Roseboro Announcement: Tomorrow At 2:30
Four-star NC DL Darian Roseboro will announce his college choice tomorrow at 2:30pm ET on ESPN.com—our old friend TomVH will host the proceedings. While NC State has received some buzz, mostly from Rivals' Mike Farrell, in the last week or so, Michigan recruiting insiders are still confident Roseboro will pick U-M; Sam Webb's usually prescient gut favors the Wolverines, and I've heard from multiple sources familiar with Roseboro's recruitment that Michigan is the choice unless something changes at the last minute.
While it's not out of the question that something does in fact change—there are rumblings that Roseboro's had second thoughts about attending school that far from his Carolina home—the fear that he'd pick NC State, the almost-certain choice should it not be U-M, has decreased since Roseboro didn't make a planned visit to them last weekend.
As for what Michigan would get if Roseboro commits tomorrow, I've compiled the single-game cut-ups from his Hudl page into full junior season highlights in the video above. Apologies for some of the editing; the clips on his page weren't in high quality and had different aspect ratios depending on the game, so I did the best I could. He's #45 on the team wearing either black and yellow, all yellow, or LSU-esque white and yellow uniforms; he's also the huge guy hitting people with authority.
[Hit THE JUMP for a preview of next week's Future Blue Originals, unfortunate injury news regarding Garrett Taylor, updates on a few Michigan targets, and more.]
Future Blue Originals Returns Next Week
High school football season will be in full swing this weekend, and I'll be at the Prep Kickoff Classic at Wayne State for two big matchups featuring several top recruits: Orchard Lake St. Mary's vs. Southfield and Cass Tech vs. Oak Park. I'll have a FBO post early next week scouting the main prospects from those games, including 2015 Michigan commit Mike Weber, 2016 Southfield RB Matt Falcon, 2017 OLSM LB Josh Ross, and others.
Speaking of Falcon, he's back at full strength after a torn ACL kept him out of the 2013 season, and he told 247's Steve Lorenz that Michigan could come calling with an offer soon ($):
"Michigan told me they will be watching me closely during my first game, and that an offer could come really soon after that," Falcon said. "A Michigan offer would definitely be one I would highly consider. Everyone in my family is a die-hard Michigan fan. I know they'd be really excited if I got an offer from them. I am going to take my time in the process and wait until my senior year or so to make a decision."
Despite not playing as a sophomore, Falcon is a top-300 four-star on the 247 Composite; his freshman highlights (which you'll probably want to mute) show that he's got nice feet for a young back already listed at 6'1", 215 pounds. Ohio State is one of seven programs to come through with an offer, and Michigan may not be far behind.
For those curious, 247 has the full opening-week schedule for Michigan's 2015 commits. Unfortunately, one of those commits won't be on the field for his senior season:
Michigan DB commit Garrett Taylor @gtaychillin tells me he tore his ACL in practice, has surgery on Thursday.
— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) August 26, 2014
Best wishes to Taylor for a speedy recovery. ACLs are, quite remarkably, often six-month injuries these days, so this shouldn't prevent him from participating in practice when he gets to Michigan next year, though it's safe to say the odds of a redshirt have increased.
Etc.
Michigan will receive an official visit from four-star 2015 CB Mook Reynolds, a Virginia Tech commit, per Scout's Michael Clark:
”The only official visit I have scheduled is to Michigan for the Penn State game (Oct. 11),” said the 6-foot, 171-pound Reynolds. “I’m also going to take one to Virginia Tech, but I’m not sure when yet. I’ll probably also take officials to Notre Dame, Tennessee and possibly Georgia, too.
Reynolds plans to enroll early at the school of his choice, so if he's going to change his commit—and he told Clark "it's going to take a lot" for him to do so—then that decision would have to come in a relatively short period of time after his visits.
2016 four-star GA WR Josh Imatorbhebhe holds an early Michigan offer, and he told Lorenz that the Wolverines are among the schools recruiting him the most ($):
"Michigan, Cal, Ohio State and Vanderbilt have recruited me harder than anyone to this point," he said. "I don't have any "top" schools though at this point. I have really high goals and I want to open doors to other programs before I start to narrow anything down. I know that the more options I have available to me, the more I can experience and see where the best fit really is."
Imatorbhebhe took a visit to Ann Arbor in June and said he "saw everything I really needed to see" while on that trip, so it's safe to assume Michigan is among his top choices.
TomVH wrote a must-read feature on 2016 four-star Prince Sammons, who lost both his parents while emigrating from Nigeria to the US in the hopes of making it as a basketball prospect, then found a home with a family in Cincinnati—and, eventually, as a defensive end on the football field.