[Isaiah Hole]

That escalated quickly. The above-the-break portion of last week’s roundup was dedicated to coverage of Daxton Hill’s upcoming visit because obvious things are obvious. I did not expect to be writing about him in the same portion of the round up again a week later. Sure, the articles linked in that post were packed with restrained optimism, but this was a Michigan v. Alabama recruiting battle. And yet.

Things started to pick up with a Sam Webb board post that detailed Hill’s visit as close to minute-by-minute as possible and detailed everything from who Hill sat with to his body language. He closed that post by saying “My read on the confidence level in Ann Arbor coming off the visit is it's as high as ever.” Then WolverinesWire’s Isaiah Hole interviewed Hill on his podcast and Hill responded with a hesitant “Uh, I really don’t know” when asked about whether he was going to take any other officials and how long it would be before he made a final decision about committing. That’s no surprised in hindsight, as Steve Lorenz reports that the Michigan staff knew Hill was going to commit to them after his official visit. Hill even shared with Hole in an off-the-record conversation that, though he wouldn’t say where, he knew what school he would commit to but wasn’t sure when he would do it.

Then Hill dropped the news publicly on Tuesday night, and the recruiting sites are still surveying and reporting on the aftermath. Any recruit rated as highly as Hill by all of the services naturally induces some by-the-numbers content after he commits of the “highest-rated since…” variety like this post from The Wolverine, this post from Nate Wiggins of The Wolverine Lounge, and this list of 15 quick-hitters from The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen; Hill’s verifiably insane verified testing results from The Opening also lend themselves to these articles.

Analysis posts of various sorts have also popped up, such as this Josh Helmholdt piece and accompanying video (which features film of Hill from field level) on Hill’s skillset and what adding him to the class means to Michigan fans. WolverinesWire’s Isaiah Hole sat down with Devin Gardner for their weekly segment and Gardner gave a detailed scouting report based off of Hill’s ludicrous highlight reel. 247 has a few bits about who helped with the recruitment behind the scenes, including this Steve Lorenz piece that mentions lead recruiter Sherrone Moore, about whom Brice Marich has more.

Another round of articles were published after reporters had a chance to reach out to others for comment. Sam Webb put up a piece with some choice quotes based on an interview he did with Stan Edwards (yes that Stan Edwards) on the radio.

“Daxton Hill the player…I think you described him perfectly,” said Edwards. “I would agree with you because I was around when Tripp Welborne came through here. That is a pretty good comparison. I sat next to Daxton (at the SMU game). Berkeley (i.e. Stan’s son) is on the team now, so our tickets are always in the same area. So I got a chance to sit next to Dax during the game. We talked about safety play. I said, ‘listen, you’ve got skills like Eric Berry. You’ve got skills like Ed Reed.’ I said, ‘don’t ever forget about your man to man cover skills.’ He stopped me in the middle of conversation, put his hands on me and said, ‘nah, I work on that every day. That’s something I always work on.’”

[After THE JUMP: More on Hill. Also, remember that other five-star, the one who was supposed to commit and still hasn’t?]

Brandon Brown spoke with SoonerScoop’s Josh McCuistion, who has scouted Hill in multiple situations, to get his take on what makes Hill so good. McCuistion, who said that Hill has no glaring weakness, recalled a moment at a camp during one-on-one drills.

"I can't remember the receiver he was facing but it was a guy with numerous offers, a well regarded receiver and Hill stuck to his inside hip and on a short curl, broke on the ball and actually got his hand in to deflect it. It seems so simple but for a guy his size, a safety, to make that play, it was jaw dropping."

TMI’s staff also spoke with class of ‘19 players of the committed and uncommitted variety. Brice Marich talked to NV QB Cade McNamara about his burgeoning friendship with Hill and the impact he thinks Hill will have on the field. McNamara:

“Some guys are five-stars and I’m not ragging about rankings or anything, but I definitely feel he deserves his five-stars. He’s an absolute stud and definitely a huge tool in our defense.”

Non-update-y Updates That Make You Go “Hmm”

TMI sent Josh Newkirk to scout and interview top-five prospect OH DE Zach Harrison. He led one of the articles with a couple minutes of film. Remember the beginning on Avengers: Infinity War where Thanos sends out his henchmen and they’re all tall and skinny and zipping around casually obliterating everything in their general vicinity? That’s my Harrison scouting report. Newkirk’s is fairly similar:

What you'll notice right away us his freakish athleticism and speed off the edge. Add that with his length, and you're getting a defensive end that has high draft pro potential down the road. While he's been nursing a bone bruise injury that caused him to miss his first three games, he looked and played like he was in mid-season form. I've seen Harrison a few times already at The Opening. But seeing him  in pads, he looks stronger and moves so fluid on the field.

