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Inside the Fish Bowl is Reading Tea Leaves and Eating Leftovers

Posted onAuthorGarrett Fishaw

Everyone stay calm. National Signing Day is four days away and there are still anywhere from 4-8 spots still available in Michigan’s 2016 class. That means there is expected to be a whole bunch of moves from today until Wednesday, including multiple commitments and some possible decommitments.

Reading the Right Tea Leaves

On Monday, I put out my latest Best Guess Recruiting Class and included a couple reaches at that moment but it looks like my intel and ability to read tea leaves may have been right once again.

According to The Michigan Insider’s Sam Webb, De La Salle (CA) DT Boss Tagaloa and TE Devin Asiasi may be more than leaning towards the Wolverines ($). But first, the staff will need to win over the parents of Tagaloa, which Jay Harbaugh looks to already be working on:

On top of what Webb is hearing, Wolverine247’s Steve Lorenz is also hearing very good things from a current commit and source close to the De La Salle duo ($):

(Michigan) is working some late magic on these two guys,”

Add in multiple Crystal Ball predictions coming in for Asiasi to Michigan (including one for Tagaloa to UM) and things are starting to look even better for the Wolverines as we near NSD, even after landing the commitment of TE Nick Eubanks.

Another name I added to my latest BGRC that looked to be a tossup was Detroit King (MI) CB Lavert Hill and, even more so than Asiasi and Tagaloa, things are trending towards Michigan.

For months, Hill looked to be a near lock to choose the Wolverines but thanks to his good friends being committed to Michigan State and his official visit to East Lansing last weekend, MSU was trending. However, it looks like Mark Dantonio and staff were unable to sway the in-state star from the Wolverines as Hill is now expected to choose UM at 9am on NSD.

On top of one of the New Jersey visitors letting me know that Hill stopped by to hangout with them during his out of the blue unofficial visit on Sunday, both Sam Webb and Steve Lorenz are hearing extremely positive things about Michigan’s chances heading into his decision.

Who Wants Leftovers? 

With Michigan expected to have only 4-8 spots left in the class and at least 12 legit targets left on the board, there will be a couple recruits who miss out on the class, including:

WR Nate Johnson

According to 247Sports’ Tom Loy, Johnson went from expecting to end up at Notre Dame to now not expected to have an open spot for him in the class ($).

It’s unknown what exactly this means for him and Michigan but it looks like a toss up at this point. Thanks to Johnson’s plan to announce a “final decision” on NSD, the addition of WR Eddie McDoom to UM’s class and the expected addition of WR Donald Stewart, there’s a real chance that he no longer has a spot in Ann Arbor.

ATH Keyshawn “Pie” Young

Like Johnson, the addition of McDoom and possible addition of Stewart makes it very tough to see how Michigan could land Young as well. And thanks to that, there has been a big run on Crystal Ball predictions to Louisville for Pie.

2016 LB Devin Bush Jr. made Young a top target after he committed to Michigan and still feels confident about the Wolverines chances here:

Though every Michigan fan has to like Bush Jr’s optimism, it’s tough to see how the staff will find a spot for another wide receiver/cornerback with so many other targets at positions of need. But I’ll happily be wrong here since I believe the roster could really use some more players like Young.

TE Jacob Mathis

Mathis looked like the most likely tight end addition to Michigan’s class in December but that is no longer the case. Devin Asiasi is the only tight end left on the board and, according to Scout’s Corey Bender, Mathis now looks likely to end up at Ole Miss:

TE Chase Allen 

As for the former near lock, Allen looks destined to choose Iowa State tonight/Friday after Michigan added Eubanks on Thursday.

At this point, I believe the staff will wait on Asiasi but will be happy to stick with McKeon and Eubanks as their tight end haul for 2016.

Not Going Anywhere

There have been a ton of people asking about where 2016 commit OG Michael Onwenu will end up after his official visit to Michigan State this past weekend. Well, like I mentioned before, Onwenu is still fully expected to sign with Michigan on Wednesday:

Scout’s Josh Newkirk spoke with Cass Tech head coach Thomas Wilcher who said Onwenu is “100%” committed” to Michigan and his family wants him to go to UM ($).

On top of that, Rivals’ Josh Helmholdt is reporting that Onwenu will not be visiting Oklahoma this weekend ($) which is another good sign for Michigan as the staff approaches NSD.

At this point, I’d still be completely shocked if Onwenu didn’t sign with Michigan.

So Long…

WR/S Brian Cole.

According to multiple reports, including Wolverine247’s, the former top 2015 recruit is no longer a part of the Michigan football team. This was a move that has been rumored for awhile after multiple violations but is a tough blow either way. Hopefully he can land on his feet and end up having a nice college football career.

New Commits

Photo Credit: Photo Credit: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Garrett Fishaw
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