I Will Now Surgically Attach Myself To My Laptop
247's Steve Lorenz has published an early list of visitors for The Game. It's free, extensive, and includes the following big names, among many others:
- Five-star GA ATH Mecole Hardman, a Peppers-type who's expected to stay in SEC country but is giving M a serious look.
- Four-star TX ILB Dontavious Jackson and his teammate, three-star S Chris Brown, will take their long-awaited official visits.
- Four-star MD OG Terrance Davis, who maintains Michigan as his leader heading into his official visits, per 247's Luke Stampini ($).
- Detroit King teammates LaVert Hill and Donnie Corley could be back on campus for unofficial visits, as could Hill's fellow tenuous PSU commit, Quinn Nordin.
- Four-star FL DT Keyshon Camp is showing a lot of interest despite his USC commit; after taking an official in September, he'll pay his way back for an unofficial.
- Three-star FL WR Keyshawn "Pie" Young has had Michigan at or near the top of his impressive offer list for a while. He'll be in on an official.
- In addition to hosting a huge number of current commits, M will host six top-150 recruits each from the 2017 and 2018 classes.
Michigan also will have a second USC flip candidate on campus in three-star WR Velus Jones Jr., who added an offer a couple weeks ago and will be in on an official visit.
One big name who initially planned to make the trip is four-star TX OT Jean Delance, who had to reschedule his official visit because his team advanced in the playoffs. In a sign that his interest is legit, he told 247's Ryan Bartow that as a result he's pushing back his announcement date ($):
Delance had hoped to announce a verbal commit January 2 at the Under Armour All-American Game.
That's now up in the air.
"No I will not commit," Delance said. "I will visit these schools before I (am) committing if possible."
This might put Michigan in a tight spot if another lineman wants to commit before Delance is ready to make a decision, but that's one of those good problems.
[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]
Checking In On The Left Coast
It's always difficult to tell which West Coast prospects who show significant early interest will maintain that interest throughout the process, as the nature of travel, money, and time make it tough to have close to the level of contact they have with local schools. Michigan is right in the mix with California prospects CB Jack Jones, WR Dylan Crawford, and perhaps OLB Caleb Kelly, depending on your insider of choice. Based on what he told Scout's Greg Biggins, you can add four-star DT Boss Tagaloa to that list:
Tagaloa was blown away by the offer from Michigan last April and checked out UCLA twice over the summer. Although Tagaloa has never named a leader, there has always been a feeling those two could be tough to beat.
"I'm a big fan of Coach Harbaugh," Tagaloa said back in the spring. "He changed the program around when he was with the 49ers and he'll do the same thing with Michigan. Coach Drevno is the one recruiting me and when he told me I had that offer, I couldn't believe it, I was really excited.
Tagaloa is setting up a Michigan official for January before announcing on Signing Day. Tagaloa's high school teammate, four-star TE Devin Asiasi, seems like less of a possibility, per Scout's Brandon Huffman:
"I'm definitely visiting Alabama and I think I might take a visit to Michigan. And then the last visit will probably be to Washington or USC," said Asiasi. "The only guaranteed one though (in January) is Alabama. The others are still up in the air. It's just a matter of who I want to see."
While Asiasi and Tagaloa aren't a package deal, they're taking a visit together to UCLA, which looks to be in good shape with both of them.
Another Innovative Recruiting Tactic
A player you're recruiting is having a birthday. How do you show that recruit some love without committing an NCAA violation and in the process get yourself a delicious cake? Behold the power of social media.
WHAT!?! S/o to UMich for the love pic.twitter.com/do96yg7Lvk
— J.Jones (@KingCaarlos) November 19, 2015
TomVH approves.
Commit Updates: Davis, Reese Visit Louisville
Current commits continue to look around with the 2016 class looking like it will see plenty of movement before NSD. David Reesepicked up a TCU offer and took a visit to Louisville. In what would be a telling development, Farmington teammate Des Fitzpatrick bailed on that Louisville trip ($); he decommitted from the Cardinals over the weekend. I'm not sure that'll have much of an effect on either Reese's interest in Louisville—where he was, at one time, committed—or Michigan's non-pursuit of Fitzpatrick.
While Reese seems like he's seriously considering jumping at a mid-year enrollment opportunity elsewhere, a source close to Kingston Davis told 247's Mike Hughes that even after his own trip to Louisville, he expects the three-star back to wind up in Ann Arbor ($):
“He’s still a solid commit to Michigan,” said the source. “Some of his friends went up there and Kenny (Thomas) was playing. Also Louisville was his first offer.”
Davis, 6-1, 225, will graduate from high school next month and will make his official visit to Ann Arbor for Michigan’s game vs. Ohio State.
“I don’t see anybody making him (switch),” said the source. “I think he’s pretty much set on Michigan, but a lot of crazy things can happen. I don’t think it would happen.”
A good visit this weekend may firm up Davis' commitment status.
This quote from Kiante Enis is worth noting. Via The Wolverine's Brandon Brown ($):
"I'm just a pretty quiet person," Enis said with a humble laugh. "I haven't had real solid contact with Michigan. Once a month maybe. I mean I'm still pretty solid though. I don't plan on decommitting at all really, I just haven't had much contact with them."
Enis will take an official visit to Michigan but it hasn't been set up yet. He also plans on checking out a few other schools just to experience the recruiting process.
We'll see if that amounts to anything.
Etc.
2016 five-star AL LB Ben Davis is considering taking an official visit to Michigan. This is almost certainly not going to amount to anything; Davis is an Alabama legacy.
Matt Falcon, the one-time M commit whose latest knee injury caused the school to offer him only a medical scholarship, has committed to play football at Western Michigan.
Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and Michigan are the three schools standing out early for 2017 five-star CA WR Joseph Lewis, per 247's Ryan Bartow ($).
Michigan offered three-star 2017 MD QB Kasim Hill yesterday. Hill hails from the powerhouse Gilman program coached by Henry Poggi's father, Biff Poggi.