Which Prospects Have Michigan in Their Top-3?

The Wolverine coaching staff has already secured 13 verbal commits from top prospects. But the class isn’t finished, and there’s many more players who are very interested in playing at Michigan. There are 11 prospects who have Michigan in their top-3. Three of them are visiting Michigan next weekend. Let’s get to know them...

1. 4* RB Ty Isaac

We all know who Ty Isaac is. He’s Michigan’s #1 prospect for the remaining spot at running back. And he’s a beast. Click here to check out an in-depth post I wrote on Isaac.

Isaac is visiting Michigan next weekend (March 10th). 

2. 3* RB DeVeon Smith

Smith is a 3* running back out of Warren, OH who 247 ranks 31st in the nation at his position. He holds offers from Michigan, Indiana, Ohio State, and Penn State. Smith is 5’11” and 195 pounds. Michigan was actually the first to offer Smith, and he grew up a Michigan fan. He is known for being talented enough to run over defenders as well as around them -- a good fit for our pro-style offense. He has also been heralded for his ball security, rarely fumbling even with such a heavy workload. As a junior, he earned Division 2 All-Ohio second-team honors. He racked up nearly 2,200 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns. To steal an OSU recruit and life-long Michigan fan would be great. Smith has plenty of potential. 

3. 4* WR Laquon Treadwell 

Treadwell is another player we’re all familiar with. That’s because he’s the #1 WR on Michigan’s board. Check out the in-depth post I wrote on him here. 

4. 3* WR James Onwualu

Onwualu is a 3* wide receiver out of St. Paul, MN who 247 ranks 50th in the nation at his position. He holds double digit offers from schools like Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, and Stanford. Onwualu is 6’1” and 205 pounds and is the #1 prospect out of Minnesota. One of the reasons I’m sure Onwualu interests the Michigan coaching staff is his athleticism. He carries the ball from the backfield, catches passes split as a wide receiver, and even lines up on defense on occasion. There’s even been talk of him playing corner or safety at the next level. Multi-positional athletes have been a recurring them this year. Onwualu would be an excellent slot receiver, considering his size and athleticism. I believe Onwualu is vastly underrated and that Michigan would be lucky to get him. 

Onwualu is visiting Michigan next weekend (March 10th). 

5. 3* CB Gareon Conley

Conley is someone I wrote about yesterday when I wrote about Michigan’s options at the cornerback position. 

Conley is a 3* cornerback out of Massilion, OH who stands 6’2” and 170 pounds. I believe he fits the frame of the kind of cornerback we’re going after: tall. He holds offers from Michigan and Northwestern although I’m sure he’s going to be getting many more offers soon. Scout recently came out with a list of the top 2013 prospects from Ohio and Conley ranks 16th, ahead of Jaron Dukes, Jacob Matuska, Kevin Gladney, Shane Jones, and Taco Charlton...just to name a few you may be more familiar with. As a junior, Conley had 4 interceptions, 1 of which was returned for a touchdown. He also led the team with 9 pass break-ups. Tom Greene of Scout calls Conley “one of the top sleeper prospects in Ohio for the class of 2013.” Clearly, Hoke knows what he’s doing.

Conley is visiting Michigan next weekend (March 10th).

6. 4* DL Henry Poggi

Poggi is a 4* tackle out of Baltimore, MD who Rivals ranks as 43rd overall in the nation. He stands 6’3” and 250 pounds. He finished his junior season with 49 tackles, 11 tackles for a loss, 10 sacks, and one forced fumble. Poggi is a beast, with about 20 offers from schools like Michigan, Alabama, Auburn, Ohio State, and Stanford. It’s too early to say much about his options, but Poggi is very interested in Michigan. He has already visited Michigan twice, but is planning another visit soon. Poggi plays a position of need for Michigan and he would be an excellent get.

