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Visitors: December 9-11, 2016

Najee Harris (image via Sports Illustrated)

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2017

Tarik Black – WR – Cheshire (CT) Cheshire Academy: Black is a 6’3″, 208 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Auburn, Michigan, and Stanford, among others. He’s a 4-star, the #17 wide receiver, and #122 overall. He’ll be announcing his college decision on Wednesday, December 14, and he’s expected to pick the Wolverines.

Nico Collins – WR – Pinson (AL) Clay-Chalkville: Collins is a 6’5″, 195 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, LSU, and Michigan, among others. He’s a 4-star, the #13 wide receiver, and #90 overall. He took an official to Michigan on November 5, so this will be an unofficial visit. His Crystal Ball is 64% in favor of the Wolverines. UPDATE: Collins was unable to make the trip.

*A.J. Dillon – RB – Lawrence (CT) Groton Academy: Dillon is a Michigan commit (LINK).

*Paris Ford – S – Pittsburgh (PA) Steel Valley: Ford is a 6’1″, 180 lb. prospect who committed to Pitt in October; he also has offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State, among others. He’s a 4-star, the #12 safety, and #89 overall. UPDATE: Ford did not make the trip.

Ja’Raymond Hall – OT – Oak Park (MI) Oak Park: Hall is a Michigan commit (LINK).

*Najee Harris – RB – Antioch (CA) Antioch: Harris is a 6’3″, 226 lb. prospect who’s been committed to Alabama since April. However, he also has an offer from Michigan – along with lots of others – and 33% of the Crystal Ball picks are in favor of Michigan, who is generally thought to have the best chance to flip him. He’s an early enrollee, so he will have to make a decision this month about whether to stick with the Crimson Tide or become a Wolverine. He’s the #1 overall recruit in the country, and getting him would mean a second year in a row where Michigan would get the #1 player (after Rashan Gary in 2016).

Hit the jump for several more visitors.

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Recruiting Down the Stretch: Running Back

Antioch (CA) Antioch RB Najee Harris (#2)

COMMITMENTS

Michigan currently has commitments from three players, and all three are likely to be running backs, not “athletes” who bounce back and forth between positions. The speedster is Los Lunas (NM) Los Lunas runner O’Maury Samuels (4-star, #21 RB, #276 overall), who at one time had the national lead in SPARQ rating. While he was eventually passed up for that honor, he showed that he has the athleticism to be a national recruit. He has continued taking visits while committed to Michigan, perhaps just doing his due diligence while Michigan also explores other options. The bruiser is Groton (MA) Lawrence Academy’s A.J. Dillon (4-star, #19 ATH, #298 overall), who is 6’1″, 230 lbs. and runs a sub-4.6. Dillon broke his leg mid-season and missed a chunk of his senior year. The pinball is Loganville (GA) Grayson’s Kurt Taylor (3-star, #55 RB, #873 overall), a 5’9″, 200-pounder who is neither extremely fast or extremely bruising. He is a notoriously hard worker and has welcomed competition throughout his recruitment, so while he may be a little short on talent, he might just be one of those “Harbaugh guys.”

Hit the jump for more on Michigan’s running back situation.

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2017 Recruiting Update: December 8, 2016

Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy TE Tre’ McKitty (image via USA Today)

COMMITMENTS

Suffield (CT) Suffield Academy wide receiver Brad Hawkins, Jr. appears to be a member of the 2017 class now. The 6’2″, 190-pounder graduated high school from Camden (NJ) Camden in 2016, and usually these prep school things don’t work out for Michigan. However, Hawkins and the coaching staff expect him to be in this class now. Here are his highlights from this fall:

Detroit (MI) King cornerback Ambry Thomas committed to Michigan (LINK).

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2017

Dallas (TX) Bishop Dunne cornerback Chevin Calloway decommitted from Iowa. He’s a 4-star, the #12 cornerback, and #113 overall. Michigan is not and has not been involved, even though they have a need at cornerback. He is leaning toward Arkansas, though Tom Herman is trying to get him to stay in-state with the Longhorns.

