Michigan Thursday: Firecracker News and Notes

 🧨Michigan Basketball seems to be playing in a Cash Grab tournament against San Diego State and Auburn in Vegas next season, but it seems Michigan released it too fast.   These type of tournaments will pay the players directly.  

💥Vlad signed a two-way contract with the Heat.  That is where he will split his time between the G-League and the Heat Roster. 

🧨OSU wide receiver Jeremiah Smith guarantees wins against Michigan in the next two seasons.  Please say more and keep saying it!

💥LSU is asking for NCAA approval to put an advertising patch on their football uniforms.

 🧨Morez Johnson Jr. is hooping for Team USA in the FIBA U19 Tournament! They face Canada on July 4th! Oscar Goodman is also playing well for New Zeeland as they continue to advance as well.

💥5-star WR Calvin Russell III will announce his decision on Saturday between Michigan, Syracuse, Oregon, and FSU. 

🧨4-Star CB Dorian Barney will also announce on Saturday between Michigan, GA Tech, Texas A&M, PSU, and Ole Miss. 

💥Tim Hardaway Jr. signs with the Nuggets ending the dream of 3 Wolverines on the Pistons roster. 

🧨Thank you to Matthew and Nicole Lester who gave $6M to the Michigan Football program and didn't want their name on anything.  It drives me crazy that there is a some family name Defensive Coordinator role at Michigan.  BTW: Matt and Nicole, if your interested in funding a Michigan Football Blog, let me know! 😃

Have a great and safe holiday weekend everyone and lets hope we can talk about the big commitments on Monday!

Wolverine Wednesday: Edges Out Everyone

Michigan is clearly becoming DE U, Edge U, or Pass Rush U.  We need to come agreement on which one we should move forward with.  The next daily commit is Julian Walker from South Carolina. 

Julian Walker is 6'6 250 pound Edge with offers from Auburn, USC (both), UNC, NC State, UK, Va Tech, Syracuse, and Wake.  He picked Michigan because he and has dad were blown away by Michigan.  Here is a quote from his dad, who is also a coach:  "The coaching side of me has been blown away, seeing it from places I’ve been in my life. And the father in me is like, 'How in the world, as a father, do you not see yourself in a place like this ... getting these kids prepared for life'... their standard is out of this world."

Yes, Michigan has the best DL class in the country.  Count it! 

Is Coach Lou Esposito the top rated recruiter in the country?  He just might be.  

This photo came true! 

• The NCAA Committee on Legislative Relief announced it will issue a waiver to allow athletes that Division I programs place on the “Designated Student-Athlete” list to enter the transfer portal between July 7-Aug. 5

Michigan Tuesday: The Commits Keep Rolling In

On Monday, it was Andre Clarke Jr.'s turn to punch his ticket to Ann Arbor.   Andre is a 6'1 185 pound Safety from Richmond, VA.  Who picked Michigan over FSU, UK, and SMU and other programs with appropriate abbreviations.

He is listed as a Safety on most services but the rumor is Michigan likes him as a big corner.  The Wolverines have some work to do in the secondary as this is only their 2nd commitment and that commitment (Brody Jennings) has been a flip candidate to stay in Florida for sometime now. 

LaMar Morgan still has plenty of recruits he is trying to land, including Donovan Webb who Texas Tech is coming after hard, with a nice size bag of money. 

• Caris LeVert is now a Piston!  Welcome Home! 

• Remember when I said, "Michigan has the best defensive line commits in the country"?  Well, 4-star edge Julian Walker is now trending to A2 as well! 

• Remember when Michigan had like the 41st ranked class on 24/7, two weeks ago or so? They are #9 right now!

• Famous College Football Reporter Brett McMurphy has joined On3.  

Michigan Monday: Recruiting is on a Heater!

Sherrone might have started the 2026 recruiting class slowly but that seems to be changing by the hour.  As even more 👀 came out this morning!

First commitment of the weekend, came from 3-star LB Markel Dabney who was a flip from SMU.  LB is a need for this class and Dabney was a player the coaches targeted.  Nice win!

Next came 4-star OT Malakai Lee from Hawaii, who every major program wanted.  He is 6'7 and 300 pounds and picked the Wolverines over Georgia, Texas, and Alabama.   Yes, Please!  

Then it was 5-star time, when Carter Meadows committed to Michigan over Ohio State, Penn State, and South Carolina.  

Carter is the 36th player on On3 and the top of the list prospect for the Wolverines.  He is 6'6 and 235 pounds hailing from Washington DC (or as Wolverine fans like to call it, BIF Country for his time dominating high school football there). The kid loves school as much as he loves football and sounds like a perfect fit in A2.  Michigan beat the Buckeyes for his commitment. I will go on and say it now, Michigan has the best defensive line class in the country right now! 

Who is next? 

• Duncan Robinson opts out of his contract with the Miami Heat.  I assume he is working with the team on another contract.