7. 4* LB Mike McCray

McCray is a 4* outside linebacker out of Trotwood, OH. Rivals ranks him 44th overall in the nation. He has more than 20 offers including ones from Michigan, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. I’m surprised he does not have more big-time offers, although I’m also kind of relieved. Hopefully he is impressed with how early on Michigan realized his talent. This kid is a beast. He stands 6’4” and 230 pounds and runs a 4.61 40. McCray came from the same high school as Roy Roundtree, Michael Shaw, and Brandon Moore. His 2013 teammate Cameron Burrows, however, is already committed to Ohio State. Even though McCray doesn’t have an OSU offer yet, I can promise you he will eventually. Luckily for us, I don’t think that will matter. McCray has a large interest in Michigan right now and plans to make a decision on March 7th or 8th. He is good friends with Michigan commits from Ohio, Taco Charlton and Jaron Dukes. He has said that he could see himself at Michigan. It would have been an easy and educated guess to assume Ohio State would land McCray but like I said, they haven’t offered him yet. Not to mention he has said they aren’t recruiting him right now, unlike Michigan who is going after him hard. McCray will choose between Michigan, Illinois, and Tennessee next week.

McCray is visiting Michigan next week (March 6th).

8. 4* LB E.J. Levenberry

Levenberry is an early 4* outside linebacker out of Woodbridge, VA. Rivals ranks him 15th overall in the nation, which means he will probably end up getting a 5th star. He stands 6’3” and 226 pounds. He holds over 20 offers, including ones from Michigan, Alabama, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Oklahoma. An impressive offer sheet, to say the least. E.J. Levenberry is one of my favorite recruits because not only is he one of the top ranked of the bunch, but his top schools are currently Michigan, Florida, and Florida State. Yep, that’s correct. It’s Us vs. The Florida Schools. And ESPN has reported that Michigan is currently on top. Apparently Levenberry loves Hoke. Him and I have that in common. Levenberry has met Shane Morris and Dymonte Thomas, and has heard from both of them how much Michigan impresses them. He is also very impressed with Coach Mattison and how he has coached Ray Lewis. Last but not least, Levenberry’s father went to school with (Michigan sophomore CB) Blake Countess’s father, so they go way back. He said that Blake’s father said great things about Michigan. All in all, I’d say we have a great shot. Granted it will be hard to overcome the Florida schools, but I think Levenberry has made a great connection with Michigan so far. 

Levenberry is visiting Michigan for the Spring Game (April 14th).

9. 4* LB Dorian O’Daniel

O’Daniel is a 4* outside linebacker from Olney, MD (Our Lady of Good Counsel HS). Rivals ranks him 37th overall in the nation. O’Daniel stands 6’1” and 205 pounds. He runs a 4.55 40. He holds more than 20 offers including ones from Michigan, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. The reason I mentioned his high school is because it may sound familiar. Our Lady of Good Counsel is the same high school that sophomore CB Blake Countess came from. This is the second linebacker recruit with a connection to Blake! It’s also the high school where (class of 2013) highly touted 5* cornerback Kendall Fuller comes from. I wrote about him recently here. He is another recruit we are after. Could we get two from Our Lady of Good Counsel HS? Hmm... O’Daniel has Michigan at the top of his list right now. Interestingly enough, during our big 8-recruit weekend haul, Florida also had a big weekend. I mention this because Florida is (was?) one of O’Daniel’s favorites, yet during that weekend, they took 4 linebackers. We’ll see if that plays a part in his decision.

O’Daniel is visiting Michigan for the Spring Game (April 14th) along with teammate Kendall Fuller.

10. 4* LB Ben Gedeon

Gedeon is a favorite LB prospect of mine but I hadn’t really considered him an option since he’s from Ohio. Not that Hoke hasn’t been recruiting the hell out of Ohio, but Gedeon has Michigan and Ohio State in his top group. Ugh. That shouldn’t take away from his excellent ball skills though. Rivals ranks Gedeon 224th overall in the nation. He stands 6’3” and 215 pounds and has lots of offers. Offers include Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Stanford, and Tennessee. Gedeon is actually an excellent athlete, but is mainly being offered as a linebacker. He wasn’t planning on taking any more visits until after his basketball season, but the coaches got him to visit this weekend. He should be on campus tomorrow. They know as well as we do how fast this class is filling up. To get Gedeon on campus (other than for a game) would be huge, because it’s basically a forgone conclusion that he would be blown away. To steal another one from under Urban’s nose? Would be oh, so nice...

