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Friday Michigan Recruiting Roundup: Status of Chris Clark, Iman Marshall, Mike Weber heading into NSD

In this edition, we take a look at where Michigan's top remaining targets are at heading into next Wednesday, a list of official visitors this weekend, and more.

By Anthony Broome
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

With National Signing Day just five more days away, things are starting to get interesting with Michigan's top targets with only about six spots remaining to fill out the 2015 class. Let's take a look where things stand heading into the weekend

Chris Clark

Perhaps Michigan's biggest target heading into the end of the cycle is four-star tight end Chris Clark (Avon, Connecticut), who Jim Harbaugh and Jedd Fisch visited in-home on Wednesday.

Clark also received a letter in the mail from tight ends coach Jay Harbaugh, giving him eight reasons to choose Michigan, which he released via his Twitter account.

This is as neck-and-neck a recruiting battle as there is right now with UCLA right on the heels of Michigan, but when you take a step back and evaluate the fit, the Wolverines really do seem like the best option.

This is ultimately Clark's decision to make, and it will be a difficult one, but where we stand today, I still think he ends up with Michigan. With that being said, it's still 50-50 until he makes an official announcement for himself.

Mike Weber

Perhaps the biggest development of the week was the meeting that took place between Harbaugh and four-star Ohio State running back commit Mike Weber (Detroit, Michigan). This scoop was first reported by Scout's Allen Trieu and then confirmed by Steve Lorenz from Wolverine247.

The storyline involving a possible flip back to Michigan from the Buckeyes has been one that has gained a lot of steam in the last few days. I wrote about the possibility of this happening on Wednesday

.The exact details of the discussion are unknown, but it is likely that Harbaugh is trying to push for an official visit this weekend, the last for 2015 prospects to visit before National Signing Day on Feb. 4. If he were to take the visit, things become interesting and the talk of him flipping his commitment back to the Wolverines will heat up.


To address a few narratives first, there have been some who have suggested that Weber's heart is in Ann Arbor, which may or may not be true, but if that were the case it's unlikely he would have decommitted in the first place. The Buckeyes were going after him hard throughout the process and when a coaching change in Ann Arbor was made, OSU became the place he was most comfortable with.


Weber is in a difficult spot now with Harbaugh after him and his commitment to Urban Meyer in the balance. While a flip does appear unlikely where we stand today, all bets are off if Michigan can get him on campus for an official.

We'll have to wait and see what happens here, but the fact that Weber would consider a visit with Harbaugh shows that Michigan is still a place he thinks about. At the end of the day, OSU still seems like the favorite, but we'll see if a change of heart happens between now and signing day.

Iman Marshall

While he may not exactly be the top target to finish out the class, the nation's top cornerback Iman Marshall (Long Beach, California) has been another prospect that Michigan fans are eagerly hoping will end up committing on Wednesday.

Michigan coaches had an in-home visit with Marshall on Monday and it appears it went as well as it possibly could have, with Marshall's dad even saying he would have no issue with sending his child to play for Harbaugn and company in Ann Arbor.

USC still seems like the favorite here, but it really does look like Michigan has made themselves a factor in this decision.

Marshall's decision is getting top-billing heading into Feb. 4, and Bleacher Report even released a teaser video with his top six schools, which include the Wolverines, Florida State, LSU, USC, Notre Dame and UCLA.

Marshall cancelled an official visit to Oregon this weekend, so the list of schools above look like the possibile suitors. If I had to choose today, I'd say USC with Michigan in second place.

Michigan visits Chris Williamson

On Thursday, Harbaugh, DJ Durkin, and Mike Zordich visited 2015 defensive back Chris Williamson (Gainesville, Georgia).

Williamson is a three-star prospect and was offered by Harbaugh's staff on Jan. 13. He will decide on his school on Monday.

Official visits this weekend

With only a few days left in the 2015 recruiting cycle, Michigan still has quite a crop of official visits coming in this weekend.

The visitors to check out Ann Arbor this weekend are wide receiver Van Jefferson, wide receiver Deontay Burnett, cornerback Jairius Adams and running back Titus Booker.

In the last few days, it's clear that Harbaugh is looking for guys with speed on the offensive side of the ball. Guys like Jefferson, Burnett and Booker certainly fit the bill.

I'm not sure if any of these guys are candidates to commit, but we won't know for sure until their visits have concluded. The guy I would watch out for is Jefferson, who has ties to the area.

Michigan offers Quayshon Alexander

Michigan has still been busy offering 2016 prospects, the latest of which comes in the form of three-star defensive end Quayshon Alexander (Wayne, New Jersey).

The six-foot-two and 212-pound prospect is projected to be a weak-side defensive end according to his 247Sports profile.

Michigan's offer is the fourth for Alexander in this cycle. Rutgers, Miami and Pittsburgh have all extended offers to Alexander with in-state school Rutgers being the presumed leader in the clubhouse for his services according to 247Sports' Crystal Ball feature.

The Michigan Man Podcast

Every week, Mike Fitzpatrick puts out a fantastic podcast on the latest in the world of the Michigan Wolverines. We are fortunate enough to have him as a part of our website, and this week he talked about the latest in recruiting, interviewed Detroit Free Press writer Mark Snyder and touched on the basketball team.

To listen to Mike's podcast, check out the linkhere.

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