Closing The Opening: Player Evals

Ambry Thomas goes up and grabs an INT during 1-1s at The Opening Finals: https://t.co/fgSETJV3Nv pic.twitter.com/AhNg3YN5Ho

— Allen Trieu (@AllenTrieu) July 9, 2016

I hope beyond hope that this is the end of coverage from last week's The Opening finals, but there are some loose ends to tie up, and thankfully they're positive from a Michigan standpoint.

SBNation's Bud Elliott posted some thoughts from the event that go beyond the usual who played well, who didn't observations. He opens by cautioning recruiting followers not to get too caught up in how well shorter players perform in 7-on-7 settings, which cater to their skills without exposing a significant weakness; there are also notes on a few teams, Michigan included:

Michigan is building the perfect foil to Ohio State’s spread in the Big Ten, a bruising throwback pro-style offense with great diversity in its run game scheme and top-notch QB coaching.

Some of Michigan’s commitments won’t exactly shine in a non-contact event. Take 6’1, 232-pound running back A.J. Dillon. A padless, non-contact event just isn’t his game. The same thing goes for running back O’Maury Samuels, whose game is mostly straight-line size/speed. Oh, and Benjamin St-Juste, a 6’3 defensive back from Quebec should in no way be a three-star after the event. He showed good fluidity and was not outclassed by the major step up in competition.

That sentiment on St-Juste is universal. 247 named him one of the two cornerbacks on their "Dream Team" from the event alongside five-star Darnay Holmes, calling St-Juste "the biggest revelation on defense of the weekend." They've mentioned in a couple spots that St-Juste will get a bump in the rankings soon. Scout's Brian Dohn said Michigan "looks to be getting a gem" in St-Juste, so you can bet he'll rise there, too.

Despite already being a top-100 overall prospect, Ambry Thomas may move up, too. Scout's Allen Trieu listed him first among Midwest standouts at The Opening:

Thomas came in ranked as the No. 77 overall prospect in the country, so quite high already, but he not only validated that ranking, he may have shown that he needs to go higher. He used his speed and athleticism to consistently stand out and not just at cornerback, but also on offense, throughout the course of the event. Currently Michigan is trending with Michigan State also right there and Florida being a hot name of late in his recruitment.

Thomas made every all-Opening team I've seen, and new offeree Oliver Martin also earned a ton of mentions—including "Alpha Dog" among Big Ten targets at 247—after his breakout performance at receiver.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]

Closing The Opening: Recruiting Fallout

Speaking of Ambry Thomas, Florida is apparently making a move in his recruitment, though insiders still believe he is Michigan's to lose. Thomas gave his current lead group to Sam Webb after saying Florida is "near the top" of his recruitment:

As was mentioned, there are a number of schools jockeying with the Gators for position at the top.  Some have definitely moved higher than others, but Thomas’ current hierarchy a tightly held secret.

“(The schools at the top with Florida are) Pittsburgh, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Arizona. “

“I’ve got it narrowed down in my head. I just ain’t making it public.”

This might just be building suspense in a recruitment that's been trending in M's direction for a while. Thomas plans to enroll early after making a decision in October or November.

Benjamin St-Juste is unsurprisingly getting more attention on the recruiting trail. He told The Wolverine's Brandon Justice that he's considering a visit to Virginia Tech, though he doesn't sound like much of a flight risk:

"I never had the chance to see what other colleges had to offer. I've been hearing from Virginia Tech and I just want to see if they can offer me more than Michigan," he said. "I might go visit, but I need to see if I like the coaches."

...

"I need to like the defensive coordinator and my position coach. The defensive scheme needs to be a lot of man coverage and the campus needs to feel like home," St-Juste said of what Virginia Tech will need to offer him. "Michigan has all of that and that's why there are so many schools I am not considering, they don't have what Michigan is offering me."

We'll see if that visit even materializes. St-Juste might look around, but it looks like it'll take quite a bit to sway him from the program that unearthed him at a satellite camp last year.

After getting his offer, three-star (for now) IA WR Oliver Martin has Michigan in contention, per Sam Webb:

The question now is will he seriously consider doing so for four to five years in Ann Arbor now that the Wolverines have offered?

"Yeah definitely,” said Martin.  “They're a top program every year and they're close to home. Good receivers go there and I already know all the recruits well from this week and being with them. Especially Dylan and some of the running backs like [O'Maury] Samuels… we became really good friends."

Martin has a few things to sift through before coming to a decision. For now, he's got a group of "five or six" programs at the top of his list—Michigan, MSU, and Wisconsin are almost certainly in there—and before making a choice he first needs to pick a sport: football or baseball. He plans to pick his sport before the fall.

Michigan still has the lead for top-100 AL WR Nico Collins. They'll have to hold it for a while, as he told Webb he plans to take all his officials before making a Signing Day decision. Meanwhile, 247's Steve Lorenz put in his Crystal Ball for Michigan and went into detail on why he thinks they'll land Collins:

Michigan is in a good position here for multiple reasons. One, we're told his family really likes what Michigan offers from an off the field standpoint. The "forty-year decision" type stuff that sometimes can help in recruitments. Second, there's an immediate need for outside receivers of Collins' ability and the opportunity for him to play immediately would be there. The Wolverines will have little proven experience at wide receiver next year with the graduation of Jehu Chesson and Amara Darboh. 

So far, so good.

TMI's Josh Henschke has an article on four-star IMG LB Jordan Anthony that makes him sound much more interested in Michigan than the quote he gave to 247 over the weekend:

“Of course, first, the number one defensive coordinator in the country is there right now,” Anthony said. “At least he had the number one defense in the country last year (at Boston College) and he’s (at Michigan) right now. That’s one big thing.

“Just the program overall, even the way they ended (the season.) They played Florida in the bowl game, I’m not sure which game it was, they kind of blew them out 42-to-something. And, of course, academics.”

There are rumblings that U-M is surging up the leader board for Anthony, perhaps being the leader for his services. When asked if the Wolverines are the leader of the pack right now, Anthony didn't want to divulge too much.

"I can't say right now," Anthony said sheepishly.

That jives with what Lorenz has posted on 247's board of late; Anthony is a one of the better bets to end up in the class among uncommitted prospects.

Hoops Quick Hitters

Happy trails to three-star 2017 PG Brad Davison, who committed to Wisconsin on Monday. He'd visited Michigan in late June and picked up an offer.

In probably-not-unrelated news, Michigan offered four-star IL PG Nojel Eastern on Monday. Eastern is a taller point guard prospect who's getting a lot of Big Ten attention. Dylan cut up some highlights of him from last week's Nike Peach Jam—John Beilein was in attendance and apparently liked what he saw.

Etc.

Michigan and MSU are the two schools that have "separated from the pack" for three-star OH SDE/DT James Hudson, per 247's Josh Edwards.