Top 2021 Michigan target puts Wolverines in ‘final five’

The Wolverines made the cut along with four other powerhouse schools.

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Michigan has inched closer to landing one if its top targets in the 2021 recruiting cycle.

The Wolverines have been hard after Clarkston (MI) interior offensive lineman Rocco Spindler — who also could play defensively — for years now, but they’ve had hefty competition.

Ohio State, Notre Dame, Penn State and Oklahoma appeared to be the contenders for his services, but with the release of his ‘final five’ on Friday, the Sooners were out, whereas LSU seems to have made a push.

But the good news? As anticipated, the maize and blue made the cut for the four-star prospect, who’s rated No. 44 in the country, regardless of position, per the 247Sports Composite.

But there’s definitely a perception that it’s a Michigan – Notre Dame battle. We asked Spindler in April about that notion, and he said the following:

“Yeah, it’s very accurate,” Spindler said. “Those schools have been around me since my freshman year. They’re great academic schools, great football teams and they put a lot of guys in the NFL. The networking at both of those schools are unbelievable. You can’t get that anywhere else. Of course they would be at the top of my picks.”

Spindler was intending on making a spring decision, but given the coronavirus pandemic, that’s been pushed back a bit.

From the same aforementioned conversation, he explained how he intends to handle his recruitment going forward.

“Hopefully the NCAA allows us to take the whole summer to take all of our official visits and get rid of one of their dead period times, so it just allows us to get back on campus since we haven’t been there in three months. As soon as this blows over, get back on campus, take my five official visits and then probably one to two weeks later, I’ll have a big commitment day with those five schools. It’ll probably be on the football field and I’ll pick a hat.”

For the state of Michigan, Spindler will have to wait a bit to get back on campus, as Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced on Friday that the ‘safer at home’ order has been extended to June 12. However, Ohio State’s players will return to campus June 8, Pennsylvania’s stay-at-home order is set to expire on June 5, Indiana’s restrictions will be loosened come May 24 and Louisiana’s expired on May 15.

However, Spindler has been a frequent visitor to Ann Arbor, so while another visit could get him further acclimated, he already has a broad sense of familiarity with Michigan at this juncture.