Category: Recruiting

Texas Offers 2021 Four-Star Wide Receiver from Maryland

The Texas Longhorns have made an offer to 2021 four-star wide receiver from Maryland. This marks Malcolm Johnson Jr’s 21st offer.

RATING

Stars Overall State Position
247 4 131 19 5
Rivals 4 213 38 6
ESPN 4 280 56 8
247 Composite 4 201 36 6

Vitals

Hometown Alexandria (VA)
Projected Position Wide Receiver
Height 6-1
Weight 185

Recruitment

  • Offered on March 2, 2020
  • No visit yet

Offers

  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Auburn
  • Baylor
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Louisville
  • LSU
  • Maryland
  • Michigan
  • NC State
  • Ohio State
  • Oklahoma
  • Penn State
  • Pittsburgh
  • South Carolina
  • Syracuse
  • Temple
  • Tennessee
  • Virginia
  • Virginia Tech
  • West Virginia

Film

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Vols’ recruiting highlights: March 2

Vols’ recruiting highlights: March 2

KNOXVILLE — Tennessee will kickoff spring practices this month to begin Jeremy Pruitt’s third season as head coach.

The Vols completed their 2020 signing class last month and looks to begin filling its 2021 recruiting board and beyond.

Scroll through to see highlights from the recruiting trail on March 2 for prospects and the University of Tennessee.

Breakdown of Tennessee’s 2020 offensive recruiting class by position

Breakdown of Tennessee’s 2020 defensive, special teams recruiting class by position

Jeremy Pruitt details ‘critical factors, grading scale’ when recruiting prospects

Vols’ 2021 commitment tracker

NEXT: Vols’ recruiting highlights for March 2

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

Michigan State Football offers scholarship to 2021 3-star RB Logan Diggs

Michigan State has offered a scholarship to a top 2021 running back in Logan Diggs out of Archbishop Rummel.

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If there is one thing new Michigan State Football head coach Mel Tucker has done since taking over for Mark Dantonio is send offers to top talents around the country, and that goes doubly so for top running backs as of late. On Monday evening, 2021 3-star running back Logan Diggs announced on Twitter that he had received an offer from new running backs coach William Peagler and the Spartans.

Diggs, who is currently enrolled at Archbishop Rummel High School in Metairie, Louisiana, is the No. 12 ranked player in the state of Louisiana and the No. 33 ranked running back in his class, according to 247sports.

Last week, Tucker and Peagler offered three 4-star running backs on the same day. They also had offered another 3-star rusher in LJ Johnson Jr. Mel Tucker was recruited (had to use the wordplay) to Michigan State for his own recruiting reputation, and he has quickly started firing off offers left and right since joining the school. Only time will tell how many of these offers turn into recruits (and how many of those recruits turn into strong players), but it’s definitely an interesting story to keep an eye on.

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Notre Dame Offers Two ’21 Defensive Backs

Notre Dame Football offers CB Dreyden Norwood and S Khari Gee.

The eleven o’clock hour this morning saw two offers go out to defensive backs, first Arkansas CB Dreyden Norwood. Having already held offers from Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas A&M, the Irish are getting in the mix for the 6’0” hundred- and seventy-pound corner.

Although Norwood played quarterback this year for Northside High School, he projects to play on the other side of the ball. Norwood looks like a natural with the ball in his hands, so when he does move over to defense, look for him to be able to take turnovers to the house.

It was safety Khari Gee’s turn a short time after Norwood, as the 6’3” 185-pound Georgian also has an impressive offer list. Clemson, LSU, and Michigan are a few of the offers Gee had prior to today and at the moment there is a lot of ground Brian Kelly will have to make up.

Gee released his Top 10 schools just last week, but this was clearly prior to the Irish offering the talent prospect. If Brian Kelly and his staff are able to convince Gee to visit, the Irish very much could sneak into the safety’s recruitment. The defender likes to come up and hit his opponents, often lineup up in the box and making plays You can see Gee do just that right here.

The Woodward Academy star is definitely a playmaker and with Notre Dame offering him a scholarship, hopefully he changes his Top 10 in the Irish’s favor.

Academics take precedence in visit for 2022 OH offensive tackle

The talented 2022 prospect made a return trip to Ann Arbor on March 1, and shared his thoughts about his latest visit.

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For some high profile prospective athletes, academics take a rear view to football. But for 2022 Strongsville (OH) offensive tackle Blake Miller, that’s one thing that resonates with him strongly.

