2015 2016 recruiting

Friday's Future Huddle Goes Barbecuing

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The Big House BBQ takes place this weekend, which prospects are scheduled to show up? Which two Michigan targets plan on releasing their Top 5’s in August? Has a new school emerged in Mike Weber’s recruitment? The coaching staff extended five offers this week, who landed them? Find out in this Fridays version of “The Future Huddle.”


The annual Big House BBQ will take place this weekend in Ann Arbor.  The BBQ is a great chance for recruits to meet the coaching staff, check out the campus, and also get to know other commits/recruits. The BBQ started while Rich Rodriguez was coaching, and Coach Hoke figured it was worth keeping around due to the quality of prospects that attend, and the family atmosphere it provides for recruiting targets. 

This year’s BBQ continues the tradition of quality prospects scheduled to show up; 

2015:
·         TE Chris Clark
·         CB Garrett Taylor
·         QB Alex Malzone
·         K Andrew David
·         LB Darrin Kirkland Jr.
·         DE Darian Roseboro
·         CB Iman Marshall
·         WR Grant Perry
·         CB Mook Reynolds (Virginia Tech commit)
·         DE Kengera Daniel
·         DE Jalen Bates
·         DE Jack Dunaway
·         CB Marcus Lewis (Florida commit)
·         LB Tyriq Thompson

2016:
·         OL Ben Bredeson
·         WR Cameron Chambers
·         DE Josh King
·         WR Austin Mack
·         CB Patrice Rene
·         TE Naseir Upshur
DE Kahlid Kareem
·         DE Auston Robertson
·         CB Lavert Hill
·         RB Elijah Holyfield
·         OL Michael Jordan
·         OL Clark Yarbrough
·         TE Luke Farrell
·         LB David Reese
·         OL Thiyo Lukusa
·         QB Messiah deWeaver

2017
·         DE Corey Malone-Hatcher

I’ve left 2015 Running Back Mike Weber off list for now, as he is currently visiting USC and trying to reschedule a flight back in time to make it to the BBQ. It’s also possible that a strong contingent of players from Cass Tech will make the visit to Ann Arbor.  

Out of all the prospects that are scheduled to visit this weekend, I feel like Michigan has a chance at landing only one commitment in 2015 WR Grant Perry. If Michigan was to finally offer Perry the scholarship he’s been waiting for, I think he would pull the trigger immediately and become the newest member of Michigan’s 2015 class. Perry would have instant chemistry with Alex Malzone, who is his high school quarterback at Brother’s Rice in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Tyriq Thompson to Make a Decision Soon

Per his high school twitter account, Tyriq Thompson will be making his college decision sooner than originally expected.
One thing is for sure, Tyriq will play his college football career in the state of Michigan. But, which school will it be? Tyriq has had a whirlwind recruitment and at times looked like a Michigan State lock. Michigan recently made up a lot of ground in Tyriq's recruitment, and has made it so close that some days I feel like he's MSU bound, and other days that he's "going blue." Having Tyriq at the BBQ this weekend surely is a good sign for Michigan, but lots of “recruitment experts” are still not sold on the idea of him landing in Ann Arbor. The folks in East Lansing apparently feel great about their chances of landing the 2015 three star linebacker, while people in Ann Arbor feel great about their position in his recruitment.  Personally, I feel like Tyriq will end up becoming the second linebacker taken in Michigan’s 2015 recruitment class.

Mike Weber Heads out West

2015 Running back and arguably Michigan’s top overall target Mike Weber visited the University of Southern California this week and will be in L.A until Saturday or Sunday. Judging by Mike’s twitter account, I’d say he’s having one heck of a visit.
Although Mike hasn’t officially released his Top 5 schools, I would take a guess that it includes; Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and now USC. However, at this moment I would say that Michigan is in the driver’s seat regarding his recruitment and Weber will end up as the only running back Michigan takes in 2015.

The Newly Offered

It had been a while since Michigan had extended scholarship offers, but this week the coaching staff decided to hand out five offers. One to a 2015 prospect, and four to 2016 prospects.  

2015 ATH Kirk Merritt received his offer on Thursday afternoon. 
The four star prospect out of Destrehan, Louisiana is a very intriguing prospect, holding offers from almost every major college in the nation. Earlier this month at Nikes “The Opening”, Merritt came home with the SPARQ Championship, holding a score of 148.83. Unfortunately, my gut feeling regarding Merritt’s offer is that it’s too late in his recruitment to become a major player. Merritt will most likely end up in SEC country at Alabama, Auburn, or LSU.

