Taking a look at the top in-state prospects remaining in the 2023 recruiting class

The Michigan Wolverines landed their third in-state prospect in the 2023 class when three-star running back and the No. 7 prospect in Michigan, Cole Cabana from Dexter High School, committed on Feb. 5.

Cabana joined three-star wide receiver Semaj Morgan (West Bloomfield) and three-star kicker Adam Samaha (Ann Arbor) as in-state players in what is a five-player class so far.

With three in-state prospects already onboard with Michigan and a handful of others committed elsewhere, a lot of the top tier prospects from the Great Lakes State are already committed. Let’s take a look at Michigan’s chances to land some other top prospects in Michigan who remain undecided.

Dante Moore: 5-star QB, Martin Luther King (Detroit)

The No. 1 player in the state of Michigan is still weighing his options with no clear favorite in play. On Jan. 25, Michigan coaches Jim Harbaugh, Steve Clinkscale and Ron Bellamy paid a visit to Dante Moore at his high school, but the 6-foot-2, 195-pound quarterback hasn’t given many clues on which direction he may be leaning.

Even though former Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis was falling off a bit on the recruiting trail before his departure, he was the primary recruiter for Moore and his departure could have potentially caused a little momentum to be lost with the five-star.

According to a tweet from 247Sports analyst Andrew Ivins, he sees Miami, Gattis’ new home, as a school who could zero in on Moore.

Even with Gattis gone to Miami, it is reasonable to think co offensive coordinators Sherrone Moore and Matt Weiss will still be able to make a push. There’s no reason to believe Michigan has fallen out of contention to land the state’s best player in the class, especially being the Wolverines gave Moore his very first college offer all the way back in June of 2018.

Jalen Thompson: 4-star DL, Cass Tech (Detroit)

The 6-foot-3, 245-pound defensive lineman from Cass Tech received a Michigan offer in February of last year, but the Wolverines haven’t gained much momentum with the No. 2 ranked player in the state.

Instead, it’s rival Michigan State as the school out in the lead for Jalen Thompson, with two Crystal Ball projections from last July having him land with Mel Tucker’s Spartans.

MSU was the first school to offer Thompson, while he has made two unofficial visits to East Lansing last summer.

Amir Herring: 4-star interior OL, West Bloomfield

Out of the top prospects remaining out of the state of Michigan in the 2023 class, Amir Herring is clearly the most likely to end up a Wolverine.

For starters, wide receivers coach Ron Bellamy coached the state’s No. 3 prospect in high school and has been leading the recruiting charge for Herring. He has visited Michigan’s campus the most out of any other school that has offered him and attended several games during the Wolverines’ Big Ten Championship season last fall.

His latest visit to Ann Arbor came last December, recently telling On3’s EJ Holland ($) he had several productive conversations with the Michigan coaching staff during that visit.

“I got to hang out with the coaches and my plans for the future,” Herring said. “I got a chance to hang out with coach (Jim) Harbaugh and coach (Sherrone) Moore as well as coach (Ron) Bellamy. It was more so just to have some conversations and see everything before the dead period. Coach Harbaugh talked to me about my plans and what he can do for me and my family.”

Herring’s current teammate, the aforementioned Morgan, is committed to Michigan and provides another connection for Herring to potentially end up a Wolverine.

There are currently five Crystal Ball projections in for Herring, with all of them predicting he winds up at Michigan.

Cole Dellinger: 4-star interior OL, Clarkston High School

The No. 5 player in the state of Michigan in the class is another interior offensive lineman in Cole Dellinger.

Both Michigan and Michigan State offered Dellinger on the same day back on May 22, 2020, as this may turn out to be a battle between the rival schools.

Dellinger did visit Michigan State’s campus twice last summer and seems to have a good connection with the Spartans, but also told Rivals’ Josh Henschke ($) in December he was remaining in constant communication with Michigan’s coaching staff.

There are currently no Crystal Ball projections for the 6-foot-4, 280-pounder, so it will be interesting to see how the rest of his recruitment plays out.