Miller made the trek from Greater Cleveland to Ann Arbor on Sunday to visit Michigan the first possible day, but he’s been on campus before. He’s visited for practices as well as for the Michigan State rout in The Big House last fall.

So, this time, he got to learn more about the academic component that Michigan is offering.

“It was great. I really got to see more of the academic side of what Michigan has to offer,” Miller told WolverinesWire. “I’ve been up to a spring camp and a couple practices. I just enjoy getting to see the academic portion of Michigan, because to me, that’s personally important.”

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But why does he have that mindset?

Yes, there are recruits who take academics very seriously, and those are the ones who often end up wearing maize and blue or at another similar institution that emphasizes the student portion of ‘student-athlete.’ For Miller, he sees it as a challenge as well as preparing for life beyond football.

“I grew up, my parents both stressed academics really hard,” Miller said. “It was kinda just ingrained in me to try and find somewhere that when you graduate, you’re kinda set apart from the average joe – I don’t want to say regular, graduating college is definitely an achievement. But you’re kind of in an upper echelon if you have a degree from a Michigan, a better school like that.”

While in Ann Arbor, Miller says he got to meet and get to know some of the brass who run the academic portion in Schembechler Hall. But what really stood out was grad assistant Grant Newsome sharing the story of former linebacker Noah Furbush, and how academics took precedence over football.

Because at Michigan, if you’re going to choose one over the other, academics has precedence.

“I thought it was great just because, the whole time, yeah, you’re a football player, but you’re also – I like that you’re a student, not just an athlete,” Miller said. “Whereas some schools it’s football before all else. I got to talk to, the guy giving us our tour – Grant Newsome, he used to play there. He was telling us all about how some guy was an aerospace engineer. And (Coach Harbaugh) let him, one of his classes was only at one certain time, he let him miss practice to pursue his degree. I thought that was – I like the fact that academics are also important to Coach Harbaugh and the rest of the football staff, as well as football.”

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Academics aren’t the only consideration, of course. There are other important attributes he’s looking for.

He’s looking to check the most boxes possible, so it doesn’t have to be a case where a school has just the academic prestige. He’s looking for the right fit with his future coaching staff, one where he knows he can excel best.

“Academics are definitely important to me,” Miller said. “The head coach, the offensive coordinator, the offensive line coaches, all of them – their personalities. I tend to, I feel like I play better for coaches that I like as people as well. So just someone one who – I personally don’t like coaches that are yellers and screamers and up in your face guys. I like the coach who’s more of, they tell you what you need to do, and if you don’t do it, they’ll correct you, say, ‘You need to do this next time.’ And if you do do it, they congratulate you and tell you good job.”

Despite having a 247Sports Crystal Ball indicating he’s an Ohio State lean, Miller does not have a favorite or a school that he grew up rooting for. He doesn’t yet have an offer from the Buckeyes, and is still getting to know OSU head coach Ryan Day and OL coach Greg Studrawa.

Still, he insists it’s not lip service, as he’s looking for the best fit, and is open to all schools at this point.

As far as his recruitment goes, he’s trying to hone in now on his top choices, but doesn’t intend to make a commitment until either later this year, or midway through next year.

“I’m trying to narrow down the schools that I want to seriously look at right now,” Miller said. “In terms of commitment, I’d like to commit somewhere towards the end of my junior year or start of my senior year.”

MICHIGAN TARGET: 2022 Strongsville (OH) OT Blake Miller

Profile of Wolverines offensive tackle target Blake Miller from Strongsville, Ohio.

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Ratings

Stars Overall Position State
247Sports – – – –
Rivals – – – –
ESPN – – – –
247Sports Composite – – – –

Vitals

Hometown Strongsville (OH)
Projected Position Offensive tackle
Height 6-foot-6
Weight 315-pounds

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Recruitment

  • Michigan offered on Jan. 30, 2020
  • Visited Michigan unofficially Nov. 16, 2019 for MSU game

Offers

  • Akron
  • Bowling Green
  • Cincinnati
  • Indiana
  • Iowa State
  • Kentucky
  • Lehigh
  • Michigan
  • Northwestern
  • Pitt
  • Tennessee
  • Toledo

Film

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Twitter

https://twitter.com/BlakeMillerOT

Locked On Wolverines Podcast (Ep. 305): Beating a dead horse

Reacting to the loss to Ohio State in basketball, more fanbase ranting and recapping the Michigan players in the NFL Combine.

