Jon Daniel Runyan

I missed this last week, but it's a must-read; MaxPreps' Joseph Santoliquito wrote an excellent feature on Jon Daniel Runyan (you may know him as Jon Runyan Jr.) becoming his own man on and off the field:

"Playing football is something I liked, but something that I didn't really love until the last few years I'd say," Jon Daniel admitted. "I've had a lot of people tell me that I'm not my father. That's motivated me. I know who I am. Growing up, I did want to play football because my dad played. It's nothing my parents pushed me to do. It's something I wanted to do. I think it's why I put more pressure on myself than my parents do. I want to be the best. The goal one day is to play in the NFL. To do that, my father always tells me, you have to put everything into it."   

Football is not all Jon Daniel plunges added effort into. He maintains a 3.0 GPA at Prep, one of the most academically demanding schools in the Philadelphia area. He's done it through hard work, diligence and with dyslexia, which his father also has. 

In his formative years, Jon Daniel had comprehension challenges; auditory processing challenges. In grade school, teachers wanted to place limits on him, telling the Runyans that Jon Daniel couldn't handle a high academic environment. 

Jon and Loretta ended that. 

You're highly encouraged to read the whole thing.

As for commit updates from last weekend, Brandon Brown has you covered with a free roundup at The Wolverine. Standouts included Alex Malzone, who completed 7/9 passes for 119 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT in a blowout win that was called at halftime due to lightning, and Mike Weber, who had a rather efficient 90 yards and a score on just two carries in a comfortable win for Cass Tech.

[Hit THE JUMP for updates on Tyrone Wheatley Jr. and several top 2016 prospects.]

Finding A Fit For Wheatley

247's Steve Lorenz posted an update on 2015 TE/DE Tyrone Wheatley Jr., who's yet to decide on an official visit schedule or a decision date; it appears Michigan is taking a slightly different tack in recruiting him recently ($):

The conversations with the Wolverines have been consistent, and are more about building a relationship. One newer tidbit is that Michigan is recruiting him as an athlete, leaving open the possibility that he could play defense down the road.

That makes a fair amount of sense given the limited class size and commitment of TE Chris Clark, especially since Michigan doesn't have a ton of depth at defensive end once Frank Clark and Brennen Beyer graduate after this season.

That Went Poorly

I apologize in advance for this section; sadly, I have yet to figure out how to control recruiting news so it fits my liking, and therefore this week there's lot of stuff like this, for example, on elite 2016 OL Ben Bredeson ($):

Notre Dame has held Bredeson's attention since they offered in June, but their stock is rising after Saturday's visit.

"You always hear about the tradition and the fan base, but once you get to see it in person it is an entirely new story," Bredeson said. "I was lucky enough to be able to experience it, especially for a big game like Michigan. I got to see the best that Notre Dame had to offer for game day. I'm going to go around to other schools for games, but it will be hard to beat what Notre Dame had."

Hnnnnngh. Here's four-star 2016 WR Austin Mack, who also holds a Michigan offer and a great deal of interest from that end, after visiting South Bend for last weekend's game ($):

"I got to talk with Coach Elston before and after the game," Mack said. "After the game, he had a funny comment and asked if I would actually still be considering Michigan after that game. Jaylon (Smith) was standing right there too and he was agreeing with him."

"I talk with Jaylon a lot," Mack said. "He's a great guy to look up to for pretty much everything. He knows how to handle everything thrown at him."

Mack plans to decide at a camp next June, so Michigan still has plenty of time to overcome... that. But there is that, and it's probably not very good.

More 2016 Football Recruiting

Michigan offered 2016 MD WDE Rahshaun Smith, the #51 overall prospect on the 247 Composite, per Rivals' Adam Friedman. Smith holds offers from a laundry list of national powerhouses, and at this early juncture his Crystal Ball favors Oklahoma and Florida State.

Four-star 2016 NJ ATH Ahmir Mitchell told 247's Ryan Bartow that Rutgers currently leads among his his top three schools, with Florida State and Michigan following the in-state squad ($).

Sam Webb penned a free feature on 2016 Cass Tech CB LaVert Hill in which the Technicial defensive coordinator says "he's going to be the best" to come out a program that's produced the likes of Jourdan Lewis, Damon Webb, and many other top cornerback recruits.