Recruiting Update: January 13, 2015

Montezuma (GA) Macon linebacker Roquan Smith

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2015
Fort Lauderdale (FL) St. Thomas Aquinas cornerback Damon Arnette, a South Carolina commit, was offered by Michigan and plans an official visit to Ann Arbor for this upcoming weekend. He's a 6'2", 185 lb. prospect who's a 247 Composite 3-star, the #60 cornerback, and #649 overall. He was being recruited by defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin at Florida. Other schools to offer include Florida State, Louisville, Ohio State, Ole Miss, and Wisconsin, among others. Michigan has attempted to dip into St. Thomas Aquinas several times in recent years, but players like Lamarcus Joyner (Florida State), Joey Bosa (Ohio State), and Corey Holmes (Notre Dame) have spurned the Wolverines' efforts. Arnette is a big, physical corner.

Lithonia (GA) Hapeville Academy defensive end Arden Key decommitted from South Carolina. Key is a 6'5", 230 lb. prospect who's a 247 Composite 4-star, the #5 weakside end, and #103 overall. Most analysts believe Auburn will be the recipient of his commitment sometime in the next few weeks.

Rowlett (TX) Rowlett defensive end Charles Omenihu, a Texas commit, was offered by Michigan. Like Arnette, he had been pursued by Durkin at Florida. Omenihu is a 6'5", 232 lb. 3-star, #21 weakside end, and #469 player overall. Unfortunately, he has decided not to stir things up and stated that he would not take an official visit to Michigan despite some early excitement about the offer.

Montezuma (GA) Macon linebacker Roquan Smith was offered by Michigan. Smith is a 6'2", 205 lb. prospect and another Durkin connection. Smith is also a 247 Composite 4-star, the #5 outside linebacker, and #49 overall. He also has offers from Alabama and USC, but he's considered to be a Georgia lean with Ole Miss and UCLA visits scheduled for the final two weeks of January. He will be visiting Michigan this coming weekend, but the Wolverines are playing from behind. As a senior in 2014, he made 173 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, and 2 interceptions, plus he scored 12 touchdowns. Smith could probably play running back for a lot of teams in college football, but he's a speedy guy who could play outside in a 3-4 or as a weakside guy in a 4-3. At this point he's the best prospect considering Michigan, in my opinion, so a celebration would be in order if the Wolverines were able to pull him away from Georgia and his other suitors.




Monrovia (CA) Monrovia cornerback Octavius Spencer, a UCLA commit, picked up an offer from Michigan. Spencer is a 6'2", 175 lb. prospect who's a 247 Composite 3-star, the #64 cornerback, and #684 overall. He could be poachable if UCLA head coach Jim Mora, Jr. takes an NFL job somewhere, but otherwise, he probably sticks with the Bruins.

Hit the jump for players who went off the board and some miscellaneous bits and pieces.

Visitors: August 8-10, 2014

Wayne (NJ) DePaul Catholic running back Kareem Walker (image via NorthJersey.com)

2015

Michael Weber - RB - Detroit (MI) Cass Tech: You are well acquainted with Weber, who has visited Michigan 1,071 times. He's currently the 247 Composite #14 running back and #115 player overall.

2016
Donnie Corley - WR - Detroit (MI) King: Corley is a 6'2", 180 lb. prospect with offers from Cincinnati, Illinois, Iowa, and a few MAC teams. He's a 247 Composite 4-star, the #44 wide receiver, #252 overall, and #8 in-state. Corley is transferring from Wyandotte (MI) Roosevelt for his junior season.

Lawrence Gordon - DE - Saginaw (MI) Arthur Hill: Gordon is a 6'6", 260 lb. prospect with no offers at this time. He's a 247 Composite 4-star, the #9 weakside end, #163 overall, and #3 in-state. He has visited Ann Arbor several times, and the Wolverines are the presumed leader.

Lavert Hill - CB - Detroit (MI) Cass Tech: Hill is a 5'11", 165 lb. prospect with offers from Miami, Michigan, and Ohio State, among others. He's a 247 Composite 4-star, the #22 cornerback, and #228 overall. He's the younger brother of Michigan sophomore safety Delano Hill.

Leon Page - DE - Detroit (MI) King: Page is a 6'3", 212 lb. prospect with no offers at this time. As a sophomore in 2013, he had 28 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, and 6.5 sacks.

Kalebb Perry - WR - Mt. Pleasant (MI) Mt. Pleasant: Perry is a 6'2", 180 lb. prospect with offers from Central Michigan and Western Michigan. He's a 247 Composite 3-star, the #84 wide receiver, #504 overall, and #17 in-state. As a sophomore in 2013, he had 28 catches for 543 yards and 6 touchdowns. He camped at Michigan back in June but is still waiting for big-time offers.

