Recruiting Roundup: Four-star DL excited for upcoming official visit to Michigan

A four-star defensive lineman who will enter his senior season as one of the top uncommitted players at his position in the class of 2023 recently talked to On3’s Chad Simmons ($) about some of his upcoming visits, including the trip he will be making to the Michigan Wolverines in September.

Michigan remains squarely in the mix for four-star DL

Kayden McDonald, a class of 2023 four-star defensive lineman from Georgia, has a busy fall ahead of him in terms of his recruitment.

The 6-foot-3, 310-pounder only has one official visit to date, which was to Florida in June, but has two upcoming official visits scheduled, with one of those being to Michigan.

McDonald visited Ann Arbor for the first time ever in June. He told Simmons about that trip and said the Wolverines are a player in his recruitment.

“I have been talking with coach Elston, coach Minter, and coach Harbaugh at Michigan,” McDonald said. “When I went up there, they showed me around, and they showed me how it would be. The biggest things I learned on that visit were how Michigan is a winning program and that is has that family feeling. I liked it up there.”

Ohio State is the other Big Ten program Michigan is up against in this recruitment. McDonald was in Columbus last season for the Penn State game and also sung high praises for OSU’s program.

“At Ohio State, I have a great relationship with coach Day. He is a head coach I talk to a lot. Coach Johnson is another coach I like a lot at Ohio State. Coach Johnson has a strong resume of developing defensive linemen and mentoring players to make them better men. Both of those things stand out.”

Florida, Clemson, Ohio State, Michigan, Georgia, NC State, Michigan State, Oklahoma and Texas A&M are the schools he is mainly looking at.

“Now I need to finish out my official visits and I plan to commit late in October. Around Halloween is when I plan to make my decision.”

McDonald is ranked as the No. 243 recruit in his class, the No. 35 at his position and the 24th ranked prospect in the state of Georgia, according to the 247Sports composite. The lone Crystal Ball projection has him ending up at Clemson.

Class of 2024 CB excited about offer from Wolverines

On Tuesday, the Wolverines offered Southfield (Mich.) cornerback Jalen Todd.

Todd came up for the BBQ at the Big House event on July 31. Steve Clinkscale was the coach who extended the offer to him. He told 247Sports’ Brice Marich ($) getting the offer from Michigan was a big one.

“This offer means a lot to me because my dad is a die-hard Michigan fan and I also love Michigan,” he said. “I just love. to see the smile on his face when I told him I received an offer from Michigan.”

The 6-foot, 165-pounder has other offers from Louisville, Boston College and Temple, among others.

Todd doesn’t currently have any fall visits planned, but hopes to get to Ann Arbor for a game this season.

He currently is not ranked on the composite.

Class of 2024 four-star WR looking to visit Ann Arbor again in fall

Channing Goodwin, a four-star receiver from Providence Day (NC) in the 2024 class, is already eyeing a return to the Big House after a successful trip to the BBQ in late July.

“It went really good,” Goodwin told Marich about his latest visit to Michigan. “I got to spend a lot of time with the coaching staff and even got to meet some of the players on the team. Definitely (wide receivers) coach (Ron) Bellamy and (head) coach (Jim) Harbaugh (I really connected with). I got to spend a lot of time with them and they were saying things like how they felt like it would be a great fit for me and also some of my teammates.

“I do think pretty highly of (Michigan) and everything is still pretty even between everyone right now, but the last visit definitely helped (them).”

Goodwin has family ties to the program as his father, Jonathan Goodwin, is a former Michigan offensive lineman who played under Lloyd Carr and eventually became an NFL Draft pick. Harold Goodwin, Channing’s uncle, is also a former Wolverines offensive lineman and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers run game coordinator.

He added he is looking forward to coming back for a game this fall after his recent visit.

“Yeah I do (plan on coming for a game this season),” Goodwin said. “It’ll probably be the Michigan State game also.”

Goodwin also said a few of his teammates will likely be joining his as well.

He holds offers from Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, South Carolina and West Virginia, among others.

Goodwin sits as the No. 108 overall prospect in the class of 2024, the No. 20 wideout and No. 4 ranked recruit in the state of North Carolina, according to the composite. There are currently no Crystal Ball projections for Goodwin at this time.