Clearwater (FL) Central Catholic wide receiver C.J. Cotman decommitted from Tennessee. He’s a 4-star, the #16 athlete, and #278 overall. Michigan isn’t involved, and he’s taking a trip to North Carolina this coming weekend.

Virginia Beach (VA) Bishop Sullivan Catholic defensive tackle Breyon Gaddy decommitted from Tennessee, along with his twin brother. The 4-star, #19 defensive tackle, and #323 overall prospect is taking an official to Maryland this weekend.

Hit the jump for many, many more updates.

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Ambry Thomas, Wolverine

Detroit (MI) King CB Ambry Thomas

Detroit (MI) King cornerback Ambry Thomas publicly committed to Michigan on Wednesday night. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Arizona, Auburn, Florida, Miami, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, and USC, among others.

Thomas is 5’11”, 174 lbs. and claims a 4.43 forty. He also ran a 3.9 shuttle. He attended Nike’s The Opening over the summer and will play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in January.

RANKINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 81 grade, #22 CB, #227 overall
Rivals: 4-star, #17 CB, #178 overall
Scout: 4-star, #5 CB, #58 overall
247 Sports: 4-star, 96 grade, #3 CB, #31 overall

Hit the jump for more on Thomas.

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Shane Morris, Ex-Wolverine

Former Michigan insider Tom Van Haaren, who still concentrates a lot on the Wolverines, reported earlier tonight that redshirt junior quarterback Shane Morris will transfer (LINK). Since he would be entering his fifth year of college with an undergraduate degree, he could transfer into any grad program that Michigan does not offer.

Morris committed to Michigan in May of 2011, even though he was a 2013 prospect. He was a 247 Composite 4-star, the #3 pro-style quarterback, and #72 overall out of Warren (MI) De La Salle. He was invited to the Elite 11 and played in the Under Armour All-America Game. At the time he was viewed as Michigan’s savior at quarterback, since then coach Brady Hoke was a pro-style guy and Morris was a borderline 5-star prospect to some services. Ultimately, though, the lack of development from Morris may have contributed to Hoke’s ouster. As an injury replacement for Devin Gardner, he completed 29/47 passes for 261 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions as a freshman, including his best career performance in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl after Gardner broke his foot. In that game he was 24/38 for 193 yards, along with 4 carries for 43 yards in the loss. Things were downright terrible in 2014 when he was 14/40 for 128 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions; the concussion he suffered against Minnesota induced new protocols throughout college football, since he was left in the game after taking a shot to the head/neck area and stumbling around for a moment.

When Jim Harbaugh arrived in 2015, Morris was #2 on the depth chart to begin the season, even though the coaching staff was trying to preserve a redshirt year. That was presumably to help him secure a grad transfer later in his career. He sat behind Jake Rudock and was eventually passed by Wilton Speight for the backup gig, anyway. Going into the 2016 season, he was a solid #3 behind Speight and John O’Korn. Morris played in certain packages this past season, mostly handing off the ball or leading the way on some toss sweeps. He was 4/5 for 45 yards this season, along with 3 carries for 19 yards, while playing in just six games.

Morris’s departure was expected. Michigan has a returning starter in Speight and some quality quarterbacks coming in the pipeline. The fate of backup John O’Korn is up in the air, since he also appears to be behind Speight going forward, but there was going to be a logjam with upperclassman quarterbacks. This development won’t hurt Michigan on the field. It opens a door for a potential contributor to get a scholarship.

Transfers and grad transfers often like to go close to home, so I would be inclined to guess that Morris will end up at a MAC school to finish out his career. Along with some big-time offers, he was pursued by Bowling Green, Central Michigan, and Toledo in high school. I’m not familiar with the quarterback situations at each school, but with his college track record, I sincerely doubt he’s going to get a look from another Power Five school unless they’re extremely desperate.