Wolverines Trooper Jon Leopold of Goodrich was a popular Stormtrooper during tailgating in the Michigan Stadium parking lot. He is photographed with Erin Evans and Rylee Kim, both from Dexter.
It was going to be Michigan’s biggest recruiting weekend of the football season regardless, but Wisconsin’s emergence has put a national spotlight on the Big House with a bunch of elite prospects slated to be in Ann Arbor for the duration of the weekend.
Official visits are a school’s best opportunity to sell themselves to prospects. It’s a 48-hour, all-inclusive trip that almost always includes family members and sometimes high school coaches. In Michigan’s case, most of this weekend’s visitors will be on campus for the first time, giving the coaching staff their first real opportunity to tangibly sell Michigan’s campus, stadium atmosphere and program camaraderie among other things. The main players who will be on campus (all rankings are 247Sports Composite rankings):
Five-star linebacker Baron Browning: Michigan has worked hard to put themselves in striking distance with the Kennedale, Texas, superstar. Browning would project to either one of Don Brown’s outside linebacker spots and is a rare talent that would play immediately. UCLA, Texas, Ohio State and Alabama are among the others in contention.
Michigan football to host pair of 5-star recruits for Wisconsin game
Five-star offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood: Leatherwood is a longtime verbal commitment to Alabama, and is another prospect Michigan has worked hard to chip away with. USC, Florida and a couple of others are trying, but the Wolverines could put themselves in the best position for a possible “flip” with a good visit.
Four-star offensive lineman Cesar Ruiz: Ruiz is and has been one of U-M’s top overall targets. He’s being recruited as a pure center, which is one of Michigan’s biggest needs in the 2017 cycle, and he’s the best. Most believe he’s been leaning towards the Wolverines for a long time. Oklahoma and Florida are among the others he’s strongly considering.
Four-star linebacker Jordan Anthony: Anthony is another one of U-M’s top targets at the linebacker position, and one that they may be in good shape with heading into the visit. He will be accompanied by his family, and it will be his third visit to Ann Arbor since his recruitment began. Penn State, Maryland and Oklahoma are among the other schools he’s strongly believed to be considering.
The Wolverines will also be hosting another top target in Iowa City (IA) West four-star wide receiver Oliver Martin, who was originally slated to visit last weekend. Martin’s visit will be an unofficial visit, and he’s expected to take an official visit later.
Steve Lorenz is the editor and publisher of Wolverine247 of the 247Sports Network. You can follow him on Twitter @TremendousUM and sign up for our FREE newsletter today! For a full list of who Michigan is currently expecting to visit officially, go to our Wolverine247 official visit page.