Winston On Campus
2016 U of D Jesuit point guard Cassius Winston, the #23 overall prospect on the 247 Composite, is expected to be on campus today for an unofficial visit, per The Michigan Insider's* Kyle Bogenschutz ($). With two bigs already in the fold—albeit with rumblings that Austin Davis could reclassify to 2017—and Tyus Battle adding a dynamic wing to the class, getting a point guard will be the main focus going forward, and there's little question Winston is at the top of Michigan's wish list.
Winston's father told Bogenschutz that this is still a battle between the Wolverines and Michigan State. Winston will have a little more time to focus on recruiting in the near future, as a broken wrist suffered last weekend will sideline him the next 6-8 weeks.
Step Into The Octagon. For Football. I Think.
ExposureU teams w NFL QBs & trainers for a 1 day Aerial Assault. First ever 2016, 2017, 2018, & 2019 QB Cage Match! pic.twitter.com/Kw93lkmjlQ
— Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) May 13, 2015
Jim Harbaugh announced a quarterback camp to coincide with Michigan's Exposure U Presented By Troll God camp. The available details are limited to the above for now. Colin Kaepernick! Jay Cutler! Denard Robinson! Jameis Winston! Uh... Zac Robinson! A F****** FIGHTER JET! CAAAAAAAAAAAGE MAAAAAAAATCH!
You know what? The fewer details we add to the above, the better. Stay tuned for an indeterminate time until QB ARMAGEDDON.
[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup]
Visit Reaction: Cole Van Lanen
Four-star 2016 WI OT Cole Van Lanen visited Michigan last weekend, and he told TMI's Brice Marich a personalized film session with Tim Drevno stood out to him ($):
“Obviously the Big House was awesome, but what Coach Drevno did compared to other coaches is he literally took my film and showed me play by play what he likes about me compared to other people,” said Van Lanen. “No other coach has done that with me and that really impressed me. He also showed film of when he was with the 49ers and he put those guys film next to mine and showed me play by play what he was doing right, which is why he wants me so bad on the team and I thought that was awesome.”
Van Lanen also took recent trips to Wisconsin and Nebraska, and he now plans to take a break from visits to focus on his track season. He doesn't have a top list at the moment.
California Updates
Michigan is still hanging around the top groups of several big-time California prospects. The Rivals Camp Series in Los Angeles provided Adam Gorney with a chance to catch up with a couple of them. He reports five-star OLB Caleb Kelly plans to rework his list due to increased interest in (sigh) Ohio State, though Michigan still is among his top schools ($). Kelly claims no leader at this time. Gorney also relayed that Michigan "seems to have [the] attention" of top-100 ATH Jack Jones, who could end up at receiver or cornerback in college.
While Oregon appears to be the frontrunner, four-star CA OLB Darrian Franklin mentioned Michigan among the programs standing out to him, per Gorney ($). Florida, Florida State, UCLA, and USC are also in the mix.
Matters are a little more concrete with three-star CA OT Alex Akingbulu, who told Scout's Andrew Gorringe he has a top four of Michigan, UCLA, Utah, and Cal ($). He plans to make a decision during his senior season, and will take official visits, though not necessarily all five that he's allotted.
New Offers: Another 2017 QB Offered
It's been a relatively light week for offers. Relatively.
The Wolverine's Tim Sullivan reports a lone 2016 offer, which went out to top-100 Miami (YTM) WR commit Sam Bruce, who attends powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale. Bruce is very much a longshot; even if he cools on the Canes, he's got a loaded offer sheet.
Sullivan also reports an offer out to three-star 2017 NY QB Jack Coan, an early Notre Dame lacrosse commit who's getting increased attention for his football acumen. Coan since added football offers from Maryland, Miami (YTM), and Syracuse.
Michigan offered a pair of four-star 2017 New Jersey defensive tackles: 247's Steve Lorenz reported the offer to Fred Hansard, who's added several major offers over the last couple weeks, and Sullivan reported the offer to Dalyn Wade-Perry, who boasts an excellent early list of offers.
Michigan also offered four-star 2017 CA WR Nathan Tilford, and Adam Gorney says they're high on Tilford's list. Additionaloffers went out to 2017 MS RB Cam Akers and 2018 TX WR Jalen Preston, per The Wolverine.
Etc.
A couple of recent offers have been met with very positive reactions. Speedy three-star IN RB Kiante Enis told 247's Steve Wiltfong that Michigan's "awesome tradition" caught his eye, and he plans to visit this summer.
Four-star CO SDE Carlo Kemp recounted his reaction to getting the offer for The Wolverine's Brandon Brown ($):
"The Michigan offer is awesome," Kemp said. "Coach [Greg] Mattison came to our school and talked to my coach the whole time. After he left Coach Mac (Tom McCartney) informed me that Michigan wanted me and had offered me a scholarship. My heart pretty much jumped out of my chest.
"Every time you hear those words you just get so excited. Coming from Michigan I felt it a little bit more. Bringing in Harbaugh and what they are doing up there is big. That's something that would be very exciting to be a part of."
Kemp said he'll "most definitely" use one of his official visits to see Ann Arbor.
Four-star 2017 OLSM ILB Josh Ross, who had a lot of good things to say about the new staff, told Lorenz his current top three is Michigan, Michigan State, and Notre Dame, in no order ($). Notably, the Irish are the only school among the three that hasn't extended an offer.
Four-star 2017 Cass Tech S Jaylen Kelly-Powell plans to attend Michigan's June event for the top in-state juniors, per TMI's Josh Newkirk ($).
Happy trails to 2016 Cass Tech S Demetric Vance and 2016 Traverse City OL Thiyo Lukusa, who both committed to Michigan State this week. Vance had Michigan in his final group but always seemed to be a State lean; they got in on him earlier than Michigan's new staff were able. Lukusa was a top target of Hoke's staff, and very nearly committed to them, but wasn't a top priority under Harbaugh's watch.
[*There have been some changes at Michigan's Scout site, and that includes a name change from Go Blue Wolverine to The Michigan Insider. I'll be shorthanding them as TMI going forward. Yes, I realize they don't have full ownership of that acronym.]