Wednesday Michigan Recruiting Roundup: Jabrill 2.0

It’s a long line to be Jabrill 2.0

Scout had a great piece on Tuesday ($) about four-star Washington, D.C. all-purpose back Mychale Salahuddin, who said Michigan has been using the “j” word in his recruitment.

“I’m definitely taking a look at Michigan,” Salahuddin said at Bowie State on Saturday. “It’s a big, big time school with a lot of legacy built up behind it. I’m definitely a guy who can come in and fill the shoes of Jabrill Peppers, just an offensive version and come in and make an instant impact.”

Salahuddin, who weighs in at 5’10”, 193, has the speed, change of direction and flair to look like Jabrill in the return game. If he does head to Michigan, he’d also make a more permanent impact on the run game, as well.

“I’m just looking to see what the hype is about,” Salahuddin said. “You know Michigan is always the premiere school that everyone always wants to talk about. I just want to see what it’s all about.”

Salahuddin said he’ll be visiting in “early June or early July,” according to 247Sports, and has solidified visits already to Clemson (June 13th), Ohio State (June 17th), and USC (June 23rd), as well as The Opening Finals in Oregon. He said he’s in no rush to decide, but might early enroll.

As for Michigan: "It's a dream school that I always wanted to have [an offer from]," Salahuddin said. "I've always wanted to put on for a legacy like Michigan. It's just a joy."

Salahuddin is the top-ranked prospect in Washington, D.C. (Update: Early Wednesday morning, he announced his top 11. Michigan was on it.)

Monday camp at FAU featured plenty big names, was a big success

Michigan stopped by FAU on Monday at Lane Kiffin’s invitation, and got a chance to scout some defensive backs. But the big news was Joe Milton stopping by after his Elite 11 appearance was cut short.

“I found out at 6:30 this morning, because my mom told me,” Milton said of his decision to attend the camp. “I was coming back from [Los Angeles]. She called me before I got on the plane in L.A., and told me, ‘Just get ready for the morning.’ This morning, she told me, ‘Get ready to go to the camp.’ ”

Mom, you da real MVP. This gave Milton the chance to get some extra attention ($) from Pep Hamilton, and Milton made sure to take advantage.

Milton said he needs to work on his mechanics, and spent a great deal of time doing so by getting coached up by Hamilton. His footwork and release point received a lot of attention, but he also met RG3 and soaked up a lot of advice on improving his game.

Of course, this was also a chance for reporters to ask Kiffin and Harbaugh what they thought of each other, and neither disappointed.

“I like him because he doesn’t care what you guys think,” Kiffin said. “Or what anybody thinks. He’s always done what is in the best interests of his program, which, to me, is what you’re hired to do.”

Harbaugh drew some (rather obvious) parallels between himself and Kiffin.

“I know Lane some,” Harbaugh said. “We coached together in the Pac-12, so we’re both coaches. We both played quarterback in college. We’re all in the same profession. That’s the biggest connector. We’re just coaching our teams. That’s a lot. That’s enough. That’s what you do as a football coach.”

“He’s a proven guy,” Harbaugh added. “He’s obviously been good. He’s got good traits.”

Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Lane also briefly drew out some praise for satellite camps when asked about allowing Tennessee and USC, two former employers, to camp at FAU. One of the Tennessee coaches in attendance, coincidentally, was Brady Hoke.

“This is about affording kids opportunities to go places,” Kiffin said. “Leaving a school years ago — I’ve got great respect for their staff at Tennessee. I’ve always had great things to say about our time there at Tennessee. There was no reason to not let them come.

“You guys are thinking that I let these schools come in here because it’s helping us get better players to our camp. I never look at it that way. I think that the guys that we’re recruiting that we want were coming.”

Anyway, there were also recruits who participated, and Michigan got a chance to watch 2018 three-star cornerback Stanley Garner and 2019 defensive back Jordan Battle. Garner recently picked up offers from Alabama and Florida, but he called Michigan’s offer “big time.” ($)

"That's big time," Garner said. "You have to be big time to go there. Jordan now? Jumpman. I like that."

Eyabi Anoma expresses interest in Michigan

The 6’5”, 230-pound four-star defensive end spoke to Scout ($) in a very interesting interview this week. The 2018 prospect said he went to Bowie State’s satellite camp on Saturday to see Michigan’s coaches, and show them his interest in U-M.

“I mean, Michigan is not close to Maryland, so I wanted to come down and say hi, show my face, and show that I’m interested and that I didn’t forget about them.”

His relationship with Harbaugh is a big part of that interest, but there’s also academics and finding the right culture.

“I’m not really an uptight type of player, I’m really just goofy and really friendly. So I can be that around (Harbaugh). Cause some coaches react different, but he has that more joyful personality. So you can be open with him.”

“I’m new to the process, I’m not a very picky person, at the end of the day I just want to play,” Anoma said. “They ask me if I want to far (distance-wise), at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter where I go, I just want to play (football) and come out a man.

“Right now I’m still a child, I want to leave out college a man, for like personality, maturity, everything. I want to be able to articulate better, so any school or program that can help me become a better person or man or football player, that’s basically what I’m looking for in a school.”

Anoma says he plans to take a trip to Michigan later this month.

Pep Hamilton talks up DMV talent

Michigan’s really invading everywhere, isn’t it. After a satellite camp at BSU on Saturday, Pep Hamilton spoke about the value of D.C., Maryland, and Virginia in Michigan recruiting.

"There's an abundance of talent here," Hamilton said. "When you look at it, we're talking what? A 7 1/2-8 hour drive. So it's close enough to where they can get away, but they are away.

“There's a ton of players here, and we have a ton of relationships with the coaches that I've known here in this area over the years. We feel like it gives them a great opportunity to come and play championship football and get a championship education as well."

Alabama, in particular, has raided the DMV in recent years, from Jonathan Allen to Da’Shawn Hand to Arie and Cyrus Kouandjio and cornerback Cyrus Jones. Other big names to come out of the DMV include Teez Tabor at Florida, Stefon Diggs and Yannick Ngakoue at Maryland, Kendall Fuller at Virginia Tech, Eddie Goldman, Josh Sweat and Ronald Darby at FSU, and quarterbacks Christian Hackenberg and Kevin Hogan at PSU and Stanford.

Michigan has landed Luiji Vilain, Stephen Spanellis, Wilton Speight, Henry Poggi, Brandon Watson, Freddy Canteen, Blake Countess, and Derrick Green from the DMV since 2011.