Wednesday Michigan Recruiting Roundup: More fallout from The Opening

Welcome back everyone to your weekly installment of Michigan recruiting news!

Most of the news is still stemming from The Opening Finals that was held in Frisco, Texas about a week ago. Several Michigan commits and targets were in attendance, and this gave reporters a chance to catch up with how the Wolverines stand in their respective recruitments. So let’s see how Michigan is doing with their top guys remaining on the board.

4-star linebacker has Michigan in his top four

Michigan’s linebacker board is pretty empty, as the staff is satisfied with who is on their roster and currently committed. Besides jumbo athlete Quavaris Crouch, there is only one other name that stands out — 4-star Georgia prospect Kalen DeLoach.

DeLoach recently revealed his top four schools, with Michigan being included with Alabama, Florida State and Auburn.

The 6-foot, 206-pound athlete spoke with The Michigan Insider’s Sam Webb ($) at The Opening about what he liked about Michigan.

“Coach Brown, that’s my guy too. When I went up there it was like a family atmosphere. He’s like another father figure to me,” said DeLoach. “He’d take care of me off the field, and (also) get on me on the field. That’s what I like. And then, just the position that he had me in.”

He also spoke about this being more than a football decision, wanting to “be a better man when I finish college.” and “get a great education just in case football (doesn’t) go where I want it to go.”

These are the words Michigan fans want to hear from a recruit. They have one of the best programs that combine football, life skills and education in the nation.

DeLoach will take official visits to his four finalists during the fall and announce his decision after his senior season. His 247 crystal ball is fairly split, with Florida State holding the most with 50 percent. 30 percent are for South Carolina, who aren’t one of his finalists, 10 percent are for Auburn and 10 percent are “cloudy.”

4-star defensive back planning visit to Ann Arbor

Michigan has picked up its efforts with 4-star Florida prospect Josh Sanguinetti rapidly in the last couple of weeks. This new love has made an impact on the defensive back, who quickly made plans to visit Ann Arbor for the BBQ at the Big House in late July.

“Like two weeks ago they told me about it and then I talked to my mom and she said that we’re going to go,” Sanguinetti told TMI’s Josh Newkirk ($). “I just want to see the atmosphere they have up there and see the campus, stuff like that. And talk with the coaches.”

Sanguinetti says that secondary coach Mike Zordich sees him as a “safety or corner, they just want me there.”

He has not yet narrowed down his top schools, but Sanguinetti said Michigan is “definitely going to be in it though.”

Miami holds 88 percent of the crystal balls, but it seems like the Hurricanes have cooled off on the south Florida native. Sanguinetti says he is also looking at Stanford, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Florida and Florida State.

3-star Baylor commit planning an official visit to Michigan

As the Michigan staff looks to fill out their wide receiver board, they have turned their eyes to the Lonestar State. 3-star Jaylen Ellis has been committed to Baylor for more than a year, but has been receptive to Michigan’s attention.

“I’ve talked to everybody, I’ve talked to coach (Roy) Roundtree, coach (Sherrone) Moore and coach (Greg McElwain) and I’ve been on the phone with coach (Jim) Harbaugh every now and then,” according to Ellis in an interview with TMI’s Josh Newkirk ($). “They are all recruiting me hard. I really like those dudes a lot.”

Ellis wants to take a full slate of official visits, which makes his pledge to Baylor seem pretty soft. Other than Michigan, Ellis is planning to official at Oregon, Baylor and Houston.

As for when he will make his final decision, Ellis said, “I kind of want to get this done by my homecoming game.”

Top prospect in 2020 class wants to visit Michigan again

One of the few rising juniors to be invited to The Opening was 5-star defensive end Bryan Bresee out of Maryland. Right before the event, Bresee released his top 15 schools, with Michigan making the list.

Bresee spoke with TMI’s Josh Newkirk ($) about his standing with the Wolverines. “I have a good relationship with them. So I think keep talking to them and get up there for a game or something.”

He added he is looking to narrow down his list to five or seven schools sometime during the fall. As for Michigan’s chances to make the next cut, Bresee said, “I think they will still be high on the list still in the end. I just got to get down there again. And these last couple schools that I am really focusing on, just get down there as much as I can.”

In Michigan’s favor, Bresee had the opportunity to speak with Rashan Gary about Michigan defensive line coach Greg Mattison while serving as a volunteer coach during The Opening. “I talked to Rashan Gary about (Mattison) a lot. I think I can definitely see myself working with him,” said Bresee.

Ohio State is the early Crystal Ball favorite, with 83 percent. Hometown Maryland has the remaining 17 percent.

That’s the news for this week! Stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks. The staff is ramping up for the next big recruiting event, the BBQ at the Big House, at the end of the month. There will be plenty of highly touted visitors in attendance, and Maize n Brew will have everything you need to know leading up to the event.