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Remember how we spent two episodes last week railing against the vocal minority of the fanbase? Guess what? They’re not listening. Yet another angle on what has to stop and the impact the negative comments have on recruiting.

Also, a full breakdown of basketball’s loss at Ohio State and a recap of the NFL Combine, and who helped themselves this weekend.

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You can subscribe on iTunes, Google Podcasts, TuneIn Radio or Stitcher.

Or you can listen right here on WolverinesWire!

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Vols’ commit Nate Evans has bloodline at cornerback

Tennessee’s 2021 recruiting class.

Nate Evans committed to Tennessee on Nov. 10.

Evans, a class of 2021 athlete, is from Frank W. Cox High School in Virginia Beach, Va. The 2021 prospect was initially offered by the Vols on June 15, 2019 when he attended a camp at Tennessee.

Frank W. Cox High School head coach Bill Stachelski discussed Evans with Vols Wire and what Tennessee is getting with the 6-foot-1, 175-pound athlete.

“Nate is a defensive back/wide receiver,” Stachelski said. “He did not play much last season due to injury (knee), but he played a lot as a sophomore, mostly at corner.

“He is a pretty big body and can run very well and he is knowledgeable in the area of technique.”

Defensive back is in Evans’ bloodline as he is the younger brother of Levonta Taylor who played cornerback for Florida State and is entering the 2020 NFL Draft. His other brother is 2020 TCU cornerback signee Keontae Jenkins.

“He (Evans) competes well and has two older brothers Levonta Taylor and Keontae Jenkins. Nate needs to continue to get into game shape and begin the grind of practice to get back up to speed, but we are expecting big things from him as a senior.”

Vols’ 2021 commitment tracker

UGA football offers hometown kid in Jamie Felix

The University of Georgia has offered a scholarship to Jamie Felix, a class of 2022 running back recruit

The University of Georgia has offered a scholarship to Jamie Felix, a class of 2022 running back recruit. Felix projects to be a four-star talent in his class.

Felix plays his high school football at Camden County High School in Kingsland, Georgia. Kinsgland is some distance from Athens, but Felix considers Athens to be his hometown:

It’s awesome to see a hometown kid get a scholarship offer to join the Georgia Bulldogs. Will Felix be UGA’s first commitment in the class of 2022? Somebody has to be.

Felix is 5’10” and weighs 190 lbs., which is good size for a running back. Felix will add muscle these next couple of years in high school.

Hours before Felix announced his offer, he was hyped to be at UGA’s indoor practice facility:

Felix is currently a sophomore in high school. Georgia fans would love for Felix to stay home in Athens.

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Versatile 2022 IA ATH reacts to Michigan offer, visit on Sunday

The Iowa athlete breaks down his recruitment and reacts to his new Wolverines offer as well as to his visit to Ann Arbor on Sunday.

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2022 Altoona (IA) Southeast Polk athlete Xavier Nwankpa coveted a Michigan offer. And on Sunday, when he visited Ann Arbor, he got what he wanted.

While his biggest takeaway from his visit was meeting and spending time with the coaching staff, he was speechless at getting the offer, given the prestige and reputation of the maize and blue.

“Michigan did offer,” Nwankpa told WolverinesWire. “I was surprised and still in shock because of how highly they are held and the standard and players they produce.”

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Michigan is recruiting Nwankpa primarily on defense, but as an athlete who has various abilities, he received something of a full-court press from the coaching staff, getting time with the full-breadth of the powers that be in Schembechler Hall during his visit on Sunday.

“Coach Zordich was explaining the man defense they run,” Nwankpa said. “Coach Jean-Mary and I were just talking and conversating since he was new also. Coach Brown I talked to for a little bit, talking defense and schemes. Coach McDaniels was with us the whole time — easy guy to talk to and relatable. And finally, Coach Harbaugh – (we) we’re chopping it up cracking jokes. (He’s) really just easy to connect with.”

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He notes that he doesn’t yet have a set position in the eyes of the staff, but he feels like his versatility certainly makes him capable of playing wherever he finds a home.

“I think I could fit in well since I’m a physical player who isn’t afraid to tackle or make plays,” Nwankpa said. “At what position I don’t know, but being versatile I feel like I could fit in well.”

As far as what he’s looking for, academics is at the top of his list, to go along with a cultural fit at whatever school or program he chooses.

At the moment, in-state Iowa is recruiting him the hardest, but he admits he grew up rooting for LSU.