Laquon Treadwell Says Michigan Tops His List of Schools, Other Updates

It has been no secret 4-star wide receiver Laquon Treadwell (Crete, IL) has had the University of Michigan near, or at the top of his long list of suitors for his talents. On Monday morning, he told Rivals.com that the Wolverines are the team to beat at this point in his recruitment. 

"Michigan is the team to beat," Treadwell said. "I've been up there about eight times and I've been liking the place." 

Treadwell has been busy competing at various camps around the country and is preparing to show his skills off at The Opening next week, which has hampered him from taking any visits to the schools he is still interested in. 

The nation's No. 39 overall prospect and No. 5 ranked wide receiver is pondering which schools he wants to take an official visit to. Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, USC and Auburn are the names thrown around the most when it comes to potential officials for Treadwell. Other schools still in the mix for Treadwell are Notre Dame, Michigan State and Illinois. 

"I will probably take my visits whenever I can," Treadwell told USCFootball.com Tuesday afternoon. "They will probably come out of nowhere. Whenever I get a free weekend or something like that." 

A decision does not appear imminent in the next couple of months; the Crete Monee High School star seems content to let things play out until after he takes some official visits and completes his senior season. 

The 6'3", 185-pound wideout has already established deep bonds with the Michigan coaching staff and several of the Wolverines' incoming recruits, which means even if he is impressed on all of his official visits, there is still an overwhelming chance he winds up donning the maize and blue.  

In the event Treadwell does choose to commit elsewhere down the road, the Wolverines still have a shot at signing 4-star receiver Alvin Bailey (Seffner, FL), who recently took an unofficial visit to Ann Arbor and came away impressed with everything Michigan has to offer. 

"Everything stood out at Michigan," Bailey told Chris Nee of Rivals.com last Saturday. "It is like Notre Dame but with a bigger population and with more people out." 

Bailey plans to narrow his list of schools down to eight in the coming weeks, but the Armwood High School star does not have any favorites at this point, meaning Michigan has just as good of a chance as anyone else to land the Rivals 250 prospect. 

It will be difficult to get Bailey away from the Florida programs; however, if Treadwell cools on Michigan, look for the Wolverines to put the full-court press on Bailey. 

Finally, it is never too early to look ahead to the class of 2014, especially given the fact the Michigan coaching staff has pretty much wrapped up their 2013 recruiting class, and defensive back D'Andre Payne (Washington, D.C.) is one of the most highly-coveted junior prospects. 

The H.D. Woodson High School standout already has 29 scholarship offers and took visits to Duke, Virginia, N.C. State, Ohio State, Michigan State, Penn State, Notre Dame and Michigan. Payne informed Mike Farrell of Rivals.com on Saturday that Michigan, Ohio State and Virginia are standing out to him early in his recruitment. 

Payne is not likely to decide anytime soon; however, Michigan fans can be excited that the program continues to put themselves in the mix for the nation's elite prospects.

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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