A Wall Worth Building
Michigan hosted a huge group of official visitors for the win over Wisconsin, and coming out of the weekend it sounds like they've made some serious progress recruiting for the offensive line.
The visitor most expected to eventually end up in the class was four-star IMG OC Cesar Ruiz. That impression didn't change a bit after the visit. Ruiz told The Wolverine's Brandon Brown that getting to spend time with a few recruits he's befriended during the process—Jedrick Wills, Alex Leatherwood, and Baron Browning—as well as the crew of fellow New Jersey natives on the team put Michigan in a different league from his other recent official visit:
"That made the visit ten times better for me," he said. "That’s what really separated it from my North Carolina visit last week. Jonah Melton is a really cool dude but I didn’t know him previously. Since I knew all of these dudes at Michigan previously we just decided to go have fun. We really enjoyed our time."
Florida and Oklahoma are the two official visits left on his itinerary. He made it sound like the Wolverines will be hard to catch:
"Michigan is in a good spot," he said with a chuckle. "We are going to leave it at that but yes, Michigan is in a good spot right now."
While Ruiz's warm reception to M's recruiting pitch didn't come as a surprise, the reaction five-star FL OT Alex Leatherwood, an Alabama commit, gave to TomVH was an eye-opener:
Leatherwood is still committed to Alabama but is exploring his options. His time spent in Ann Arbor seemed to have a big impact on his recruitment.
"Phenomenal, unreal atmosphere," Leatherwood said. "Changed [my recruitment] big time. My dad loves it here."
Leatherwood had similar comments to Scout's SEC-country analyst, Chad Simmons:
"To be honest, Michigan is making me think about my commitment to Alabama. My dad even likes them a lot. We're gonna do some very deep thinking on this.
"I can't really explain the feeling I have at Michigan -- I just like it a lot."
Sam Webb mentioned Leatherwood's father had been skeptical about the program entering the trip and ended up wearing Michigan gear on the visit; the repeated mentions that he enjoyed his time there could be as meaningful as the impression made on his son.
247's Steve Wiltfong got a quick visit reaction from four-star TX OT Chuck Filiaga:
"It was a great visit," Filiaga told 247Sports. "From the game, the crowd, the coaches, the players, they all make it something special! Michigan truly does have a great set up for its program."
Finally, four-star KY OT Jedrick Wills hasn't gone on the record about his visit yet, but a look at his Twitter page indicates it went quite well, too.
Michigan in in the driver's seat for Ruiz and may have moved to the top of the list for Filiaga, as well. Leatherwood and Wills are probably longer shots—especially Wills, who's expected to end up at Alabama—but it's clear the Wolverines made a strong impression on both of them.
[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]
More Visit Reactions: Browning In Play?
247's Steve Lorenz posted a bunch of insider notes from the weekend that included some positive feedback from his sources on five-star TX OLB Baron Browning's official visit:
The early returns on his visit have been highly positive, with two different sources confirming that the Wolverines have done really well with him this weekend. One source said they believe Michigan has "made a statement" with Browning in his recruitment.
He will be an interesting one to watch going forward. I'm still skeptical of Michigan's eventual chances with him, but the program does fit what he's looking for in a lot of ways, and I was told Browning hit it off with Jim Harbaugh and Don Brown pretty quickly.
Meanwhile, when Steve allowed Michigan commits anonymity so they could wager guesses as to which visitors would join the class, Ruiz and four-star IMG OLB Jordan Anthony were the two most common answers, with Filiaga also getting a mention. Lorenz noted on the board that Anthony and three-star FL OLB Shanon Reidmay have some academic work to do before Michigan is able to move forward with them. Reid told Scout's Corey Bender that Michigan and Mississippi State, his previous standalone leader, are tied atop his list after last weekend.
In that same insider post, Steve relayed that four-star 2018 TX ILB BUMPER POOL said he had an "amazing" visit, and he also put in a Crystal Ball pick for four-star IA WR Oliver Martin. Sam Webb posted on the Victors Board that he's hearing Michigan increased their lead over Michigan State for Martin, who might be entering "the deliberation phase" of his recruitment. If Martin wraps up his recruitment soon, Michigan is in great shape.
After adding an offer recently, three-star RI DE Kwity Paye, a Boston College commit, took an official over the weekend and now has a lot to think about, per Scout's Brian Dohn:
"I'm definitely going to have to sit down with my mother and my step-father and see," Paye said. "I had a great experience (at Michigan), but I'm definitely going to have to go to Boston College and take my official visit there and see how it weighs out with Michigan. Right now, those are the only two schools I'm considering.
"If I don't get the same feel there that I got at Michigan, then I'll probably be at Michigan."
If Michigan wants him, it sounds like they'll get him.
The only negative news out of the weekend is four-star TN RB Chase Hayden cancelled his official, per Webb. He denied decommiting from Arkansas on Twitter, and wanting to drive that home probably factored in.
Oh, Right, There Was A Commitment, Too
If you missed it yesterday afternoon, Michigan added a big piece to their 2018 class in four-star IN OG Emil Ekiyor—you can find his commitment post here. TMI's Brice Marich caught up with Ekiyor in the aftermath of his commitment:
“It was a great visit all together,” Eyikor told The Michigan Insider. “I mean the moment I stepped on campus, I had a great vibe there and it just felt like home. The whole coaching staff was familiar with me and they were my first offer, so that meant something special that they believed in. They were the first people to believe in me and that all played a role into it. You can’t go wrong with Michigan with the great education, great football and the whole environment just fits me.
I called (Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line) Coach (Tim) Drevno and he put me on the phone with (Head) Coach (Jim) Harbaugh. The whole coaching staff was in the room and when he told them, they all erupted and started yelling and were all really excited.”
Ekiyor added that he and teammate Markese Stepp, a 2018 four-star running back committed to Notre Dame, have discussed playing together at the next level. Stepp was also on campus over the weekend.
Maybe Don't Watch Those Highlights
Sam Webb wrote up a piece on five-star CA RB Najee Harris based on an interview Scout's Alabama outlet did with Harris's mother, and while she said she's a fan of Jim Harbaugh, the rest doesn't provide a lot of optimism from a Michigan perspective:
But fun on a visit doesn’t equate to her son being ready to change his mind. Some [Michigan] campus bystanders found that out when he recognized the talented youngster and made a presumptuous comment.
“They were like, ‘you’re gonna flip’ and he got kind of offended,” Mrs. Hicks recalled.
(Najee said) ‘Flipping? I’m just visiting.’ The guy said, ‘oh, I’m sorry.’ He (Najee) said, ‘no, you said flip. We’re just visiting.’”
It’s going to take more than one favorable visit experience to pry the nation’s top recruit away from the Tide. To mom that much is clear.
Said Hicks, “he feels real good about Alabama. That’s all that matters to me right now.”
She also mentioned Harris is not at all a fan of the recruiting process, so there's a chance he's simply trying to keep attention at a minimum. That said, Alabama is the only school mentioned as likely to receive an official visit if Harris takes any at all; if Harris doesn't take a return trip, it's hard to see him winding up in Ann Arbor.
Etc.
Three-star AL S J'Marick Woods, a Michigan commit, will take his first official visit to Arkansas this weekend, per 247's Otis Kirk. In stark contrast to Brady Hoke, Jim Harbaugh encourages his commits to look around and be sure of their decision, so it's early yet to worry about the strength of his commitment.
Three-star CA CB Elijah Hicks has picked up some big-time offers the last couple months, including Notre Dame, and he added Michigan to that list recently. Hicks told Scout's Brandon Huffman that a visit to Michigan is "a very good possibility" now that he has the offer in hand.