Thursday Recruiting Roundup: Michigan making moves on new defensive prospects

Happy Thursday, everybody, and welcome to today’s Michigan Recruiting Roundup!

We have talked a lot this past week about more official visitors being confirmed this summer, including on our Future Brew podcast, so today we are going to focus on some recently-offered prospects on the defensive side of the ball.

Four-star LB going to give Michigan a chance

Even though he was just offered by the Wolverines two days ago and already has a top list of schools, 2022 four-star linebacker Niuafe Tuihalamaka told 247Sports’ Greg Biggins ($) he is going to give Michigan a fair shot at recruiting him.

“I’m going to look in to Michigan and give them a chance here,” Tuihalamaka said. “They’re known for playing good defense and that’s why I’m interested in them. Coach Nua and coach Helow are the coach I talked with and both seem like great guys so I’m looking forward to getting to know them and learning more about the program.”

The 6-foot-1.5, 238-pounder from Mission Hills, California was once committed to USC, but reopened his recruiting process back in January.

Notre Dame offered him two days before he decommitted, and he has an official visit set up for Notre Dame the weekend of June 11. There are two crystal balls in Notre Dame’s favor as well, so there is a lot of momentum for the Irish at the moment.

If the Wolverines want any chance of landing a commitment here, they need to get him up on an official visit. They are in on a lot of linebackers in this class, but Tuihalamaka is one of the higher-ranked guys, coming in as the No. 3 inside linebacker, No. 8 player in California and No. 68 overall player in the class on the composite.

We’ll see where this one goes, but temper any expectations for the time being.

Three-star LB ‘ecstatic’ about U-M

Another recently-offered defensive prospect in the 2022 class is beginning to feel the love from the Wolverines, as three-star linebacker Shakaun Bowser received the unique graphics treatment.

It took all of a week after getting the offer for Michigan to send that graphic his way, and as he told The Michigan Insider’s Brice Marich ($), it’s one he won’t soon forget.

“Hahaha it was dope. By far the best edit I’ve received from a school,” Bowser said.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pounder from Queen Creek, Arizona has quickly moved Michigan up on the list of his favorite schools that have offered him, and part of that is because of the coaching staff.

“I love how much they make their recruits a priority,” Bowser said. “Just even on the Zoom call they had the whole defense of coaching staff on there and did amazing job showing off the facility. I am ecstatic about Michigan. How can you not be?”

Moving forward, Bowser and his family hope to set up an official visit to Ann Arbor for this summer. Nothing is set in stone just yet, but he did say he hopes Michigan is “most definitely one of the first schools I will be going to in June.”

Three-star DE considering visit to U-M

Another recently-offered defensive prospect who is eyeing a potential visit to Michigan this summer is 2022 three-star defensive end Beau Atkinson. The 6-foot-6, 240-pounder hails from Raleigh, North Carolina and was offered by Michigan on March 25. Now with the offer in hand, Atkinson told TMI’s Marich ($) how much he has been communicating with the Wolverine coaching staff.

“Pretty often (I talk with Michigan),” Atkinson said. “Me and coach Oz text everyday. Coach Oz is the main one (talking to me) and he says he loves my size, stature and motor I play with.

Atkinson also told Marich he is “still looking into” a visit and “considering the possibility.” He already has an official visit locked in for Virginia on June 18, so he won’t be able to attend the Victors Weekend in Ann Arbor.

Atkinson also holds offers from Penn State, Miami, Minnesota, Virginia, Virginia Tech, NC State, Georgia Tech and more. He is ranked No. 420 overall on the composite.

That’s all for this week. Come back Tuesday for another edition of the Recruiting Roundup!