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Monday Michigan Recruiting Roundup: The calm before the Wednesday storm

In this edition, we take a look at a commit that didn't actually commit, the status of a weekend official visitor, Chris Partridge being a part of the staff and a Wednesday announcement time primer.

By Anthony Broome
Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Deontay Burnett commits...or not

On Sunday afternoon, it was reported that three-star wide receiver Deontay Burnett (Gardeno, California) had flipped his commitment from Washington State and joined Michigan's 2015 recruiting class, according to Adam Gorney of Rivals.

After the news broke, I even did a brief scouting report on Burnett and what he would bring to the table.

He is not the tallest receiver, is not all that fast and definitely needs to add some bulk to his frame, but he does a very nice job of getting behind defenders and pulling catches from over them. He is not a burner, but he's got a good burst off the line of scrimmage that sets him up to make plays downfield.

Burnett makes a lot of difficult catches look easy and does a good job of contorting his body to do so. He has the look of a player that will be successful running quick routes as opposed to deep ones.

Well, it turns out that someone jumped the gun and that Burnett had not committed, the player said on his Twitter account.

Burnett was a strong candidate to flip Sunday following his official visit and it was not a big surprise when it was initially reported he committed. It's not 100 percent clear what changed yet, but Arizona State and Washington State are still in the mix, so we'll continue to monitor what happens here.

Status of Van Jefferson

Many believe that the developments in the Burnett saga mean that the Michigan staff is confident that they will be able to bring in four-star wide receiver Van Jefferson (Brentwood, Tennessee).

Jefferson was in town for his official visit this weekend and it sounds like it went very well and many are starting to believe he will end up as a part of this class.

Jefferson spent many years living in the area when his father, Shawn Jefferson, coached the wide receivers for the Detroit Lions from 2005-12. He is currently committed to Ole Miss, but it would not surprise me one bit if he signs with the Wolverines come Wednesday.

Michigan hires former Paramus Catholic head coach

Michigan made an interesting addition to their football staff over the weekend, as it is being reported that former Paramus Catholic (New Jersey) head coach Chris Partridge has accepted an offer to be the team's recruiting operations coordinator.

People may recognize Paramus as being the school that Jabrill Peppers and Juwann Bushell-Beatty came from, both 2014 recruits.

Current Paladins head coach Blake Costanzo had this to say about the hiring to NorthJersey.com:

“This opportunity is so good, because he gets to touch the nation in terms of recruiting and really get a good grasp of program goals,” said current Paramus Catholic coach Blake Costanzo. “It’s going to be a good opportunity to broaden his horizons for the future. It’s a big step for him.”

Partridge will be involved in a revamped player evaluation system under Jim Harbaugh that will be similar to what Alabama runs.

This is an interesting hire and could help the Wolverines on the recruiting trail instantly, as another Paladin star, five-star 2016 defensive tackle Rashan Gary, holds an offer from the staff and is one of the top prospects in the country.

Their chances with Gary seem to have increased significantly.

Wednesday commit times announced

National Signing Day is looking like it will be a wild one for the Wolverines and three of their top targets will be announcing their college choices live as a part of ESPNU's coverage throughout the day.

The first announcement of the day will come from four-star tight end Chris Clark (Avon, Connecticut), who will be choosing between his final two of Michigan and UCLA at 8:30 a.m ET.

The second target announcing his commitment will be four-star linebacker Roquan Smith (Montezuma, Georgia), which will take place at 11 a.m. ET. Smith will be choosing from Michigan, Georgia, Texas A&M and UCLA.

The third, and the one that the entire nation will be watching, will be the announcement from five-star prospect Iman Marshall (Long Beach, California), who is the nation's top cornerback prospect. His choice of either Florida State, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, UCLA and USC will be the last of the day at 4 p.m. ET.

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is also expected to be interviewed as part of ESPNU's signing day coverage and will give a press conference at 2 p.m.

Buckle up

The next few days will be interesting prior to Wednesday. We are now in a recruiting dead period to where coaches can only call players who they have sent letters of intent to after 7 p.m. With Michigan still having as many as eight scholarships left to give out, there will be a plethora of updates the next few days.

I do not think they will take the max of 17. The staff is just too late to the party here. 14 or 15 seems like the max, but we will see what happens.

At the very least, there should be about three commitments in the next few days, so be ready.

Keep it locked in here for the latest Michigan football recruiting news and more.

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