Friday Michigan Recruiting Roundup: Updates on Eric Gray, Quavaris Crouch and more

Happy Friday Michigan fans, and welcome to this week’s Friday Recruiting Roundup.

We’ve got a lot to hit on so let’s not waste any time.

5-star ATH makes visit plans official

One of Michigan’s top recruits left on the board is officially visiting for the Wisconsin game next weekend.

5-star athlete Quavaris Crouch will make the journey to Ann Arbor for the first time for a game day atmosphere. Crouch has already visited Tennessee, NC State and Clemson this season, and plans to visit Florida State next month.

According to The Michigan Insider’s Steve Lorenz ($), a source of his said if Michigan was closer to home, their crystal ball pick would have been for Michigan “a long time ago.”

Crouch also recently told Clemson’s 247Sports site the Tigers have had the best game day atmosphere so far, but also said that is because he has not been to Michigan yet. With next weekend’s game being played in prime time, the atmosphere at Michigan Stadium should be stellar.

This recruitment has been an interesting one. Crouch hasn’t made himself available to the media that much, so it’s hard to tell where his head is at in terms of where he is leaning. But getting him on campus for a night game, to me, shows he is very interested in the program. We will have to wait and see on this one, so stay tuned.

Crouch is the No. 28 overall recruit and the No. 2 athlete in his class.

Michigan commit also visiting for Wisconsin game

One name fans should be familiar with in the 2019 class is 4-star running back Eric Gray.

In recent weeks, despite being committed to Michigan, visited Ole Miss and Tennessee. But as Lorenz at TMI ($) is reporting, Gray will be returning to Ann Arbor for the Wisconsin game next week.

Lorenz reports this will be Gray’s first time on campus since July, and “that Gray’s camp has been open with the Michigan staff about these trips and the current expectation on Michigan’s end is that Gray is a fully solid pledge.”

This is good news for Michigan, as Gray is one of the team’s top commits in the 2019 class. He, along with 4-star running back Zach Charbonnet and do-it-all offensive play-maker 4-star Giles Jackson make for a stellar haul, so keeping Gray is huge for the offense’s future.

Yet another U-M commit visiting for Wisconsin

Karsen Barnhart, a 3-star offensive line commit and a Paw Paw native, is also visiting for the Wisconsin game next weekend, according to Lorenz ($).

Barnhart has returned several times since committing back in April, so this will be just another opportunity to take in a great game day environment with the Badgers in town. It is also an opportunity for Barnhart to put his recruiting hat on and attempt to reel in guys like Crouch that will be in attendance.

The 6-foot-4, 273-pounder is a borderline 4-star recruit — the No. 411 player overall, No. 40 offensive tackle and No. 10 player in the state, according to the 247Sports composite. He is listed as a 4-star on 247Sports.

2020 OT forming relationship with Warinner

Last week, I brought you an update that Michigan offered 3-star 2020 offensive tackle Zak Zinter. The 6-foot-6, 300-pound high school junior from Massachusetts recently spoke with The Michigan Insider’s Brice Marich ($) about the offer and his growing relationship with offensive line coach Ed Warinner.

“I would say my relationship with coach Warinner has been good,” Zinter said. “We spoke a good amount at the UMass-Michigan camp, and then again at both of my visits at Michigan. He has been very open and honest with me about their interest level. We have consistently kept in in touch. I have enjoyed our conversations and the times I have spent with him.”

The good news for Michigan in this recruitment is Zinter admitted his main goal is to attend a “high academic college with really good football.” He also said he would like to make it to a game this season, but that has yet to be determined.

That’s all for this week! Check back on Monday for more Michigan recruiting news!