Wednesday Michigan Recruiting Roundup: Keisean Lucier-South Gets a Fifth Star

Rivals gives Lucier-South a fifth star

One of the most talked about players in the 2015 recruiting class is defensive end Keisean Lucier-South (Orange, CA), who is easily Michigan's top target still on the board.

Most services already had the pass rushing prospect as a five-star recruit, but Rivals jumped into the mix yesterday adding that extra star beside his name. It should be worth noting that they also have him listed as an outside linebacker.

Whether he is a rush linebacker or a defensive end, he has one of the highest ceilings of any player in this class, garnering comparisons to players like Anthony Barr and Jason Taylor. Not bad company at all.

Lucier-South gets brought up a lot as the player the Wolverines "need to get" in this class. I've been guilty of that phrase, as well. Michigan is highly thought of in his eyes and is one of the schools to beat. Pair that with the fact that they need to bring in an impact player at the position and this becomes a recruit that they really need to find a way to close the deal on.

Rashan Gary the most important 2016 prospect?

Paramus Catholic High School in Paramus, NJ produced five-star super recruit Jabrill Peppers in 2014, but they are not done in terms of cranking out yet another elite defensive prospect.

Five-star defensive tackle Rashan Gary (Scotch Plains, NJ) is one of the most talked about prospects in the class of 2016, and for good reason. At 6-4. 290 pounds, he ran a 4.7 40-yard dash at Nike's The Opening back in July.

Gary is one of the most athletic defensive tackle prospects I have ever seen, especially this early in his career. Michigan will not be taking a player at that position during the 2015 cycle, which opens them up to really make a big push for Gary in 2016.

Michigan can definitely use Peppers to their advantage during this process, creating a pipeline of sorts along with offensive tackle Juwann Bushell-Beatty, who both played where Gary goes to school. He mentioned the Wolverines with his top schools back at The Opening, so we will see where that interest goes in time.

His athleticism makes him an extremely versatile player, and it looks like his high school coach is lining him up all over the place, according to Todderick Hunt of NJ.com. (FREE)

"I'm playing a little bit of linebacker, but right now they've got me mainly at defensive end," Gary told Hunt. "I feel comfortable at the defensive end spot, but I have a lot more room to be responsible for so I'm just working on it."

Gary will be the top overall recruit in 2016 when it is all said and done. The Wolverines could be building quite a defensive line over the next few years if things pan out for them.

Five-star cornerback wants to visit

It is never too early to look ahead to 2017, where rankings on players are starting to come out and the recruiting process is starting to heat up.

Michigan always seems to be in the ear of some of the elite prospects in all of high school football early in the recruiting process, and that seems to be the case for 2017 five-star cornerback Lamont Wade (Clairton, PA).

Wade is the third-ranked corner in the class and 40th player overall, according to the 247 Composite Rankings.

He spoke to 247's Steve Lorenz about potentially visiting and also dropped the term "dream school" when it comes to Michigan. That piece can be found here. ($)

Ranking 2014's recruiting class

We are just ten short days away from the 2014 football season officially being underway, so this is one of our last chances to really consider the incoming freshman as "recruits" before game action begins.

The Wolverines brought in a very solid class in 2014, which I decided to rank player-by-player for The Big House Report. The man at the top of the list will surprise absolutely no one.

My 2014 recruiting class ranking can be found here. (FREE)

That will do it for Wednesday. Check back in Friday for the latest in Michigan football recruiting news and notes.

Be sure to follow Maize n Brew's Anthony Broome on Twitter, @anthonytbroome.