Tag: michigan football recruiting

Twitter reacts to Junior Colson’s commitment to Michigan

Recruits, staff and media took to social media to react to the Wolverines big commitment.

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Michigan got big news on Sunday afternoon when 2021 Brentwood (TN) Ravenwood four-star linebacker Junior Colson pledged his verbal commitment to the Wolverines.

Colson instantly became Michigan’s highest-rated defensive commit of the 2021 class, having chose the maize and blue over in-state Tennessee, LSU, Ole Miss and Oregon. In Ann Arbor, Colson will play the specialized VIPER position, as popularized by his predecessors Jabrill Peppers and Khaleke Hudson in Don Brown’s defense.

A bevy of current commits, recruits, coaching staff and media took to Twitter to react to the news. WolverinesWire compiled the instant reaction for your perusal.

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Check out the reactions below:

 

2021 Michigan target set to decide within a week

The Wolverines target will make his decision between LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Oregon and the Wolverines.

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The Wolverines are looking to lock up a big time commitment this week, and one that much of the SEC is after.

2021 Brentwood (TN) Ravenwood four-star linebacker Junior Colson is rated by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 128 player in the country, regardless of position. He has offers from ten of the 14 SEC schools, including LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Auburn as well as Oregon, Florida State, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

However, there seems to be a maize and blue flair to his recruitment as he has 100% of the 247Sports Crystal Ball indicating he’ll eventually end up in Ann Arbor.

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But the question is — when? Turns out, not too much longer, as he announced on Twitter that he’ll be making his decision on May 24.

At 6-foot-2, 228-pounds, Colson is a former wide receiver who moved to America from Haiti at just 10 years old, according to 247Sports.

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Should Michigan land him, it would be its highest-rated defensive prospect to join the 2021 class.

New Michigan linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary — the former USF defensive coordinator and Texas recruiting coordinator — is leading the charge in his recruitment for the Wolverines.

Watch his junior highlights here:

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Michigan adds emerging 2021 WR

The Wolverines received their eleventh commitment on Tuesday.

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Make it eleven for Michigan.

On Tuesday, the Wolverines garnered yet another commitment, one that’s been a long time coming at that, and from the state of Ohio.

2021 Clayton (OH) Northmont wide receiver Markus Allen is rated the No. 494 prospect in the country, regardless of position according to the 247Sports Composite, the 83rd-best WR and No. 20 player in the state of Ohio.

Long considered a Michigan lean, the 6-foot-2, 190-pound wideout ended his recruitment, committing to the maize and blue over offers from MSU, Kentucky, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

He is the eleventh commitment for the Wolverines in 2021, as Michigan maintains the No. 10 class nationally.

In-state 4-star center puts Michigan in top group

The four-star center puts Michigan in his top group.

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Despite being the No. 211 overall prospect according to the 247Sports Composite, there hasn’t been a lot of talk about 2021 Detroit (MI) Cass Tech OL Raheem Anderson.

One of several prospects from the powerhouse high school that Michigan is targeting, the Wolverines have been recruiting the interior offensive lineman at center and have been for quite some time. Along with defensive brothers Kalen and Kobe King, the maize and blue have been in good shape with Anderson, and have a 60% 247Sports Crystal Ball prediction at the moment to earn his signature come signing day.

In fact, Michigan is boding so well for the esteemed in-state four-star that it’s made his Top 11, as he released on Twitter on Tuesday.

Fellow in-state program MSU also makes the list, as do Big Ten schools Nebraska and Purdue. But the SEC is looming large, with Georgia, LSU, Mizzou, Arkansas and Kentucky also making the cut along with ACC programs Pitt and Louisville.

Watch his junior year highlights:

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Arizona’s top recruit includes UGA in top schools

The Georgia Bulldogs are in the top schools for Quintin Somerville, the best 2021 recruit in the state of Arizona.

The Georgia Bulldogs are in the top schools for Quintin Somerville, who is the former high school teammate of five-star Georgia signee Kelee Ringo. Ringo played football with Somerville at Saguaro High School. Will Somerville follow Ringo all the way to Athens?

Somerville is the top prospect in the state of Arizona in the class of 2021. He plays defensive end and has a solid frame at 6’3″, while weighing 230 lbs.

Quintin Somerville, who is a four-star prospect, announced his final eight schools via Twitter:

Somerville is a priority class of 2021 target for Kirby Smart and the University of Georgia. He features New Mexico, Florida State, Michigan, Georgia, Utah, Vanderbilt, Arizona State, and Washington in his final eight.

