Michigan's unafraid to get Biblical when it comes to wooing one of the nation's best athletes in the 2017 class.
With a moratorium on contact between college football programs and high school juniors expiring at midnight Tuesday, the Wolverines reached out to Cass Tech wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones — and emblazoned their graphic for him with Jim Harbaugh's signature and Psalm 106:1.
#GoBlue 〽️〽️〽️ pic.twitter.com/RYNOF6FmVg
— Donovan P. Jones (@dpeoplesjones) September 1, 2015
Undeniably, the effect is slick, and Peoples-Jones — who won Nike's SPARQ-based Nike Football Rating Championship competition earlier this year, topping even qualified 2016 recruits — tweeting it out with a "Go Blue" and the emoji often (but not always) interpreted as hands pressed together in prayer seems to make it clear that this specific pitch appeals to him. But one can imagine that a football program using faith as a recruiting pitch — note the "#blessed" at the bottom of that graphic — has the potential to rankle both believers and non-believers alike.
Notably, though, Michigan seems to have only targeted this specific pitch to Peoples-Jones. 2017 athlete Ambry Thomas posted a different graphic, depicting him edited into a Michigan uniform with "The best players in Michigan go to Michigan" written at the bottom of the page, Tuesday afternoon.
Appreciate all the love from Michigan, MSU, LSU, and West Virginia today #goblue #Spartans ##GeauxTigers #WVU pic.twitter.com/MqF2LtwrTb
— Ambry Thomas 1⃣3⃣ (@Tavonn_) September 1, 2015
Michigan tailoring its recruiting pitches to individual prospects down to the style of graphics sent to the players is a pretty good indication that detail matters to Harbaugh and his staff.