11. 4* LB Peter Kalambayi

Kalambayi is one prospect I don’t think we hear as much about. He’s an all-star though. Kalambayi is a 4* prospect out of Matthews, NC. Rivals ranks him 62nd in the nation. He holds double digit offers including Michigan, Arkansas, Florida, Ohio State, and Oregon. As a junior, Kalambayi had 79 tackles, 6 sacks, and 13 tackles for loss. He is an excellent pass rusher, which is something we could use. Kalambayi actually had an offer from Rich Rod as a sophomore, but Coach Hoke has visited his school since then and let him know the offer still stands and we want him to join the 2013 class. He is thinking of deciding at the Army All-American game, but we’ll see if that changes anytime soon. 

Michigan's Options at Linebacker

Now that the offensive line is all committed, I believe Coach Hoke’s next major interest will lie in the linebacker position. This is because our main needs are basically already filled. Let me explain...

In regards to offense, we have our QB (Shane Morris). We have one running back (Wyatt Shallman), and we know who the other one we want is (Ty Isaac). Same with the wide receiver position; we have one wide receiver (Jaron Dukes), and we know who the other one we want is (Laquon Treadwell). Granted we may take a third wide receiver, but we’ll see. We have two tight ends (Khalid Hill and Jake Butt), and will probably try to get one more (Jacob Matuska or Scott Orndoff). And we have 5 top-notch offensive linemen (Kyle Bosch, David Dawson, Chris Fox, Patrick Kugler, and Logan Tuley-Tillman). We may take one more (Ethan Pocic or Colin McGovern), but we’ll see.

In regards to defense, we have our defensive end (Taco Charlton). We need two defensive tackles; this is an area in which we have no commits so this will be another big focus. We have one cornerback (Jourdan Lewis) and will try to get one more (Kendall Fuller is on my wish list). We have our safety (Dymonte Thomas) and that’ll probably be it for that position unless we can somehow land someone like Su’a Cravens (he would probably play running back or linebacker for us). And that covers our 2013 needs.

As you can see, we’re on our way nicely to the 2013 class save the linebacker and defensive tackle positions. I think we’re pretty lax (if you consider a year before Signing Day lax) regarding these two positions because of how well we recruited them last year (see Ondre Pipkins, James Ross, Royce Jenkins-Stone, Joe Bolden). Anyway, back to the point of this post. Who are Michigan’s options for the linebacker position for 2013?

Michigan has extended offers to 12 linebackers across the country (11 outside linebackers and 1 middle linebacker). Keep in mind these numbers are meaningless because new offers go out every day. Also, the coaches have the position they want the recruit to play in mind, so it doesn’t really matter what a site like Scout, for example, has them as. This list includes names like Alex Anzalone, Ben Gedeon, Michael Hutchings, E.J. Levenberry, Mike McCray, Dorian O’Daniel, and Jaylon Smith. All excellent players. All excellent athletes. 

Michigan is planning on taking between 2-3 linebackers in the 2013 class. I’m interested in 5 in particular...mainly because those 5 are interested in Michigan. Hey, do you blame me? Well to be honest, that’s not the main reason. The main reason is that these guys are studs. The second reason is that they’re very interested in Michigan. Let’s get to it. 

1. Alex Anzalone

Anzalone is a 4* outside linebacker out of Wyomissing, PA. Rivals doesn’t give him a national ranking like all the linebackers below, which is strange because he is given 4 stars and has an incredible offer list. Offers include Michigan, Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. I believe Anzalone is the latest linebacker we’ve offered. He is also planning a Michigan visit next month. Anzalone says that Michigan is currently in his top-5 and that he wants to commit sometime before his senior season.

2. Michael Hutchings

Hutchings is an early 4* outside linebacker out of Concord, CA. Rivals ranks him 17th overall in the nation, which means he will probably end up getting another star. He has lots of offers including ones from Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, and USC. He stands 6’2” and 210 pounds. His vertical is 29 inches. Freak. Athlete. My kinda guy. He’s versatile enough to play strong safety and running back also. Hutchings has said that distance would not be a factor in his recruitment, but he does not plan on making any decisions any time soon. However, Michigan was one of his first offers, and he remembers that. He said it’s special because Michigan realized his potential early on. 

