Not directly recruiting-related, but it does relate to talent acquisition from places other than the current roster, so here goes. Australian punter Blake O'Neill tweeted this morning that he'll be on an official visit to Michigan this week. The 6-2, 215-pounder played at 1-AA Weber State last year, where he averaged 44.1 yards per kick, with opponents only returning 11 of his 62 punts. He's been on the Michigan radar for a while, and things could start to get serious soon.
Virginia Beach (Va.) Ocean Lakes 2016 cornerback Levonta Taylor has seemed vaguely interested in Michigan over the course of his recruitment - and more so when he let us known in October that he'd try to visit this spring, thanks to a family connection - but he'll make his college decision next Friday, and with no visit to Ann Arbor, U-M won't be in the mix. The five-star, top corner and No. 9 overall player nationally, appears bound for Florida State.
This weekend is shaping up to be one of the biggest in a very long time for Michigan. Not only will some of the state's best players be on-campus Thursday (about which more in a moment), but prospects are coming from far and wide to see the Maize and Blue in person. That includes the nation's fourth-best overall prospect, Paramus (N.J.) Catholic five-star defensive tackle Rashan Gary, whose former high school coach, Chris Partridge, is now on the Michigan staff. It also includes a few fellow Garden Staters, making a rescheduled trip from last weekend, in South Jersey trio Ron Johnson, Brad Hawkins, and Ahmir Mitchell, all four-star prospects. Then of course, we reported Saturday that 2017 Georgia defensive backs Jamyest Williams (and early four-star) and Isaiah Pryor, both of Lawrenceville (Ga.) Archer, would be in town this weekend, along with another prospect, 2016 Tyrone (Ga.) Sandy Creek corner Korey Banks. Expect even more updates (and a full list later today) over the course of the week.
As for Thursday, longtime recruiting expert Tom Lemming will be having the Michigan stop on his photoshoot tour - it's one of the final few stops, with past travels around the country this offseason - and the venue will be Michigan's facilities. While it's separate from an unofficial visit to Ann Arbor, there's no question that the vast majority of the prospects in attendance will also take the opportunity to go to Michigan's practice while they're in town. That includes some who aren't particularly interested in U-M as an option (Daelin Hayes, for example), but there's no negative to getting exciting lists in the house to see what U-M has to offer. Another key visitor? Plymouth (Mich.) 2016 offensive lineman Michael Jordan, who had a strong visit to Notre Dame last weekend, but is high on the Maize and Blue.
The Spring Game visitors list is surprisingly underdeveloped at this point, but it's partially because Michigan's coaches (and prospects) are building new relationships with each other quickly, and in many instances, working on trips earlier - this weekend is an obvious beneficiary of that. We'll see exactly how things play out, but it should be a nice list, if not a blockbuster. If it doesn't move the needle in a big way, it will primarily be because this coming weekend steals its thunder. That game will definitely have at least one visiting player (four-star Indiana quarterback Brandon Peters) on commit watch, and others high on Michigan with recent offers (2017 Ohio running back Todd Sibley) in attendance.
As always, thanks for visiting TheWolverine.com. Feel free to use this thread for questions, comments, discussion, etc.
Virginia Beach (Va.) Ocean Lakes 2016 cornerback Levonta Taylor has seemed vaguely interested in Michigan over the course of his recruitment - and more so when he let us known in October that he'd try to visit this spring, thanks to a family connection - but he'll make his college decision next Friday, and with no visit to Ann Arbor, U-M won't be in the mix. The five-star, top corner and No. 9 overall player nationally, appears bound for Florida State.
This weekend is shaping up to be one of the biggest in a very long time for Michigan. Not only will some of the state's best players be on-campus Thursday (about which more in a moment), but prospects are coming from far and wide to see the Maize and Blue in person. That includes the nation's fourth-best overall prospect, Paramus (N.J.) Catholic five-star defensive tackle Rashan Gary, whose former high school coach, Chris Partridge, is now on the Michigan staff. It also includes a few fellow Garden Staters, making a rescheduled trip from last weekend, in South Jersey trio Ron Johnson, Brad Hawkins, and Ahmir Mitchell, all four-star prospects. Then of course, we reported Saturday that 2017 Georgia defensive backs Jamyest Williams (and early four-star) and Isaiah Pryor, both of Lawrenceville (Ga.) Archer, would be in town this weekend, along with another prospect, 2016 Tyrone (Ga.) Sandy Creek corner Korey Banks. Expect even more updates (and a full list later today) over the course of the week.
As for Thursday, longtime recruiting expert Tom Lemming will be having the Michigan stop on his photoshoot tour - it's one of the final few stops, with past travels around the country this offseason - and the venue will be Michigan's facilities. While it's separate from an unofficial visit to Ann Arbor, there's no question that the vast majority of the prospects in attendance will also take the opportunity to go to Michigan's practice while they're in town. That includes some who aren't particularly interested in U-M as an option (Daelin Hayes, for example), but there's no negative to getting exciting lists in the house to see what U-M has to offer. Another key visitor? Plymouth (Mich.) 2016 offensive lineman Michael Jordan, who had a strong visit to Notre Dame last weekend, but is high on the Maize and Blue.
The Spring Game visitors list is surprisingly underdeveloped at this point, but it's partially because Michigan's coaches (and prospects) are building new relationships with each other quickly, and in many instances, working on trips earlier - this weekend is an obvious beneficiary of that. We'll see exactly how things play out, but it should be a nice list, if not a blockbuster. If it doesn't move the needle in a big way, it will primarily be because this coming weekend steals its thunder. That game will definitely have at least one visiting player (four-star Indiana quarterback Brandon Peters) on commit watch, and others high on Michigan with recent offers (2017 Ohio running back Todd Sibley) in attendance.
As always, thanks for visiting TheWolverine.com. Feel free to use this thread for questions, comments, discussion, etc.
