A Top Three... Of One
Michigan's recent push for five-star CA CB Darnay Holmes is paying off. Holmes is in the process of narrowing his recruitment to three schools, and he told Maize n Brew he knows one school that will make the cut:
2017 5* CB/WR Darnay Holmes told @MaizenBrew that Michigan is the ONLY team that he knows will make his Top 3. Still deciding on others.
— Evan Petzold (@EvanPetzold) June 6, 2016
Nebraska is also a safe bet to be in the top three; the only official visit Holmes has set so far is to Lincoln, though he also plans to take officials to Michigan and Ohio State. Stanford and UCLA are also heavily involved. Michigan has gone from the fringe of Holmes' recruitment to the possible leader in a hurry.
[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]
Rivals and Scout Update Rankings
Both Rivals and Scout have updated their 2017 rankings following the spring evalution period. Michigan's presumed next commit, four-star VA WDE Luiji Vilain (announcing Sunday), is unfortunately falling off a bit, according to Rivals:
New rank: 180
Prev. rank: 89
Difference: -91
“Vilain is normally a dominant force but that was not the same player at the New Jersey Rivals Camp. He was a little hesitant and when his initial outside speed rush didn’t work there wasn’t much he could do. Vilain, who is announcing his commitment on June 12, is an excellent athlete that could also play in space in college. Michigan, USC and Virginia Tech are his finalists.” - Friedman
Michigan's presumed next commit, four-star VA WDE Luiji Vilain (announcing Sunday), is encouragingly improving his already excellent play, according to Scout:
Another big jump was made by defensive end Luiji Vilain.
The Alexandria (Va.) Espiscopal star jumped from No. 203 to No. 138 and he is announcing his choice June 10 [ed: it's actually June 12], and Michigan, Virginia Tech and USC are his finalists.
"A school is about to get a big-time pass rusher off the edge," said Dohn. "Vilain is quick off the edge, and he also has the athleticism to drop into coverage."
It's rare to see such a disparity like this, though it's worth noting Vilain started from a much higher perch on Rivals. This still looks like a case where Rivals might be putting too much emphasis on their own camps. Boo Rivals.
Meanwhile, cornerback commit Benjamin St-Juste vaulted into the Rivals250, going from unranked three-star to #209 overall:
“St-Juste has the look of a special defensive back. The Michigan commit has great height and length, and really flies around the field. Bigger wide receivers were not a problem for St-Juste, but it was surprising how well he did covering the smaller, quicker receivers.” - Friedman
Yay Rivals.
Other notable changes from the rankings updates:
- Top WR target Nico Collins is now a five-star (#21 overall) on Rivals.
- Commit O'Maury Samuels is ranked as the #14 RB on Rivals after previously being given a cursory four-star rating shortly after his commitment.
- Cass Tech OG Jordan Reid debuted in both the Rivals250 and Scout 300.
Big Hoops Visit Weekend
While Harbaugh gets all the headlines, the basketball program is bringing in a couple big-time visitors this weekend. According to CBS's Jon Rothstein, Kentucky transfer Charles Matthews will be on campus. Matthews, a 6'6" wing, is a former top-60 overall recruit who struggled to make an impact in his freshman season on a loaded team. He'd have to sit out a year before playing out his final three seasons of eligibility.
Matthews also has a visit set to Xavier next week, though the Musketeers just picked up a 2017 wing commit. While Matthews' camp has gone silent, 2017 commit Jordan Poole may have let the cat out of the bag here.
The other weekend visitor is five-star 2017 wing Kris Wilkes, who just added Ohio State to his impressive offer sheet after a mid-week visit to Columbus. Wilkes told Scout's Brian Snow he's still looking to learn about his options, and he's not close to a decision:
When it comes to Michigan, Wilkes said, “I think I am getting a better relationship with them now. I am hoping to keep building that this weekend on the visit. Also I want to see the campus and just get a good feel for everything.”
