Friday Michigan Recruiting Roundup: Diving head-first into the 2020 class

Welcome in to the final Michigan Recruiting Roundup of the week.

We have a ton of updates from the 2020 class to get to, so let’s jump right in.

5-star in-state OL discusses top programs

5-star offensive lineman Justin Rogers is a highly sought after prospect, not just in Michigan, but across the entire country.

He is listed as the No. 1 guard in his class and the No. 14 overall player, per 247Sports’ composite, and he discussed his top schools so far with 247Sports’ Allen Trieu ($), which are Alabama, Georgia, USC, Florida and Tennessee.

Notice a few schools left off his top (as of now) list? Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State being omitted was pretty interesting, but he is still considering them.

“I’m actually supposed to be going up to Michigan after this dead period to talk to coach Harbaugh,” Rogers told Trieu. “I didn’t say them, but they’re still in my back pocket and I’m still talking to schools up there like Michigan State, and I have a good relationship with (Ohio State head) coach Day, we talk a lot, and I’m still talking to both state schools.”

The 6-foot-2.5, 311-pounder has been on U-M’s campus multiple times, including quite recently for a basketball game. Whether Ed Warinner is able to work his magic in this recruitment is yet to be determined, but it would be one hell of a job if he were able to pull this one off.

5-star WR ‘needs’ to visit Michigan

We brought you the news over the holiday 2020 5-star wide receiver Julian Fleming listed Michigan in his top 10. Since then he has spoken with 247Sports’ Brian Dohn ($) about his top schools and more.

“Penn State, Ohio State and Florida. Those three are making a really big push,” Fleming said. “I need to see LSU, USC, Michigan and Florida. Whenever they were able to start texting, they showed me a lot of love. They made me a priority. I need to see those schools and see what’s up there.”

Fleming, a 6-foot-3 and 210-pound receiver from Catawissa, Pennsylvania, has been very high on Penn State. It is early in the recruitment, but it seems like a near lock he will commit to Penn State at some point. He has visited the campus multiple times and explained to Dohn why he likes it so much.

“I’ve been to Penn State a lot of times,” Fleming said. “I know almost everything. They come to see me at basketball games. They come to see me at school any chance they get. I have a close relationship with all of their coaching staff.”

This will be as tough a pull as there is in the 2020 class, but the fact Michigan made the top list is good news so far. We will just have to wait and see how the coaching staff goes about recruiting Fleming the rest of the way.

2 4-star RBs highly interested in Michigan

The running back at the top of Michigan’s board in 2020 is 4-star Michael Drennen II. One slight issue is Ohio State also has Drennen II penned as its top back in the class. Another problem is Drennen II is from Dublin, Ohio, so this may be another tough get for Michigan. Especially since his mom is a huge OSU fan, he said in an interview with Trieu ($).

However, he said Michigan and Penn State are two schools he also has very high interest in.

“Michigan, I just like Michigan, I don’t know why, I just do. Penn State probably because of running backs like Saquan Barkley. I just want to be like them,” he said.

Drennen II is the No. 3 player in Ohio, No. 3 all-purpose back and No. 183 overall player.

The other 4-star considering the Maize and Blue is St. Louis, Missouri native Mookie Cooper.

We have talked about Cooper quite a bit over the last month or so on Maize n Brew, especially after he put Michigan in his top 10 on Christmas Eve. He recently spoke with Trieu ($) — who has been putting in work at the Under Armour Future 50 — and he said one of the recruiters he’s closest with is Michigan running backs coach Jay Harbaugh.

“I really like Jay Harbaugh. We talk football a lot,” he said. “I just want to watch a game. I watched a game my sophomore year, but I didn’t pay attention as much and now that it’s closer, I want to pay attention more to the offense and the team.”

And apparently Mrs. Cooper is a big fan of the other Harbaugh.

“My mom was super excited (when we visited Michigan) because she loves Jim Harbaugh,” Cooper said. “She wanted me to go there. She talked to him more than me, but I feel like he’s a good coach, but I don’t know him that much.

Cooper is listed as the No. 85 overall player and No. 5 athlete in his class.

2020 4-star OL also high on U-M

Finally, let’s get to the position every Michigan fan loves to hear about in the recruiting game — the offensive line.

One offensive lineman to keep an eye out for in the 2020 class is 4-star Miller Merriweather-Lewis. The 6-foot-3, 298-pounder from Ocala, Florida is reeling in offers right now, including U-M, Auburn, LSU, Georgia, Florida, Miami (FL) and USC, to name a few.

What initially drew him to his fondness of the Wolverines was the fact that Harbaugh texted him at midnight on Sept. 1 — the first day of the contact period, according to The Michigan Insider’s Josh Newkirk ($).

Merriweather-Lewis is starting to grow a relationship with Ed Warinner, and even plans on visiting Ann Arbor this summer.

He has a top five of Michigan, LSU, Georgia, Auburn and Florida, so the fact Michigan made a top list with a bunch of SEC schools is pretty impressive. He did admit, however, that LSU has a pretty big lead in his recruitment, so Warinner and company are going to have to work this recruitment to pull him from the south.

Phew. That was a lot.

Check back on Monday for more crootin’ news!