Top Michigan Target Includes Michigan in Top 5

It should come as no surprise that Michigan is still in the mix with one of its top remaining targets in 2022.

Less than 24 hours ago, Detroit Cass Tech defensive tackle Deone Walker dropped his top five and Michigan remains in the hunt.

It's an interesting group to say the least. It's not everyday you see schools like Michigan and Georgia alongside Missouri and Arizona State in a recruit's top group, but it's turned out that way for Walker. Kentucky is obviously also in the mix and has done a nice job recruiting Walker.

The 6-6, 340-pounder has been on Michigan's radar for a while but there have been some ups and downs. He picked up the U-M offer a little over a year ago and at first was viewed as a top target. Then things slowed between the parties before really picking up again after Jim Harbaugh hired defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, cornerbacks coach Steve Clinkscale, who got the ball rolling with Walker and Kentucky, and former West Bloomfield head coach Ron Bellamy. Now, Walker is certainly one of Michigan's priorities in the 2022 class and it feels like it's only a matter of time before the big man commits to the maize and blue.

Walker laughs with Michigan cornerbacks coach Steve Clinkscale at a camp earlier this summer

He has routinely referred to Michigan commits as "teammates" and he made sure he was in town for U-M's big official visit weekend last month, even though he was only on hand as an unofficial visitor. He specifically mentioned wanting to be in town with his boy Mario Eugenio, who is now a part of Michigan's class. In early-June, Walker said that Michigan was "one of his top two schools" along with Michigan State. Now, the Spartans aren't even in his top five, while U-M still remains. That makes the Wolverines the clear cut favorites in my mind.

There's too much momentum for U-M and I'd view it as a pretty big choke job if somehow Walker ended up elsewhere. Kentucky is hanging in there, and Walker did mention a possible official visit to Arizona State when the Sun Devils host USC, but I don't see the Detroit native venturing that far away from home for good. If he's planning in-season official visits, that likely means a decision is a ways off still, but I don't think it really matters. It feels like only a matter of time before he's part of Michigan's 2022 class.