re: Class of 2017 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: Say Your Goodbyes Edition

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Peoples-Jones talks Najee Harris

Now that Michigan has garnered the eighth-ranked player in the 247Sports player rankings in Detroit (MI) Cass Tech wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones, all eyes are set on what current Alabama commit, and the 247Sports Composite number one ranked player in the country, Najee Harris, will do.

Peoples-Jones said that he, himself, is interested to see that as well.

The Army All-American has a good relationship with Harris, as they've crossed paths through the camp circuit and recruiting trail. Both players took their official visit to Michigan last weekend, just before the dead period started. No one has an exact clue as to what Harris plans to do -- if he intends to stay committed to the Crimson Tide, or flip to Michigan, who has made a strong push over the past year for his services.

Regardless of what he chooses, Peoples-Jones says that he will be in his corner, and while he knows that Harris will make the best decision for himself and his family, he hopes that he'll join the fold in Ann Arbor.

“I really didn't talk to him about that at that point, because we neither had announced or really decided," Peoples-Jones said of their time together during their official visit to Michigan. "Last week, I was still at that three [schools to choose from], so I'm not going to preach a school that I don't know with certainty that I'm going to.

"But yeah, Najee's my guy. We met at a USC camp, I think, two or three years ago. We both went to The Opening as underclassmen. I saw him again, I think, at Rivals Five-Star Challenge. Things like that. Yeah, Najee's definitely a friend of mine. I'm looking forward to meeting with him, being with him.”


Both players will be early-enrollees, and will attend their respective college choice mere days after they both appear in the Army All-American game in January. While Peoples-Jones said that it's not really in his nature to take an active recruiting role, and it's not in his plans to try and coerce Harris to join the Wolverines class, he is very much hoping that he will come to that decision on his own.

“He's a very smart person," Peoples-Jones said. "He'll make the best decision for him. Would I like to play with him? Yeah, absolutely. I think that he's a dynamic back. He's very talented."

With Peoples-Jones in the fold, Michigan vaulted to the fifth-ranked class in the 247Sports Team Rankings. Harris has no apparent decision date set for choosing to either stay with Alabama or choose Michigan.

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Let's just say Peterson has some religious views that probably wouldn't jive too well down in the Deep South.

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Welcome to the Alabama recruiting mailbag, I am your letter-opener Chris Kirschner.

Questions for the mailbag were submitted to me via my Twitter account, which you can follow here. Questions were also submitted via the Alabama Insiders Facebook page. If you didn’t get a chance to submit your question for this edition of the mailbag, you still can send me questions for future editions by tweeting me or emailing me at chriskajc@gmail.com.

There were A LOT of good questions this week, so let’s dig in.

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What are your overall thoughts on what Najee Harris is going to do?

(@MichiganMan_2)

This is the question that obviously everyone wants to know an answer to. And I really don’t know, conclusively, what the 5-star Alabama commit is going to do. There are two options here: stick with Alabama or flip to Michigan.

Sources close to the Alabama program believe they’ll keep Harris committed in the class. From reading stories on the Michigan side of things, the Wolverines appear to be confident that they can flip him from the Crimson Tide. I’m not going to front and say I have sources within the Michigan program — I don’t — so, all I can say is that Alabama is still confident it holds his commitment in the end.

Harris and his inner circle have been tight-lipped on his recruitment ever since he visited Michigan last week. I think that’s just so there aren’t any distractions as they try to figure out where he should play college football.

I spent several days in Antioch, Calif. last month, and there are several people close to Harris who are hoping he sticks with Alabama. Those people are very instrumental in his process.

I still believe Alabama will be the school he attends next month. Until I hear anything otherwise, I’m sticking with my prediction.

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Do you think Alabama gets Henry Ruggs when he commits?

(Jeffery Moore — Alabama Insiders)

I think so. The 4-star wide receiver has a lot of people in his inner circle that are big-time Alabama fans. He’s visited the campus more so than any other school and has the closest relationship with the Alabama commits out of the other other four schools he’s considering — Auburn, Florida, Florida State and Penn State.

With Ruggs being viewed as the No. 1 wide receiver target on the board, it’s hard for me to say Alabama is going to miss on a major in-state priority.

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Allan Walters commits to Vandy, is Bama going to get a 2018 QB?

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