Michigan Football: Wolverines get visit, aim to flip elite cornerback

Michigan football is locking up visits at a rapid pace for the month of June and one visitor is Georgia commitment Marquis Groves-Killebrew. 

It’s been hard to keep track of all the recruits who are setting up official visits with Michigan football, but a number of others did so this week, including one that wasn’t expected in Georgia football commit Marquis Groves-Killebrew.

Groves-Killebrew is a top-100 recruit out of Snellville, Georgia, and is ranked as the No. 98 player overall in the class of 2022 according to the 247 sports composite rankings. He is the 11th-ranked cornerback and No. 11 in the state of Georgia.

He’s also been committed to the Bulldogs for nearly a year, pledging last May. But, he is taking an official visit during Michigan football’s big recruiting weekend, June 16-18, which has to be viewed as a positive sign for the Wolverines.

It’s also big because it’s the first official visit that Groves-Killebrew will take and it sounds like, according to Steve Lorenz of the Michigan Insider, he’s building a strong relationship with new cornerbacks coach and co-defensive coordinator Maurice Linguist.

The Wolverines got involved in this recruitment last May, offering just before Groves-Killebrew made his decision to commit to Georgia.

At this point, it’s hard to say a flip is imminent or anything like that, but Michigan football has to feel good about its chances, especially now that it’s getting the talented corner on campus.

More official visits

Other recruits announced they will be taking official visits to Ann Arbor as well, including 6-foot-6 defensive end Beau Atkinson.

Another recruit Michigan football offered back in February, four-star outside linebacker Torren Wright, is also taking a visit this June. Wright and Atkinson are both out of North Carolina.

On the offensive side of the ball, another name to keep an eye on is Chandler Smith, a three-star wideout from the state of Florida who also announced his Michigan visit June 26-28.

Smith is 6-foot-3, 180 pounds and he’s a burner. According to his 247 sports recruiting profile, Smith ran a 10.52 in the 100-meter dash and a 21.40 in the 200 as a junior.

https://twitter.com/cjavonsmith1/status/1385286623525580812

That’s legit speed. He’s ranked 767th overall in the class of 2022 but with Michigan probably looking to take four wide receivers in this class, he might have a chance as a home-run hitter.

Of course, Michigan already landed a commitment from top-100 wideout Tyler Morris earlier this week, so the recruiting operation is getting momentum, and just like the two previous cycles, I’d expected a bunch of commitments in the next few months.