The weekend ahead is Michigan’s biggest visit weekend in a long time for 2020 prospects, but it seems that last weekend holds that title for a slew of other schools. They certainly picked up commitments like it was, at least. A number of Michigan targets verbally pledged elsewhere in the last few days, and The Wolverine’s Brandon Brown wrote about who those targets were and where they seemed to be on Michigan’s big board. PA OT Michael Carmody and IN OT Blake FIsher both committed to Notre Dame and both were top targets for Ed Warinner. It’s not difficult to see why; Carmody is ranked #134 and #16 at tackle in the composite and Fisher is #53 overall and the #10 tackle. Warinner put in a lot of work with both prospects, but Brown writes that both seemed like Notre Dame leans from the start. Other notable commitments include three-star OH DE Ty Hamilton, who was going to visit Michigan this weekend but has essentially been out of the fold since Ohio State offered at the end of May; OH (woulda been) viper Bangally Kamara, who Brown notes was on the staff’s board but not their top choice at viper; and three-star OH RB Jutahn McClain, a former teammate of Erick All’s who scored seven touchdowns in a game David filmed for FBO last season and picked up a Michigan offer a day later.

Ed Warinner hasn’t exactly struck out on 2020 prospects, though. Michigan already has a commitment from MA OT Zak Zinter and MD OT Micah Mazzccua, both of whom will be on campus this weekend. Top target and composite top 100 four-star OK OG Andrew Raym will be taking an official this weekend, as will CA OT Jeffrey Persi. Raym and Persi both have Michigan as a top contender for their pledge alongside in-state schools; Oklahoma for Raym, UCLA and USC in Persi’s case. Raym visited unofficially earlier this month, and that alone is significant. With Brice Marich writing in the above linked article that Georgia is basically out of the race for Raym, it’s even more significant that Raym is going to be on campus twice in the same month. Persi spoke with The Wolverine’s Brandon Brown and said he doesn’t see leaving his home state as an issue and never has, and that he will go wherever it’s the best fit. He says he’ll announce his decision in July, so Michigan gets last crack at making an impression before he decides.

[After THE JUMP: decisions, decisions]

Michigan’s strategy is to stockpile as many visitors as possible before the month-long recruiting dead period (which is more like a two-month dead period if you don’t count the week-long quiet period at the end of July), and IL WR AJ Henning is a clear example why. They’ll get the opportunity to be the freshest school in the memory of the composite #16 receiver, as he says he’ll make his decision before his senior season begins. He spoke with 247’s Tom Loy but wasn’t more specific about his decision than looking for a place that’s the right fit based on scheme and relationships with other recruits, players, and the staff at each school. That said, there’s been some discussion about Henning possibly silently committing to Michigan or being close to a commitment, which Michigan could take and still have room for a couple of its other top targets at the position. FWIW, 247’s Steve Lorenz says he could see Michigan crystal balls coming in after this weekend. That’s worth noting, he says, because Henning has made it clear he enjoyed other official visits but his ND-leaning CB hasn’t changed.

Over a dozen prospects will be taking their officials this weekend, and Michigan’s in very good (i.e. possibly near commitment) position with a lot of them. AZ WR Brenden Rice hasn’t had a Michigan offer for long, but 2020 AZ QB and current commit JD Johnson said Rice is one of Josh Gattis’ top three targets at the position, along with HI WR Roman Wilson and Henning. Rice spoke with The Wolverine and said he was “loving every word” of Gattis’ description of the offense and that his interest in Michigan is a 10/10.

Other official visitors who seem to be teetering on the brink of Hello posts include MA ATH Eamonn Dennis, MD RB Blake Corum, and NY ATH (viper) William Mohan. A wave of M crystal balls recently rolled in for Dennis, and the all-purpose back has only this visit to Michigan scheduled and has named Michigan his leader. Seems likely that something happens with him this weekend on his official. Corum is in the same boat, but his crystal balls were cast months ago. It doesn’t appear as if anything has changed and it’s still when, not if; Steve Lorenz made a point of including a bullet point about how he’s still comfortable with his months-old Corum CB in a post about this weekend’s visitors. Mohan seems to be the staff’s top target at viper and the reason Kamara’s commitment elsewhere is just a shoulder-shrugger and not a bigger deal. The best thing to come out of Mohan’s recruitment thus far is a coach quote about his tenacity in which he’s compared to a National Geographic wolf chasing down a rabbit.