3. Mike McCray

McCray is a 4* outside linebacker out of Trotwood, OH. Rivals ranks him 44th overall in the nation. He has more than 20 offers including ones from Michigan, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. I’m surprised he does not have more big-time offers, although I’m also kind of relieved. Hopefully he is impressed with how early on Michigan realized his talent. This kid is a beast. He stands 6’4” and 230 pounds and runs a 4.61 40. McCray came from the same high school as Roy Roundtree, Michael Shaw, and Brandon Moore. His 2013 teammate Cameron Burrows, however, is already committed to Ohio State. Even though McCray doesn’t have an OSU offer yet, I can promise you he will eventually. Luckily for us, I don’t think that will matter. McCray has a large interest in Michigan right now. He is good friends with Michigan commits from Ohio, Taco Charlton and Jaron Dukes. He has said that he could see himself at Michigan. The good news is McCray plans on visiting on March 6th and has just decided that he will announce his college choice on March 8th, which of course bodes well for Wolverine Nation. It would have been an easy and educated guess to assume Ohio State would land McCray but like I said, they haven’t offered him yet. Not to mention he has said they aren’t recruiting him right now, unlike Michigan who is going after him hard. Hopefully we hear good news on the 8th. McCray's top-6 include Michigan, Oklahoma, Arizona, Tennessee, Illinois, and South Carolina.

4. E.J. Levenberry

Levenberry is an early 4* outside linebacker out of Woodbridge, VA. Rivals ranks him 15th overall in the nation, which means he will probably end up getting a 5th star. He stands 6’3” and 226 pounds. He holds over 20 offers, including ones from Michigan, Alabama, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Oklahoma. An impressive offer sheet, to say the least. E.J. Levenberry is one of my favorite recruits because not only is he one of the top ranked of the bunch, but his top schools are currently Michigan, Florida, and Florida State. Yep, that’s correct. It’s Us vs. The Florida Schools. And ESPN has reported that Michigan is currently on top. Apparently Levenberry loves Hoke. We have that in common. Levenberry has met Shane Morris and Dymonte Thomas, and has heard from both of them how much Michigan impresses them. He is also very impressed with Coach Mattison and how he has coached Ray Lewis. Last but not least, Levenberry’s father went to school with (Michigan sophomore CB) Blake Countess’s father, so they go way back. He said that Blake’s father said great things about Michigan. All in all, I’d say we have a great shot. Granted it will be hard to overcome the Florida schools, but I think Levenberry has made a great connection with Michigan so far. Levenberry does not plan on making a decision any time soon. 

5. Dorian O'Daniel

O’Daniel is a 4* outside linebacker from Olney, MD (Our Lady of Good Counsel HS). Rivals ranks him 37th overall in the nation. O’Daniel stands 6’1” and 205 pounds. He runs a 4.55 40. He holds more than 20 offers including ones from Michigan, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. The reason I mentioned his high school is because it may sound familiar. Our Lady of Good Counsel is the same high school that sophomore CB Blake Countess came from. This is the second linebacker recruit with a connection to Blake! It’s also the high school where (class of 2013) highly touted 5* cornerback Kendall Fuller comes from. I wrote about him recently here. He is another recruit we are after. Could we get two from Our Lady of Good Counsel HS? Hmm... O’Daniel will be visiting Michigan on April 14th (the Spring Game) along with teammate Kendall Fuller. O’Daniel has admitted to favoring Michigan but he will not name Michigan "the favorite.” I believe that will change in April. Interestingly enough, during our big 8-recruit weekend haul, Florida also had a big weekend. I mention this because Florida is (was?) one of O’Daniel’s favorites, yet during that weekend, they took 4 linebackers. We’ll see if that plays a part in his decision. I’m thinking the Spring Game could be a great day. 

Now I broke down 5 recruits for you. They’re all great players, however I’m hoping for these 3 in specific (if in fact we take 3): Mike McCray, E.J. Levenberry, and Dorian O’Daniel. Why those three? Well other than the fact that they’re excellent athletes, I have underlying motives. I’m sneaky like that. 

McCray would be great to get because he would be another huge steal from right under Urban’s nose (see Taco Charlton, Jake Butt). The kid is a special talent and frankly it’s shocking that he doesn’t have an Ohio State offer. Come on down, Mr. McCray. 

Levenberry is just phenomenal. He is going to end up being one of the top recruits in the entire nation at any position. To land him would be incredible considering his offer list. It would truly show the power of Coach Hoke since that would clearly be the primary reason for Levenberry’s decision.

