Thursday Recruiting Roundup: Top DB target officially visiting for The Game

The list of visitors set to check out The Game this weekend between the Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes seems to be growing by the day. Be on the lookout tomorrow for Jon Simmons’ full list of recruiting visitors but on today’s Recruiting Roundup, we will check in with a couple of the prospects who have just been confirmed to be visiting.

Four-star DB attending The Game

Probably the biggest name of the recently-confirmed visitors is 2022 four-star defensive back Zeke Berry, as he confirmed with On3’s EJ Holland ($) he will be in Ann Arbor.

The 6-foot, 185-pounder plays at De La Salle in Concord, California. He was once committed to the Arizona Wildcats but their awful season forced him to reopen his recruitment, opening the door for Michigan and other schools.

The other big contender in this recruitment is Oregon, which hosted Berry for an official visit back in September. With Berry now getting out to Ann Arbor this weekend, Michigan is the beneficiary of being the last school — tentatively speaking, at least — to get a visit out of him before the early signing period in December.

This is a huge visit for the Wolverines, as they need one more safety in this class to pair up with three-star Damani Dent. Roll out the red carpet, show Berry and his family a good time and you never know what could happen with this one.

In-state target visiting for The Game, visiting SEC school in December

We’ve talked quite a bit this cycle about four-star in-state defensive lineman Deone Walker, so let’s chat about him once more, shall we?

The massive 6-foot-6, 350-pounder from Cass Tech in Detroit has been on Michigan’s campus more than any other school in the country, and he will be at The Game this weekend. But according to 247Sports’ Josh Edwards ($), Walker will also be taking an official visit to Kentucky on Dec. 10, just one week before the early signing period begins.

This is a big development for arguably Michigan’s top remaining defensive lineman on the board for the 2022 class. Walker has been back and forth with other schools like Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama for a while, so it isn’t surprising to see him schedule a visit.

But with the visit being this late in the cycle, especially the week prior to the early signing period, isn’t great news for the Wolverines. I don’t have a great grasp of where this recruitment is heading, so stay tuned for more news following his visit to Kentucky next month, and also coming out of his Michigan visit this weekend.

Other in-state kids attending The Game

Our good friend Brice Marich from The Michigan Insider put together a list ($) of some of the in-state prospects attending the Michigan/Ohio State game this weekend.

I won’t reveal them all, but the two I want to highlight from the list are 2023 four-star wide receiver Semaj Morgan and 2023 four-star offensive lineman Amir Herring, who both attend West Bloomfield High School and know Michigan safeties coach Ron Bellamy all too well.

Let’s start with Morgan — the 5-foot-10, 175-pounder is one of Michigan’s top targets at his position early on in the 2023 class and has been to Ann Arbor on a handful of occasions. He doesn’t hold a ton of other stellar offers, which will no doubt help Michigan’s cause in the long run. Michigan is the perceived leader as of now.

As for Herring, the 6-foot-3, 280-pounder is also a top target in the 2023 class. Michigan offered him all the way back in July 2020, so Bellamy and company have been recruiting him longer than pretty much anyone in his class. With other offers from Penn State, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Kentucky and more, this isn’t a shoe-in by any means for the Wolverines. But much like with Morgan, they are also perceived as the leader for Herring.