UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[jaadam4]

I hope DPJ and Collins had a good weekend. They sure had a good game to watch.

[The Oracle]

Collins didn't come. DPJ had a great visit, supposedly. Just a matter of time for both.

[*JD*]

Any LSU commits that Michigan was in on back to looking around?

[jaadam4]

Collins didn't come. DPJ had a great visit, supposedly. Just a matter of time for both.

Good news on DPJ.

I wonder why Nico didn't make it.

[The Oracle]

Logistics. He was supposed to drive up with Woods and that big OT whose name is escaping me, but just didn't work out.

[jaadam4]

Well hell, I'd have drove down and got him for that game.

[WM Wolverine]

Leatherwood?

[jaadam4]

No, Leatherface

[The Oracle]

Really good visitor list for the Wisky game:

Michigan's game against Wisconsin on Saturday is, by far, the biggest visitor weekend of the season, especially for official visits. The Wolverine staff will host nine official visitors starting on Friday with three, five-stars headlining the group.

Take a look at the star power that will be in Ann Arbor this weekend.


Jordan Anthony
Inside linebacker
4 STARS
IMG Academy
Bradenton, FL
RR: 5.9
Ht: 6'1"
Wt: 220 lbs
Class: 2017
3
POSITION
70
NATIONAL
15
STATE
Commitment status:
UNDECIDED

Note: Many believe that Michigan may actually lead for Anthony. The Maryland native is now at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. and has been high on U-M throughout his process and was last in Ann Arbor for the spring game. He's coming in with his teammate Cesar Ruiz and the two of them roll out on Friday morning.

"I'm excited to be there," Anthony said. "It should be a great game."


Baron Browning
Outside linebacker
5 STARS
Kennedale
Kennedale, TX
RR: 6.1
Ht: 6'3"
Wt: 230 lbs
Class: 2017
1
POSITION
4
NATIONAL
2
STATE
Commitment status:
UNDECIDED

Note: The big-time, surprise visitor let the cat out of the bag Monday night with a four-graphic tweet:

View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter
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Baron Browning @baronbrwnng
Official Visit to Michigan this week #GoBlue #BluePrint17 ‼️��〽️
7:02 PM - 26 Sep 2016
263 263 Retweets 1,072 1,072 likes
Browning was in Ann Arbor in June during one of U-M's on-campus camps and really enjoyed his time. He has become friends with Cesar Ruiz and Alex Leatherwood throughout the recruiting process and the three of them decided to check out Ann Arbor for a game day together.


Brelin Faison-Walden
Outside linebacker
4 STARS
Grimsley
Greensboro, NC
RR: 5.8
Ht: 6'1"
Wt: 200 lbs
Class: 2017
23
POSITION
-
NATIONAL
-
STATE
Commitment status:
VERBAL COMMIT
Penn State

Note: Faison-Walden committed to Penn State on July 19 but with the way things look in Happy Valley right now, you can't blame the four-star talent for wanting to look around. Considering how badly Michigan beat down the Nittany Lions last week, why not check out what's cooking in Ann Arbor?


Chuck Filiaga
Offensive tackle
4 STARS
Aledo
Aledo, TX
RR: 5.9
Ht: 6'6"
Wt: 335 lbs
Class: 2017
16
POSITION
122
NATIONAL
14
STATE
Commitment status:
UNDECIDED

Note: Filiaga has an interesting background as a native of American Samoa, who then grew up on California, and now lives in Texas. That creates an interesting dynamic in his recruitment. Michigan director of player personnel Tony Tuioti has known about Filiaga since he was an 8th grader and that connection has Filiaga looking seriously at Michigan. He also received a graphic from U-M depicting him as a Wolverine:

View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter
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Chuck Filiaga @CFiliaga
Official visit to Michigan this week!! #Goblue #Blueprint17 ��⚪️〽️
7:11 PM - 26 Sep 2016
85 85 Retweets 438 438 likes
"I can't wait to visit," Filiaga said. "I'm honestly looking forward to everything. The Michigan coaches have told me that it's a great place and words can't describe it and I need to see it for myself. That's what I've heard from Brett Neilon as well so I need to check it out."

Neilon, a current USC commit, is also still looking pretty hard at U-M considering what's going on with the Trojans.


Chase Hayden
All-purpose back
4 STARS
St. George's
Germantown, TN
RR: 5.9
Ht: 5'11"
Wt: 190 lbs
Class: 2017
4
POSITION
168
NATIONAL
8
STATE
Commitment status:
VERBAL COMMIT
Arkansas

Note: Hayden committed to Arkansas on July 23 but was very high on U-M before that. He's been to Ann Arbor for a big game before, but Michigan came out on the short end of the stick for that one against Michigan State. A top-ten matchup against Wisconsin is simply too much for him to pass up this weekend.


