Thursday Recruiting Roundup: Michigan makes top five list for 2023 top-100 prospect

Michigan Wolverines football has gotten some big news on the recruiting front lately, as a handful of prospects have announced they will be taking official visits to Ann Arbor in the near future.

One of those prospects is 2023 four-star offensive lineman Cayden Green (Lee’s Summit, Mo.), who will take his official visit to Ann Arbor on June 17-19. He also announced on Twitter Wednesday that Michigan is one of his top five schools, along with Oklahoma, Nebraska, Missouri and Miami.

Green visited Michigan for the second time just a couple weeks ago as the Wolverines have continued to gain positive momentum with the 6-foot-5, 310-pounder.

“Coach Moore really and coach Newsome, I’m big fans of them,” Green told 247Sports’ Allen Trieu ($) of his interest in the Wolverines. “I’m a big fan of what coach Moore has going and coach Newsome with his new tight ends job. I’m happy for him. They are good people and obviously good coaches.”

Green listing Michigan as a top school and using one of his official visits on the Maize and Blue is a positive sign for the Wolverines’ chances. His summer visit will be telling in whether Michigan can make another move forward in trying to land Green.

2023 RB also officially visiting Ann Arbor this summer

Benjamin Hall (Kennesaw, Ga.), an unranked running back in the 2023 class, is another prospect slated to take an official visit to Ann Arbor on the same weekend as Green, June 17-19, according to Brice Marich of The Michigan Insider ($).

Hall just visited Michigan last week for an unofficial visit and walked away impressed in a variety of ways.

“It was really good,” Hall told Marich about his visit in a separate article ($). “Going up there, I got really good energy and good people. I got up there and took a little tour of the facilities and meet with some people, so it was great.”

Hall added he had productive conversations with running backs coach Mike Hart and head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Marich also reported the coaching staff talked with Hall about potentially being the second back in the ‘23 class and how his skillset would complement Cole Cabana’s, the lone running back committed to Michigan. Hall also explained that on his return visit, he will look to continue to build relationships with the Michigan staff.

“You can take a lot from one day, but really seeing how they operate on a day to day basis, seeing how they are people outside of football in a normal setting and normal environment, too,” he said.

Transfer DT set to visit soon

Cam Goode is another prospect who will take an official visit to Michigan in the near future, according to a report from On3’s Chris Balas ($). Goode, unlike Green and Hall, is not a high school prospect, but instead a player in the transfer portal.

The former three-star recruit out of Washington. D.C., is a 6-foot-2, 315-pound defensive tackle who started his career at Virginia Tech before redshirting in 2018. He then moved on to play the past three seasons at UCF.

In 2021, Goode recorded 23 tackles, three sacks, four forced fumbles and intercepted a pass in 13 games with the Knights.

If Michigan is able to land Goode, it would give the Wolverines a veteran, solidly built player at a position of need, especially considering Chris Hinton’s departure to the NFL during the offseason.

2023 commit visiting Michigan as Wolverines try to keep him

Over the past weekend, 2023 three-star Michigan tight end commit Andrew Rappleyea visited Penn State. According to On3’s EJ Holland ($), there is growing optimism on the Penn State side it will be able to flip Rappleyea and make him a Nittany Lion.

However, Holland reports Rappleyea will be in Ann Arbor for a visit today and tomorrow. Here, the Wolverines’ coaching staff will be able to make an in-person pitch to keep him.

If Rappleyea does end up committing elsewhere, the Wolverines have a slew of tight end prospects on its board they could make a strong push for. They hosted Deakon Tonielli, a three-star tight end from Illinois, on a visit last week. Michigan also recently offered an unranked tight end from California, Collins Acheampong, but he could also develop into a defensive lineman, so we’ll see on that one.

Michigan a top school for four-star class of ‘23 RB

2023 four-star running back Jayden Limar (Lake Stevens, Wash.) recently listed the Wolverines in his top nine schools, along with Arizona, Louisville, Miami, Notre Dame, Oregon, Texas A&M, UCLA and Washington State.

The 5-foot-11, 190-pound back has visited Ann Arbor twice — the first time being for Michigan’s home game against Washington back in September, then again in December.

It will be interesting to see if Mike Hart and the Wolverines can continue to make an impression on Limar, as bringing him over from the West Coast may be a tough ask. That being said, he would be a huge get for Michigan if it was able to land him.

Stevens is ranked as the No. 12 running back in the class and is the sixth ranked player in the state of Washington, according to 247Sports.