and Wiltfong is close to switching his Crystal Ball from MSU to M.

Four-star PA DT Donovan Jeter is considering Michigan again after a lull in contact between the two, and he sounds quite serious about his interest after setting up an official for the Wisconsin game, per Sam:

“I like their defensive line coach (Greg Mattison),” Jeter told The Michigan Insider earlier this summer.  “He was the Ravens defensive coordinator for a couple years and he coached Ray Lewis, Haloti Ngata, Terrell Suggs.  They had the best defense in the league almost every year, that would be my position coach. That's kind of big to me.”

It was then and it still is now.

“Basically it’s a NFL coaching staff (at Michigan),” Jeter reiterated Wednesday.  “Greg Mattison, Harbaugh… so that plays a part. Great education. And the stadium is amazing.”

Jeter also has officials set up to Notre Dame and Penn State, and he wants to make a decision on Halloween, so this one will move quickly.

Georgia Pushing For Collins

247's Rusty Mansell, who's based in Georgia, posted that the Dawgs may have moved to the pole position for four-star AL WR Nico Collins:

Got a chance to talk with a couple of people this weekend and we have reported that things are starting to turn a little with the Dawgs and Nico Collins last week. However it seems things are looking better than even I thought right now.

I was told by someone this weekend, that UGA is “probably the team to beat” for the 4-Star WR from Alabama.

I'm a little skeptical since Collins made multiple unofficials to Ann Arbor, and Steve Lorenz shares that skepticism:

Over the weekend while in Ann Arbor, I did some digging and the impression I got from the Michigan side of things was along the lines of the knowledge that they know recruitments like Collins' are going to be a battle. I did not get the impression that the Wolverines don't think they're going to get him, however.

Collins has visited Michigan three times in the last four months. He has not visited Georgia within that timeframe (to my knowledge), making it a relatively peculiar time for the Bulldogs to have made such a significant move in such a short amount of time.

Michigan will absolutely get pushed by schools closer to home for Collins, but until he starts showing up on other campuses for multiple visits, it's early to sound the alarm.

More OL To Monitor

Three-star CA OT Jalen McKenzie has an offer list more in line with a high four-star, and this from Scout's Greg Biggins isn't the first time he's mentioned Michigan as a school under serious consideration:

On the recruiting front, McKenzie hasn't set up any of his visits yet but said he would like to get out to  Michigan,  Tennessee, UCLA and USC and said those four are talking to him the most right now.

With Kai-Leon Herbert at least taking a hard look at Florida, Michigan will continue recruiting OL to the bell.

TMI's Brice Marich added another name to the target pile this week, reporting top-50 TX OT Austin Deculus—an LSU commit—is looking to schedule a visit to Ann Arbor. After last weekend, it wouldn't surprise if several LSU commits suddenly came into play for other programs.

Well, I'm a Lost Cause Now

I will not get my hopes up about Mo Bamba. I will not get my hopes up about Mo Bamba. I will not get my hopes up about Mo Bamba. I will not—oh, crap.

Michigan was the first official visit that Bamba has taken and his recruitment continues to be unique. There aren’t many five-star center prospects that have taken multiple visits to Harvard — where his former AAU teammate Bryce Aiken is a freshman point guard — and have also stopped by the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.

I SAID, I WILL NOT—OH FERGODSAKES:

"Overall, he loved it," [Bamba's brother Ibrahim] Johnson said. "It was a great experience. It was an eye-opening experience because, before that, he was only told how many opportunities that are offered at the business school. But when he got to the school and got to sit down with the dean, it was a different experience."

Bamba, in fact, reached out to Michigan to express his interest in the program instead of the other way around, which led to last weekend's official visit, on which he received an offer.

Here, this cold water is necessary:

Kentucky's John Calipari met with elite post player Mohamed Bamba this morning, a source tells Scout.

— Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) September 9, 2016

I'll warn you again: don't watch his highlights. Just don't do it.

Etc.

FOUR-STAR 2018 ILB BUMPER POOL WILL VISIT FOR THE WISCONSIN GAME YES ALL-CAPS ARE NECESSARY.

247's Ryan Bartow reports five-star S Devon Hunter will take an official to Michigan for the Penn State game. The reason this news is buried down here is Lorenz almost immediately posted that Michigan's chances with him are slim to none; he compared this to Donovan Peoples-Jones's official visit to Nebraska, a team with no hope of landing him.

Rivals's Adam Friedman, who was very much on the Gary-to-Clemson train last year, notably picks Michigan over Clemson when predicting where TJ Slaton will end up.