Welcome back everyone to another edition of the Wednesday Michigan Recruiting Roundup. This week’s roundup is a bit of a downer, with a top target seemingly looking elsewhere and a commit taking visits to other schools. But on the bright side, it does look like there’s an opening for Michigan to pull an elite recruit from Ohio State.
Three-star WR trending away from Michigan
With three Crystal Balls for Colorado and a foggy designation in the last few days, it seems that three-star wide receiver Brenden Rice is officially trending away from the Wolverines. This is following Rice’s visit to Colorado for their come-from-behind victory against Nebraska last weekend. Rice has said that he wants to make a decision by the end of the month, and his tweet after the visit could indicate that it will be the Buffs:
coming soon...? #GOBUFFS @KeithMillerIII pic.twitter.com/aii4EL8UhA
— Brenden (@BrendenRice) September 9, 2019
After Rice visited Michigan for the opener against Middle Tennessee State, it seemed like a commitment from the Arizona prospect was inevitable. However, given this quick change of attitude, it seems that something happened that either caused Rice to become disinterested in Michigan, or Michigan to pass on Rice.
Whatever happened on the visit, I would now not be counting on Rice in the 2020 class.
Four-star S commit plans SEC visit
In more troubling news, 247Sports’ Brian Dohn reported that four-star safety commit Jordan Morant will be visiting Texas A&M next weekend for their game against Lamar ($).
Dohn also mentioned that Morant is looking to visit USC, but isn’t sure if his schedule will work out with theirs. Bergen Catholic plays several games on Saturdays, which limits the opportunities for Morant to take visits, but this is his team’s bye week. This explains why he’s visiting for a game against an FCS opponent, but is unfortunate timing with Michigan’s bye week so the staff couldn’t nip this in the bud and try to get him on campus instead.
The silver lining here is that safety is probably the position that is best prepared to lose a commit, with two other four-stars already in the fold and a couple more targets still out there. Morant could also be a backup plan for Texas A&M, who are pursuing St. Louis safety Antonio Johnson heavily as well. Interestingly, Johnson recently told 247Sports’ Allen Trieu that he wants to visit Michigan, so maybe the teams could end up flip-flopping prospects ($).
2021 Top-100 WR plans on visiting Michigan
In better news, Michigan could be in good shape with the son of another Hall of Fame wide receiver. Philadelphia four-star wide Marvin Harrison Jr. recently talked with 247Sports’ Dohn about his upcoming plans, and Michigan is heavily involved ($).
Harrison has been considered a heavy Ohio State lean for a while, in large part because his high school quarterback, Kyle McCord is currently committed to the Buckeyes. However, it was Michigan, not Ohio State, that was the first to get in touch with Harrison when they could.
“Michigan was the first to hit me up,” Harrison said. “Coach (Jim) Harbaugh was the first to text me. Around 30 schools contacted me.”
When asked about his thoughts on Michigan, Harrison said he likes where the offense is heading and can trust in Josh Gattis’ ability to coach him up.
“Coach Harbaugh, coach Gattis, I think they are doing something really good with the offense,” explained Harrison. “I know (Gattis) from when he was at Penn State and then Alabama, so I know coach Gattis is a good coach.”
Now, we know that the offense hasn’t gotten off to the start that Michigan fans wanted this season, but I found it to be a much better sentiment than what he shared about Ohio State:
“I don’t have to say much about them, but (receivers) coach (Brian) Hartline, coach (Ryan) Day talk to me as much as they can. There are good relationships there.”
I think there may be some room for Michigan to sneak in and make an impression on Harrison, who said he’s planning on seeing a game in person this season. He’s also heavily considering LSU and Florida.
That’s it for this week’s roundup, check back again to stay up to date with the latest in Michigan recruiting from Maize N Brew.