Rumors regarding Bryce Underwood have been running rampant. Underwood shared a post on Instagram (now deleted) that he was going to decline a $10.5 million NIL deal to play for Michigan football.
Some assumed that meant Michigan football was out of the race. However, according to multiple reports -- one from EJ Holland -- and another from Sam Webb of The Michigan Insider Underwood hasn't eliminated the Wolverines just yet.
That might not be the right word. It's not really an open recruitment from the Underwood perspective. He's been committed to LSU and never said otherwise. He visited for the Alabama game last weekend and didn't quite publicly re-affirm his commitment, but he also hasn't viisted Michigan.
I know he's close so a visit isn't as big of a deal, but it's hard to believe he would commit without at least visiting and having a chance to see the full presentation.
Webb reported that Underwood was "playing" when he shared the post about declining Michigan's offer, but it's hard to know what to believe.
I just don't sense that Michigan has built any momentum toward a flip. The NIL offer caused Underwood to listen, but it's like, if that had been on the table from the beginning, which it should have been all along, as I've been saying since the inception of NIL, Michigan wouldn't be in this situation.
It might have actually stood a chance. Instead, it didn't give itself any chance of landing Underwood, just like it didn't with Dante Moore. That's the most disappointing aspect of the whole thing. If this recruitment was handed correctly from the beginning -- during a national championship run -- Michigan would have landed him or been at least near the top.
Now, they are scrambling after what's been a disastrous season (no sugarcoating) and while you can never say never, it's hard to see this going Michigan's way.
But according to some of the top Michigan recruiting experts, it's not over yet. That's something at least.