We’ll keep you updated throughout his process. Kirby Smart and Georgia had one of their most successful seasons ever recruiting the west coast in the class of 2020. Prospects are leaving the state of California more than ever. Georgia is looking to establish more of a west coast recruiting pipeline with guys like CB Kelee Ringo and five-star 2020 signee TE Darnell Washington.

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Best of R1SE Midwest Camp and Midnight Madness Tournament

The biggest standouts at the R1SE Midwest Camp and Midnight Madness 7-on-7 tournament in Brighton, Michigan.

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BRIGHTON, Mich. — With Michigan hosting its junior day on Saturday, there weren’t a lot of top targets for the Wolverines on hand at the R1SE Midwest Camp and Midnight Madness Tournament at Legacy Sports Center. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t big names.

Yes, there were several former — including one current — Michigan players coaching in the event. In the R1SE Midwest Camp, former QB Devin Gardner was working with quarterbacks and coaching in the Midnight Madness Tournament was current RB Chris Evans with former CB Raymon Taylor working as his defensive coordinator.

But there were also some big time players making the rounds in either the skill circuit during R1SE or in the 7-on-7 action during Midnight Madness.

The two standouts during drills included the one player in attendance who has a Michigan offer in 2023 Detroit (MI) King QB Dante Moore and newcomer to the football scene, 2021 Ottawa (CAN) SDE René Konga.

Dante Moore

Moore showed accuracy and precision in his throws and highlighted exactly why he was able to help lead the new Crusaders offense to a state championship runner-up season in 2019.

“I just had to build confidence, because (incoming as a) freshman to take over a state championship team, I just had to put my confidence to trust the coaches and just believe that I could be myself out there with Devin Gardner’s help,” Moore told WolverinesWire. “(Devin Gardner) has helped me a lot. He made sure I built my confidence between people hating on me and made sure I could have footwork and helped me out in game situations. All my great highlights came from all the great training we do at six in the morning and three in the morning.”

Given that Moore got his offer all the way back in the summer of 2018, he already has established some relationships with the coaching staff, especially the headman himself.

With that in mind, he has a lot of faith that should he choose Michigan when the time comes, he’ll be put in a position to succeed.

“Jim Harbaugh is a great coach,” Moore said. “He’s made sure his athletes go somewhere in life. He’s made sure they have confidence, he’s made sure they have great talent. He’s taken great care of his athletes on the football field. He’s just a great coach, he’s coached in the NFL, so he knows the deep things, what’s happening. I believe he could help build my confidence.”

That said, what are his impressions of Michigan?

Moore’s views here are a little different than what we customarily hear.

“It’s a humungous campus,” Moore said. “I like how the stadium looks and you can look and see that it’s not trash. It’s not a trash university, it’s actually a neat university. I believe it’s great because athletes can walk around and have fun because there’s all the fun happening at Michigan. Michigan’s a prestigious school, so the campus (being fun is also a good thing).”

René Konga

At 6-foot-4, 240-pounds, the Ottawa (CAN) native has the look of a big-time pass rusher, even before he’s set foot on a college campus. Not only has he not done so, the R1SE Midwest Camp was his first-ever camp — period.

You would never know it by seeing him perform (highlights in the supercut video above), as he dominated nearly every one-on-one matchup WolverinesWire saw him in.

He hasn’t gotten any offers from any school at any level, but given his inexperience and lack of evaluation, that’s not surprising.

“No, no offers yet,” Konga told WolverinesWire. “A couple of universities (have been in contact). I’ve talked to Baylor, a couple prep schools here, there’s this head scout from Syracuse I think that sent me an e-mail, but nothing too big.”

Despite a lack of exposure and playing time, a player of Konga’s caliber can rise quite quickly. Even Michigan has a player on the roster, in former four-star David Ojabo, who found himself in a similar situation coming from Scotland to New Jersey just a few short years ago.

Konga is aware that he’s in desperate need to get out there if he wants to attain his goal of getting a scholarship offer from the bigger Division I schools, but he isn’t shying away from having lofty goals — in quick order.

“Trying to get maybe 15-20 offers by June,” Konga said. “This is my first year (competing in American football). This is my first (camp) actually.”

Kevin Coleman Jr.

Fresh off a visit to Ann Arbor, perhaps the most impressive was 2022 St. Louis (MO) St. Mary’s four-star wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr.

Already boasting offers from the likes of Georgia, LSU, Oregon and Miami (FL), the No. 34 player in the country, according to 247Sports, has an impressive laser-timed 4.5 40 speed, according to his coach, who was in attendance at the Midnight Madness 7-on-7 tournament.