Newkirk talked to Harrison after the game and came away with few definitive answers, which in itself is telling. Harrison said that he didn’t commit as he originally intended to in mid-August because, quite simply, he didn’t know where he wanted to go. Harrison doesn’t know if he’ll take any additional visits, and he has no idea when he’ll commit. Sam Webb reports in that same article that Harrison has been speaking with Greg Mattison more lately, which bodes well considering Harrison told Newkirk his recruitment will come down to people. Webb thinks Harrison’s recruitment will come down to whether he wants to get away from Columbus and the extra attention that comes with a top-five player committing to the in-town powerhouse; if he wants something closer to a fresh start, he’ll pick Michigan.

Another of the few sure-take prospects left on Michigan’s board, CA TE Isaiah Foskey, recently spoke to 247. Foskey told Steve Lorenz that he’s definitely going to take an official visit to Michigan, and that Michigan securing the commitment of CA WR Giles Jackson definitely helps their pursuit of him as the two have known each other since fourth grade.

While we’re on the topic of sure-takes, Sam Webb responded to reader/listener questions with quick updates on IN DE George Karlaftis and NC RB/LB Quavaris Crouch. According to Webb, Karlaftis is still in frequent contact with the Michigan staff but isn’t wavering on his Purdue commitment. Michigan is essentially in ask-again-later mode, waiting to see how Purdue’s season plays out.

Update-y Updates That Make You Go “Hmm”

Webb says that Crouch is a different story. He may be taking his official visit during the Wisconsin game. The key there is who comes with him: if it’s mom or grandma, things look very good for Michigan. If it’s his former head coach, maybe not as much.

Steve Lorenz connected with top-50 TX S Lewis Cine, who was supposed to visit campus this weekend unofficially; The Wolverine’s Brandon Brown is reporting that the visit is now off due to transportation issues. From what Cine told Lorenz, it doesn’t seem like the cancellation had anything to do with Hill’s commitment, which makes sense given that Cine could potentially fill the VIPER role. He said that he still has high interest in Michigan and that he and Hill could be a “scary combination.”

2020 Update: The Hill Effect, Big Visitors, and

Daxton Hill’s commitment doesn’t seem like it will dissuade Lewis Cine, but it may persuade a top-100 2020 prospect. OK WR Javian Hester, ranked 79th on the 247 composite, is a teammate of Hill’s and has been the object of attention from Michigan for some time. Steve Lorenz reports that the interest is mutual, and that Hill and Hester and very close. We’ll see where this goes.

A pair of highly-ranked prospects and teammates were on hand for last week’s SMU contest. AZ RB Bijan Robinson and AZ S Lathan Ransom, both of Tuscon Salpoite Catholic, told WolverinesWire’s Evan Petzold they were blown away by Michigan Stadium and the fan experience during their first out-of-state campus visit. Robinson told The Wolverine’s Brandon Brown that everything went so well on the visit that he’s already talking about taking another after his season is over. Despite the experience, a commitment from either isn’t on the horizon. Ransom, a composite four-star safety ranked no. 325 overall, told Petzold that he would like to commit before the start of his senior season. Robinson, just five sports out of five-star range at no. 37 overall on the composite, told Petzold that he will commit after his senior season at whatever postseason game he elects to play in. And though they may not plan to commit at the same time, there seems to be a good chance they’ll be donning the same hat when all is said and done. As Ransom told Petzold:

“We both talked about going to the same place. We think it might be a good idea to commit to the same school.”

The Wolverine’s Adam Ghabour spoke to four-star NC WR Michael Wyman, no. 125 in the composite and recipient of a Michigan offer in June. Ghabour compares Wyman to Tarik Black, and in their conversation Wyman told him that he plans to visit M soon while also casually mentioning his 4.0 GPA.

On the opposite end of the rankings spectrum, at least for now, is GA DE Kyle Kennard, who took an unofficial visit during the Western Michigan game. Kennard is a three-star to Rivals and is unranked by 247, but he has offers from Minnesota, Memphis, and Arizona State. Kennard was effusive in his praise of everything Michigan to both The Michigan Insider and The Wolverine, noting the he is a die-hard Michigan fan and that Michigan has been his dream school for a while. Seems like a guy who would commit on the spot should he get offered.

Etc.

Lorenz on Michigan’s ten most-wanted prospects (spoiler: one of them already committed). Brandon Brown on who’s in the fold and who’s still on the board for the defense.