Recruiting Roundup: Reactions from Michigan’s first Junior Day of 2023

Jan 24, 2023 - 1:00 PM

The Michigan Wolverines hosted their first of two straight Junior Day weekends a couple days ago, which included positional meetings with coaches and watching men’s basketball’s victory over Minnesota. Reactions from visitors were very positive following the weekend, including these three prospects.

Four-star OL loves first trip to Michigan

One of the several visitors on campus for Michigan’s first junior day last Sunday was 2024 Grayson (GA) four-star offensive lineman Waltclaire Flynn Jr. The Michigan Insider’s Brice Marich followed up with Flynn Jr. to get his thoughts on his first experience in Ann Arbor ($).

“The visit was amazing,” Flynn Jr. said. “Everything we did was fun. We had a snow ball fight in the Big House, got to sit with the main man coach Harbaugh at the basketball game, all the meetings were entertaining and I just had a great first time experience here.”

While spending that time with the head man clearly left an impact on Flynn Jr, Sherrone Moore also made an impression on the visit.

“Coach Moore is that guy,” Flynn emphasized. “He preaches smash football. He has a great personality and really cool to be around and he was just telling me how it means a lot for him and the staff for me to make it up here, and he can’t wait to see me again.”

Michigan definitely made a big move from this visit and will be looking to get him up on campus again. Based on this experience, Flynn Jr. said Michigan “stands high amongst the others” in his recruitment.

Ohio three-star OL loves most recent visit to Ann Arbor

A familiar face that has emerged on Michigan’s campus this fall is 2024 St. Edward (OH) three-star Ben Roebuck. The 6-foot-7, 320-pound tackle caught up with TMI’s Marich to discuss his latest visit on Sunday ($).

“The visit went great,” Roebuck told Marich. “I got to watch film with coach Moore, meet a lot of the other recruits and I got to talk to coach Harbaugh a lot, which I haven’t really had the chance of doing before. Luke (Hamilton) and I got to talk a lot and strengthen our relationship, too.”

There were a handful of Ohio prospects up for the visit, including Hamilton who is already a Michigan commit. The representation from his state was not something that Roebuck missed.

“Luke definitely was (recruiting me),” Roebuck said. “I was talking with Brian Robinson and Ted Hammond a lot, too. There’s definitely that feeling going around (on Ohio players going to Michigan now). It would be amazing if it were to come to fruition.”

Roebuck previously has named Michigan his leader, but told Marich other schools like Wisconsin have also been doing a good job recruiting him.

As for a decision timeline, Roebuck said he was “thinking late spring or early summer.”

2025 LB thought about committing on first visit to Michigan

Michigan has recruited Buford High School in Georgia consistently, as it is a major powerhouse in a talent-rich state. Next up in that pipeline is 2025 linebacker Mantrez Walker, who Michigan offered last month and already got up for a visit this past weekend. Walker recapped his visit with TMI’s Marich, which included some pretty frank quotes ($).

“Visit went great. I got to sit through defensive and linebacker meetings. I met with coach Harbaugh and had dinner with the coaches,” Walker said. “My family and I had a wonderful experience. You would have thought it was an official. Feels like home and I can see myself playing and succeeding at the University of Michigan. Definitely my top school right now and leaning towards it.”

Naming Michigan as his top school outright is notable as Walker already holds offers from Arkansas, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Michigan State, Missouri, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Penn State, South Carolina and Tennessee. He was up for Penn State’s Junior Day last week.

Walker also enjoyed speaking with his potential future position coach, George Helow.

“It was great meeting with coach Helow. He is a pretty funny guy and his main message was basically being able to play fast, recognize plays, schemes and hit people,” said Walker. “Their linebackers are very versatile and have to be ready to play at multiple positions.”

With all these positive quotes, Walker said he even thought about committing while on the visit.

“For sure,” Walker said about possibly ending his recruitment. “We told the coaches we were going to go home and pray and think about it for a couple of weeks.”

A commitment from Walker would give Michigan its second in the 2025 class, following four-star cornerback Chris Ewald.