Coach Plastic Man
The satellite camp tour certainly can't produce anything stranger than shirtless Peruballing Harbaugh, right?
Had some fun in the Sun today with the man of #UM@CoachJim4UM#GoBlue !! pic.twitter.com/1SjRV2N3o8
— Chris Brown (Chrissoo_valid) June 9, 2015
Old school hip hop in the house at #Michigan’s Socal satellite camp. @LindseyThiry and I just bumped into Warren G ( @regulate )
— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) June 10, 2015
Never mind!
Michigan has made their way through two stops in Texas and is now in California; meanwhile, the Sound Mind Sound Body camp (TomVH preview here) is underway in Michigan, and many of the participants in that camp are expected to drop by Ann Arbor this weekend.
The satellite camps are moving so quickly—and the visitor lists have been so fluid—that I can only say I'm doing by best to hit the highlights here. Coverage of all this is certainly going to bleed into next week as reporters are able to catch up with the various high-profile participants.
Top performers from the Houston camp included four-star OLB Jeffrey McCullough and 2017 five-star DT Marvin Wilson, who has Michigan in his top five, per Steve Lorenz. Four-star TX DT Jordan Elliott, a Houston commit, also dropped by to connect with the coaching staff, per Scout's Ahmard Vital.
The Dallas camp featured a lot of talent, including top-100 OT Jean Delance, who told Lorenz that he's got a "great relationship with the staff," and he plans to visit Ann Arbor soon. Three-star DE Rahssan Thornton, whose recruitment has seemingly become a Michigan/LSU battle, told 247's EJ Holland($) it was "the best camp I've gone to that I can remember." (He also said "Jim Harbaugh is like someone's cool dad.") 2017 five-star QB Shawn Robinsoncalled Harbaugh"a quarterback genius."
Michigan leads for a couple prospects from their camps in Florida. Three-star DE Terrell Lucas told Steve Lorenz that Michigan "is on top" in his recruitment ($). He laid out a timeline for The Wolverine's Tim Sullivan ($):
"I like the whole thing about Michigan," Lucas explained. "When I hear 'Michigan,' I hear 'family.' You think of Ann Arbor, the town, you don't just think of the football team, you think of the city itself.
"Right now I'm open and trying to keep my options open. I'm considering all the colleges and trying to evaluate. I don't think it should take me that long to make my decision on which college I'm going to go to. Well before the end of the summer, I will have made my decision. End of the month or two I'll be done with it."
If he sticks to that timeline, Michigan is in very good shape. The Wolverines also emerged as the leader for DE/TE Rashad Weaver, who was offered as a jumbo athlete a few days after performing in front of the coaches, whose promise to uphold their end of the bargain stood out to Weaver, per TMI's Brice Marich:
“I would have to say yes (Michigan leads),” said Weaver. “At first when they offered, I had no leader, but when he said they would honor my commitment even if I got hurt, then that put them at the top of my list. They are the only coaches that have told me that.”
That's all from the camp tour for the moment; with SMSB this weekend, there will be much more next week.
[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]
Visits And New Offers
A few prospects decided to drop by campus on their way to SMSB, including five-star 2017 WR Osiris St. Brown, who visited with younger brother Amon-Ra St. Brown (2018 WR). Oldest brother Equanimeous St. Brown signed with Notre Dame in the 2015 class. While the Irish will be serious competition, Osiris told Lorenz that the visit impressed even though most of the coaches weren't around to host (Jay Harbaugh flew back early from California), and Michigan will be in the mix going forward ($):
"Michigan is definitely a contender," he said. "I don't have a top list or anything at this point, but Michigan is going to be around as long as the relationships I build stay strong."
In addition to the St. Browns, Canadian WR Chase Claypool was also on campus yesterday, per Lorenz ($).
An upcoming weekend visit to keep an eye on: Michigan will host the Hollywood (FL) Flanagan trio of four-star LB Devin Bush Jr., three-star S Devin Gil (Miami commit), and two-star S Josh Metellus, and M's outlook is quite good with all three, per Lorenz ($). Bush and Gil have shown high interest for a while, and Metellus seems quite intrigued by the offer he added this week. Devin Bush Sr., Flanagan's head coach and co-host of one of the Florida camps, had a lot of good things to say about Michigan's camp tour in this post by Eric Rutter.
Three-star FL OLB Jonathan Jones, who's long maintained Michigan as his leader, will also make his long-awaited unofficial this weekend.
In offer updates, Michigan gave one out to three-star CA S Troy Dye, whose recruitment has really blown up of late. They also offered a trio of 2017 prospects. Four-star UT RB/ATH Sione Heimuli-Lundtold TMI's Brice Marich that adding a Michigan offer was "unreal." The Wolverine's Brandon Brown reportedoffers out to four-star TN RB Cordarrian Richardson and three-star TX OT Walker Little, both of whom (especially Richardson) boast impressive early offer sheets.
Peters Gets Elite11 Finals Invite
Congrats to the 16th invite to The #Elite11 Finals, Avon (IN) QB Brandon Peters (@Bpeters2118). #GoBlue#Michiganpic.twitter.com/4uErOPWbhz
— Elite11 (@Elite11) June 11, 2015
Well, that didn't take long. While Peters earned his Elite11 Finals invite, Michael Onwenu impressed at the Rivals Five-Star Challenge, and he was named one of the ten prospects who most helped his stock by Mike Farrell:
Checking in at 6-foot-2 and 367 pounds, Onwenu showed off amazing feet for a massive interior lineman and he reset as well as anyone. He washed opponents across the middle when they tried to go inside him and he extended his arms well and got his feet right when they tried to go outside. His balance was very good and he was solid inside and even outside at tackle.
Onwenu might get a bump in the rankings, though as a guard-only prospect on the offensive line there's probably a limit to how high he can get.
Etc.
Four-star CA S Marquel Dismuke decommitted from Cal yesterday, and soon after Rivals' Adam Gorney tweeted that Michigan and Nebraska "have emerged" in his recruitment.
Four-star NJ DE Ron Johnson told Tim Sullivan that Michigan still leads for him, and he plans to take all five officials—including one to Ann Arbor—before making a decision by the end of his senior season ($).
Happy trails to three-star NJ OL Will Fries, who committed to Penn State on Tuesday. Michigan was close here, but they've got plenty of other O-line prospects who are candidates to join the class.