Tuesday Recruiting Roundup: Major positive buzz from the big visitor weekend

Michigan is coming off a historic loss to Wisconsin, but the result has surprisingly seemed to not make much of a negative impact on the huge recruiting weekend hosted by members of the 2021 class and their families. A bunch of elite players walked away with great things to say about the program, and there’s even been some action on the crystal ball in Michigan’s favor.

2022 four-star DB sets decision date

Let’s start with the target whom Michigan looks to be sitting in the best position. Missouri defensive back Isaac Thompson made the trip up to Ann Arbor this weekend and soon after leaving set a commitment date of Dec. 4.

Following the news, a bunch of crystal balls came in for Michigan, including one from 247Sports’ Allen Trieu, who shared some details on Thompson’s process ($).

Trieu outlined Thompson’s likely finalists as Michigan, Texas, Missouri and Florida.

Some of Thompson’s favorite aspects about Michigan include “the academics and his contact with the coaches,” according to Trieu.

Barring some shake up with the Michigan program until his decision date, which is definitely a possibility at this point, Thompson looks ticketed to join the 2022 class and become the highest-ranked member at No. 146 nationally.

Michigan on the verge of crystal balls for nation’s No. 3 prospect

Now, let’s get to the flashiest visitor of the weekend, 2022 five-star cornerback Domani Jackson. Ranked No. 1 at his position, Jackson and his father are huge Michigan fans and were finally able to get to campus after having their spring plans cancelled due to the pandemic.

Following the trip, The Michigan Insider’s Brice Marich captured Jackson’s strong positive reaction ($).

“I love it,” Jackson said. “Honestly, I love it. It is hard to go away from home, but you got to do what’s best for you and Michigan is a place I’m seriously considering.”

While on campus, Jackson took the time to bond further with other Michigan commits and targets.

“I’m definitely connecting with Will (Johnson),” Jackson said. “That’s my guy. We will be a package deal wherever we go. Cristian (Dixon) always talks to me about Michigan. Darion (Green-Warren) is a great person to talk to and he keeps it real. A lot of the kids on this visit are all cool and laid back. I think we got a nice bond with this group.”

The result of the game wasn’t what Jackson was looking for, but he said it doesn’t impact his view of the program and he still loves the defensive system that the Wolverines play.

“Not really, it doesn’t change how I feel about them,” Jackson said. “I personally think they are in a great position and the wide receivers just made some great chances. I think the defensive backs were probably thinking about it too long and it could affect their play sometimes. I just know it doesn’t impact me. As a football aspect with Michigan, they bump and run every play, which I love. I love pressing and they leave you on an island, which I just really love.”

After the visit, 247Sports’ West Coast Analyst Greg Biggins and National Director of Recruiting Steve Wiltfong both stated they were on the verge of putting in crystal balls for Jackson to Michigan. This is a big turnaround from a couple of weeks ago when Ohio State had the buzz, but finally being able to see campus may have given Jackson and his family a lot to think about.

Visit puts Michigan firmly in the race for 2021 four-star CB

Michigan wouldn’t have to wait a year to land a highly-touted cornerback if they were able to close on top 100 prospect Ceyair Wright in the 2021 class. After being in the mix of schools contending for Wright for a long time, his visit has vaulted Michigan into one of his top schools, he told TMI’s Sam Webb ($).

“It definitely takes (Michigan) up a lot higher just considering that I finally got the chance to be here,” Wright said. “(It was cool) just getting to know the people that are going to be (at Michigan). And it’s pretty exciting. Just getting to feel the atmosphere and see what it’s like.”

Despite being known for his acting, Wright says he actually wants to pursue business in college and the West Coasts schools, namely USC, and their performance arts departments aren’t going to be a major factor.

“(I’m) looking at film schools. I’ve thought about minoring in film, and television, but film school isn’t the number one priority for me. I plan on majoring in business,” Wright said. “But I think that acting is something that is always going to be there for you. It’s not something that has a time limit on like football (does). And so, I feel like it’s not the number one priority to make sure that I go to a place that puts me forward acting wise.”

Wright wants to make a visit to Notre Dame before releasing a list of top schools and committing this winter. He plans to enroll early, so a decision will come sooner rather than later. USC should still be considered the leader, but Michigan has edged near the top.

More buzz from visitors for the Wisconsin game

As one of the major recruiting events in the country, 247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong put together a collection of reactions from the commits and targets who were on campus this weekend ($).

2022 top 100 wide receiver Tyler Morris was a late addition, but Wiltfong said “there is no intel at this point” to suggest the crystal balls in favor of Michigan would be changing anytime soon.

Will Johnson, the 2022 five-star in-state legacy cornerback, also had a great time.

“It was a great weekend for me,” Johnson said. “I got to see a lot and connect with the commits and get a feel for all the guys. It was good for me and Domani to connect up there and get a feel for Michigan together for sure.

2021 three-star safety commit Rod Moore took the chance to relate with Ceyair Wright and talk about the secondary they could put together in Ann Arbor.

“Ceyair, that’s my dude, we met each other up there and just started talking to each other a lot especially about football and college and things like that and I was looking at his gameplay and he’s a really good player and I feel like if me, him and we got Domani to hop on board we could be a very dangerous secondary,” he said.

That concludes this week’s jam-packed Recruiting Roundup! Come back again soon as we continue to gather more intel on the big visitor weekend and how Michigan will close out their 2021 class.