The quick drop-in to Schembechler Hall as Coleman’s first experience with Michigan, where he and his teammates visited with Devin Bush Sr. and Chris Bryant.

“They showed us a lot of love,” Coleman said. “Showed us around. Kept it real with us. That’s what it’s all about.

“They were telling us the truth about the process, the recruitment process. They wasn’t lying. Telling us how it works. The grades — they go for the kids with the grades. They don’t care about your skills.”

As far as the academic component is concerned, that’s something that resonates strongly with the 5-foot-10, 157-pound receiver.

“I’m a student-athlete,” Coleman said. “I care about my education first.”

Though, Coleman isn’t married to the idea of playing wideout at the college level. Though he showcased good hands and quick burst at the camp, he also performed well at corner on the defensive side of the ball, being primarily in press-man coverage, which took away his matched receiver, once even allowing his teammate to make an interception because he took his side of the field away.

Coleman does not have a Michigan offer at this juncture, and as far as which teams will resonate in his recruitment, he notes that it’ll be a lot about who prioritizes him most of anyone.

“Who shows the most love, the most interest,” Coleman said. “Who visits me the most. That’s all what it’s about right now. Who visits me the most.”

Given that schools of the caliber of LSU, Georgia and Oregon have already been working on him, Coleman is elated that his process is off to a strong start, noting how much he’s worked towards his ultimate goal of playing high-level college football.

“I’ve been loving the interest, because I’ve been working so hard,” Coleman said. “It just shows hard work pays off.”

Michigan recruiting “not the same” as Ohio State says 247Sports’ Director of Recruiting

Director of Recruiting Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports, compared Michigan football recruiting efforts unfavorably against Ohio State.

There are guys that know college football recruiting, and then there are guys that live it. As the Director of Recruiting for 247Sports, Steve Wiltfong would be the latter. So, when he says something about the state of recruiting efforts, folks should perk up and take note.

It’s interesting then that he had some criticism of Michigan recruiting efforts under Jim Harbaugh. According to Allen Trieu’s Notorious B1G Podcast on 247Sports, the recruiting guru believes Michigan is behind Ohio State and Penn State in the way that it goes about identifying and selling players to the program.

He was first concerned with the loss of a key recruiter on staff, assistant coach Chris Partridge.

“They haven’t filled (Patridge’s) role, and we’ll see who they fill it with because Michigan is one of those schools where assistant coach recruiters are incredibly important because they don’t recruit in the same traditional way that almost every other program that we cover does,” Wiltfong said. “There’s not recruiting meetings. There’s just a lot on the assistant coaches’ plates to go out in their territories or in their position rooms and find guys they think are good enough to help Michigan win championships.”

“Chris Partridge was a guy that wasn’t afraid to go into SEC country with his winged helmet logo on his golf shirt and go toe-to-toe for big-time guys and try to get them to come to Michigan. He had some big wins. He also had some close losses. I mean, Willie Gay was a guy who had Michigan in his top two. Otis Reese is a guy who had Michigan in his top two. He really got after it and worked.”

Wiltfong then gave his opinion on where the Wolverine program is in terms of recruiting compared to a couple of other teams he believes are doing it the right way.

“I just don’t think, collectively, this staff is recruiting at a level to win a national championship across the board,” Wiltfong said. “It’s a blow losing a guy in Partridge, who I feel like is one of your best recruiters when the emphasis on recruiting at Michigan isn’t the same as it is at Ohio State and Penn State right now. We’re starting to see it on the field.”

To be fair, we’ve seen it on the field for quite a while now, but we get Wiltfong’s point. The gap may be widening after two blowout losses in The Game by Michigan and all.

 

Michigan nabs first 2022 pledge with in-state commitment

On Monday, Michigan football got started with the 2022 class in earnest, nabbing an in-state athlete that’s quite familiar with the program. While there aren’t even rankings for the 2022 recruiting class as of yet, it looks like Essexville (MI) …

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On Monday, Michigan football got started with the 2022 class in earnest, nabbing an in-state athlete that’s quite familiar with the program.

While there aren’t even rankings for the 2022 recruiting class as of yet, it looks like Essexville (MI) Garber athlete Alex VanSumeren, brother of Wolverines running back Ben VanSumeren is going to be a good one, as he already has offers from Michigan, Kentucky and Central Michigan.

A frequent visitor to campus, the younger VanSumeren has already seen all he’s needed to see apparently, having jumpstarted the 2022 class by pledging his commitment via Twitter on Monday afternoon.

