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Solomon, Collins Headline Weekend Visitors List

You may be wondering why there's a document and not, say, a highlight video embedded above. That's because it's the official visit questionnaire created by Sabrina Caldwell, the mother of four-star GA DT Aubrey Solomon, and after some twists and turns Caldwell and Solomon will get those questions answered in Ann Arbor this weekend. While Michigan has an uphill climb to get Solomon back in the fold, getting his mom on campus with him is a significant development; Solomon's initial Michigan commitment didn't stick in large part because Caldwell hadn't accompanied him on his unofficial visit, and winner her over may be more difficult than her son.

Three other uncommitted recruits will take official visits this weekend, per The Wolverine's Brandon Brown:

• Four-star AL WR Nico Collins paid his way for multiple unofficial visits over the summer, and now he'll return on Michigan's dime for an offical. While Alabama and Georgia have made this closer than once thought, Michigan is in great position to get Collins.
• Four-star CA OT Aaron Banks had high praise for the program after visiting for the BBQ. He's often omitted in discussions of the potential O-line haul; he shouldn't be, especially since many other programs pushing for him—Notre Dame, Oregon, UCLA, and USC chief among them—are having down years.
• Three-star VA OT Mekhi Becton holds a Michigan offer, but he's almost certainly not a take right now with all the blue-chip linemen still on the board. Virginia looks to be his top option, so the Wolverines should be able to slow-play him and still have a shot if their board empties out a bit.

It's also worth noting that safety commit J'Marick Woods will take his official visit. He took an official to Arkansas last month and had a positive reaction; this weekend provides M a chance to solidify his pledge.

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DPJ, Collins Visiting This Weekend

I WILL be in Ann Arbor, MI this weekend to visit the University of Michigan !! #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/otHgoVOKyE

— Donovan P. Jones (@dpeoplesjones) September 21, 2016

Michigan will have their top two wideout targets on campus for the Penn State game. Five-star Cass Tech WR Donovan Peoples-Jones still isn't saying much to the media, but given the number of visits he's taken it's hard to imagine any other school being out in front, and he's got plenty of connections to the current roster:

"Really trying to see the players that went (to Cass Tech), players I know compete," Peoples-Jones said. "I know Lavert Hill, Mike Onwenu, Jourdan Lewis, all the Cass Tech guys. It's always a great time to see them in action and see them in general."

DPJ's only official visit so far has been to Nebraska, a school that's not a threat to land him. While he plans to see Florida and FSU, he hasn't set those dates yet. Michigan is looking good here.

While Georgia has been making a push of late, four-star AL WR Nico Collins will visit Michigan for the fifth time this weekend, and nobody pays their way for five unofficial visits without some serious interest. Sam Webb caught up with Collins's father, who as it turns out has been doing his part to recruit Collins to the Maize and Blue since he was a youngster:

"I'm a Michigan fan through and through,” the elder Collins said laughingly. “I could be in Jamaica somewhere (and) I'm still a Michigan fan. Yeah, I'm a Michigan fan through and through. The football down here is pretty tough, but you like to be true to your team. You grow up as a Michigan fan or any fan, that's who you like to ride with."

"I used to talk to (Nico) about Michigan a lot when he was a little younger. He wouldn't buy into it. He's always been a closet Michigan fan, but it actually took the trip... the first visit on campus… (that is what) I think sold him."

The elder Collins also called Jim Harbaugh a "genius at what he does," and took note of number of freshmen who saw the field immediately, saying "that's a big thing." Despite the rumored surge from the Bulldogs, Michigan is still the odds-on favorite.

Meanwhile, Corey Malone-Hatcher is doing his best to push for a commitment from Tarik Black. Michigan may not have any receivers committed to the class yet; that doesn't mean they're in bad shape at the position—far from it, in fact.

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Extremely Good Drew Singleton Update

Last week's roundup covered an apparent split in intel on top-100 NJ OLB Drew Singleton; while insiders at Scout and 247 believe Michigan is out in front by a considerable margin, Rivals said Clemson is a "safe leader."

Over the weekend, Sam Webb published a two-part interview with Singleton's father, and what's on the record looks quite good for Michigan. The first part is free and features Mr. Singleton discussing the recent visits to Ann Arbor and Clemson. Compare what he had to say about Clemson's academics...

(Dabo Sweeney) graduates a lot of his kids. A lot of people may not know his record, he knows how many seniors he has. If I'm not mistaken (out of) 135 seniors, he's graduated 129. That's pretty impressive to me. He's getting kids graduating and not with just any type of degree… (they’re) graduating where they can be a functional adult with a good education and doing something other than football if that's the case. Of course, it's a great football program and he's got a lot of guys playing at the next level or going to the next level. It's awesome. It was just impressive.

...to what he said about Michigan's:

It is what they say it is and more. Once you get there, they just took it to a whole different level academically. I met with (Ross School of Business Director of Outreach Programs) Rhonda Todd.  She handles a lot of things and helps incoming freshmen with how to prepare for and apply to the Ross Business School, which is one of the top business schools in the country. It was awesome. That stuff really stood out for my wife and I. We know football is going to be good. You've got Jim Harbaugh, Don Brown, Tyrone Wheatley… (football) is going to take care of itself. But the other part, the other intangibles, I was just blown away along with my wife. That really stuck with us and we're still talking about it now. Very good.  Extremely good.

That seems good. Very good. Extremely good, even. In part two of the interview, the elder Singleton said that while the tentative plan is to commit to a school on October 25th, "it may not go that far." Even though Singleton plans to take more visits, Michigan looks like they're in great shape.

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