Brian Jean-Mary and Sherrone Moore have put in work with
Brayden Rouse, who included Michigan in his recent top 4, along with Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas. I got the opportunity to speak to Brayden following his visit to Ann Arbor earlier this Spring:
Michigan stands really high on my board after the visit! What stood out was their practice; I was very impressed by how effective each period was in practice and overall it was very efficient.
He'll return to Ann Arbor for an O.V. on the weekend of June 6th, however, Tennessee will be getting his last O.V. on June 20th, which could be a major advantage for them in eventually securing his commitment. To my understanding, the Volunteers are the leaders at this stage. They were his first major P5 offer, and have built a really strong relationship.
I've discussed Michigan's recruitment of
Shadarius Toodle at length here on The Den, including in
a thread published over the weekend. I recently submitted a FutureCast for the Wolverines to eventually flip Toodle from Auburn; however, North Carolina is a new team to enter the mix in this recruitment and is a genuine threat moving forward.
Nick Abrams II announced a Final 4 yesterday of Michigan, Alabama, Georgia, and Oregon. It's really hard to identify a clear leader at this stage. I've spoken to Nick and his father at length over recent weeks, and both of them told me that it was currently really even between all 4 finalists. I won't include any quotes from either of those conversations, as a lot was off the record, and the only true reportable quotes I got were relating to how good the recent spring visit was and how much time Brian Jean-Mary spent with them.
However, much like with Brayden Rouse, Michigan is getting Abrams' 2nd of 4 official visits. That is, once again, a really big disadvantage for the Wolverines, particularly given that his last O.V. is on June 20th to Oregon ahead of a July 16 commitment announcement date.
Duyon Forkpa Jr. is a player whom I could see committing to Michigan soon. He told me yesterday that he had a Final 4 which included Michigan, Colorado, Florida, and Florida State; however, his father, Duyon Sr., told me that they were down to a Top 3 which didn't include Florida State, which I found interesting.
The Wolverines are also getting a middle official visit for DQ (Duyon's nickname) on June 13th. However, unlike Brayden and Nick, I got the impression that DQ may not take all of his official visits before making a decision. The Wolverines could certainly close in on this recruitment on his official visit, or even before, as I would say they currently have a clear lead here.
Mathieu Kanu's recruitment has been an interesting one up to this point. He told me back in February that Penn State and Virginia Tech were his leaders, however, the Wolverines have been making up some ground. Mathieu was one of the few recruits who made it up for the Spring Game a couple of weekends ago, and he was really pleased with that visit. Newly-hired recruiting analyst Avery Bean has been putting in work here and has made Mathieu feel like a really big priority. One to watch to see if the staff can continue building momentum
Hudson Dunn is another LB who Michigan has high on the board and who has Michigan high on his board, but I don't have any new intel on this recruitment.