VanSumeren is listed by 247Sports as 6-foot-3, 270-pounds, and primarily plays on the defensive side of the ball on the defensive line interior — but is versatile and can play tight end as well.

Watch his highlights below:

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Jaylen Harrell commits to Michigan

The dynamic hybrid defensive player chose Michigan over some ACC powers and one big Big Ten school.

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It’s been a long while since the Wolverines got a commitment, but the maize and blue got another one in the fold on Wednesday. And this one is a big one.

Just days after his official visit to Ann Arbor, though he told WolverinesWire that he planned to follow through with his upcoming visit to Miami (FL), four-star defensive athlete Jaylen Harrell, a 2020 prospect from Tampa (FL) Berkeley Prep, opted to end his process early.

He announced on Twitter on Wednesday that he’s found his new home, committing to Michigan. He told WolverinesWire on Tuesday that his future position is a hybrid defensive end/linebacker role, similar to what Josh Uche currently fills at SAM linebacker for the Wolverines.

“I can fit into it really well,” Harrell told WolverinesWire on Tuesday. “They do a lot of different things (where) I could make plays on the field. I feel like it’d be a great fit.”

He’s rated by ESPN as the 172nd prospect regardless of position, and the 4th-best inside linebacker. He’s also rated by the 247Sports Composite as the 13th-best weak-side defensive end, and 303rd-best prospect overall.

Harrell is Michigan’s 25th commit in the 2020 class and joins other front seven playmakers such as Braiden McGregor, Aaron Lewis, Kalel Mullings, Osman Savage, Nikhai Hill-Green and Cornell Wheeler.

He chose Michigan over Florida State, Miami (FL) and Penn State. Don Brown was his primary recruiter.

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2020 four-star DE/LB Jaylen Harrell breaks down official visit to Michigan

The Wolverines hosted the four-star DE/LB this past weekend, and he shared his thoughts, and one thing that made Ann Arbor the best of all.

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This past weekend, Michigan hosted 2020 Tampa (FL) Berkeley Prep four-star linebacker/defensive end Jaylen Harrell, who, according to ESPN is the 172nd-rated player, regardless of position.

It was an official visit for the four-star, and he was blown away by everything that the University of Michigan has to offer, he told WolverinesWire on Tuesday.

“It was a magnificent visit,” Harrell said. “I got a chance to sit down with the coaches and players, see how I fit into the program. Everything about the school is great. The academics, all the academic advisors. They have a lot of resources for help for student-athletes to be very successful.”

With the note about academics first and foremost, it’s certainly one of the big keys to securing Harrell’s signature when that time comes. But Michigan certainly helped itself when he got to see the first-class accommodations inside Schembechler Hall.

As a matter of fact, Harrell notes that the facilities are beyond compare.

“No doubt, academics comes first, always,” Harrell said. “The facilities were top-notch, the best I’ve ever seen – especially the weight room. Probably the biggest weight room I’ve ever seen. Everything about it was great.”

Coming from a warm-weather climate, Harrell was surprised that Ann Arbor wasn’t as cold as he anticipated, and enjoyed his time in the city.

But the thing that really stood out to him was the time he got to spend with defensive coordinator Don Brown & Co., as well as current players Chris Hinton, Giles Jackson, Ronnie Bell and Jordan Castleberry.

His time with the players had him saying, ‘(They’re) great people made me feel like I was family and gave me great advice, on-and-off the field.’

The family feel is important, as that’s one of the deciding factors for Harrell, especially if he is to choose a school that’s as far away from home as Michigan. Currently, he’s considering the Wolverines as well as Penn State, Florida State and Miami — the latter of which he’s visiting this weekend.

But in speaking with the coaches, he certainly sees an opportunity, and he likes what he was presented as far as scheme is concerned.

“It was great spending one-on-one time with the coaches,” Harrell said. “Their message was they need me, they want me. They were telling me how I fit into the program and how I could thrive in their defensive scheme and on and off the field.”

“I can fit into it really well (to the defense),” Harrell added. “They do a lot of different things (where) I could make plays on the field. I feel like it’d be a great fit.”

Harrell doesn’t have a timeline in mind as of yet, as he’s still going through with his visits.

Once he gets done checking out everything in his interest list, then he’ll start to whittle down his choices that much further.

“Not really sure, ideally – I’m gonna see how everything goes,” Harrell said. “Going to Miami this weekend, so we’ll see how that goes.”

According to 247Sports, Harrell is listed as a weak-side defensive end at 6-foot-4, 235-pounds and is rated as the 13th-best WDE in the 247Sports Composite.

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