That's One Way To Get An Exclusive

Shortly before four-star NC RB Robert Washington was set to announce his college choice on Saturday afternoon, Bleacher Report released an exclusive commitment video in which Washington, somewhat surprisingly, pledged to Florida. Then things took a turn to Classic Weird Recruiting Story:

But at 3 p.m., Washington announced his pledge to Syracuse at Ascending Faith Church in Dallas, N.C. He explained the bizarre sequence in a brief phone interview.

"I did the report on Thursday," Washington said. "I had my mind set for the report, but I changed my mind the next day to Syracuse."

The last-minute switch caught all coaching staffs involved off-guard:

Am told Robert Washington informed other staffs last night he was committing to #Gators. Peak #CROOTIN

— Steve Lorenz (@TremendousUM) April 25, 2015

Either way, Washington isn't a Michigan commit. Right now, at least. Happy trails to the young man, though it might be worth keeping tabs on this recruitment until he enrolls somewhere.

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

Michigan Hosts OL Visitors

While last week didn't have a huge volume of visitors, there were a couple rather large prospects taking unofficials. Four-star MD OL Devery Hamilton took an overnight visit on Thursday; he told 247 it was a "great visit" and he's forged a strong relationship with his potential college position coach ($):

“The coaching staff has a lot of experience at Michigan and it’s definitely a great school," Hamilton told Bartow. "The coaching staff there is going to make that program get back to the top again. The coaches are friendly. I’ve built a great relationship with coach (Tim) Drevno.”

In his insider notes, 247's Steve Lorenz said the visit was "extremely positive," and he's considering putting in a Crystal Ball pick for Michigan once he gets a full reaction from Hamilton, who's one of the team's top targets on the O-line.

Another top O-line target, three-star CA OT Alex Akingbulu, recapped a very positive visit of his own for GBW's Josh Newkirk ($):

"It was really great," he said. "I loved the whole city type aspect of it. It was like a little town. It was great visit. The stadium was amazing. It was big. Just breathtaking. I loved all the coaches and all the staff. They are great people.

"Just going to Michigan reconfirmed how I felt for Michigan. It is one of my top schools definitely. They are definitely up there with them and UCLA. Me visiting gave me reassurance on how great this university is."

While getting a California prospect away from the West Coast is never easy, Akingbulu mentioned he has family in the area, and he said that makes "a big difference" when considering a school so far from home.

Sam Webb Gets Incredible Quotes, Part Somethingorother

Four-star FL OLB Devin Bush Jr. had a lot of very positive things to say about Michigan to Sam Webb following his unofficial visit a few weeks ago. That included his spot-on assessment of Jim Harbaugh's mental state ($):

“I was with everybody… Coach Mattison, Coach Partridge, Coach Harbaugh,” Bush stated.   “(Harbaugh) is a player coach.  He’s the truth. Everything up top not screwed on tight (laughter), but he’s a great coach.  You can tell he knows how to win and how to run a program.  He’s done it countless times… brought teams back from the dead.  I believe he can do it again.” 

There have been numerous reports from NFL circles about player displeasure with Harbaugh’s methods of resurrection.  The opposite is true for Bush.

“I’m not screwed so tight up top either,” Bush said laughingly.  “We have a lot (in common).”

You have to be at least a certain level of crazy to play football, so it makes sense that having the most crazy coach would be a big draw. Meanwhile, Bush also said he's "got to get back up" to Michigan along with three-star safety teammate Devin Gil, a Miami (YTM) commit who holds an offer and has expressed a decent amount of interest in the program.

In-State Updates: Junior Day Taking Shape

Sam Webb caught up with recent offer recipient JaRaymond Hall, a top-100 2017 OT out of Oak Park, who revealed some further details about Michigan's upcoming event for in-state rising juniors ($):

The Oak Park (Mich.) standout reconnected with the Wolverine coaching staff last week and learned that he had been invited to a special recruiting event in Ann Arbor.

“They said they were inviting the top kids in 2017,” said Hall.  “About seven or eight (prospects were invited) up there May 31st to see campus and walk us around and show us what they’re about.”

Detroit King CB Ambry Thomas mentioned last week that he'll attend the event, as well. More will certainly follow.

Rivals' Josh Helmholdt has a couple Michigan-related updates from the RCS Cleveland camp. We'll start with the bad news, regarding four-star Detroit King WR Donnie Corley's top group ($):

Corley was also at Michigan State's spring game on Saturday and said he was able to connect with deWeaver and talk about what the Spartans have to offer. In the aftermath of the visit, Corley identified Michigan State and Tennessee as two schools that will likely always sit near the top of his list until he makes his college selection. Which other schools reside in that group is yet to be determined, but USC is the most recent school to offer and Corley knows current Trojan commit Daelin Hayes. A trip for the two Rivals100 state of Michigan prospects to visit USC could be planned in the future.

As for the good, three-star Cass Tech S Demetric Vance included Michigan in his top five alongside Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, and Tennessee.

Etc.

The potential Ron Johnson/Brad Hawkins package deal is still looking good, per Lorenz ($):

Johnson confirmed two things with Bartow as well. One, he and teammate Brad Hawkins have talked about playing with each other at the college level and two, Michigan is the school that currently has the edge. They're believed to have the edge for Hawkins as well.

"I think there's a chance we could go to the same school," he said. "We have talked about playing together. Right now my plan is to take a couple officials and make public announcement after that."

Finally, Michigan sent out a couple new offers this week. 247's Clint Brewster reports Michigan offered three-star 2016 NJ OT Will Fries, who boasts a solid offer sheet given his ranking. 2017 OH WR Jaylen Harris also added an offer, per 247's Steve Wiltfong.