At this point Wilkes is a long way from making any decision, and plans to make official visits in the fall as well as unofficial visits before getting close to a decision.
He should get an offer this weekend.
More Satellite Camp Stuff
Yesterday's camp in Pearl, Mississippi afforded the coaches an chance to connect with four-star MS OLB Willie Gay, who told 247's Steve Lorenz that Michigan is firmly in the mix:
Recruiting wise, Gay has Michigan in his top five. Unusual as it is for the Wolverines to be in contention for a player from Mississippi, Gay says it's because the Wolverines have fulfilled a promise from early on in his recruitment.
"They said they were going to make me a priority, and they have," he said. "They have recruited me really hard. I have a great relationship with their coaching staff and they showed today that they can coach you up at the next level. Before they offered me, they wanted to make sure I'd be interested and I told them that if they showed interest in me, I would to them and I have."
Both Mississippi schools are, unsurprisingly, among the favorites; LSU and South Carolina round out his top five. Gay is planning to take an unofficial to Michigan before announcing a commitment in August, and he'll still take officials after that decision.
Jim Harbaugh met with five-star MS RB Cam Akers at the same camp, an experience Akers told TMI's Josh Newkirk meant quite a bit to him:
“This is my first time meeting him in person,” Akers said of Harbaugh. “So definitely got a chance to meet him, shaking his hand was really crazy to me. Just meeting him today, and introducing myself personally was a big deal.”
Akers, who has offers from just about every school you can imagine, plans to take unofficials to Michigan and Ohio State this summer.
Over at Paramus Catholic, Michigan's top 2018 quarterback target, four-star Artur Sitkowski, told Lorenz he relished the opportunity to be coached by Harbaugh:
"They're thorough in the way they teach," he said. "It was a speechless feeling to get to work with Coach Harbaugh at quarterback. He knows more about the position than I'll probably ever know. They have a real enthusiasm for the game and it shows when they get as excited as they get about teaching us at a camp like this one."
Sitkowski will be on campus for Michigan's Aerial Assault camp later this month. M looks like the leader at the moment.
Things might be trending the other direction for four-star 2017 NJ ATH Markquese Bell, who chose to meet Urban Meyer at the competing satellite camp instead of working out at Paramus Catholic, per Scout's Brian Dohn.
Etc.
Michigan will soon receive a visit from one of their top targets, four-star FL OT Kai-Leon Herbert, per Sam Webb:
"(I’m) not going to be a signing day guy,” said Herbert. “I'm probably going to end it sometime this summer."
"Most of (the top six) I've already seen. The only ones I haven't are Michigan and Mississippi State. I'm going to Michigan on June 17-18 for the big man camp (to) see what they're about up there."
When asked about playing with teammate TJ Slaton at the next level, Herbert mentioned Michigan and Florida are the two main schools they have in common.
Top-100 IMG WR Jhamon Ausbon, a former Baylor commit, went in-depth on his top four with Scout's Corey Bender. Michigan is a surprise inclusion, and the only school listed Ausbon hasn't seen in person yet; he plans to get to campus before making a decision.
Four-star VA DT Darnell Ewell will visit Ann Arbor on June 26th after previous stops at Ohio State and Notre Dame, per 247's Alex Gleitman. While OSU is the current leader, there are rumblings they won't have room for Ewell in the class.
I've mostly stopped noting each individual 2018 offer—otherwise these roundups would each be 7000 words—but it's blog policy to point out NOTY candidates. Recent offerreeBumper Pool, a linebacker from Texas, certainly qualifies.
Happy trails to four-star CA C Brett Neilon, who committed to USC yesterday. Michigan looked like the favorite at one point but Neilon's family ties to the local school won out.
Wolverine247's Isaiah Hole has been churning out video updates on Cass Tech prospects: Donovan Peoples-Jones (twice), Jaylen Kelly-Powell, Jordan Reid, and Kalon Gervin are all featured.