Alex Leatherwood
Offensive tackle
5 STARS
Washington
Pensacola, FL
RR: 6.1
Ht: 6'5"
Wt: 298 lbs
Class: 2017
5
POSITION
20
NATIONAL
3
STATE
Commitment status:
VERBAL COMMIT
Alabama

Note: Though not quite as highly ranked as Browning, Leatherwood is a five-star prospect in his own right and it's his current commitment status that makes him the biggest visitor of the weekend. The No. 5 offensive tackle in the nation is committed to Alabama but has decided to check out Ann Arbor just in case.

"I want to get to meet most of the coaches in person," he said. "I really want to get a feel for Ann Arbor. I don't want to leave any stone unturned."

Leatherwood received a custom graphic from Michigan as well and it shows him standing triumphantly inside Michigan Stadium, where he'll be on Friday:

View image on Twitter
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Follow
Alex Leatherwood ✔ @Alskee_
Official Visit to Michigan Next Week #GoBlue #BluePrint17 ‼️⚪️��〽️
8:15 PM - 25 Sep 2016
231 231 Retweets 930 930 likes

Shanon Reid
Outside linebacker
2 STARS
Dunbar
Fort Myers, FL
RR: 5.4
Ht: 6'1"
Wt: 200 lbs
Class: 2017
-
POSITION
-
NATIONAL
-
STATE
Commitment status:
UNDECIDED

Note: Reid is one of the quieter prospects on the list but is a big-time visitor in his own right. Despite being modestly rated as a two-star prospect, Reid claims offers from schools like Arizona, Clemson, Florida State, Mississippi State, North Carolina, and West Virginia among others. He's a speedy, SAM prospect for U-M and would be another solid grab out of the state of Florida if it plays out that way.


Cesar Ruiz
Offensive center
4 STARS
IMG Academy
Bradenton, FL
RR: 5.9
Ht: 6'3"
Wt: 313 lbs
Class: 2017
1
POSITION
118
NATIONAL
25
STATE
Commitment status:
UNDECIDED

Note: Fans of Michigan recruiting know all about Ruiz and are hopeful that he'll end up in maize and blue. Ruiz is now at IMG Academy but he's the former teammate of current Wolverine Ron Johnson from his days back in Camden, N.J. For a while it looked like he was all Michigan, then Alabama took the pole, and now U-M looks to be on top again. Ruiz hasn't been to Michigan since the spring game but he's primed and ready to get back.

"I'm excited I get to see all my boys again," Ruiz said. "Ron, Leatherwood, Baron Browning, and Jedrick [Wills]. All those dudes.

"It's going to be a good game too."


Jedrick Wills
Offensive tackle
5 STARS
Lafayette
Lexington, KY
RR: 6.1
Ht: 6'4"
Wt: 316 lbs
Class: 2017
4
POSITION
16
NATIONAL
1
STATE
Commitment status:
UNDECIDED

Note: Wills has had several Ann Arbor visits lined up but none have materialized yet. This weekend will finally be the time. The five-star offensive tackle is excited to see what all the buzz is about at U-M.

"It feels great that I'm finally getting up there," he said. "I'm interested to see what everyone emphasizes about Michigan for myself. I've heard that The Big House really is "The BIG House" and it just makes you feel like home. I've heard that Ann Arbor is really pretty too."

It's believed that Alabama has led for Wills for a while but getting him on campus is a step for the Michigan coaches that they haven't been able to take before. It'll be interesting to see how much Wills has to say after the visit.

[jaadam4]

Nice summary. Looking forward to the weekend!

[Da Geezer]

Thanks, Oracle. Really informative.

[Mackenzie]

Ditto!

[iam416]

A couple years ago OSU had Carlton Davis verballed. Davis was a DB from SoFla and a badass -- a truly underrated 4*. Anyway, he decommitted, went to Auburn and has started from Day 1. This is a quote from Bill Greene on Davis:

I did a video interview with OSU commit Carlton Davis in Florida a few years ago. It was 3 weeks before Signing Day and he said how excited he was to go to Ohio State and how he couldn't wait to get there.

After the interview his 7on7 coach told me: "That was really funny. There's no chance he goes to Ohio State. But that was a great interview though."

Kids...................

[SeattleLionsFan]

That's a funny story. Crootin'!

Any speculation on why he would say that in the interview?
1. He was messing with fans?
2. He was a kid and confused about where he wanted to go.
3. He wanted to go to OSU but someone vetoed it.
4. He was using OSU as a stalking horse to increase the $ offer?
5. Something else?

[jaadam4]

Well that's random.

I was wondering the same thing SLF