This is going to be short because I'm on enough cold medication that I can barely spell my own name. You've been forewarned.
Weekend Visitors: Wilson, Reitmaier Headline IU Game
247's Steve Lorenz has graciously posted this weekend's visitor list for free. Official visits of note:
Top-100 NY OT Isaiah Wilson is already on campus. Lorenz says there is "considerable optimism" on the Michigan end of things from a source close to his recruitment.
Three-star TN DT Rutger Reitmaier is an Oregon commit, which should make Michigan look enticing by comparison. His father didn't downplay the chance of a flip at all when talking to 247's Steve Wiltfong:
Reitmaier's father Rik was recently on the Michigan campus and says the Maize and Blue have a shot here.
"Now Oregon is the leader but I think once he sees Michigan and the coaches, he really likes (Greg) Mattison, They have an opportunity to showcase their program" the elder Reitmaier said. "I was up there a couple of weeks ago, my youngest son plays travel hockey, and (Jim) Harbaugh invited me to meet with him. I was impressed with him and the coaches I met."
Three-star GA FB Tory Carter, an LSU commit, will take his long-awaited official along with high school teammate and 2018 Michigan commit Otis Reese. Michigan also hosts three-star Notre Dame CB commit Elijah Hicks, though his coach makes it sound like a change of heart is exceedingly unlikely.
Five-star MS RB Cam Akers, who's always been considered a longshot, cancelled his planned visit. Unless Michigan makes an unexpected move for USC commit Stephen Carr, it's Najee Harris or stand pat at running back.
Several commits and a handful of 2018 prospects will also be in Ann Arbor. Check out Steve's post for the full list.
[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]
Old News Remains Good News
This broke mere minutes after I'd posted last week's roundup, so you probably know this already, but Michigan did as well as anyone could hope on top-100 GA DT Aubrey Solomon's official visit. Solomon left campus telling anyone who could get an interview with him that Michigan was his top school and would be tough to beat; just an importantly, the visit opened his mother's eyes to the possibility of Solomon playing in Ann Arbor, per Scout's Chad Simmons:
"Michigan highlighted everything she was looking for. They hit on all of her academic questions, they showed here the plan for me to have internships, how big their network is, and they showed her that they have an academic plan for me at Michigan.
"She was really amazed with all they had to offer. She likes football, but academics are most important to her, so she wanted to see what Michigan had to offer there. She saw what I saw the first time I was there, so she learned why I committed to them back in the summer.
"I wanted to show her why I liked Michigan so much, and she saw it too. She saw why I committed to them and she is now OK with me going to Michigan. She left loving it there like I do. She likes the weight a degree from Michigan carries."
Solomon doesn't even plan on using an official visit to Georgia anymore. Alabama and Clemson are still threats, and probably the Dawgs too, but this went as well as it could've possibly gone.
Michigan remains in great shape with top-100 AL WR Nico Collins, too. He told Chad Simmons that the visit set a high standard and outlined the rest of his visit schedule:
"They really set the bar high with this official visit. I am going to keep taking my time and take my official visits, but I am feeling good about Michigan.
"I will be at Florida State next (November 26) for an official visit, then I will be taking one to Alabama and Georgia in January. My fifth official visit will go to Mississippi or LSU, so I have to decide on that later on."
While Collins isn't naming a leader publicly, Michigan is likely on top here.
Harris Sets Official Visit
DON'T DO IT
#1 overall recruit Najee Harris still isn't saying much of anything to the media, but after his UCLA official last week, he told Scout's Brandon Huffman when he'd take his official to Michigan:
Harris was supposed to visit Michigan this weekend, but Antioch's quarterfinal playoff game made that impossible.
"I was supposed to visit Michigan this weekend but we have a game on Saturday night. So now I'm going to go in December."
Harris will officially visit Alabama for the Iron Bowl, and he may check out Ohio State and USC after his Michigan visit. Those other two teams don't seem likely to jump into contention, though, and that gives Michigan the final visit over Alabama if this schedule holds. While it's tough for anyone to get a read on Harris, optimism is incrementing upward.
The recruitment trajectory also looks pretty good for four-star IA WR Oliver Martin, who gave a long interview to The Michigan Insider in which he mentioned the possibility of visiting again:
Moving forward, Martin says he plans to get up to Michigan again.
“After the season I’m thinking about getting up there maybe one more time, this time for an official visit,” Martin said. “Because I haven’t done any of those yet. So I could do that, and that would be towards the concluding process my recruitment.”
Michigan's swimming program is recruiting his younger sister, Ruby Martin, who nearly made the Olympic team as a 16-year-old. That'd be quite the two-for-one.
Etc.
The offensive line board has cleared up a bit. Happy trails to Jedrick Wills, who committed to Alabama, and Henry Bainivalu, who committed to Washington. Both are excellent prospects, but with so many top targets on the board and limited spots in the class, it's almost a relief to have a little more clarity.
Commit Kwity Paye was voted into the Under Armour All-American game, which will provide an interesting look at how he fares against competition that's a huge step up from what he faces in Rhode Island.
I'll end on this note:
There are 8 recruits w/ hyphenated names in the composite 247 top 300. Michigan has commits from 2, leads for 2 others, and recruited 3 more
— mgoblog (@mgoblog) November 15, 2016