Notre Dame Visit Primer

The second interation of Under The Lights should be Michigan's biggest recruiting weekend of the fall. 247's Steve Lorenz was kind enough to give me permission to post his list of visitors($); this doesn't cover every visitor who'll be on campus this weekend (there are many), just the ones I've deemed most important to point out. To make this easier, I'm breaking it up into categories.

Commits

Unfortunately, Michael Ferns and Jabrill Peppers can't make it, so Michigan won't have two of their primary commits/recruiters; Wilton Speight will be there, however, as will George "The Mayor" Campbell, Damien Harris, and a host of other Wolverine pledges from both the 2014 and 2015 classes.

2014 Uncommitted Prospects

Just two players fall into this category, and they happen to be the two prospects sitting atop Michigan's board for 2014: Southfield DL Malik McDowell and VA WDE Da'Shawn Hand. The Wolverine's Tim Sullivan caught up with Hand's mentor and former position coach, John Harris, to discuss what the nation's top defensive end will look for on his visit ($):

"[Saturday,] he'll look at how the coaches react if Notre Dame gets an early touchdown. Do they get down on guys or are they encouraging? He'll look at the scheme, but he's already been through that. If you can justify how you can use him in it, he won't say, 'I don't like that front.' Everything is about how he fits into it."

Tell Hand the story of Brendan Gibbons's confidence-fueled rise from beaten-down shank artist to brunette-envisioning record-setter and I think he'll be encouraged by the coaching staff's level of, er, encouragement. Hand himself also spoke with Adam Friedman of Rivals about what he wants to see this weekend ($):

"I just want to go up there and have fun," said the 6-foot-4, 248-pound defensive end. "The first time I was up there it was mainly an academic visit because I met with one of the professors. This is more of a visit to see if I can live there for four or five years. I know that it's not going to be like this weekend every day but at the same time I want to see how it is on game day."

As for McDowell, he told Sam Webb that he won't take any official visits during the season in order to focus on his own football season ($). That means he'll try to cram in five officials between the end of his season (likely November with playoffs included) and whenever he makes his decision; this is just my speculation—I don't see that happening. Regardless, Michigan is still in a very good position for McDowell.

2015 Uncommitted Prospects

Da'Shawn Hand is bringing a pair of very talented friends with him to Michigan: five-star DT Tim Settle and four-star OT Matthew Burrell Jr. will accompany Hand on the trip. While neither of those players currently hold offers, I'd expect both will have them after the weekend; the coaches like to wait until prospects show serious interest before putting offers out there and a visit certainly qualifies. Both Settle and Burrell are top prospects at positions of need who'll be the subject of heated recruiting battles; it's good that Michigan is getting early looks from each of them.

Four-star Saginaw athlete Brian Cole looked to be a strong Michigan lean early; since Michigan State hired Curtis Blackwell, his 7-on-7 coach, the tides have shifted in favor of the Spartans—at least, that's the perception after Cole has been a steady presence in East Lansing. He's visited Michigan several times, as well, and a positive experience this weekend could move the needle once again. Cole is the one 2015 in-state prospect that I think Michigan would do well to haul in; it'd be a real loss if he ended up at State.

A few other notable in-state prospects are scheduled to attend: the Cass Tech duo of RB Mike Weber and DL Joshua Alabi plan to be there along with a few of their 2016 teammtes (CB Lavert Hill, brother of freshman S Delano Hill, as well as linemen Ostell Martin and Michael Onwenu). Detroit King LB Tyriq Thompson, son of former Michigan safety Clarence Thompson, is likely to attend as well.

MN DE Jashon Cornell is the #1 overall 2015 prospect on ESPN and a composite five-star; his visit is particularly interesting given that he comes from a school, Cretin-Derham Hall, that is traditionally a Notre Dame pipeline. Though he boasts offers from across the country, Cornell appears to be looking to stay in the Midwest—he's also got unofficials lined up to Iowa, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and—yes—Notre Dame. He took notice when George Campbell committed and The Mayor will surely look to convince Cornell that they should team up in college.

Four-star linebacker Justin Hilliard is a consensus top-three player in Ohio; he's got an extensive list of planned unofficials that includes a return trip to Ann Arbor for The Game. It wouldn't be surprising if his recruitment came down to Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Iowa, where his brother C.J. is 2014 running back commit (lord help him—no, AIRBHG, a different lord ohhhhhh no what have I done).

A couple more potential visitors are AZ ATH Cassius Peat, a 3.5-star OLB/DE-type and the brother of Stanford lineman Andrus, and NY TE Tyrone Wheatley Jr., son of... well, you can probably guess. Peat has an early Michigan State offer and enjoyed a summer visit to Ann Arbor; Wheatley already has a Michigan offer and looks like a strong candidate to end up in the class at some point.

LA four-star DT TD Moton is also a potential visitor, though there's a hurdle to clear here:

2015 four-star DT. “@td90_: I will possibly fly out to #Michigan this week and #NoterDame if I get over my fear of planes !”

— Tim Sullivan (@TimS_Wolverine) September 5, 2013

Stay strong, Mr. Moton.

2016 Uncommitted Prospects

The one to watch here is IL OT Erik Swenson, whose tone regarding Michigan has been downright rapturous after his previous visits; he may want to take his time with a decision, but sooner or later he's almost guaranteed to end up committing. That will be very good news, since he's one of the top overall prospects in the 2016 class.

