To get things started, an update on the most talked about 2016 recruit seems to make sense: QB KJ Costello.
It looks like the drama me be all but over in terms of Costello’s recruitment as he has set up his announcement for Thursday, March 26th at his high school. And things don’t look very good for Michigan as he was unable to visit campus one more time before making his decision.
While it looks like he will definitely stay on the west coast (USC looks like the heavy favorites), the silver lining here is that he nearly committed on his one visit to Ann Arbor last summer, loves Harbaugh and told me that Michigan’s chances would not be hurt if he didn’t make a return trip.
Even with him telling me that, I’m only giving the Wolverines a 10% chance at landing him on the 26th. But that should not stop them from continuing to recruit him until NSD 2016, even if another QB is committed (I expect that to be Brandon Peters in the next two weeks).
Current and Future Visitors
The #1 player in the 2015 (basketball) class, small forward Jaylen Brown is on his official visit to Michigan this weekend and has brought a very big and important entourage with him to check out Ann Arbor.
According to Go Blue Wolverine’s Sam Webb, Brown brought his Mom, uncle (Michigan grad), cousin (Michigan student), grandma and possibly his AAU coach with him on his visit ($). While most believed the Wolverines didn’t really stand a chance in his recruitment, but Webb is reading between the lines. Add in the group he brought with him, Michigan’s ability to consistently develop and produce NBA talent and John Beilein’s coaching style and it looks like there’s a legitimate shot at landing the country’s top player.
Back to football, the three top New Jersey recruits (Ahmir Mitchell, Brad Hawkins and Ron Johnson) had to reschedule their visit to next weekend because of the weather.
While that puts a little damper on this weekend’s visitors (mostly in-state stars), next weekend is turning into a very big recruiting weekend as multiple top out of state targets will make their way to Ann Arbor, including:
- 2016 LB Devin Bush Jr
- According to Wolverine247’s Steve Lorenz, Bush is expected to take an unofficial visit to Ann Arbor ($).
- Bush holds a Michigan offer and included the Wolverines in his top group with FSU and Georgia. So, an unofficial visit early on is huge.
- 2017 CB Jamyest Williams and S Isaiah Pryor
- According to The Wolverine’s Tim Sullivan, Williams and Pryor will make the trip up with their trainer ($).
- Pryor was one of the first 2017 recruits offered by the new staff while Williams landed an offer from the previous staff.
- Getting the two elite targets on campus this early is huge for Michigan’s chances, especially with their teammate and top 2016 OT EJ Price telling Sullivan that the Wolverine’s are his “outright leader” before visiting ($).
As for other top recruits that have set up plans to visit Michigan in the new/distant future:
- OG Terrance Davis will visit for the spring game (per his Twitter)
- TE Naseir Upshur will visit “in the next month” (per his interview with Rivals’ Mike Farrell)
- S CJ Pollard will officially visit Michigan this fall (per Rivals’ Blair Angulo)
- Newly offered elite DE Marlon Davidson is planning to officially visit Michigan (per The Wolverine’s Tim Sullivan). More on him later.
Making the Cut
Michigan was named the 5th team in 2016 RB Robert Washington‘s final 6 teams (per his Twitter), which is big since he’s one of the best backs in the class and a top target for the staff. He’s visited five times already so don’t expect him to get on campus before his announcement on April 25th but he could be receiving a visit from Jim Harbaugh before that date.
Another top target for 2016, LB Jaquan Yulee, included the Wolverines in his top group. He named Michigan to his top 7 in his interview with Rivals’ Jason Stamm ($), saying that while he doesn’t know much about the program, the Harbaugh factor and early playing time has him very interested. He’s planning on visiting this summer with uber-elite 2017 teammate and UofM offered target Devon Hunter (per Steve Lorenz($)).
Offering New Territories
The new coaching staff is looking to recruit on a national scale, which means going to places where they haven’t recruited in a long time, like Hawaii and SEC country. While it’s not known if they will land any of these guys, growing the interest will help with future targets.
The latest offers include:
RB Vavae Malepeai out of Hawaii landed an offer this week and it looks like, even though they’re his farthest offer away from home, they are standing out, calling the offer “huge for me”, in an interview with Scout’s Doug Kimmel ($).
I mentioned DE Marlon Davidson‘s earlier and there are two different views of this offer from top recruiting analysts. As Wolverine247’s Steve Lorenz has said there is “next to no chance” he or newly offered LB Lyndell Wilson end up in the Maize and Blue ($). However, The Wolverines’ Tim Sullivan spoke with him at the Atlanta Rivals Camp and said Davidson is “more interested in U-M than you might expect” and is looking to officially visit ($).
As for Wilson, he looks much more likely to stay in-state and sign with either Alabama or Auburn. But an offer at least opens his eyes, and his coaches eyes, to the Maize and Blue.
As for the other offer that went out this week, DE Ron Johnson landed it before he was expected on campus for the weekend (that trip was postponed until next week). With Michigan highly interested in both his travel partners Ahmir Mitchell and Brad Hawkins, there’s a possibility they can jump into the top group for all three after the trip.
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