Wednesday Michigan Recruiting Roundup: 2020 top 100 player updates

Welcome back to another edition of the Wednesday Recruiting Roundup. The staff is still in their winter evaluation period and spraying out offers left and right. We have updates on a few top targets for 2020 and some late 2019 cycle news, so let’s get right to it.

Final 5-stars of 2019 decided

Yesterday while streaming on Facebook Live, 247Sports unveiled their final group of 32 5-stars of the 2019 cycle. After the All-American games, Michigan had three candidates for that prestigious status: Daxton Hill, Zach Charbonnet, and Chris Hinton.

When the full list was revealed, only Daxton Hill was included. He dropped from 247’s seventh ranked player to their 23rd, which is still solidly in 5-star range.

In Barton Simmons’ rundown of every player in the 5-star category (FREE), this is what he had to say about Hill, “A combine freak that is one of the fastest players in this class, Hill impressed us with what he put on film as a senior as well and he has true freshman starting potential at Michigan.”

Doesn’t really explain the drop, but this high up in the rankings, it’s splitting hairs. On the composite, which is separate from 247’s rankings, Hill dropped from ninth to 14th, but still remains the No. 1 safety in the country.

As for the other contenders, Steve Wiltfong mentioned Hinton and Charbonnet were both very close to this range and Hinton specifically will be moving up. He added Mazi Smith will also get a bump. The rest of the Top247 come out later today.

Top 100 RB impressed by Michigan’s new hires

One of the players I mentioned when talking about how the Anthony Campanile and Josh Gattis hires would help with recruiting was 4-star running back Jalen Berger. After recently talking with The Michigan Insider’s Steve Lorenz, it appears that sentiment was correct ($).

”I have a great relationship with both of those guys from their previous stops,” Berger said. “My reaction was definitely ‘wow’ when I saw them make the hires. They’re two great additions to the Michigan staff.”

Berger was already being recruited by New Jersey native Chris Partridge, but expect Campanile, who formerly coached at Berger’s high school, to take a large role in this race as well.

Now the question is how serious Michigan’s interest is in Berger. According to Lorenz, the staff isn’t quite as high on him as his ranking would suggest. We’ll see how hard they push for Berger and how his ranking fluctuates as the cycle goes on.

4-star DE plans to take another trip to Michigan

2020 4-star North Carolina defensive end Jacolbe Cowan is ranked just a few spots ahead of Berger, and is also very interested in the Wolverines. After visiting Ann Arbor for a trip last spring, he told TMI’s Sam Webb he’s looking to get back there soon ($).

“I’m definitely looking forward to getting back to Michigan. Coach Harbaugh, he’s a great man.” Cowan said. “I’m just looking forward to getting back to Michigan and spending some time in Ann Arbor.”

Cowan reminisced about his previous trip to Ann Arbor where he talked with coaches and marveled at the spectacle that is the Big House.

“I remember walking into the Big House and seeing how big that was. And it was huge, of course,” he said. “I had a good time and spent some time with the coaching staff, so that was good.”

Another feather in Michigan’s cap is Chris Hinton, who used to be on the same basketball team with Cowan.

“I’ve talked to (Hinton) a lot about maybe teaming up at Michigan,” Cowan said. “I’m really just looking forward to getting back. I think maybe the next time I go he might be there enrolled. So, hopefully I can spend some time with him.”

Michigan’s chances look promising with Cowan right now. He’s working on creating his top 10 list of schools right now, and the Wolverines should make the cut. With defensive line being such a priority for the class, this is good news.

That’s everything for this week’s roundup. Check back soon for more updates and news.