Other notable sophomores include Traverse City OL Thiyo Lukusa, who already has a Michigan State offer, and Farmington WR Desmond Fitzpatrick, who has three offers himself (Indiana, Ohio, and Toledo) and has been a consistent presence on campus

Overview

There isn't an obvious candidate to commit this weekend with the possible exception of Swenson—interestingly, one of the youngest prospects who'll be in attendance. The two 2014 targets have long maintained that their recruitments will stretch well past this weekend. The 2015 visitors for the most part are either players who should have very competitive recruitments (Settle, Burrell, Cornell) or guys Michigan hasn't offered or may not have room to take—Wheatley is an intriguing exception to this rule.

Of course, this was much the same case the last time these two teams played at the Big House, and then Dymonte Thomas shocked Ohio State fans by pledging to the good guys (and, yes, sticking to that commitment) after getting swept up in the excitment of Robinson-to-Roundtree. In what should be another incredible atmosphere on Saturday, who knows what surprises this weekend holds in store?

I should note that 247's Steve Wiltfong has a very informative free overview of what's turning into a big visit weekend across the Big Ten.

[Hit THE JUMP for a couple of Michigan commits getting rankings bumps, highlights of Jashon Cornell in action, the decline of head-to-head recruiting battles between Michigan and Notre Dame, and more.]

Faster Than A Panning Camera...

Opening-week highlights of Jashon Cornell show exactly why he's so highly-regarded; he gets into the backfield so fast that, at one point, the camera can't even keep up with him (HT: TomVH):

If you're wondering why Michigan is waiting to offer any other 2015 WDEs, there's your reason.

Parting Of The Ways, On And Off The Field?

ESPN features not one, but two articles on Michigan and Notre Dame not only parting ways on the football field, but in recruiting, as well, with the Irish taking more of a national approach—with an emphasis on the Southeast, competing against their new ACC brethren of sorts—and the Wolverines focusing on locking down top Midwest prospects. TomVH notes that only three of 11 class of 2014 prospect to hold offers from both schools really came down to a Michigan-ND head-to-head battle (Alex Bars, Ian Bunting, and Mason Cole), and Michael Ferns gave a potential reason for that shift:

"I think part of it for Midwest kids is being in the Big Ten conference. With Notre Dame everything is up in the air," [Ferns] said. "I look forward to playing Ohio State every year, and I think that's a big aspect to recruiting kids in this area."

Ferns might be on to something since most of the battles that have taken place were in the Southeast or in ACC territory.

Adam Rittenberg takes a similar angle, noting the hometowns of many of ND's current stars are in ACC/SEC country while Michigan's big names from Hoke's first class were mostly Midwestern kids; in the end, however, the coaches involved still expect to go up against each other:

Hecklinski has encountered Notre Dame about as much as he expected to since arriving at Michigan and notes that when elite prospects emerge in the Midwest, "pretty much it's going to come down to Michigan, Notre Dame and Ohio [State]." Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, a former Notre Dame assistant, said of the Irish: "I feel their presence."

Looking at Jashon Cornell and Justin Hilliard, for example, makes me think the idea that these schools are drifting away from each other in terms of recruiting base is more a temporary trend than a long-term movement; there's little question, however, that Michigan and Ohio State are battling for far more of the current top Midwest prospects than Notre Dame is pursuing, at least for now.

Etc.

Also at ESPN, Tom Luginbill discusses why he doesn't think 2014 DT commit Bryan Mone is quite worthy of five-star status; namely, that he's more of a two-gap space eater and less of a backfield penetrator. While I don't know if I'd call Mone a five-star prospect, I'm not sure I agree with Luginbill's reasoning; watch Mone's highlights (I know, I know, they're just the highlights) and tell me he isn't a guy who can get into the backfield with some regularity.

Michigan pair of commits from Eastern Christian Academy get bumps on 247; CB Brandon Watson went from two to three stars, earning a grade of 86 (mid-to-high three-star), while WR Freddy Canteen got a minor boost from an 86 to an 87 (still a three-star; 90 would make him a four-star).

Tim Sullivan saw LB Joshua Ross, younger brother of James, in action at the Prep Kickoff Classic; he sees a lot of similarities between the brothers, though unsurprisingly the freshman at OLSM still has plenty of room to improve ($):

All told, Ross looks very similar to his older brother James, though he is an earlier stage of his development than we first evaluated the elder Ross. Like James, he stands on the tips of his toes at the beginning of each play and attacks downhill. However, to reach James's level of production, Joshua will have to learn to get into the backfield instead of getting caught in the blockers so frequently. He has the frame to get much larger than James, so he should be able to reach a physical prowess that the older brother never can. Though he's very young, Ross already looks like an excellent prospect.

The younger Ross is already at 6'2", 190 pounds as a freshman; he's obviously a 2017 (yikes) kid to keep an eye on.

The M Block chats with 2015 four-star DE Keisean Lucier-South, who still would have Michigan #1 on his list if they offered, and 2016 in-state WR Desmond Fitzpatrick, who's hoping to land an offer soon.

Four-star 2014 LB Nyles Morgan announced a top six on Sunday. On Tuesday, he re-opened his recruitment to all team pursuing him heavily, saying it was "too early to start narrowing down schools," to Rivals's Josh Helmholdt ($). Hooray, recruitin'.