Recruiting Roundup: Pair of touted DL set official visits

Michigan continues to secure official visit dates for its 2023 top targets in what looks to be an exciting month of June for the program. While still on the road this month, it also looks like Michigan will be stopping by to evaluate another 2023 quarterback prospect who could also end up visiting campus soon. We’ll run through all that in today’s roundup.

Top-50 DL puts Michigan in top five, sets official visit

DeMatha (MD) 2023 four-star defensive lineman Jason Moore has been one of Michigan’s highest priorities at his position and received a boost when Mike Elston was hired. Michigan was rewarded by being included in his top five schools last week, which he broke down with 247Sports’ Brian Dohn ($).

“Mostly, it is my relationship with coach Elston,” Moore said. “I had a good relationship with him prior to him being at Michigan. He was at Notre Dame, so we have that long-lasting relationship. Also, I have a great relationship with coach (Jim) Harbaugh, and the defensive coordinator there. We all are really close.”

Moore had previously made plans to visit Ann Arbor this spring, but those fell through. But he’s now set to take an official visit on June 17, which happens to be Victors Weekend.

“I haven’t been out there yet but I know a lot of people that go to Michigan, or went to Michigan, and they speak so highly of it,” said Moore. “Also, the history of going to Michigan, there is nothing like it.”

Three of the other four schools in Moore’s top group are also slated to receive official visits in June. He’ll go to Penn State on the 3rd, Notre Dame on the 10th and Ohio State on the 17th, with Maryland still waiting to find a date.

Notre Dame is the favorite in this race right now, but getting Moore on campus for the first time could help even things out in Michigan’s favor.

Three-star DL locks in official visit date

Elston has been going hard on the recruiting trail and has put Michigan in contention with a lot of guys. One prospect who hasn’t been discussed much is 2023 Nevada three-star My’Keil Gardner. But Elston has put Michigan in position to receive an official visit from him, according to 247Sports’ Blair Angulo ($).

Gardner is slated to visit Michigan June 10, which is quickly growing to be a significant recruiting weekend in its own right. He’ll then visit Wisconsin on June 2, Texas on June 16 and Oregon on June 24. He is coming off an official visit to Cal this past weekend.

The 6-foot-2, 275-pounder racked up 86 tackles, 10 sacks and 24 tackles for loss as a junior last season. He’s the No. 410 player in the nation and No. 6 in the state of Arizona, according to the composite. There are no Crystal Ball predictions yet, so this appears to be a winnable recruitment.

Michigan set to evaluate 2023 four-star QB in person

While the Wolverines are publicly only focusing on Dante Moore at quarterback in the 2023 cycle, they are doing work behind the scenes to keep their options open. One recruit they are keeping tabs on is Kansas four-star Avery Johnson, who recently told 247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong that Michigan will be stopping by to watch him throw soon ($).

“Michigan is coming down, LSU and Miami and UCLA came down a week ago,” Johnson said. “If they do offer it might switch some things up for me official wise, but if not I have a good idea of where I want to go in June.”

Of the schools that have offered so far, Johnson says he’s high on Kansas State, Oregon, Virginia and Washington. This will be a tricky situation since Michigan may have to offer Johnson in order to get an official visit from him.

Kansas State has the lone Crystal Ball prediction for Johnson, who just landed an invite to the Elite 11 finals this summer.