One of Michigan football's top recruiting targets in the 2026 recruiting class has announced a commitment date. Top-100 RB Javian Osborne will announce his commitment on May 3rd. He will choose between Michigan and Notre Dame.
NEWS: Four-Star RB Javian Osborne will announce his Commitment on May 3rd, he tells me for @on3recruits
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) April 11, 2025
The 5’9 195 RB from Forney, TX will choose between Notre Dame & Michigan
Top 10 RB in the Class of 2026 (per On3 Industry)https://t.co/8C6ki3HvmG pic.twitter.com/Xf6pJX6Vwx
Michigan football was long considered the leader here, but things have shifted pretty significantly over the past month or so. Notre Dame burst onto the scene and captured Osborne's attention. The Irish are red hot on the recruiting trail and currently boast the #8 recruiting class in the nation.
Osborne recently said that Notre Dame is ahead of Michigan by a bit. He gave the Irish the lead because of "what they presented". That seems to imply that the Irish are giving Osborne guarantees that the Wolverines are not. Whether that is playing time or NIL is unsure, but NIL seems like a likely advantage for the Irish at the moment.
With the pending House settlement surrounding NIL, Michigan football has been hesitant to discuss specific numbers with recruits as they await new guidelines. The Wolverines also don't know if GM Sean Magee will be around much longer with the open Navy AD job. With that being said, the Wolverines will have a chance to win over Osborne before his commitment.
Osborne is set to be on campus for Michigan's Spring Game on the 19th, and the Wolverines will have a chance to discuss specifics with him. Michigan is definitely in a unique spot here. The Wolverines almost certainly know what they have to do to win this recruitment in terms of NIL, the question is just whether or not they'll do it.
The result of this visit and Osborne's recruitment will likely give us a view into what the staff is prioritizing. A miss here almost certainly means the Wolverines will go all in on Savion Hiter, the #1 RB in America. Likewise, landing Osborne means the Wolverines are committed to being aggressive on the NIL front in the 2026 class.
Seeing as the Wolverines only have three commitments in their 2026 class, there's nothing that can give us insights into what they will do. All we can say is that Notre Dame has tons of momentum while the Wolverines do not. Stay tuned for updates coming out of the Spring Game.