If Tarik Black Doesn't Commit, His Coach Just Might
I'll go out on a limb and say this didn't hurt last weekend's recruiting efforts. [Upchurch]
Four-star CT WR Tarik Black was the only uncommitted official football visitor last week. Michigan gave him plenty of attention, and if his reaction is anywhere close to his coach's, they hit it out of the park, via 247's Steve Wiltfong:
"It was great," Dave Dykeman, Black's coach told 247Sports. Black made the trip with Dykeman and his parents. "What an unbelievable place. I think he's very, very impressed.
"No commitment but a pretty special place. That was pretty obvious to all of us."
Usually when someone has to clarify that a commitment didn't occur, that means it was under serious consideration. Black plans to visit Auburn this weekend, but with Notre Dame seemingly on the outside looking in, Michigan should be considered the favorite here.
[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]
Singleton Getting "Comfy" In Ann Arbor
Singleton (right) plans to return on an official visit. [Barron]
While Black was the only official football visitor on campus, he wasn't the only top 2017 recruit to take in the game. Four-star OLB Drew Singleton stuck around for the weekend after the Paramus Catholic game on Friday night, and he told TMI's Brice Marich after PC's win that he's right at home in Michigan Stadium:
Not only was picking up the win sweet for Singleton, but even more sweeter with it coming in the Big House.“You can’t do nothing but love it. All the lights, seats and everything… colors, I love everything about it,” said Singleton. “It feels very comfy.”
In message board posts following the visit, both Sam Webb and Steve Lorenz expressed a good deal of confidence that Singleton will end up a part of the class. Lorenz mentioned that Singleton plans to take an official visit back to Ann Arbor; last weekend was an unofficial visit.
Adam and Dave took in Paramus Catholic's win on Friday night; they'll have much more on that game this week.
Apologies In Advance: Mo Mo Mo Mo, Mo Bamba
THE NAJEE HARRIS WARNING: DON'T WATCH THESE HIGHLIGHTS. DON'T DO IT. IT'S BEST FOR YOUR SANITY. YOU'RE GOING TO DO IT ANYWAY, BUT DON'T DO IT. TRUST ME.
You did it, didn't you? I told you not to do that.
If you're wondering why I've said "only official football visitor" twice now, it's because Michigan had a surprise hoops official visitor on campus last weekend: 6'11" PA C Mohamed Bamba, the third-ranked player in the entire 2017 class. Yes, that Jordan stuff makes a difference.
Duke and Kentucky, to nobody's surprise, are the two programs with Crystal Ball picks for Bamba. According to Steve Lorenz, though, Michigan at least gave him something to think about:
I was told by a source who spent some time with Bamba this weekend that his family was "absolutely loving it" on Michigan's campus and that Bamba himself integrated well with what the Wolverines are offering.
The source also added that Bamba said he would "take some time to process it all", referring to the visit as a whole.
Again, two of our best basketball sources at 247 believe the Wolverines have a legitimate shot. Duke is the 247Sports Crystal Ball favorite and Harvard is considered a dark-horse.
I'd normally dimiss Michigan's chances here offhand even with the visit, but if that bit about Harvard is true, that adds an intriguing dimension to Bamba's recruitment. If he's that serious about academics, that should at least keep Michigan in the conversation, though of course Duke isn't a bad choice on that front, either. Bamba's game also looks like it'd fit beautifully in Beilein's system; he's got impressive ballhandling and passing ability for a big man in addition to his tremendous athleticism and finishing and oh lord I'm sorry I'm already getting carried away let's move on quickly now.
Herbert Wavering?
Scout's Jacquie Franciulli reported that Kai-Leon Herbert took an unofficial visit to Florida on Saturday, and he's got teammates in his ear trying to keep him close to home:
The Scout 200 offensive lineman drove up to Gainesville with Gators pledge, Jake Allen, and teammates, linebacker James Houston IV and cornerback Marco Wilson, both UF commits as well. Allen, Houston and Wilson had all made it their mission in recent weeks to let Herbet know exactly where they think he should play college football.
"It's every day. Every day it's like 'Kai when are you going to flip'," laughed Herbert. "'Kai when are you going to do this.'"
On the plus side, Herbert added he doesn't have any future visits planned, and he's still committed to Michigan. On the not-so-plus side, he pulled most of the Michigan stuff off of his Twitter bio, and when Lorenz tried to contact him for comment on the visit, he didn't get a response:
1. I reached out to Kai about it, and he did not respond. As someone who I've covered for a long time and know well, it's unusual for him not to respond, for whatever it's worth.
2. He removed his Michigan commitment stuff from his Twitter bio. I hate "reporting" stuff like that, but history says it's noteworthy when discussing this kind of stuff.
Michigan should be in fine shape with offensive line recruiting regardless, but the Herbert situation is worth keeping an eye on. Hopefully, at the very least, it doesn't have an impact on the recruitment of TJ Slaton.
Etc.
Four-star IMG OC Cesar Ruiz has set his official visits. He'll be in Ann Arbor for the Wisconsin game, and will also take officials to UNC, Florida, and Oklahoma—those schools, along with Michigan, currently comprise his top group.
In a recruiting chat on the RCMB—the things I do for you people—SpartanTailgate writer Sean Scherer, who's usually bullish on MSU's chances with their recruiting targets, said he's "close" to flipping his Crystal Ball pick from MSU to Michigan for four-star IA WR Oliver Martin.
One more notable weekend visitor: per Marich, four-star Flint Southwestern DT/SDE Deron Irving-Bey was in attendance for the game on Saturday.