2016 Running Back Antonio Williams also received a scholarship offer on Thursday.
Williams who de-committed from North Carolina on July 11th, is a four star running back from New London, North Carolina. After receiving his scholarship offer, the North Carolina product instantly put Michigan towards the top of his “list”, according to 24/7’s Steve Lorenz. While still speaking with Steve, Williams also had this to say about Michigan. 

"Of course Michigan is a school I'm considering again," Williams said. "I haven't had a phone for the last month or so, so I haven't been able to contact Coach Manning. He stopped by during the last visitation period and it was nice to see him come by again. I'm looking to talk to him as soon as I can."

Getting Williams to end up in Ann Arbor won’t be an easy task, but I fully expect him to check out the campus at some point either this summer, or during the season.  Williams rushed for 2,401 yards and, 22 touchdowns last year for North Stanly High.

The coaching staff continued to roll out the 2016 running back offers on Thursday, as they sent an offer towards Kentrail Moran.
Moran apparently had been waiting on this offer for awhile, and took no time to name Michigan his leader at the moment. Speaking with Steve Wiltfong, Moran had this to say about Michigan’s program.

“I love their program and I love the coaching staff. They’re real with me and I think they’re a great coaching staff. Just how they run their program.”

Although he was only offered on Thursday, Moran already has a 100% Crystal Ball reading with 8 predictions for the Maize and Blue.

The last 2016 running back to get offered on Thursday was Robert Washington. Once again, speaking with 24/7’s Steve Lorenz, Washington had this to say about Michigan extending an offer his direction.

"Coach Nussmeier was really excited," he said. "Coach Jackson was really happy too. Michigan stayed true to their word. They told me it was coming and to stay patient. That really means a lot to me. Michigan was a place that I knew was special when I first stepped foot on campus. I knew I had to keep getting back. I am going to be there as soon as I can in the fall."

I know it’s extremely early for 2016 recruits, but Michigan has done a great job in establishing early relationships with a lot of quality prospects in 2016. Whenever Washington decided to name a Top 10 or Top 5 list, I fully expect Michigan to be there. Although Michigan may have to fight off some SEC schools to land Washington, there’s no question that there is major interest from both parties.

Washington is currently rated as a four star prospect on Scout.com and rushed for 2,512 yards and 28 touchdowns in 2013.

Lastly, Lavert Hill who is cousins with current Wolverine Delano, also received his offer on Tuesday.

I was kind of surprised it took Michigan this long to offer Lavert a scholarship.  While playing at Cass Tech and camping at Michigan last month, the coaching staff has had ample time to evaluate Lavert, and I kind of expected an offer to be extended a couple months ago. There’s no doubt that Hill has immense talent, in fact his high school coach Jermain Crowell told 24/7’s Steve Lorenz that when he’s done at Cass Tech that he will be the #1 corner in the country. Although Lavert is currently ranked #23 CB by Scout.com, and #147 overall by 24/7, I fully expect him to shoot up the rankings during his junior year of high school. He’s that talented.

Lavert will be in Ann Arbor visiting this weekend for The Big House BBQ.

Other Notes:

2015 DE Keisean Lucier-South tweeted out that he will be releasing his Top 5 schools on August 8th. KLS’s recruitment has long been thought to be a UCLA and Michigan race. Keisean will head to Ann Arbor for the first time this October for the Penn State game.

Speaking of Top 5’s, 2015 RB Damien Harris tweeted that his will be releasing his Top 5 on August 1st. He will also make his college decision on December 13th.

2016 WR Scott Bracey committed to Duke on Friday morning. Michigan had offered him a scholarship back in November.

Originally slated to visit Ann Arbor this weekend, 2015 LB Joshua McMillon will not be able to make the drive to Ann Arbor due to logistical reasons. Joshua is from Memphis, and last time I checked, the drive from Memphis to Ann Arbor is about 11 hours. Although it may not look like a good sign that McMillon isn't coming to Michigan, he tweeted out this on Monday for Michigan fans.



You can follow Travis Cooper on Twitter @Maizenbluecoop 
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