I unwittingly glutened myself this week, so between that, basketball season getting underway, recruiting staying in a holding pattern, and the football team remaining rather uninspiring, there's no full recruiting roundup or FFFF today. Instead, I'm mashing the two together before I head into town for the Detroit game.
Weekend Visitors
Michigan will receive an official visit this weekend from a highly touted prospect not committed to the Wolverines. Yes, this is probably a surprise to you. This may even be a surprise to the coaches. It's probably not going to amount to a whole lot. But, hey, it's happening, and that's nice.
The recruit in question is four-star receiver Auden Tate, currently a Florida State commit, who's following through on his long-held plan to officially visit Ann Arbor after he got a Michigan offer way back in April. Tate grew up a fan of the program and he's kept in touch with QB commit Alex Malzone throughout the recruiting process. It'd be a surprise if Tate flipped his commitment, but heck, it's a surprise he's taking this trip in the first place.
Three-star Oak Park ATH John Kelly will also be in attendance as an unofficial visitor. The other 2015 recruits set to be at the game are current commits: Malzone and Grant Newsome, both of whom have remained steadfast in their pledges throughout this tumultuous season. Malzone may be joined by his Brother Rice teammate and primary target, 2015 WR Grant Perry, though Perry may choose to visit Northwestern instead.
[Hit THE JUMP for commit updates, Iman Marshall's very interesting visit plans, a couple more recruiting nuggets, and Seth's lineup diagrams for the Maryland game.]
Commit Updates
Alex Malzone's senior highlights [HT: Allen Trieu]:
Uh, NOT BAD.
Meanwhile, ESPN updated their Junior 300 for the class of 2016 recruits. OT commit Erik Swenson moved up from #256 to #188, while QB Messiah deWeaver dropped from #115 to #199.
Iman Marshall Plans Ahead
Five-star California prospect Iman Marshall, the nation's top-ranked cornerback, still plans on using one of his five official visits to check out Michigan, though 247's JC Shurburtt reports an interesting twist:
Marshall also plans to visit Notre Dame for the program's banquet weekend and added, interestingly enough, he would visit Michigan officially for the Wolverines "new staff".
Marshall has his first official set to Oklahoma for Bedlam in a couple weeks and will visit Notre Dame—the school he says has kept the closest contact with him—the following weekend. LSU and Florida State were also supposed to receive official visits, but they may be replaced because they haven't recruiting him hard enough; USC and UCLA are firmly in the mix, if not the outright favorites, but he won't use officials to see those schools because of their proximity. Marshall expanded upon his thoughts about Michigan to 247's Tom Loy ($):
“Yeah, that’s a good thing,” said Marshall who would visit Ann Arbor with potential changes looming. “The new coaching staff is going to have to bring in a new system and show what they have to offer. This is about the degree and how the staff would put work in and if they could be successful as they were previously.”
It seems like Michigan would be in the hunt should a change happen in a timely fashion, especially since Marshall's recruitment should extend late into the process, but it's hard to project given the very uncertain nature of it all.
Whether or not Marshall comes through on his plans, Michigan looks to have a decent shot with at least one California corner, recently offered three-star Colin Samuel, who had this to say to Rivals' Adam Gorney ($):
Michigan and UCLA are two schools that Samuel will take a much closer look at as his senior season winds down.
"I've always liked Michigan and they'll definitely be a top contender when it all comes down to decision day," Samuel said.
Oklahoma also came through with a recent offer, so there'll be plenty of competition for Samuel.
Hoops: '16 Five-Star TJ Leaf Commits To Arizona
Maryland Diagrams
Again, no FFFF this week due to time/health/ennui constraints, but Seth came through with the diagrams. Maryland's offense, which is missing several key pieces [click to embiggen]:
Injuries and suspensions abound in the receiving corps, most notably for star Stefon Diggs, who will miss the game due to a lacerated kidney (yikes).
The Terrapin defense is also dealing with absences concentrated in a specific position group—for them, it's at cornerback, where this week they'll start their normal strong safety, Sean Davis:
The rest of the defense is relatively healthy with the exception of standout SAM Matt Robinson, who finally made it through a full game last week after being in and out of the lineup all season with a shoulder injury. He's set to play, but probably not at 100%.