Wednesday Recruiting Roundup: Michigan trending up with several pass catchers

It’s Hump Day, which means it’s time for another edition of the Wednesday Recruiting Roundup! With spring ball just starting, there will be plenty of targets visiting campus to check out what practices are like.

In the meantime, the coaches have been working hard to build relationships with the guys on their board, which we’ll dive into right about now.

Top wide receiver target expected back on campus soon

One of the highest-profile targets to emerge after Michigan’s staff shakeup is Illinois 4-star receiver AJ Henning.

Henning recently visited at the end of January for the Wolverines’ Junior Day, and according to The Michigan Insider’s Steve Lorenz, is likely to be back in Ann Arbor soon ($).

According to Lorenz, the staff is expecting Henning “most likely for a spring practice,” but the details still have to be ironed out.

Notre Dame has all of the crystal ball picks as former contender Ohio State has faded, but Michigan is making up ground quickly here. Henning is the perfect candidate for Josh Gattis’ speed in space offense.

Michigan making strides with in-state athlete

In a very similar situation to Henning, 3-star receiver Maliq Carr is also seeing his interest in Michigan rise at the expense of Ohio State.

TMI’s Sam Webb reports Michigan is trending “way up” for the in-state prospect, who is very receptive to Gattis’ pitch for his role in the offense ($).

Carr has been adamant he wants to play wide receiver in college. However, playing more of a “flex position” as an H-back/tight end hybrid has been appealing to Carr.

Gattis can point to Alabama tight end Irv Smith, a consensus top-3 tight end in the upcoming draft, as an example of the type of role Carr would fill.

Ohio State was considered the leader for Carr because his mom played basketball for the Buckeyes, but that is changing quickly. First, Taver Johnson, his lead recruiter, left for the NFL so the staff has to start from scratch with Carr.

In addition, Webb also reported Ohio State’s handling of Carr’s former quarterback at Oak Park, Dwan Mathis, soured the player’s opinions of the Buckeyes ($). Mathis flipped to Georgia from Ohio State on signing day after Justin Fields went the opposite direction.

Notre Dame has also surged to fill space in the Ohio State vacuum, so this will be another classic battle between the two longtime Midwest rivals.

Michigan expands their TE board

One of the hottest players on the recruiting trail at his position is North Carolina 3-star tight end Kendall Karr.

Karr is only ranked as the No. 829 player in the country, yet holds offers from Auburn, LSU, Maryland, NC State, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, West Virginia and more.

Michigan joined that expanding offer list a few days, which sparked Karr’s interest, according to TMI’s Brice Marich ($).

Karr’s first reaction to receiving his offer was total surprise.

“I called coach Moore and my reaction was shocked because Michigan is a big time school,” he said. “I was just like, ‘Michigan really just offered me?’

“I have interest in them. I like how they run their offense. Yeah, I want to visit Michigan, but I don’t know what date yet.”

The in-state Tar Heels hold Karr’s only two crystal ball predictions so far.

That’ll do it for another Recruiting Roundup! Come back soon for everything you need to know about Michigan recruiting.