Michigan Monday Crootin’: Elite recruits trending blue after Maryland win

Several elite prospects visited Ann Arbor Saturday for basketball’s 65-52 victory over Maryland. A slew of them hail from Terrapin country.

2020 four-star linebacker commit Osman Savage was joined by a smattering of his Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances Academy teammates. Fellow four-star juniors in defensive end Demon Clowney, running back Blake Corum, wide receiver Traeshon Holder and corner Luke Hill headlined the list.

Wolverines Wire — and Maize n’ Brew alum — Evan Petzold caught up with Hill afterwards, discussing how the trip met his “high standards.”

“The visit was awesome and everything I expected,” Hill told Petzold. “What made it special was the winning environment. The coaches, players and staff all gave great vibes.”

Hill also confirmed a place in his top-five for Michigan alongside Oregon, Clemson, Florida and Ohio State. The No. 60 player nationally per 247 Sports used to be teammates with 2019 safety commit Quinten Johnson at Washington (D.C.) St. Johns College, but transferred to St. Frances two weeks ago.

Now he plays for former Wolverine analyst Biff Poggi, father of former H-back Henry Poggi. That connection is paying dividends for Jim Harbaugh on the recruiting trail.

Outside of the highly-rated prospects, a pair of 2021 prospects praised their respective times in Michigan this weekend. Hill’s defensive back counterpart Clinton Burton, Jr. spent a ton of time with cornerbacks coach Mike Zordich.

“He’s a great coach,” Burton said to Petzold. “Really breaks down what he likes from his cornerbacks. He has high expectations for me. He coaches hard and is focused on the little things, and that makes him special.”

Maryland and other ACC programs have offered him early, but Savage’s pledge to Michigan and Zordich’s ability to develop talent could yield a commitment down the line. Since joining the staff, Zordich has helped send Jourdan Lewis, Jeremy Clark and Channing Stribling to the NFL.

Meanwhile, 2021 linebacker Aaron Willis, a Virginia Tech pledge, called Michigan the “best visit I’ve been to so far.”

The 6-foot, 200-pounder already has offers from Clemson, LSU, Tennessee and Florida among others. He refers to Savage as a “brother” and could see himself alongside him on Don Brown’s defense.

Isaiah Hole also posted a ton of pictures of the Baltimore boys enjoying themselves.

Big interest from big in-staters in Rogers and McGregor

Literally, the biggest recruiting story of the weekend was the appearance from Oak Park (Mich.) five-star Justin Rogers.

The top-rated player in-state has long been considered an Ohio State-Georgia battle. However, as Steve Lorenz of The Michigan Insider points out ($), Michigan has “made progress.” ($)

“Rogers has quietly been on Michigan’s campus numerous times in the last few months,” Lorenz writes, “and the staff has been putting in ‘top target’-like effort with (him).”

Michigan lost the top-two offensive linemen in the state last year in Logan Brown (Wisconsin) and Devontae Dobbs (Michigan State). With two highly-regarded line tutors in Ed Warriner and the newly-hired Pat Perles on board, the Wolverines are working hard to reverse that trend.

Lastly, Don Brown put the full-court press on Port Huron four-star defensive end Braiden McGregor.

Brown told the 6-foot-5, 248-pounder that he’s the staff’s “No. 1 guy” at the position, according to Brandon Brown of The Wolverine.

The top-300 prospect per 247 Sports lists offers from Alabama, Clemson, Miami, Michigan State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin among others.

Brown mentions that the Crimson Tide, Wolverines and Fighting Irish lead, but McGregor remained coy about it.

”Michigan is right up there,” McGregor told Brown. “There are a couple of other schools that people don’t think about.”

He plans to commit prior to his senior season.

A quick follow-up on Myles Rowser

2022 Belleville (Mich.) safety Myles Rowser looked to have a influential Michigan connection with his brother Andre Seldon, a four-star commit in this year’s class.

The maize and blue bond goes deeper. His great-uncle John Rowser played at Michigan from 1963 to 1966, and won the first Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers in 1967.

A family member told Myles the news a few years ago at a reunion. He now uses his great-uncle as motivation to realize his professional dreams.

“Knowing that he went on to the NFL and got a ring,” Rowser told Maize n’ Brew. “(It) let me know if I work hard on/off field, I can reach my goals.”

The younger Rowser is looking to meet the elder face-to-face at his Ohio home in the near future.

Shout out to reader Ron Grabois, who tipped me off on the possible connection.