RE-ORIENTATION

I do this for my own purposes when mounting this horse but you guys probably want to know this stuff too: Michigan has 23 commits in this class. The current roster has:

• ~Four open slots. (We are expecting Quintel Kent to take a medical.)
• Nine scholarship seniors.
• Several potential early entries (DPJ, Collins, Black, Ruiz, maaaybe one of Dwumfour/Paye/Uche/Thomas)
• One highly likely grad transfer (Quinn Nordin, assuming he doens't win his job back from Moody).

So that's about 17 slots. Injury and playing time will undoubtedly open up a fair few by next summer, and Michigan is still poking around for a few more guys. Those gentlemen are

A wide receiver. We're getting within sight of waiting-too-long territory with AZ WR Brenden Rice, who has seemingly been on the verge of a commitment for a month now. The last check-in was extremely positive for Michigan and Rice did mention that he might wait a couple weeks into the season before pulling the trigger. Rice would be the burly jump-ball complement to AJ Henning, the slot, and Roman Wilson, the blazer.

Speaking of burly jump-ball guys, Michigan has gotten back involved with in-state Funchess-alike Maliq Carr. Carr will visit for the MTSU game; Purdue took over momentum on the crystal ball. This may be an artifact of Josh Gattis prioritizing guys like Wilson and Henning over jump ball dudes, but Carr's worth a swing IMO.

A cornerback. CA CB Darion Green-Warren and FL CB Henry Gray are the main targets. Most of the crystal balls for Green-Warren are for USC, but USC's recruiting is a stunning disaster right now and whatever they're not doing for everyone else they may additionally not be doing for Green-Warren. It's been all quiet on the Western front there. Green-Warren said Michigan was recruiting him "hardest" about a month ago but did not make it in for a planned BBQ stop; Webb reports he's scheduled his official for the OSU game.

Gray just told 247 he was planning visits to Oregon, Michigan, and Florida. I feel better about Michigan's chances since he says that M plays a lot of man coverage like he does in high school and therefore Michigan "correlates." A month ago he was saying Michigan led and that he was going to commit after his Oregon visit at the end of July, but now he seems to be taking his recruitment out longer. That's often not a great sign for the supposed leader.

[After THE JUMP: moves up, weight up, cuts down]

VA S Malcom Greene is still on the board even after Michigan took commits from three safeties; at 5'10" he's a guy who can project to corner per Lorenz. Greene's recruiting process has been… uh… relaxed. Yesterday he told 24/7's UNC site that he was scheduling officials but "I haven't broken it down." Michigan is in a vague top five, I guess?

A running back. If Chris Evans doesn't make it back—and right now we don't expect him to—Michigan will have just four RBs on the roster next year, one of them (Hassan Haskins) a guy who might project better on defense. Adding another RB to Blake Corum and wrestler/PWO Gaige Garcia makes sense, but options are limited. 3* LA RB Kyle Edwards is probably the best shot. I'd imagine they either fill up with other guys or take a flier late.

Wild cards. If ON TE Theo Johnson wants on board Michigan will take him. VA ATH Elijah Gaines scheduled an official for OSU. He's going to take his full suite of visits; Michigan is the only one solidified. CT DE Kenny Mestidor still has two Michigan crystal balls and no other but is another guy who Michigan may have led for too long.

If I had to guess now I'd say Michigan finishes out with Rice, one of the corners, and Mestidor.

Building block for down the road?

[247]

4.5* CO OL Andrew Gentry is Mormon and is thus functionally a 2022 recruit since he'll take his mission after the season. 24/7 has not budged off a bunch of BYU crystal balls, but Rivals has had a couple of notes suggesting that Michigan may actually be in the lead here. The latest is a little bit forced since Gentry was asked about a potential commitment on his official and effectively said "maybe"…

Andrew Gentry Admits A Commitment Is A Possibility On His Next Trip To U-M

…but they also had an item in their Inside The Fort that was more direct about Michigan being the most likely destination.

Man lifts weight

Michigan appears to be banking on MD DE commit Kris Jenkins morphing into a defensive tackle upon arrival. Good start:

@KrisJenkinsJr1 350lb bench! Hes a freak! @UMichFootball @gcfootball #IronFalcon pic.twitter.com/dDZOZM0No1

— GCStrength (@GCStrength1) August 1, 2019

He is also prone to cleaning 300 pounds and then dropping the mic.

A scouting opportunity

You author always enjoys it when a relatively obscure Michigan prospect makes it to an all-star game:

Blessed to be Invited and COMMITTED to The Under Armour ALL AMERICAN GAME #WEWILL #UAALLAMERICAN pic.twitter.com/00fv9Mhiq2

— Micah Mazzccua (@MicahMazzccua) July 12, 2019

Mazzccua is currently the second lowest-rated guy in the class, so either Biff Poggi pulled some strings or someone saw something in his film. Last year all-star season resulted in big bumps for a number of targets.

Also in the prospect of useful content: NJ S RJ Moten also just got an invite to the All-American game, which should help resolve the massive split (247: top 100! Rivals: #27… in NJ) in his rankings.

All the top fives

2020 basketball recruiting has reached a stage where everyone's dropping the same cool edit with their final X. Michigan has made it into:

• 4.5* MD C Hunter Dickinson's top seven. Dickinson has just a couple of crystal balls, both to Notre Dame, and is one of the more likely guys on the board to respond positively to the idea of Juwan Howard coaching him.
• 5* NC PF Isaiah Todd's top five. The other schools are Kentucky, UNC, Kansas, and Memphis, so… yeah, no.
• 4.5* VA PF Henry Coleman's top five. Likely academic since Duke.
• 4.5* NJ PF Lance Ware's top five. Also looking difficult after a Kentucky offer.

Michigan also offered 4.5* WV PF Jaemyn Brakefield.

2021 items

Your next Speed In Space guy may well be KY WR Dekel Crowdus, who was up for the BBQ and posted a 4.4 40 and is-this-at-typo 44 inch vert at the Opening Finals.

IL QB commit JJ McCarthy and MI OL commit Giovanni El-Hadi both move up in 24/7's most recent set of rankings. MLive recently profiled El-Hadi.

Things are looking good for instate five star Rocco Spindler.

Etc.: Longsnapper U continues. Eamonn Dennis profiled by Trieu.