With NJ S Jordan Morant officially visiting this weekend and visits in the last week from NJ ATH RJ Moten and VA S Malcolm Greene, Michigan will have had all three of its main safety (though Greene could play multiple positions) targets on campus this month. Moten, a composite four-star and the #18 athlete in his class, spoke with TMI’s Brice Marich and rated his visit a 10 out of 10, calling Jim Harbaugh “…like a brother almost.” Greene told The Wolverine’s Brandon Brown that Michigan’s recruiting him at a 10-out-of-10 level, but that he’s still considering all schools equally. Steve Lorenz wrote that Michigan needed to get Greene to campus to have a real shot with him, and obviously that happened. He says Michigan’s staff feels they have a good shot with him after building a good foundation the last few weeks, though not a crystal-ball type shot just yet.

Sam Webb wrote a long feature on Morant in which he spoke with Morant’s head coach, who happens to be defensive assistant Anthony Campanile’s brother, about Morant’s skill set.

“I think that’s exactly what (he can do),” said Campanile.  “He to me (is) what’s trending in college football.  He’s a necessity because, one; he can tackle as good as anybody.  He can come to balance and tackle in the open field against elite level running backs.  And then he can cover like a corner.  He has negated some of the best players in the state of New Jersey. Just totally taken them out of the game.  Like you don’t even know they’re there.”

They go on to discuss Penn State (Morant officially visited and likes the staff), finding a place that can prep Morant for life after football (Michigan is on that list), and schematic fit (“I think that if you have a pulse you’ve got to be excited about what Donnie Brown does with his safeties, right?”). Michigan looks really good through the lens of Morant’s head coach, but there won’t be a public announcement of Morant’s decision until the All-American game on January 4.

For as many visitors as there will still be, it’s interesting to see just how much the list of expected prospects has changed in a week. The Michigan Insider published a list of visitors last week that has three players whose status changed within a day or two of publication. One of those noteworthy changes comes from VA DE Antwaun Powell, a longtime target who is no longer visiting this weekend; Lorenz says other options are emerging and predicted the four-star’s M crystal ball would change, which it has to 40% cloudy and 40% Virginia Tech.

There have been additions, too, as seen on this more recent list from The Wolverine. MD DL Kris Jenkins, the #32 SDE and a composite three-star, will take an official this weekend. He picked up an offer a couple of weeks ago and spoke with TMI’s Brice Marich about Michigan, which he says is among the schools he’s most interested in thanks in part to how interested they seem in him and the straightforward approach of Don Brown and Shaun Nua. Jenkins isn’t likely to drop this weekend—this is his second official (Northwestern was his first) and he says he’ll decide in August or September—but it does seem his decision will land him somewhere in the Big Ten, as his other schools of interest outside of the ones he’s officially visited/visiting are Maryland and Penn State.

2021

Last week I pulled together articles about IL QB JJ McCarthy being the lead recruiter of his class and the impact it makes to have a highly touted QB committed this early, and now there’s a braggy little number that can be included whenever we’re discussing him. RIvals released their top 100 and ranked McCarthy 11th overall and third at his position. That boosted his composite ranking past 247’s (which has him #19 overall); he is now the 11th-ranked prospect in the composite, too. That makes him a composite five-star with a rating of 0.9944. It’s almost certain he won’t stay ranked as high as he is now since he’s already committed and thus won’t see the same level of scouting, plus we don’t know which camps he’ll attend, but if he did he would be Michigan’s seventh highest rated recruit of all time per 247, and the sixth highest ranked in Rivals’ database.