Tuesday Recruiting Roundup: Michigan makes top list for two Ohio prospects

With all of the coaching turnover, a lot of relationships with the Michigan Wolverine’s targets are getting reset with new position coaches. Still, Michigan has laid enough groundwork with the previous staff and Big Ten Championship season to make the top list for a couple of four-star prospects in the state of Ohio.

Michigan makes top 7 for four-star S

The Wolverines only offered 2023 four-star safety Malik Hartford back on Jan. 24, but it was enough to get him to include them in his top seven schools.

Along with Michigan, Hartford, who attends school at Lakota West, also included Ohio State, Cincinnati, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Kentucky and West Virginia.

The two in-state schools look to be in the best position with Hartford so far. Michigan will likely have to get Hartford up on campus for a visit before it has a real shot since he has never been to Ann Arbor.

Hartford mentioned in his tweet that a top three is coming soon, so Jay Harbaugh will have to put in some work here to maintain their position in this race.

Four-star OL includes Michigan in top 6

Another Ohio prospect Michigan is sitting well with is at Hartford’s rival school, Lakota East. 2023 four-star offensive lineman Austin Sievereld announced Michigan is in his top six schools, along with Ohio State, Cincinnati, Alabama, Iowa and Notre Dame.

Sievereld spoke with 247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong about each of his top schools ($).

About the Wolverines, Sievereld said the reason they’re in contention is because “they won the Big Ten and has the best offensive line last year in college football.”

As with most Ohio prospects, the Buckeyes are the biggest threat here. Sievereld did recently say he was planning to visit Michigan soon, though, which will allow them to make a move in his recruitment.

Top-100 OL ready to announce this week

While Michigan is in the beginning phase with the first two Ohio recruits, a third is ready to make his decision. Michigan has been going after 2023 four-star offensive lineman Luke Montgomery hard, getting him up to campus several times since visits were allowed again last summer.

But pulling him out of Ohio was always going to be difficult, and Montgomery is ready to make his decision later this week.

Soon after his decision date was announced, several Crystal Balls came in for the Buckeyes. It seems it was simply too much to get Montgomery to leave his home state even after beating Ohio State last season and making the playoff. Maybe after stringing a couple of those seasons together, Michigan can start making a dent with the top talent in Ohio again.