Monday Michigan Recruiting Roundup: Southern Invasion

Michigan still in the hunt for Miami transfer

As you may know, Jim Harbaugh has entered the ring for Miami grad transfer and oft-injured right tackle Sunny Odogwu. Following a week where Sunny took visits to Michigan and UCLA, both schools remain in good standing as Odogwu considers whether to decide between the two or expand his recruitment further.

Sunny talked to Scout ($) about both visits, and painted them in similar terms - meeting with coaches, getting a medical exam on his ankle, and having a great experience from ‘top-notch’ academic institutions. Both Harbaugh and Mora, he said, had great energy.

“(Ann Arbor) was just awesome. I just enjoyed the way the coaches presented everything. It was top class. Everything was top class, everything was tier one best. The athletic trainer, he was awesome... It's just something you can't find.”

The 6’8”, 325-pound lineman will deliberate with his old high school coach on whether to decide between the two or keep expanding his options.

Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images

QB Tyler Shough talks recruitment

Scout also caught up with borderline three- or four-star QB Tyler Shough this weekend, and he talked about his top schools (Michigan, South Carolina, North Carolina, Cal, Indiana) and the challenges of touring different campuses around the country while taking extra classes to be able to early enroll. An offer by Cal last week stood out, because of academics and family in California.

“I’m just kind of weighing the options, you know. The opportunity to play as well is a big factor.”

As for Michigan, “from when they first started recruiting me to now, it’s always been the same pitch. They really like me.”

Shough said he wants to commit soon, but has pushed back his decision date because of “more offers in the past couple weeks.” He’ll commit in June or July, he said.

Doing well(-ish) for St. Brown

Michigan is still doing well ($) with 2018 five-star receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who said he likes what Pep Hamilton has been saying to him.

“Then with most new receiver coaches, they’re all nice to you and tell you want to hear, but I like Hamilton so far. We just need to keep talking and obviously, I’ll need to get out there for a visit.”

He also said that money is tight, though, which limits his trips to the east coast. His top priority is to visit Notre Dame and Stanford, because his two older brothers go there. But Michigan is definitely a candidate for an official visit this fall, and they’re showing him a lot of love.

Invading the south, one recruit at a time

Michigan’s been persistent in trying to expand its recruiting territory under Harbaugh, and the south has been a big part of that. Michigan’s secret weapon? Outworking schools, and not taking no for an answer.

One example of this is North Carolina defensive lineman (and high school linebacker) Alim McNeill, who’s gotten separate visits from Greg Mattison and then Don Brown and Chris Partridge. Sometime soon, McNeill plans to visit Ann Arbor, and has U-M in his top ten despite not knowing much about them.

The Maize & Blue is among those in the group that the four-star prospect is the least familiar, but the persistence of Harbaugh & company played a major role in bridging the gap.

"Some of the stuff he's doing is cutting edge stuff, just with the staff, with the kids, and everything else,” Kolstad said. “They're recruiting some of the kids that are down here. I've been here for 15 years now and I've never seen them down here (until now).”

Another example is four-star Georgia safety Trey Dean, who took part in a satellite camp ($) at Mercer University and will be heading up to Ann Arbor on June 12. His Crystal Balls all point to UGA, but the satellite camp gave him a chance to talk to Jim Harbaugh and Don Brown, and the upcoming visit will be a chance to test whether his friend (and Michigan commit) Myles Sims is actually right about how special Michigan is.

“I heard they have a lot of southern guys and off the field they have a great degree, Michigan is a good school and a world wide brand,” Dean said. “I like that, so I want to see what they have to offer.”

It also came out today that Michigan has made the top five for a four-star cornerback out of Houston, Texas, D’Shawn Jamison. 100% of his Crystal Balls are either to Texas or TCU, though. We’ll see how that one shakes out.

John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports

Peeking ahead to 2019 recruiting, Michigan recently entertained a visit from four-star defensive end prospect Chris Hinton, who hails from Norcross, Georgia. Hinton fell in love with the business school while he was here.

“My favorite part was actually going to the business school,” said Hinton. “It was actually really cool and informative. I’m really interested in it now. The fact that the building was so amazing and fun. Also the fact that now I’m interested in business. I’m interested in human biology, but now they introduced a lot of different options to me like business.”

Hinton has a younger brother who’s a 2020 offensive tackle prospect, as well.

Searching for a pass rush in Washington D.C.

There’s probably a joke in there, but I’m not going to touch it. Anyway, 247Sports has a couple great reports out about 2018 defensive end Eyabi Anoma and 2019 defensive end Joseph Weté.

Anoma, the #3 WDE in the 2018 cycle, said he will try to visit Michigan this month and also determine how close the nearest Burger King is to campus. (Bad news: you’d be looking at West Stadium for your nearest one, so maybe we’re not in great shape here.)

Weté, meanwhile, is the #8 WDE in the 2019 cycle, and he talked to 247 about camping at Bowie State University with Michigan’s coaches.

"The whole staff stood out to me, the way they genuinely cared about what they were teaching. Football to them wasn't really just a sport, it was almost like a religion, the way they pressed what they were telling you to do."

Other News & Notes

Michigan made the top ten for 2018 four-star Oregon athlete Talanoa Hufanga, who plays safety and quarterback in high school. Hufanga is an exciting, rangy defender who can cause turnovers and defend one-on-one, which could be said about a lot of Michigan’s current safety prospects.

Michigan has sent out three offers to in-state kids in the 2019 cycle (offensive tackles Devontae Dobbs and Logan Brown, and Detroit King safety Marvin Grant), but has not offered the 6’5”, 320-pound offensive lineman Anthony Bradford just yet. Bradford is the 7th-ranked prospect in the state, and the final four-star. Scout has a great interview with him ($).

Meanwhile, 247Sports has confirmed that the #1 quarterback prospect in the 2019 cycle, J.T. Daniels, has his first trip planned for this summer, and it’s to Michigan’s A4 Aerial Assault competition on June 18. Another great interview there ($).