Tuesday Recruiting Roundup: Michigan makes top group for a pair of four-stars

As Michigan keeps plugging away with targets in the 2022 class, the Wolverines have made a couple top schools lists as players trim their recruitments down. They’re also plugging away at an in-state guy who is blowing up on the recruiting trail as of late.

West Coast wide receiver puts Michigan in top 10

With his combination of size and speed, it’s no wonder 2022 four-star Darrius Clemons is one of the most coveted receiver prospects in the class. On Sunday, he trimmed down his list to 10 schools and included the Wolverines. He spoke to 247Sports’ Brandon Huffman about each of his finalists ($).

Here’s what Clemons had to say about the Wolverines:

“I grew up in the Midwest so I have family in the area and coach (Jim) Harbaugh, coach (Josh) Gattis and coach (Ron) Bellamy have done a good job recruiting me.”

The other schools that made the cut include Arizona, Auburn, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State, Stanford and USC.

Penn State is the leader on the crystal ball with three out of the five picks. Oregon holds one, and an outdated Michigan State is the final pick. Michigan is hoping his ties to the mitten state and his childhood friendship with Andrel Anthony will keep them in the race.

Michigan makes top 10 four four-star DL

Another blue chipper who released a top 10 group last weekend is 2022 Indiana four-star defensive lineman Joe Strickland. Strickland has emerged as one of Michigan’s top targets, with him taking a self-guided visit to campus last fall.

Strickland broke down each school with 247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong ($).

“Coach Nua, I like him a lot. We’ve done film, our next Zoom is on Thursday next week. Every Thursday we’ll be having a Zoom for the next month or two, we just had two Zooms recently and I zoomed with him last year,” Strickland said.

“The most recent Zoom was with coach Harbaugh and the DC and a couple other guys on their introducing themselves. It was nice. The past Zoom we did coach Harbaugh talked a lot and kind of took over the whole Zoom and was going over my major when he mentioned it and he was clear about what I’d get out of the program as far as football and the class.”

Clearly, there is a ton of communication going on between Strickland and the coaching staff, which portends good things about Michigan’s chances. They also talked about an official visit in June when the dead period finally ends.

Penn State has the lone crystal ball for Strickland, and is probably the biggest threat to Michigan here.

Michigan coaches speak with in-state three-star DT

Maybe the hottest guy on the recruiting trail in the country is 2022 Cass Tech three-star Deone Walker. In just the last week, Walker has picked up offers from Florida, Oregon, Georgia and LSU.

Luckily for the Wolverines, they have been in on Walker for a while, offering him back in July. They have stayed in touch as well, with three coaches talking to him on a FaceTime call for his birthday last week, per The Michigan Insider’s Brice Marich ($).

“I talked to coach Nua, coach Bellamy and coach Macdonald on FaceTime,” said Walker. “It went well. They all were just checking in on me.”

Walker said Nua and Bellamy were “really cool and genuine,” while appreciating the coaches acknowledged his birthday.

At 6-foot-6, 304 pounds, Walker could play along the entire defensive line, but may fit best at nose tackle. With all of the new schools jumping in to his recruitment, the race for Walker just got a lot harder, but Bellamy’s connections to Detroit and Michigan’s traditional pipeline with Cass Tech players are big advantages.

That’s it for this week’s Tuesday Recruiting Roundup! Make sure to come back again soon for even more recruiting news and updates.