Alvin Bailey Visiting Michigan Next Thursday, Plans to End Recruitment in July

Although the Michigan Wolverines' 2013 recruiting class is currently ranked No. 1 by all of the national recruiting services with 21 verbal commitments, they are still searching for a highly-touted wide receiver to accept one of their remaining scholarship spots and hope that 4-star prospect Alvin Bailey (Seffner, FL) will bring their search to an end. 

The nation's No. 132 overall prospect and No. 16-ranked wide receiver cut his list of 26 offers in half at the end of May and told Rivals.com on Sunday he hopes to bring his recruitment to an end next month. 

"I want to decide around the end of July probably. I will sit down with my parents and coach," Bailey said before revealing the key factors that will decide which school he eventually chooses.  

"The coaching loyalty, if the coach is still going to be there. The academics, I want great academics. Also, the team, I want a great team. I want to play early, but if that doesn't happen then it is what it is."  

Bailey's final 13 schools consist of Michigan, Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas A&M, UCF, Vanderbilt and West Virginia. The Wolverines are one of the schools Bailey plans on visiting before making his final decision. 

"I am planning to go to Michigan, West Virginia, Clemson Florida State, Georgia, South Carolina and that's about it," Bailey said. "I will probably start taking those trips in a couple of weeks." 

Andre Barthwell of GoBlueWolverine.com reported on Tuesday that Bailey's visit to Ann Arbor will take place next Thursday.  

The Armwood High School star has only made visits to UCF and Florida so far, which gives the Wolverines a chance to make a lasting impression on Bailey when he makes the trek up to Michigan. However, Chris Nee covers the state of Florida for Rivals and does not believe the Wolverines will be able to get Bailey out of his home state regardless of how impressive his visit to Ann Arbor is. 

"I think he'll look at others away from home, but I do think distance will be a factor," Nee told TheWolverine.com on June 5. "I've never felt he'd be quick to leave the state." 

Michigan has had a solid track record of impressing recruits, though, and have been firmly in the running for some of the top prospects outside the midwest such as E.J. Levenberry (Woodbridge, VA), Henry Poggi (Baltimore, MD), Chris Fox (Parker, CO) and Bailey's high school teammate, Leon McQuay III (Seffner, FL). 

Poggi and Fox eventually committed to Michigan, Levenberry chose Florida State over the Wolverines and McQuay III left Ann Arbor thoroughly impressed with everything that head coach Brady Hoke and his staff have to offer at Michigan. 

While it is not impossible for the Wolverines to become one of Bailey's favorites after his visit next week, it is this writer's opinion that the odds of the 5'11", 170-pounder donning the maize and blue are very slim. 

Another prospect the Wolverines were able to impress during an unofficial visit was class of 2014 linebacker Michael Ferns (Saint Clairsville, OH), who grew up in Ohio and rarely heard anything positive about Michigan. 

"Obviously, being in Ohio, what you hear around there is 'oh, it's just Michigan', right?" Ferns said Wednesday. "You also hear worse things than that. You've got Ohio State fans all over the place." 

"It was better than I expected, though. I'd never been to Ann Arbor or Michigan in general. Going in there and really seeing what Michigan has to offer: it's a great school and they have great things going for them." 

Ohio State and Penn State have long been considered favorites to eventually land Ferns, but the Wolverines have given the Saint Clairsville linebacker a bit more to think about when it comes to choosing which program he will continue his football career with. 

"They have great things going for them," Ferns said. "Obviously now with this last year's recruiting class things are going well. It was a great trip overall. When it comes down to it, I just know they're going to be one of my final choices." 

Ferns has not set any sort of timetable as to when he will make a decision, but has plenty of time before he needs to think about making one.

Zach Dirlam is the Lead Editor of the College Basketball section as well as Big Ten columnist for the FOX Sports/MSN/YardBarker affiliate website Sports at Work. Check out his blog, Dirlam’s Dirty Dugout Sports Blog, which features this story, along with other articles and video reports on major sports.

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