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Wednesday Michigan Recruiting Roundup: No warm welcomes for Jim Harbaugh in SEC country

In this edition, Auburn's Guz Malzahn doesn't like the idea of satellite camps, the 2015 class will be largely represented at the Spring Game, while another in-state 2016 prospect confirmed his plans to visit. Also, a handful of scholarship offers were extended in the last few days.

By Anthony Broome
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

SEC coaches not fans of satellite camps

Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan football coaching staff will be busy in the early part of June on a nationwide tour of satellite camps.

Harbaugh's traveling band will be visiting Prattville, Alabama (June 5), Tampa, Florida (June 6), Easton, Pennsylvania (June 7), Eason, Pennsylvania (June 7), Houston, Texas (June 8) and California (June 10). The Florida, Houston and Texas dates are per Scout.com's Sam Webb and have yet to be officially confirmed.

MGoFish was the first to report the camps as being in the works last week.

Technically, coaches cannot host camps more than 50 miles away from their own campus, but these satellite camps allow coaches to appear as "guests" at high school camps, which is an NCAA loophole that was taken advantage of last year by Penn State's James Franklin. Many voiced their displeasure over that, so it is interesting to see Harbaugh's staff as a part of a camp that will take place in Nittany Lion country.

Franklin held camps at Stetson and Georgia State last summer, which did not make coaches of SEC programs very happy.

Auburn's Gus Malzahn was among the group of coaches that were against these camps, and he reiterated that to the Montgomery Advisor. (FREE)

"I think the SEC coaches last year made it clear that we'd like it to be that way throughout the country," Malzahn said. "That was a stance after our last spring meetings and I still feel the same."

Michigan has been recruiting in SEC country pretty hard since he was hired, as he was able to secure a commitment from 2015 athlete Keith Washington on National Signing Day and offered three-star fullback Kingston Davis for 2016, both from Prattville.

Prattville head coach and athletic director Chad Anderson explained to the Montgomery Advisor how the camp at their school came to be. (FREE)

"Each year (the A+ Foundation) asks me, ‘Can you help us line a speaker up?’ " Prattville football coach and athletic director Chad Anderson said. "I said, ‘Well, why don’t we talk to coach Harbaugh?’ He just signed one of our guys, and he’s offered Kingston and he has been trying to recruit this area. He’s somebody that might be interested to get down here and get out in the public a little more, as far as the Southeast. And he accepted."

...

"It was a pretty cool deal. They wanted to do a golf tournament, and he was like, ‘I’d rather coach football than play golf,’" Anderson said. "So they said they’d do that for us."

The camps will be open for all football players in the sixth to 12th grade.

2015 class will be well-represented at the Spring Game

Outside of Alex Malzone and Brian Cole, freshman who enrolled early at Michigan and have been participating in spring practice, the class will be represented well at the Spring Game on Saturday.

Offensive tackle Grant Newsome, running back Karan Higdon, wide receiver Grant Perry, safety Tyree Kinnel and athlete Keith Washington will all be in Ann Arbor on Saturday, according to Wolverine247. (FREE)

Tight end Tyrone Wheatley Jr., offensive lineman Nolan Ulizio and kicker Andrew David are expected to attend as well.

Kareem to visit Saturday

Four-star defensive end Khalid Kareem (Farmington Hills, Michigan) will be at Michigan on Saturday for the Spring Game, according to 247 Sports. (FREE)

Kareem has become one of the more sought-after prospects in the nation as of late and the new staff has made him a priority, as evidenced by his fourth visit to Ann Arbor since Harbaugh was hired.

Offers update

The biggest offer to come out of the last few days went to 2017 quarterback Hunter Johnson (Brownsburg, Indiana), who many consider the top passer in the class. The offer was reported by 247's Steve Wiltfong.

Johnson's teammate, 2016 running back Toks Akinribade, also pulled in an offer. Both players visited Michigan on Tuesday.

Another 2017 offer that was extended went to four-star athlete Richard LeCounte (Hinesville, Georgia), according to his Twitter account.

That's it for Wednesday. Check back in Friday for the latest roundup of Michigan football recruiting news.

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