Kareem Walker - RB - Wayne (NJ) De Paul Catholic: Walker is a 6'1", 210 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Pitt, Rutgers, and Wisconsin, among others. He's a 247 Composite 5-star, the #1 running back, and #6 overall. He also claims a 4.4 forty. Most importantly, his dreadlocks and running style make him look like Denard Robinson when he's running the ball.

Mikale Washington - QB - Detroit (MI) King: Washington is a 6'4", 180 lb. prospect with no offers at this time. He's a 247 Composite 3-star, the #24 pro-style quarterback, #428 overall, and #14 in-state. Washington transferred from southern California in the offseason, so this will be his first year of football in the Mitten.

2017
Johnathan Berghorst - DE - Zeeland (MI) East: Berghorst is a 6'2", 215 lb. prospect with no offers at this time. Despite the lack of offers, he's considered to be one of the top several in-state prospects for 2017.

Andre Jackson - CB - Bridgeport (MI) Bridgeport: I have been unable to find much information on Jackson other than his class and high school.

Bruce Mann - QB - Bay City (MI) Western: Mann is a 6'2", 180 lb. prospect with no offers at this time. Although it's early, he's considered to be perhaps the top quarterback in-state for his class. However, his father had been the coach at Western for the past five years and has now taken a power company job near Chicago. Mann is reportedly remaining in-state while his father commutes, but there's a good chance that the younger Bruce will eventually move closer to Chicago.

Will Rogers - DE - Saginaw (MI) Arthur Hill: Rogers is a 6'6", 235 lb. prospect with no offers at this time.

2019
Sam Johnson III - Detroit (MI): This is way early, but the recruiting sites reported it. In the Detroit youth league, Johnson completed 68/104 passes for 1,125 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions, plus he ran for 224 yards and 4 touchdowns on 31 carries.

Recruiting Update: January 13, 2014

Wayne (NJ) DePaul running back Kareem Walker

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2015
Clemmons (NC) West Forsyth defensive end Jalen Dalton was offered by Michigan. Dalton is a 6'5", 220 lb. prospect with offers from Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia Tech, among others. He's a 247 Composite 4-star, the #8 weakside end, and #96 overall. Dalton is a long, athletic kid who makes a lot of plays with his speed, knocking down passes, etc. and I like the enthusiasm and energy I see in his highlights. He could afford to be more physical, and that could happen as his frame fills out, but he looks like a weakside end all the way.

Randleman (NC) Randleman wide receiver Juval Mollette was offered by Michigan. Mollette is a 6'4", 187 lb. prospect with offers from Clemson, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Ohio State, and Tennessee, among others. He's a 247 Composite 4-star, the #25 wide receiver, and the #209 player overall. Mollette is a tall, long-striding receiver who's in the mold of a physical, jump ball type of guy rather than a burner. He appears to be leaning toward North Carolina at this point in his recruitment, despite a pretty good offer list.

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2016
Traverse City (MI) West offensive tackle Thiyo Lukusa was offered by Michigan. Lukusa is a 6'5", 300 lb. prospect with offers from Akron, Michigan State, and Wisconsin; all but the Michigan State offer came on Thursday of last week. While he plays left tackle in high school, he looks to me like a future offensive guard. Lukusa camped at Michigan in June 2013 and was considered to be a Michigan lean if they offered, but the Spartans' early offer had him considering committing to the bad guys. The Wolverines might be playing from behind, but a spate of new offers could slow down the process.

Wayne (NJ) De Paul running back Kareem Walker was offered by Michigan. Walker is a 6'1", 195 lb. prospect with offers from Penn State, Rutgers, and Temple. As a sophomore in 2013, he had 115 carries for 1,164 yards and 12 touchdowns. Not just because of his dreadlocks, but if you watch his highlight film, his acceleration and stride are reminiscent of Denard Robinson. Walker is a different style of runner overall, but watching him burst upfield brings back good memories.

OFF THE BOARD
Washington (DC) Friendship Collegiate cornerback Jalen Tabor stiffed Arizona and former Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez when he flipped from the Wildcats to the Florida Gators. Tabor had just committed to Arizona less than a week before flipping, so they didn't have much time to celebrate the recruiting victory. An early enrollee, Tabor is planning to start classes today, so Rodriguez won't have a chance to sway him back before National Signing Day.

MISCELLANEOUS
This isn't worth putting in its own post, but some of the early enrollees posted on Twitter the jersey numbers they'll wear to start their careers. Quarterback Wilton Speight will wear #19, wide receiver Drake Harris #14, defensive tackle Bryan Mone #90, and linebacker Michael Ferns #46.