Young Geezy
This is a recruiting post, so I should start off by mentioning that top-ranked 2015 WDE Jashon Cornell told 247's Steve Wiltfong he plans to announce his decision on August 28th ($). I should also tell you that Cornell mentioned his strong relationships with coaches at Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Northwestern, and Notre Dame, and that he's planning to swing by a few West Coast schools during the summer.
 |
| The long-overdue return of Swag Mattison |
But really, all I want to do is blockquote the hell out of this:
“Coach Mattison is a really nice person,” Cornell said. “He’s not what you expect, I can say that. You expect that old guy who listens to country music. He put on hip hop in his office. He turned on his radio and the first thing that came out was hip hop.”
Mattison’s taste in music isn’t the only thing Cornell likes about Michigan.
“Largest stadium in America,” he said. “The Michigan alumni. This is Michigan.”
If you ever wanted to know why Mattison has the reputation of an elite recruiter, look at the picture on the right, imagine sitting in that guy's office while he flips the radio to Hot 97, and... yup, you just committed to Michigan in your daydream.
OFFSEASON INTERLUDE: TOP FIVE SONGS I'D MOST LIKE TO IMAGINE GREG MATTISON PLAYS IN HIS OFFICE
- Young Jeezy, "Soul Survivor"
- Dr. Dre, "What's The Difference?"
- Kanye West, "Drive Slow"
- Freddie Gibbs, "National Anthem"
- Three 6 Mafia, "Stay Fly"
#5 could easily be an x-way tie between every Three 6 Mafia/Juicy J song ever made.
/INTERLUDE
[Hit THE JUMP for a potential commit watch, Michigan impressing a big-time visitor, an in-state back running a laser-timed 4.26 40, and more.]
Commit Watch?
According to 247's Steve Lorenz, 2016 Orchard Lake St. Mary's LB Daelin Hayes will announce his decision on April 27th ($). Hayes holds offers from Michigan, Michigan State, and Tennessee; the Wolverines extended their offer most recently, and Hayes has been a consistent presence on campus.
It should come down to the two in-state schools, and it looks like Michigan has the edge—it doesn't hurt that he watched his cousin, U-M running back Justice Hayes, get first-team snaps on his visit for the spring game.
Meanwhile, 2015 CT TE Chris Clark is also one to watch after he announced his decommitment from North Carolina on Saturday. Clark had Michigan among his top schools before pledging to the Tar Heels, and while Mike Farrell thinks he'll ultimately end up at Notre Dame, the Wolverines will have the chance to make a big impression this weekend:
Recently de-committed TE Chris Clark takes visits to #Michigan and #OhioState this weekend. Huge trips. @MarcGivlerBG@TimS_Wolverine
— Mike Farrell (@rivalsmike) April 13, 2014
Michigan isn't in the driver's seat here, but Clark's recruitment has been unpredictable; a solid visit could put the Wolverines at the forefront.
U-M Makes Move With McMillon
Michigan hosted a big-time visitor last weekend in 2015 four-star TN OLB Joshua McMillon, and after giving GBW's Josh Newkirk a glowing review of the visit—saying "it was just wonderful"—he doubled down on his newly increased interest in the Wolverines ($):
As far as Michigan is concerned, McMillon said he will “definitely” make it back again sometime soon.
“I would love to come up there and visit Michigan again,” McMillon said. “If it wasn’t so far away then I would comeback [sic] all the time. Most definitely will try to make it back for an official visit.”
McMillon said he would like to make his final decision by the end of the summer.
The official visit mention and decision timeline don't exactly match, but it's possible McMillon could take another unofficial and still make a summer decision, or he could delay his choice until after taking officials. Either way, it looks like Michigan is now a contender, along with Alabama, Ole Miss, and others.
Remember The Name: Joshuwa Holloman
I be like dang (via 247's Steve Wiltfong):
Perhaps the BCS schools won't ignore Auburn Hills (Mich.) Avondale running back Joshuwa Holloman any longer.
At the Nike Sparq competition in Chicago on Friday he posted a 4.26 40-yard dash, 41.1-inch vertical and 4.09 shuttle en route to a ridiculous 136.11 Sparq rating.
That is a zero-FAKEs-out-of-five laser-timed 40, the fasted recorded by a high school prospect at a Nike combine this year. Holloman's SPARQ rating is the second-best in the country—he finished in the 99th percentile in all but one category, the power ball toss, in which he finished in the lowly 97th percentile. He's got solid size, too, at 5'10", 185 pounds, which makes that speed even more tantalizing.
So far, Holloman holds only MAC offers, but given those numbers I'd expect that'll change in the near future
Etc.
2015 four-star NC WR Juval Mollette narrowed his choices to five schools—North Carolina, Clemson, Michigan, Virginia Tech, and Ohio State—with the Tar Heels and Tigers currently standing above the other three, per 247's Ross Martin ($). Mollette doesn't have a specific timeline in mind, which could open the door for U-M should he make it to campus, which he says he intends to do.
2015 four-star VA DE Clelin Ferrell named Michigan to his top 11—along with Clemson, LSU, Miami, Michigan State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia Tech—and told Rivals's Adam Friedman what he likes about the Wolverines ($):
Michigan: "It's the winningest program in college football," he said. "I like their stadium and I love their coaching staff. I like coach Hoke, coach Mattison and coach Manning."
Ferrell plans to take visits to Michigan and MSU during his spring break. Roy Manning's recruiting efforts in Virginia have been very impressive, and they've already paid off once this cycle with the commitment of Garrett Taylor.
Per Steve Lorenz, 2015 four-star UT LB Osa Masina is eyeing a visit to Ann Arbor for July's BBQ at the Big House, which would be his first campus visit since last year's BBQ ($).
If you missed it, Brandon has the details on Michigan's lastest offer, which went out to 2015 three-star TX S Khalil Haughton:
I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make a visit. I know I’m going to be really busy during the summer but I’ll be making plans later on some places that I’m going to try and stop by. Still not sure which schools though.
Given that quote and Haughton's Texas roots, I'm with Brandon here—unless Haughton visits, Michigan probably won't be in the picture for very long.