Michigan football recruiting visitors list for weekend of Jan. 26

With the January contact period still in full swing, the Michigan coaches are taking advantage and hosting several of their top prospects in the 2020 class. This was supposed to be a big Junior Day, but the terrible weather splintered the visitors list between this weekend and last.

I expect more names to be revealed after the camp gets underway, as is the nature of recruiting. Let’s take a look to see who we do know will be enjoying the beautiful Ann Arbor weather this weekend.

2020

AJ Henning - 4-star, #51 overall, #8 WR

Call this the Josh Gattis effect. Henning is one of the top receiver prospects in the Midwest and the entire country. Michigan had offered, but there didn’t seem to be much buzz between the two. Instead, Notre Dame looks like the team to beat with Ohio State right behind.

But Henning just put Michigan in his top 10, and now they get an important visit from the Illinois prospect, hoping to move up in the race as he builds a relationship with Gattis.

Rashawn Williams - 4-star, #156 overall, #29 WR

Michigan is trending strongly for the Detroit King standout. The Wolverines hold 88 percent of the crystal balls right now, with one Ohio State pick being the outlier. He’s expressed his desire to commit early, so this one could be wrapped up soon.

Michael Carmody - 4-star, #196 overall, #25 OT

Carmody is another prospect Michigan is in a strong position. The Pennsylvania native has visited campus a couple times before, and is high on the school. Michigan will be battling Penn State for his services, but it may not be as hard of a fight as previously thought.

Jadon Thompson - 4-star, #272 overall, #55 WR

The headline this weekend will be the crop of wide receivers on campus, and Thompson just adds to that list. The heat has been turned up lately on the Illinois native, who has one crystal ball pick for Purdue so far.

Braiden McGregor - 4-star, #324 overall, #18 SDE

McGregor is one of the top prospects in Michigan, and a name you will hear a lot about moving forward. The Wolverines had an early lead, but Notre Dame has surged and maybe even passed Michigan for pole position.

Getting him on campus will be important to gain momentum in this race and let him build a relationship with new defensive line coach Shaun Nua. Defensive line is a position of need in 2020, and nabbing in-state guys is the easiest path to bringing in a nice haul.

Nikhai Hill-Green - 4-star, #338 overall, #26 OLB

Interviewing Hill-Green about the Michigan offer he received Wednesday is when I discovered he’d be on campus this weekend. The Pennsylvania prospect plays at a position of need and Michigan won’t be done at linebacker even though they already have two committed.

Peny Boone - 4-star, #341 overall, #29 RB

Hey look, another recruit who plays a position of need for 2020. Boone is local, playing at Detroit King, but he was just offered about two weeks ago.

Michigan has been doing increasingly better at King lately, and are the current favorites to land Boone’s teammate Rashawn Williams. Tennessee has the only crystal ball pick right now, but if the staff pushes, I think they could land Boone.

Theo Johnson - 3-star, #454 overall, #11 TE

Johnson has been picking up scholarships left and right lately. Michigan offered at the beginning of this run and this will be his third visit to campus. The Wolverines will be battling Penn State for Johnson, but they’ve cracked this race open.

Devell Washington - 3-star, #485 overall, #94 WR

Washington was a familiar face in Ann Arbor throughout the football season. Still, it looks like he’s favoring Michigan State at this moment. I think Michigan should slow-play this race now anyway, since they now have the potential to grab some elite talents at the position with Gattis recruiting for them.

Bryce Austin - 3-star, #315 overall, #22 DT (247 ranking only)

Michigan still hasn’t offered the Southfield product yet, but he looks like someone who could raise their profile significantly soon. If he performs well this weekend, I think he could be the beneficiary of a scholarship.

Trey Leroux - 3-star, #639 overall, #71 OT (247 ranking only)

Leroux is a massive offensive tackle from Ohio who has visited Michigan a few times already. The staff hasn’t offered yet, but he does hold tenders from Kentucky, Pitt, Purdue and West Virginia, along with some MAC offers. We’ll see if the coaches finally pull the trigger here.

Cal Haladay - unranked LB

I talked about Haladay in my linebackers position preview as an interesting prospect because he’s been first team All-State every year since he was a freshman, but only has offers from UMass and Michigan. He’s also the teammate of 5-star wide receiver Julian Fleming, which adds another layer of intrigue.

2021

Jaylen Anderson - 4-star, #78 overall, #6 RB (247 ranking only)

Even though Anderson has a lofty ranking, he actually doesn’t hold any scholarships yet. Michigan State and Ohio State have shown interest, and now Michigan gets a chance to see him in person.

Raheem Anderson - unranked C

Already holding offers from Michigan, LSU, Kentucky, Maryland and others, he looks to be a national recruit. There are already three crystal ball picks for Anderson to the Wolverines.

Nolan Rucci - unranked OT

Rucci is unranked, but he’s been called an elite prospect in every article I’ve read about him, so when his class starts getting more attention we’ll see just how elite the analysts think he is.

He does have some good offers, including Michigan, Penn State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Syracuse and Virginia Tech. Given he’s from Pennsylvania, Penn State has his two crustal ball picks right now.

Terrence Enos - unranked OT

Enos is an up-and-comer at Cass Tech, where Michigan has a few offers out in the 2021 class so far. They haven’t offered Enos yet, but he did just pick one up from LSU, so his future prospects look bright.

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Since it looks like the 2019 class is all but wrapped up, the coaching staff is putting all their energy into the 2020 class. This weekend will be a good kick start to the recruiting cycle that’s off to a good start so far.