Wednesday Michigan Recruiting Roundup: Theo Johnson preparing for final decision

Welcome back to the latest edition of the Michigan Recruiting Roundup. All of the buzz for The Game is spilling over onto the recruiting trail, with a laundry list of recruits expected to be on campus this weekend. You’ll be able to find who’ll be at the game in the Future Brew podcast dropping tomorrow or the weekly visitors list on Friday.

In the meantime, there’s been some notable recent information with some top 100 recruits Michigan is pursuing while some commits are racking up postseason honors. Let’s get to it.

Michigan’s recruiting pitch standing out to Theo Johnson

Following his official visit for the Michigan State game a couple weeks ago, The Michigan Insider’s Sam Webb caught up with Theo Johnson, one of the remaining studs still being pursued in the 2020 class ($).

This type of long interview by Webb usually portends good things about Michigan’s chances with the recruit, and Johnson definitely had some positives to say about his experience. He focused a lot on Michigan’s recruiting pitch and how he’s appreciated their strategy.

“Honestly, just the way they’ve recruited me, they’ve done it a little bit different.” Johnson said. “They’re going to give me my space, but every once in a while they’ll let me know, ‘hey, obviously we really want you here.’ Which is different. They’re definitely recruiting me differently than any of the other schools right now, for sure.”

Johnson also said his trip for the Michigan/MSU game will be his last visit before he makes a decision, which could be coming soon. The Michigan coaches have been encouraging him to announce his choice during the early signing period regardless of what school he chooses in order to reduce the stress of being recruited.

Four-star OT updates his recruitment

Looking ahead to 2021, one of the elite tackles Michigan is in the top group of is four-star Landon Tengwall, ranked No. 32 in the country. He caught up with 247Sports’ Brian Dohn to recap his top schools, which includes Michigan, Penn State and Notre Dame ($).

About Michigan, Tengwall said “I love coach Warinner, coach Harbaugh. They are great guys and I was just up there recently for the Notre Dame (game). That was great. It was really great to see them. I hadn’t been up there in a while so it was great to get back up there and connect with them.”

Tengwall wants to get his recruitment over with quickly, so he will take his official visits as soon as he can in the spring and then make a decision shortly afterward. Right now it seems like Michigan may be second or third behind Penn State.

Four in-state commitments earn Dream Team honors

Ahead of the state championships about to be played this weekend, MLive announced their annual Dream Team selections for areas across the state of Michigan. Out of the five in-state commitments Michigan has, four made the first team, all in the Detroit Area:

• 2020 linebacker Cornell Wheeler won the overall Defensive Player of the Year for his region thanks to his 130 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 3 sacks and 2 forced fumbles.
• His teammate, 2020 safety Makari Paige, was also represented after racking up 94 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 3 forced fumbles, 2 interceptions and 7 pass breakups.
• 2020 cornerback Andre Seldon helped knock the previous two players out of the playoffs and was also named first team. He had 27 tackles, 6 interceptions and 3 pass breakups as teams smartly avoided him all year in the passing game.
• On the offensive side of the ball, 2021 offensive tackle Giovanni El-Hadi made the first team as he helped lead Livonia Stevenson to the state semifinals.

The lone in-state recruit who wasn’t listed is 2020 defensive end Braiden McGregor, whose senior season was wiped out due to injury.

That’s it for this Recruiting Roundup. Check back soon to brush up on the latest Michigan recruiting news.