Michigan Football: Can Wolverines close with Dillon Tatum?

Michigan football is expected to host Dillon Tatum this week on a visit and the question is, can the Wolverines close in this recruitment? 

At the start of the month, we looked at five recruits who could commit to Michigan football in the month of July and one of the names on that list was Dillon Tatum.

Tatum is a top target for Michigan football and is a prospect the Wolverines have been after for a good two years. They have a longstanding relationship with him and there are tons of ties to the staff including Ron Bellamy, who was his former high school head coach.

Tatum is ranked in the top 300 of the 247 sports composite rankings and he’s the fifth-ranked player in the state of Michigan. He’s also a safety and with few other options on the board, he’s a really important target.

Michigan football has also been leading with crystal ball projections for months and it hasn’t led to a commitment, even though at one time, there was a video being worked on, meaning at one point, a decision had been made (likely to commit to U-M).

But now, we have seven days left in the month of July and Tatum still hasn’t committed. He has said he wants to do it before the season and we have reached a point where Michigan has to close and win this recruitment.

As far as Sam Webb of the Michigan Insider is concerned, it’s “crunch time” for the Wolverines:

"“It’s crunch time for me. He is slated to visit Michigan next week. He is in the AAU Junior Olympics for track. I think he leaves in the middle of next week for that. He’s supposed to make it to Michigan’s campus early next week before going on that AAU track visit. If he comes out of that trip without either a commitment or an announcement date, it’ll be time for me to lower the Crystal Ball confidence all the way down if not flip altogether.”"

Drew Kendall/Rocco Spindler vibes

Webb is one of the recruiting reporters with a crystal ball in for Tatum to Michigan (there are a total of eight) but this recruitment is starting to remind of me Drew Kendall/Rocco Spindler — two offensive linemen that Michigan had huge crystal ball leads with but didn’t land.

When you are the favorite but the kid keeps extending out the timeline, it’s not generally a good thing and in this case, it’s clear that Michigan State has really made a move.

Tatum grew up as a Michigan State fan and Mel Tucker has really gone a nice job making these in-state kids feel like a priority. Tatum is the centerpiece for Michigan State and while Michigan wants him badly, he’s probably not getting that level of attention.

Still, you’d think that Bellamy’s presence on the U-M staff would be a huge factor and that’s the one thing that’s held me back from believing he will choose the Spartans. It’s a 50/50 recruitment though and for the Wolverines, it’s time to close.