Eric Gray's Michigan commitment on shaky ground after he cancels visit
Michigan has another list of visitors on tap for Saturday’s home finale against Indiana.
But one of its top commitments in the 2019 class won't be making the trip.
Memphis (Tenn.) Lausanne Collegiate running back Eric Gray will reportedly visit Tennessee this weekend after being scheduled to visit Ann Arbor, according to VolQuest.com. It would’ve been Gray’s first time on campus since late June (he committed to Michigan on July 1).
Gray, a 4-star running back, has visited several other schools this fall. His decision to not visit Michigan does not appear to bode well for the Wolverines’ chances of keeping his commitment.
“Pessimism is growing on Michigan’s end,” said 247Sports analyst Steve Lorenz. “Tennessee and Ole Miss are the other two schools really being considered here. And he’s yet to come back up to Michigan again since he committed. He was supposed to come up this weekend and isn’t now. Michigan was really aiming for him to come up for a home game this year, and it never materialized.”
In the case that Michigan and Gray part ways, the Wolverines have another running back committed to the 2019 class in Westlake Village (Ca.) Oaks Christian 4-star prospect Zach Charbonnet, who will visit campus this weekend, and is the ‘biggest name coming, committed or not," according to Lorenz.
“Stud. Five-star in my opinion. Maybe the best running back Michigan has recruited in 15 years,” Lorenz said. “Total package, he’s going to enroll early. He’ll play next year. I don’t know who to compare him to. I’ve heard people compare him to maybe a slightly lesser version of Leonard Fournette. He’ll run by you, he’ll run over you, he’s got ‘it.’
“He’s a guy that if he had gone to all the camps in the offseason and stuff, he’d probably already be a 5-star guy. As a matter of fact, we just bumped him to 26th overall. That’s all off of game film. He’s never been to a shorts and T-shirt camp. He’s never been surrounded by other elite guys in those types of settings. It’s rare for a guy to see that many bumps just off of watching HUDL film.”
Another 2019 prospect slated to visit is Dacula (Ga.) cornerback Jalen Perry, a former Georgia commitment. Perry, a 4-star prospect ranked No. 171 overall by the 247Sports Composite, visited Michigan for the Penn State game on Nov. 3, and rescheduled a visit to South Carolina this weekend in order to return to Ann Arbor.
Lorenz says Perry appears to be Michigan’s top remaining target at cornerback, and he currently favors the Gamecocks and the Wolverines.
“I think there’s some optimism there,” Lorenz said. “I don’t know if he’s in any hurry, though. A return visit (to Michigan) this quickly, history would say that’s great obviously for Michigan. But I do think he’s supposed to go back to South Carolina, so I don’t necessarily know if this is a come back up and commit type deal.
“A couple of the commitments feel pretty good about him, but again, I think that’s a situation that’ll help us learn how much room the staff thinks they have right now. Because there are quite a few guys that they’re recruiting for what appear to be a limited amount of spots.”
Michigan has 24 commitments in its 2019 recruiting class, which is ranked ninth in the nation and tops in the Big Ten.
Contact Orion Sang: osang@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang.