Blue Chips: Decision date set for Top 100 WR Gatlin Bair; where does Michigan stand?

*** Top 100 Burley (Idaho) High wide receiver Gatlin Bair is set to make his decision on August 5. While Bair has a date locked in, I don’t believe he has chosen a school or knows where he is going at this time. Bair always wanted to commit in early August — around the start of his high school’s team camp, so his recruitment wouldn’t become a distraction. Bair released a final group of Boise State, Oregon, Michigan, Nebraska and TCU. But I still believe this is very much a Boise State-Michigan battle with Oregon hanging around. I don’t believe NIL will be much of a factor here, so I’m not as concerned about Oregon as I normally would be, but obviously, you never know with the Ducks.

*** Bair’s recruitment will ultimately be determined next week when he makes a multi-day unofficial visit to Boise State. Bair did not make an OV to Boise State last month, so this is a defacto official visit for the Broncos. Look, it’s easy to dismiss Boise State. Michigan is clearly the superior program, and BSU doesn’t currently play in a major conference. With that said, Bair is a believer in head coach Andy Avalos, who led BSU to a Mountain West title last season. Avalos has been personally recruiting Bair and pitching him on being the home state hero. Bair’s brothers have gone away from home for school, so distance shouldn’t be a factor for the family. However, Bair is very intrigued by the pitch.

*** As I mentioned coming out of the official visit in June, Michigan does not believe it has the outright lead for Bair. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. If I had to make a prediction today, I would put one in for U-M. However, I think the Michigan staff has some concern about this Boise State visit — as do I. And that’s why I’m holding off on making a pick. Still, Michigan did everything it could do on the OV. They wowed Bair with pitches on development, adding a different dynamic to the offense and being part of a winning culture on a huge stage. Michigan wide receivers coach Ron Bellamy and area recruiter Jay Harbaugh have been working non-stop here and have great relationships with him and those around him.

*** Michigan obviously has a few ties working in its favor. The Wolverines pulled star tight end Colston Loveland out of Idaho. The two spent a lot of time together on the OV, and both share the same high school head coach in Cameron Anderson, who is very fond of Michigan and Harbaugh. Michigan has experience recruiting mission kids and landed Andrew Gentry a couple of cycles ago. But at the end of the day, I think the key to Michigan winning this recruitment is continuing to hit on development. That’s one of the most important things to Bair and his father, who is Burley’s strength coach. Michigan has Ben Herbert. Boise State does not. That may be enough to push the Wolverines over the edge.

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