O’Daniel would be an amazing get simply because it would further improve Hoke’s recruiting chances in the state of Maryland in general and Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in specific. Kendal Fuller, the 5* cornerback I mentioned above, is the third Good Counsel player since 2009 to earn 5* status, the others being linebacker Jelani Jenkins (2009) and wide receiver Stefon Diggs (2012). If we were to snatch him (or O’Daniel, or both), future Good Counsel players could see what we do with players like him and Blake Countess and Michigan could put a stamp on the impressive football school. Not to mention the fact that landing O’Daniel wouldn’t hurt our chances with 5* CB Kendall Fuller.  

Overall, I believe Michigan has great options at linebacker. Anyone we land will probably be fantastic but I just wanted to share with you why I favored those 3 in specific. Here’s to hoping they go Blue!

Get to Know Kendall Fuller

Kendall Fuller

Kendall Fuller, an excellent cornerback out of Olney, MD (Our Lady of Good Counsel High School), is one of the top overall prospects in the 2013 class. He is a 5* prospect who Rivals ranks as 4th overall in the nation. He has offers from over 20 schools, including Michigan, Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Oklahoma. He is listed at 6’0” and 185 pounds and also runs a 4.5 second 40. Fantastic all-around for a cornerback. Interesting tidbit: Rivals says Kendall Fuller reminds them of Charles Woodson. 

If you thought his high school sounded familiar, you were right. Fuller comes from the same school Michigan sophomore CB Blake Countess comes from. Although this may seem like fantastic news for Wolverine Nation, it might not be enough to lure him to Ann Arbor. Fuller’s two older brothers, Kyle and Corey, are currently at Virginia Tech. His third brother, the oldest, also played at Virginia Tech before spending 6 seasons with the Tennessee Titans. Lots of people say he’s a lock to Virginia Tech and he is theirs to lose. I am not of this philosophy. I have three reasons as to why. 

1. My first reason is the power of Brady Hoke and Greg Mattison. Defenders love to play for Coach Mattison. All he has to do is show them some Ravens tape. And it's not like Hoke's recent crazy recruiting haul is going to hurt...

Blake Countess

2. My second reason is Blake Countess. Now, Blake is a fantastic player, but I would never have imagined the year he’d have as a freshman. Cornerback is an especially difficult position to play as a freshman, but Countess excelled. Why did he excel? Because he played under Greg Mattison. But more important for recruits is how early he played in his career. Countess started and got plenty of time as a true freshman. And he was great at it! Granted we had injuries (Troy Woolfolk) and aren’t very deep at the position, but it’s still a great sign for incoming recruits...especially ones from Blake’s high school. Blake’s best game came against Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl (registering 8 tackles), showcasing his improvement throughout the season and also Mattison’s coaching ability.

3. My third reason is Dorian O’Daniel. Dorian O’Daniel is a 6’1” and 205-pound 4* LB from Good Counsel HS and is a great friend and teammate of Fuller. He will actually be visiting Michigan the same weekend as Fuller. More importantly, he’s a prospect Michigan is going after hard and he has Michigan near the top of his list at the moment. Rivals ranks him 37th in the nation and he has just as many offers as Fuller (more than 20). Package deal? We could only hope! 

Dorian O'Daniel

If we could lure Fuller to Michigan, it would be an incredible feat. Fuller is the third Good Counsel player since 2009 to earn 5* status, the others being linebacker Jelani Jenkins (2009) and wide receiver Stefon Diggs (2012). If we were to snatch him, future Good Counsel players could see what we do with players like him and Blake Countess and Michigan could put a stamp on the impressive football school.

At the end of the day, I do unfortunately believe that Fuller is a long-shot for Michigan. His familial ties at Virginia Tech might just be too much to overcome (see Armani Reeves from 2012). I still don’t think he’s a VT lock though. Michigan is looking to get one more cornerback commit. We received 4* CB Jourdan Lewis’s verbal commit on February 18th, and like I’ve said multiple times before, anything can happen if we get a recruit on campus. Luckily for us, he plans on visiting April 14th weekend, the weekend of the Spring Game. 

Fuller has clearly been to Virginia Tech multiple times, whether that’s to visit his brothers or visit the campus, he’s very familiar with the university. However he recently came out with a “top-8” and it consists of Virginia Tech, Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Maryland, Michigan, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Like I said, we need to get him to campus. I think we’ll learn a lot after the Spring Game. He has no timeline for his decision date. Here's to hoping he goes Blue!